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Human Investing: Only 4.92% of Advisors are True Fiduciaries. Is Yours?

By February 18, 2025No Comments

In financial services, acting as a fiduciary—prioritizing clients’ interests—is a benchmark of ethical practice. However, only a small fraction of professionals follow a true fee-only model.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023), the U.S. has 834,000 financial professionals, including advisors and brokers. Among them, 77,468 are registered Investment Advisor Representatives (IARs), often seen as closer to the fiduciary standard. Yet, a 2024 study by Welsh found that only 53% of IARs (41,958) are truly fee-only.

This means just 4.92% of all financial professionals operate as fee-only fiduciaries—an increase from 2% in 2018 but still a small minority in an industry dominated by commission-based models.

Read the full article here

John Weninger, CFP®

John Weninger, CFP®

John is a Wealth Advisor within the Family Wealth Management area of the Company. He is the first point of contact for our prospective clients, conducting introductory meetings with clients to discuss their family dynamic and wealth management needs. John assumes the role of the client family’s Chief Financial Officer and coordinates with the client’s current professionals (i.e. attorney, tax accountant, stockbroker, insurance agent) to provide an integrated wealth management plan and investment solution that is custom tailored to meet each client’s specific needs. John began his career at Merrill Lynch as an advisor assistant, serving the needs of families & small business owners. He was the founder of Vision Wealth Partners, a Wisconsin registered investment advisor and has been helping families and small-business owners with financial planning and investment management since 2011. His writing has been featured on CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, U.S. News and MyCompanyRetirementPlan.com. John received his Bachelor’s Degree from St. Norbert College majoring in Finance. He earned his Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) in 2017.