I hate it when someone calls me, or AlphaGlider, a broker. Or when they call a broker a financial adviser. But really, it's not their fault. The investment management industry, which is dominated in size, political lobbying, and marketing strength by broker-dealers, has done a great job in obscuring what a broker/broker-dealer is, and what it isn't. In their commercials, one would think that brokers are wholly dedicated to the financial success of their clients. Lift the cover and one finds that the dedication between their clients' interests, and their own, are quite blurred.
However, there is a class of investment advisors that must, by law, put their clients' best interests ahead of their own. They're called Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs), and they have a fiduciary duty to their clients. AlphaGlider is an RIA.
The following video, created by another RIA, does a great job in explaining, in layman's terms, the difference between a broker and a fiduciary.
HighTower is not affiliated with, nor endorses, AlphaGlider.