Many brokerage firms and insurance companies speak from both sides of their mouths. Surprised? We shouldn’t be.

The marketing departments of these firms promote the idea that employees are trusted advisors providing personalized investment advice. Conversely in an attempt to avoid complying with the upcoming fiduciary rule (i.e. doing what’s in the best interest of clients) these same firms argue to the Department of Labor that employees are commission-based salespeople.

“Are they lying to the court or are they lying to their customers?” asked Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America and co-author of the report.

The CFA in partnership with Americans for Financial Reform analyzed the websites of 25 prominent U.S. brokerage firms and insurance companies and found none of them describe their representatives and agents as salespeople. Instead many firms describe their financial professionals as “financial advisors” or some variation thereof. Guilty parties include:

  • Janney Montgomery Scott
  • D.A. Davidson
  • Stifel
  • Wells Fargo Advisors
  • HD Vest
  • Baird
  • Raymond James
  • Ameriprise
  • Edward Jones
  • BB&T
  • Scott & Stringfellow
  • Chase
  • UBS
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Signator
  • Lincoln Financial
  • VALIC

Other violators include Schwab, Stephens and Hilliard Lyons (which use the title “financial consultant”) Voya (which uses the title “retirement consultant”), USAA (which uses the title “wealth manager” and Prudential (which uses the title “retirement counselor”).

Other firms named in the report as providing misleading marketing materials and job titles include U.S. Bank (which claims to provide tailored investment advice) and Northwestern Mutual and Mass Mutual whose websites encourage relationships of trust and reliance.

While promoting ‘advice you can trust’ to the public these same firms have argued in legal filings that “broker-dealer reps and insurance agents are not true advisors because they do not actually provide unbiased advice and are not engaged in relationships of trust and confidence with their clients.”

Can they really have it both ways?