By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | February 22, 2010 | Financial Advisors, How to Select Advisors

When it comes to their money investors must thoroughly investigate the adviser’s credentials; whether the adviser is held to a fiduciary standard (not just a suitability standard); and whether there are any material conflicts of interest that would exist with the investor/adviser relationship.
There are many investment credentials out there and sorting through them can [...]

By: Daniel ChencloseAuthor: Daniel Chen Name: Daniel Chen
Member: Member Paladin
Quality Rating:
Email: dcstrategies@yahoo.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com/external/beaninformedinvestor/advisor_profile.php?advisor_id=1893
About: Dan's specialty is delivered by his Wealth Management Practice with a core competency in Fianancial Planning. The ability to deliver services for a fee eliminates the potential conflicts of interest created by the commission only type of aproach. He maintaines his office in Ocean N.J. however serves a clientel base from coast to coast. Dan believes that the basis for a great life is planning for it. Dan offers a no obligation meeting to decide if his services are appropriate for your needs.See Authors Posts (10) | February 19, 2010 | Bad Financial Advice, Report Fraud

This type of action continues to show all of us that the responsibility of qualifying a competent and trusted Advisor to work with still resides with the individual. The investor needs to educate themselves on how to decide on what type of advisor to work with. Investors need to ask questions, review certifications, review investment [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | February 16, 2010 | How to Select Advisors, The Regulators

Many investors are confused about the term investment advice and the different types of professionals who can provide it. Most investors do not understand the differences between investment adviser representatives or brokers calling themselves financial advisers; and the standard of care they think they are receiving from each.
Fee only investment advisers are legally obligated [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (88) | February 9, 2010 | Conflicts of Interest, Wall Street Ethics, Who Can I Trust?

Wall Street is counting on the short-term memories of millions of investors who need their services so it can return to business as usual.
Two times in the past decade Wall Street greed and incompetence created trillions of dollars of losses for investors. You might think investors would be fed up and pull their assets [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | February 5, 2010 | The Regulators, Wall Street Ethics

Just when you thought the ill stench wafting from Wall Street couldn’t get any worse. A recent U.S. report details how large American banks like Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase facilitated the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of corrupt foreign officials who were subjects of criminal investigations into [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (88) | February 3, 2010 | Deceptive Sales Practices, Sales Representatives

The Financial Times reported BofA Merrill Lynch plans to hire 2,000 brokers over the next 12 months. They will hire inexperienced brokers rather than pay big upfront fees for established professionals. These brokers will market investment products to BofA’s 17 million mass-affluent customers who need wealth management services.
Alois Pirker, research director at Alte Group LLC [...]