Overall, affluent investors are highly confident that they are in a fiduciary relationship with their primary provider—70% of affluent investor respondents indicate that their financial advice providers are obligated to always act in clients’ best interests first, while just 15% of respondents indicate that their provider may sometimes be obligated to act as a fiduciary.

Cerulli’s research finds a significant connection between clients’ expected standard of care and their satisfaction levels. At the high end, 70% of those who believe their advisor is always obligated to act as a fiduciary indicate they are satisfied with their relationship and not seeking a new provider. In contrast, just 41% of those who believe providers may put their own best interests first share this level of satisfaction.

The key implication for providers is that clients who are confident that they are in a fiduciary relationship are less interested in new providers. Therefore, it is imperative that firms make their best efforts to align their strategies and incentives to help foster a fiduciary culture that prioritizes clients’ interests and experiences.

Evaluate and understand the investment behaviors and advice preferences of 5,000 affluent households with Cerulli’s new report, U.S. Retail Investor Solutions 2025. This research includes the debut of Cerulli Associates’ proprietary Cerulli Affluent Investor Tracker (CAIT), which evaluates how households with at least $250,000 in financial assets, as well as near-affluent households with more than $125,000 in income and who are no older than 45 years old, want to engage with providers, the institutes they use to safeguard investments, how they think about wealth, and more.