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It’s Never the Wrong Time to Do the Right Thing

Fiduciary Rules and Practices

That’s the clear message that American Retirement Association Director of Technical Education Robert Kaplan conveyed in a recent webinar on ethical business practices.
 

Kaplan argued that when looking at a situation, one should always consider:
 

  • Is it honest?
  • Is it fair?
  • Are you demonstrating integrity?
     

Kaplan argued that ethics generally affects three areas:
 

  1. each of us as individuals, and how we are perceived;
  2. the impact an action has on the organization; and
  3. interactions that we have with our clients.
     

Clients, not Customers
 

Kaplan offered many ideas concerning interactions and work with clients. And he drew a distinction between customers and clients. Customers generally are people who come to you mainly to buy products or services, Kaplan said, while clients are buying advice and solutions that are personalized to fit their particular needs. Clients, he said, are “looking to you for recommendations, not just something off the shelf.” And, he said, closer relationships are built with clients over time. In addition, he said, when you work with a client, “you put a face with the advice. It’s so important. And it helps us in our ethical perspectives.”
 

Conflicts of Interest
 

Avoid conflicts of interest, said Kaplan. But if conflicts arise, one should resolve them in such a way that financial gain or personal benefit will not interfere with the obligation to serve the interests of current or prospective clients.
 

Kaplan also advocated disclosing to clients any compensation one receives that is related to a client assignment. “We don’t want any surprises,” he said, adding that one should make sure to document discussions with a client.
 

High Standards
 

Kaplan offered some ideas that can better enable one to hold oneself to high standards in serving customers :
 

  • Support professional integrity by working with courtesy and cooperation with clients and other associated professionals. And one mist function with courtesy and cooperation even if there is a fee dispute.
  • Adhere to best practices in providing advice and in preparing work.
  • Establish facts, determining relevance, evaluating reasonableness of assumptions and relating applicable law and arriving at conclusion supported by law and facts.
  • You should only advertise and hold out to the public professional services that you know or reasonably expect to know.
  • Do not disclose to another party any confidential information obtained in rendering professional services unless the client authorizes it or it is required by law.
  • Avoid backdating. “We all know that backdating is not proper,” Kaplan said.
     

Communications
 

Kaplan indicated that communication is of central importance, and argued that one should communicate clearly with client regarding terms of engagement. “One of the most common errors I see that cause confusion concerns communication,” he told attendees.
 

Be Knowledgeable
 

Kaplan argued that one should be aware of firm policies, especially concerning the following:
 

  • personal business on company time
  • sexual harassment
  • hiring practices
  • office romances and relationships
  • behavior outside work hours
  • lying to clients and fellow employees
  • using office property for personal reasons, particularly electronic media
  • social media use
  • bullying
  • political discussions
     

Available On Demand
 

The webinar “Ethics — It’s Never the Wrong Time to Do the Right Thing” is available on demand. Information is available here.