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Conflicts of Interests in Financial Industry
Fiduciary vs suitability standards
Having two sides, one side is providing a service, and some financial aspect — naturally, means that we have a conflict of interest. Always.
On one side, a seller (agent, professional, random dude), who promotes “the best” product or establishes relations, is looking for new customers, advertises, posts articles, etc. On the other side, a potential consumer on the other side — there is a conflict!
The main question is whether you see that or not, how much money is involved, the cost of choosing a poor (not the best) product/service, if the license (regulator) requires to disclose the conflict of interest.
Real examples
Agents offering life insurance (mutual fund, annuity) usually hold a license that does not require disclosing potential conflicts of interest. Moreover, they do not have to act in the best interest of clients. The license only requires offering suitable products (suitability standard, whatever it means).
As a result, when agents present their projects, they usually mention only part of the story, emphasize only good things, hide undesirable topics, avoid uncomfortable questions, etc.