When it comes to demonstrating and maintaining a fiduciary duty, financial professionals who have the accredited investment fiduciary, or AIF, credentials have a little more "oomph."
This professional designation prepares investment professionals to act as fiduciaries – and work in the clients' best interests – when doing their jobs.
Currently, not all investment advisors have a fiduciary education or duty, says Matthew Eickman, an AIF and national retirement practice leader at Qualified Plan Advisors. "On the one hand, that's understandable," he says. "Fiduciary responsibilities traditionally have not been a big part of the securities registration or insurance licensure processes." But on the other hand, it's simply not good enough.
With the Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Department of Labor "exponentially increasing the focus on fiduciaries, it's become critically important for advisors to have a higher standard than the bare minimum," Eickman says. "Pursuing and retaining the AIF designation is a fundamental step toward elevating those standards and better positioning an advisor to better care for his or her clients' interests."
Here's what advisors should understand about the accredited investment fiduciary certification and how to get it.
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