Why All the Fuss About the DOL Fiduciary Rule and Best Interest Contract Rules?

For several years now the DOL has been passing increasingly restrictive rules that require Financial Advisors to act in the best interest of their clients when providing investment advice.  It will require adherence to basic standards of impartial conduct including giving prudent advice that is in the best interest of the client, avoiding misleading statements and receiving no more than reasonable compensation.

I want you to know how Forge Financial Advisors is going to comply with this ruling; by simply doing business as we have for the past 35 years based on a few simple ethical rules.

First, The Golden Rule; Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  This is based on several things every human has in common:

  1. They want to be valued
  2. They want to be appreciated; that what they do matters
  3. They want to be trusted and know they can trust others
  4. They want to be respected
  5. They want to be understood
  6. They do not want to be taken advantage of

Hopefully those of you who have been with us for a decade or two or even three feel we score high on honoring all of the points listed above and if not, please contact us ASAP so we can see where we can improve.

Furthering this credo is the Professional Pledge of the American Society of CLU and ChFC which I have been bound by since October 1986 when I was conferred the designation of Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant.  The Pledge reads:

“In all my professional relationships, I pledge myself to the following rule of ethical conduct . . . I shall, in the light of all conditions     surrounding those I serve, which I shall make every conscientious effort to ascertain and understand, render that service which, in the same circumstance, I would apply to myself.”

I personally utilize the exact same programs I recommend to my clients for those of you who weren’t aware of that. 

Forge Financial Advisors also operates under the following principals”

  1. To conduct business according to the CLU Professional Pledge
  2. To provide competent and client-focused programs and service
  3. To engage in active and fair competition
  4. To provide advertising and sales materials that are clear as to purpose and honest and fair as to content
  5. To provide for fair and expeditious handling of all costumer service opportunities including complaints and disputes.
  6. To go above and beyond what is legally required and what is ethically best for our clients.

By the way, pertaining to number 5, in 42 years we have had no official customer complaints.  I urge you to go to the Broker Check Link www.brokercheck.finra.org (my CRD number is 1038687 or just search by my name)  to verify this.  Also pertaining to number 5, we pride ourselves on extremely rapid, accurate responses to client questions, inquiries and requests.

For those of you who are busy during the week days, please feel free to email me anytime day or night at marc@forgefinancialadvisors.com, as I check my emails often and will call you back from my cell. For those of you who have done this over the years, you know I respond even on evenings and weekends as soon as I see your message.

In summary, we will pretty much be conducting business as usual and dealing with any additional requirements the DOL ruling deals out.

We want you to know how much we value you as a client and would truly appreciate you spreading the word about us.  Please contact us about anything in this letter you have questions about or any other financial matters.

Best regards,

Marc

Marc R. Gillespie, CLU, ChFC, CFS, MSM, CLF