Financial Advisors Category

The title “financial advisor” can be confusing because just about anyone in the financial services industry can use it. There are no rules that restrict this role to particular types of professionals. However, “real” advisors do have particular characteristics you should watch for: They are RIAs (Registered Investment Advisors) or Investment Advisor Representatives (IARS), they act in a fiduciary capacity when providing investment advice or services, and they are compensated with fees. Also see financial advisor ethics on the Investment.org

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@InvestorWatchdog.com
Site: http://www.investorwatchdog.com
About: Jack entered the financial services industry as an institutional consultant and later as vice president at Warburg, Paribas, Becker in 1976. From 1983 to 2003 he was the President of Lexington Capital Management and related companies. In December, 2003 John Wiley published his book "Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor". In 2004, he founded PaladinRegistry.com, a website that educated investors about financial advisors. A national Registry of pre-screened, five star rated advisors was added to the website later in 2004. In 2009, he founded InvestorWatchdog.com, a website that provides tools and information to investors who use the services of financial planners and financial advisors. Since 2004, Jack has been frequently quoted in the media on topics about financial advisors, Wall Street firms, investment scams, and the financial services industry (BusinessWeek, Forbes, Kiplinger, Washington Post, etc.).See Authors Posts (59) | January 7, 2012 | Advisor Monitoring, Financial Advisors, Performance Reporting, track records

Money managers have track records. That is because they provide the same service to multiple investors. Examples of money managers are mutual funds, separate account managers, and hedge funds. These managers are firms of professionals who select investments (securities) for your assets.
Financial advisors do not have track records. They say it is because they provide [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@InvestorWatchdog.com
Site: http://www.investorwatchdog.com
About: Jack entered the financial services industry as an institutional consultant and later as vice president at Warburg, Paribas, Becker in 1976. From 1983 to 2003 he was the President of Lexington Capital Management and related companies. In December, 2003 John Wiley published his book "Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor". In 2004, he founded PaladinRegistry.com, a website that educated investors about financial advisors. A national Registry of pre-screened, five star rated advisors was added to the website later in 2004. In 2009, he founded InvestorWatchdog.com, a website that provides tools and information to investors who use the services of financial planners and financial advisors. Since 2004, Jack has been frequently quoted in the media on topics about financial advisors, Wall Street firms, investment scams, and the financial services industry (BusinessWeek, Forbes, Kiplinger, Washington Post, etc.).See Authors Posts (59) | November 20, 2011 | Financial Advisors, Investment Performance

Notwithstanding clever advertising by Etrade, Schwab, Scott Trade, and Ameritrade managing your own money is not easy. It is a time consuming process that requires specialized expertise. So my immediate response to this question is you should NOT manage your own money!
However, it depends on your definition of money management. My definition is picking the [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@InvestorWatchdog.com
Site: http://www.investorwatchdog.com
About: Jack entered the financial services industry as an institutional consultant and later as vice president at Warburg, Paribas, Becker in 1976. From 1983 to 2003 he was the President of Lexington Capital Management and related companies. In December, 2003 John Wiley published his book "Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor". In 2004, he founded PaladinRegistry.com, a website that educated investors about financial advisors. A national Registry of pre-screened, five star rated advisors was added to the website later in 2004. In 2009, he founded InvestorWatchdog.com, a website that provides tools and information to investors who use the services of financial planners and financial advisors. Since 2004, Jack has been frequently quoted in the media on topics about financial advisors, Wall Street firms, investment scams, and the financial services industry (BusinessWeek, Forbes, Kiplinger, Washington Post, etc.).See Authors Posts (59) | November 3, 2011 | Deceptive Sales Practices, Financial Advisors, Financial Planners

One of the most frequent requests we receive from investors is asking us to describe the key differences between titles that are used by financial advisors and representatives.
As background, these titles are confusing because the financial service industry wants them to be confusing. Lower quality advisors are more productive when they blur distinctions between themselves [...]

By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@InvestorWatchdog.com
Site: http://www.investorwatchdog.com
About: Jack entered the financial services industry as an institutional consultant and later as vice president at Warburg, Paribas, Becker in 1976. From 1983 to 2003 he was the President of Lexington Capital Management and related companies. In December, 2003 John Wiley published his book "Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor". In 2004, he founded PaladinRegistry.com, a website that educated investors about financial advisors. A national Registry of pre-screened, five star rated advisors was added to the website later in 2004. In 2009, he founded InvestorWatchdog.com, a website that provides tools and information to investors who use the services of financial planners and financial advisors. Since 2004, Jack has been frequently quoted in the media on topics about financial advisors, Wall Street firms, investment scams, and the financial services industry (BusinessWeek, Forbes, Kiplinger, Washington Post, etc.).See Authors Posts (59) | January 10, 2011 | Bad Products & Services, Financial Advisors

What does it mean to investors when Merrill Lynch tells its 15,000 stockbrokers they must produce at least $250,000 of annual revenue or they will be fired?
Merrill Lynch brokers have two major choices to make. First is whether they do what is best for their clients or do they do what it takes to save [...]

By: DFreecloseAuthor: DFree Name: Debbie Freeman
Email: debbie@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://www.paladinregistry.com
About: See Authors Posts (14) | June 21, 2010 | Financial Advisors, Financial Planners

If you’re considering hiring a financial advisor or financial planner, here are five things you should avoid during your selection process.
1. Never limit your hiring criteria solely on where the advisor is located in relation to where you live. You should always look for the most competent financial professional vs. the most convenient.
2. Don’t [...]

By: DFreecloseAuthor: DFree Name: Debbie Freeman
Email: debbie@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://www.paladinregistry.com
About: See Authors Posts (14) | June 8, 2010 | Financial Advisors

How many times have you heard a friend or family member refer to their financial advisor as competent? Most often, people tell us how nice and personable their financial advisor or planner is. While having a good personality is important, their competence is WAY more important to you, given the fact that they’re managing your [...]