5.6 Practical Application

Back when Amy was finishing her first year in business, she had built a reputation as a solid professional who consistently looked out for the best interests of her clients. As a result, she was asked to come speak to her firm’s newest class of recruits about the biggest fiduciary mistakes that trusted advisers make early in their careers.

When she began to talk, an ambitious young professional suggested that the only professionals who get in ethical and legal trouble are the ones who are crooked from the start. He explained further that everything she would be discussing would be a non-issue for most people in the training class, because they were all upstanding professionals.

Amy, having once felt the same way, told the young professional that his clear sense of right and wrong was comforting and admirable. But she went on to explain that one of the hardest ethical boundaries to navigate is the one between a client’s need to make money and a professional’s need to make money. Unlike clear-cut situations such as commingling or misappropriating client funds, avoiding subtle conflicts of interest took a very deliberate ongoing effort. Not willing to back down, Amy shared a cautionary tale about another idealistic professional from her own training class.

Kelly, who was about ten years older than Amy, already had a family of four when she began working at Amy’s firm. Unlike Amy, who was single, Kelly could not suddenly ask her family to begin eating Top Ramen and microwave burritos while she struggled to earn her first commissions and fees. To compensate, Kelly worked extra-long hours and jumped at every opportunity to open new accounts.

Unfortunately, Kelly’s efforts didn’t result in nearly enough revenue, even though she was the branch leader in establishing new client relationships. As the months went by, Amy noticed that Kelly was making more and more questionable decisions regarding the advice and recommendatio