Which statement about who bears the fiduciary duty under CFP Board standards is most accurate?

Which statement about who bears the fiduciary duty under CFP Board standards is most accurate?

• A. All employees
• B. Only those who provide financial planning services
• C. Only those with a law degree
• D. Only those who manage investments

Answer: (B)

Fiduciary duty under CFP Board standards is triggered by the client-planner relationship that occurs when someone provides financial planning services. Once you are engaged in planning for a client, you must act in the client’s best interest, with loyalty and care, disclose any conflicts of interest, and avoid misleading the client. This duty is not about every employee or about credentials alone; it attaches to the professional who actually delivers financial planning services or clearly holds themselves out as providing them. That’s why the statement that the fiduciary duty is borne by those who provide financial planning services is the most accurate. Those who don’t perform planning services—such as staff who only do back‑office tasks, or anyone who merely manages investments without offering or delivering a planning process—do not automatically bear the fiduciary duty in the CFP context.

Fiduciary duty under CFP Board standards is triggered by the client-planner relationship that occurs when someone provides financial planning services. Once you are engaged in planning for a client, you must act in the client’s best interest, with loyalty and care, disclose any conflicts of interest, and avoid misleading the client. This duty is not about every employee or about credentials alone; it attaches to the professional who actually delivers financial planning services or clearly holds themselves out as providing them. That’s why the statement that the fiduciary duty is borne by those who provide financial planning services is the most accurate. Those who don’t perform planning services—such as staff who only do back‑office tasks, or anyone who merely manages investments without offering or delivering a planning process—do not automatically bear the fiduciary duty in the CFP context.