# Fiduciary

> A fiduciary financial advisor is legally obligated to act in the client's best interest, putting the client's interests ahead of their own.

Canonical page: https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/fiduciary/
Also called: fiduciary duty, fiduciary financial advisor

Under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, registered investment advisers and their representatives owe clients a fiduciary duty for the advice they give: a duty of care and a duty of loyalty, including full and fair disclosure of conflicts of interest.

CFP professionals are also required by CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (effective 2019) to act as fiduciaries when they provide financial advice to a client.

Fiduciary and fee-only are different ideas. Fee-only describes how an advisor is paid; fiduciary describes the legal standard they're held to. Fee-only advisors are typically fiduciaries, but a fiduciary isn't necessarily fee-only.

## How to check

Confirm the advisor is registered as an investment adviser representative (IAR) on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site, and ask them to confirm in writing that they act as a fiduciary at all times.

## Sources

- [SEC: Investment advisers](https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/investment-adviser)
- [CFP Board](https://www.cfp.net/)

## Related terms

- [Fee-only financial advisor](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/fee-only.md)
- [Registered investment adviser (RIA)](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/ria.md)
- [Investment adviser representative (IAR)](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/iar.md)
- [CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP) certification](https://find.wellspent.co/glossary/cfp.md)