To promote a higher standard of fiduciary responsibility, Thornburg Investment Management recently hosted 65 advisors and retirement plan specialists at a symposium featuring the fi360 Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) capstone course.
At its 10th Annual Fiduciary Training Symposium, held March 18 through 20 in Santa Fe, Thornburg's Retirement Group followed up the capstone course with fi360's AIF designation exam. As a result, the approximately 55 registered investment advisors or advisors at independent and regional broker-dealers in attendance went back to work with the knowledge of best practices and development opportunities that the designation represents.
"It's part of our firm's DNA," said Rocco DiBruno (right), managing director of Thornburg and the director of its Retirement Group, when asked Tuesday in a phone interview why it was important to Thornburg that advisors be fiduciaries. "Thornbug has always believed in promoting a higher standard in fiduciary responsibility because we manage investors' money. Integrity and honesty are important in the financial services business, whether you're an advisor or a portfolio manager. You're in the position of managing other people's money."
Since 2004, Thornburg has put about 1,200 people through the AIF course, which is especially important for fiduciaries involved with defined contribution (DC) retirement plans, DiBruno said.
Thornburg Investment Management, based in Santa Fe and founded in 1982, has $84 billion of assets under management and is the winner of four Lipper awards for 2013. The firm manages seven equity funds, many of them invested in international stocks, and nine bond funds, many of them in the municipal space. Fi360, based in Bridgeville, Pa., near Pittsburgh, is a company that describes its mission as promoting fiduciary excellence through education, technology and support solutions.
