Fiduciary Standards

Value of Working with an AIF®

Overview
A “fiduciary” is someone who is managing the assets of another person and stands in a special relationship of trust, confidence, and sometimes legal responsibility. A fiduciary is required by law to always act in the best interests of his or her client, beneficiary, or retirement plan participant. Yet, many fiduciaries are not even aware of their duties and responsibilities.

Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designees have been provided with the tools and training to help them acquire a thorough knowledge of fiduciary responsibility and can be an invaluable resource to investment fiduciaries and individual investors alike.

Don't risk going it alone; AIF designees have the training necessary to help ensure that an investment management process is managed to an appropriate fiduciary standard of care.

Training
AIF designees have successfully completed a specialized program on investment fiduciary standards of care. Fi360 Training began in 1999 to provide the investment industry with the first full-time training and research organization focused exclusively on investment fiduciary responsibility and portfolio management. The practices and handbook described below form the basis of the classroom instruction.

Designees are required to complete a rigorous training program, successfully pass an examination, conform to a code of ethics, and adhere to continuing education requirements on a yearly basis. These requirements ensure designees are familiar with the prudent process developed by fi360 and are kept up to date with recent industry events affecting fiduciaries.

Prudent process for investment fiduciaries
An investment fiduciary fits into one of three groups: investment stewards, investment advisors, and investment managers. Each has a unique function in the investment process. The Prudent Practices for Investment Fiduciaries handbook series details practices based on legislation, case law, regulatory opinion letters, and best practices that form a prudent investment process for each group of fiduciaries, respectively. The practices make good investment sense and should help to improve long-term investment performance.