A Force for Good

I am borrowing from Notre Dame here. But even USC and Michigan fans will accept this as a universal concept.

Last year the University of Notre Dame celebrated 175 years since its founding. There was a lot to celebrate – far more than the seven Heisman Trophy winners since Angelo Bertelli in 1943. More notably, Notre Dame literally considers its greatest accomplishment as establishing itself upon the principal, “A Force for Good”. These were the words uttered by the Catholic priest founders of the University in the winter of 1842.

A Force for Good

“A Force for Good” is what the whole world needs, yes?! A Force for Good is also needed desperately in financial services – but in ways not immediately evident.

Of course, most obvious, we need the Fiduciary Rule to be defined – in English – and present and enforced in our ALL our relationships where anyone is advising us on our financial affairs (more on the importance of the Fiduciary Rule in a future edition).

But less obvious – or practiced – is that YOUR ADVISER needs to be “A Force for Good” in YOUR LIFE. I mean this literally: you need to see and feel that the advisory fees you pay are really making a positive difference in your life.

What is the checklist for determining you are getting your money’s worth? Continue reading “A Force for Good”

Hot Topic: Fiduciary Rule

Now the Pope is involved.

Yes, Pope Francis. Just last week the Vatican in Rome issued a bulletin in which Pope Francis took aim at the financial services industry. His broad topic was how financial advisers manage the “savings” of their clients. By “savings” it was taken to mean the savings, investments and accounts of clients. His Holiness even used the word fiduciary criticizing “advisers who failed to act as a fiduciary by not avoiding conflicts of interest and not working as a prudent professional”.^

Pope Francis Continue reading “Hot Topic: Fiduciary Rule”