Lately I've been thinking about one of my favorite movie moments, the end of "Some Like it Hot," when Jack Lemmon whips off his blond wig and announces to his wealthy inamorato, "I'm a man." Unperturbed, Joe E. Brown responds, "Nobody's perfect."

Perhaps this isn't the most appropriate response to the terrible rash of legal actions against fraudulent advisors recently. Honestly, it's a disaster. Capable, experienced, reputable professionals are now in a position where their clients may wonder: Is he who he says he is? Is she on the up and up?

What can you do at this time to reach out to your clients and assure them that their faith in you is justified? How can you re-engage them at a time when, although investments may be recovering somewhat, their prospects still may feel not-so-hot?

I suggest that you take a look at the Open Letter that NAPFA posted on its website in early June. (Go to www.napfa.org and click on the blue button on the home page.) As of this writing, NAPFA, which has always held itself out as a beacon of ethical conduct, has three former members, including a past president, facing SEC complaints—and one looking at criminal charges. This is supposed to be the squeaky-clean team! To say the very least, this is an embarrassment.

NAPFA's open letter faces the problem squarely. "We may have simply been lulled into complacency because we haven't experienced these issues before," it states. No excuses, and a lot of plans for improvement.

Yes, nobody's perfect. At one point or another, we are all called upon to admit mistakes and, if we're smart, share our plans for a better future. As advisors, you have that chance now. Your clients' trust in you, so carefully built over the years, may be shaken by the high-profile investigations of renegade advisors, from Madoff on to the most recent crew. Reach out and explain your work process, and the many safeguards in place. If trust in the industry is lost, everyone loses.

Marion Asnes became the editor of Financial Planning magazine in 2005. Financial Planning is the leading professional magazine for independent financial planners and has a circulation of 115,000. The topics covered on its pages range from industry news and trends to sophisticated discussions of portfolio management, estate planning and philanthropy. Asnes is the first female editor in chief of Financial Planning in the magazine's 38-year history.

Before joining Financial Planning, Asnes was a senior editor at Money, participating in the magazine’s coverage of personal finance, retirement, investment and health care issues. Her areas of expertise included retirement and 401(k) planning, asset allocation, estate planning and the particular financial challenges faced by women. In addition to her regular editorial duties at Money, Asnes co-edited Money for Women, an annual special issue that was featured exclusively on “The Today Show” on NBC.

A 27-year service journalism veteran, Asnes has contributed to a long list of national publications including Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, More, Mirabella, Working Woman and Lear's. She has spoken at conferences and symposia ranging from the National Endowment for Financial Education’s Retirement Summit to the National Football League’s Rookie Symposium. In addition, Asnes has appeared on national television programs as an expert on financial and economic topics including CNN, CNN Headline News, NBC's Today, ABC's 20/20, PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor.

Asnes graduated with a B.A. from Cornell University.