Can you trust your financial advisor?
Good article - I must say
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/.../11/can-you-trust-your-financial-advisor.aspx
And some excellent advice from Larry Swedroe.
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/investing/blog/wise-investing/?tag=content;col2
FWIW-my view on how to find an advisor you can trust
Surveys show that along with the financial expertise of the advisor, investors look for someone they can trust. Trust, however, is an intangible quality; it cannot be quantified in the same way one can look at a baseball player’s batting average. Therefore, my recommendation is that when interviewing a potential financial advisor you require them to make the following eleven commitments to you. Doing so will give you the greatest chance of avoiding conflicts of interest and the greatest chance of achieving your financial goals.
1.Our guiding principle is that our advice will always be to do what is in your best interest.
2.We provide you with a fiduciary standard of care— the highest legal duty that one party can have to another.
3.We are a fee-only advisor—avoiding the conflicts that commissioned-based compensation can create.
4.We fully disclose potential conflicts.
5.Our advice is based on the latest academic research, not on our opinions.
6.We are client centric—we don’t sell any products, only advice.
7.We provide a high level of personal attention—each client is assigned a team of professionals with which they will develop strong personal relationships.
8.We invest our personal assets, including our profit-sharing plan, based on the same set of investment principles, and in the same or comparable securities, that we recommend to our clients.
9.We will develop an investment plan that is integrated into estate, tax, and risk management (insurance) plans. The overall plan will be tailored to your unique situation.
10.Our advice is always goal-oriented—evaluating each decision not in isolation, but in terms of its impact on the likelihood of success of the overall plan.
11.Our comprehensive wealth management services are provided by individuals that have the CFA, CFP, PFS, or other comparable designations.