Imagine a Thundering Herd of Fiduciaries

When Blair duQuesnay, an investment adviser, wrote a NY Times op-ed in praise of female investment advisers, the headline read: Consider Firing Your Male Broker. Some readers accused her of fudging the distinction between registered representatives of brokerage firms, who traditionally work on commission, and registered investment advisers, who as fiduciaries are pledged to put their clients' interests above their own.

But these days the dividing line between brokers and RIAs is not so clear. Some wear both hats, and more and more "brokers" now work for fees, not commissions. In reality, duQuesnay asserts, "the investing public uses the words broker/advisor/adviser interchangeably. They do not know the difference…."

Maybe the public is on to something. David DeVoe, a San Francisco investment banker, notes the rising competition that wirehouses like Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley face from large RIA organizations and offers a provocative thought:

What if one of the wirehouses decided to become a full-blown RIA, to embrace fiduciary and independence? I think that could be a fascinating development.

The wirehouses have done a pretty good job over the years of mimicking the independent model in many regards, but they’ve done it slowly. I’ve said this before: It takes a long time to turn a battleship, but once it does turn, you have a lot of artillery pointed at you.

If it happens, will females be well represented in the crew?