Financial advisor titles: Informational complexity and the role of regulatory simplification

Alex W. Macfarlan and Cathleen D. Zick

Journal of Consumer Affairs, 2020, vol. 54, issue 2, 801-809

Abstract: Today's complex financial markets require high levels of financial literacy that most consumers do not possess. Consumers may choose to mitigate their information disadvantage by hiring a financial professional. In searching for such a professional, however, consumers will find a multitude of financial advising titles that may or may not signal competence, education, and professionalism. Various regulatory bodies, and piecemeal regulation over the past 80 years, have resulted in an incoherent code of law. Two narrow protections for senior citizens specifically address financial credentials, however. These model regulations were drafted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) in 2008. This commentary explores why some states have adopted these regulations while others have not and notes the need for research to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of such regulations.

Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12290

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:54:y:2020:i:2:p:801-809

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0022-0078

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Consumer Affairs is currently edited by Sharon Tennyson

More articles in Journal of Consumer Affairs from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().