Who Can I Trust? Category

Every investor wants a competent financial advisor they can trust. But, how do you measure the trustworthiness of advisors? You should select advisors who provide documentation that proves they have no compliance problems, they are Registered Investment Advisors or Investment Advisor Representatives, they are acknowledged fiduciaries, and they work for fees.

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 (87) | July 3, 2009 | Who Can I Trust?

Investors have been confused for decades about the roles of investment sales representatives and financial advisors.  That is because both types of professionals sound a lot alike when they market investment products and services.
Consider this:  Financial advisors provide investment advice and services for fees.  Sales representatives recommend investment products that pay them commissions.  How many investors know the critical differences [...]

By: Rick KahlercloseAuthor: Rick Kahler Name: Rick Kahler
Member: Member Paladin
Quality Rating:
Email: rick@kahlerfinancial.com
Site: http://www.kahlerfinancial.com
About: Rick Kahler, MS, CFP®, (www.KahlerFinancial.com) is a fee-only financial planner, speaker, educator, and columnist. Rick is renowned as a pioneer in integrating financial planning and psychology. In 2009, he was recognized by Wealth Manager as the largest financial planning firm in a seven-state region. In 2009, BusinessWeek listed him as one of the 15 most experienced planners in the United States. He is the past chairman of the South Dakota Investment Council, charged with the investment oversight of over six billion dollars. His work and research has been featured or cited in The Wall Street Journal, ABC's 20/20, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Money, SELF, and Parenting. He is a co-author of four revolutionary books on money, financial planning, and therapy: Wired for Wealth (Health Communications, 2008), Facilitating Financial Health (NUCO, 2008), The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge (Health Communications, 2005, 2008), and Conscious Finance (FoxCraft, 2005, 2007).See Authors Posts (9) | June 29, 2009 | Ponzi Schemes, Who Can I Trust?

Bernard Madoff, former NASDAQ Stock Market chairman and founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, has been sentenced to 150 years in jail.  While the lengthy sentence may not offer much comfort to those cheated out of their retirement savings by Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, it does emphasize the magnitude of his fraud.
His clients didn’t [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | June 25, 2009 | Bad Financial Advice, Investor Information, Who Can I Trust?

Allan Roth, author of How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street, is the proud owner of Max Tailwager, a dachshund puppy and a 2009 recipient of the America’s Top Financial Planners award bestowed by the Consumers’ Research Council of America.
Roth received a letter in the mail from SLD Industries, informing him that he was named [...]

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 (87) | June 23, 2009 | Who Can I Trust?

The SEC filed formal charges against Stanley Chais claiming he knowingly raised money for Bernie Madoff’s illegal Ponzi Scheme.  Although Chais claimed to be a financial advisor, there are major differences between Money Finders and ‘real’ financial advisors.
Money Finders are usually slick marketing companies that raise assets for money management firms that may or may not [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | June 22, 2009 | Bad Financial Advice, Who Can I Trust?

As a consequence of the recent financial turmoil, many investors have lost untold sums and are considering shifting assets away from advisers they perceive to be incompetent and negligent.  Knowing this, some advisers are resorting to disgraceful scare tactics to hang onto their clients.  Detailed in Brokers Using Scare Tactics To Badmouth Advisor, brokers afraid [...]

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 (87) | June 20, 2009 | Who Can I Trust?

There is a lot of content about Jim Putman, NAPFA’s former president, on the Internet. If you don’t know, the SEC has accused Putnam and another employee of his firm with accepting undisclosed kickbacks of $2.4 million on client investment pools and violating their fiduciary duties (http://www.denverpost.com/crime/ci_12549352).
Apparently, Putman and his firm put relatively conservative clients [...]