Most financial advisors report gross performance because the number is always higher, perhaps two to three percent higher. And, most investors accept the numbers because they do not know they should be asking for performance reports that are net of all expenses. The higher the expenses, the more likely the advisor is to report gross results.

There are several layers of expense that you should be aware of. If you know all of the expenses, you can add them up and deduct them from your performance yourself. Or, you can use a free tool that resides on the Investor Watchdog website (http://www.investorwatchdog.com/) that will obtain expense data for you. Continue reading →