Confero Spring 2014: Issue 6 | Page 13

Merely Fiduciar y MERELY FIDUCIARY By Donald B. Trone, GFS I ’d like to propose the following exercise: Consider the following five words which we often associate with a fiduciary standard of care: Stewardship, Loyalty, Leadership, Governance and Trust. Like the steps to a building, how would you arrange these words in ascending order? Which word would you put at the base, the top, and in between? What is the hierarchy of these five terms? Not an easy task, is it? Before I give you my answer to the hierarchy, a little background: I credit the origins of this article to John Taft. John is the great grandson of President William www.conferomag.com | 11