California law states that all non-family member, non-exempt trustees in California must be licensed and registered with the State by January 1, 2009.
The Uniform Prudent Investor Act (UPIA), which was adopted in 1992 by the American Law Institute’s Third Restatement of the Law of Trusts (“Restatement of Trust 3d”), reflects a modern portfolio theory (MPT) and total return approach to the exercise of fiduciary asset management, versus evaluating each asset in isolation, as the Prudent Man Rule states. California adopted the UPIA in 1995, superseding the Prudent Man Rule.
Under the Treasury’s proposed Investor Protection Act of 2009, the SEC would have the authority to “promulgate rules” establishing a fiduciary duty. SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said she favors a fiduciary standard that would be applied uniformly to ALL financial professionals.
