By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | August 25, 2010 | Deceptive Sales Practices, Wall Street Ethics

Is your advisor unexpectedly changing his business model or practices? Do you suddenly find yourself in front of your advisor with him telling you all about the virtues of his new fee-based business? Explaining to you the merits of why his managing your portfolio for a fee is beneficial to you? Do you wonder why [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | December 10, 2009 | Financial Advisors, How to Select Advisors

Is your adviser charging you both a commission and a fee? This practice of receiving compensation from two sources is not necessarily illegal but is a question of ethics and a grave one at that.
Recently this came to my attention when I sat down with a prospective client who was with an adviser at [...]

By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | December 2, 2009 | Financial Advisors, Investor Information

On the surface, a broker and a fee-based adviser look exactly the same to most investors. In the investors mind the distance between the two is quite narrow, but in reality the structuring of their incentives are vastly different with significant implications. In a former post, “Ripped Off: Who is Paying Your Financial Advisor”, someone [...]

By: Glenn EdwardscloseAuthor: Glenn Edwards Name: Glenn Edwards
Member: Member Paladin
Quality Rating:
Email: glenn@afadv.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com/external/beaninformedinvestor/advisor_profile.php?advisor_id=2867
About: See Authors Posts (4) | November 6, 2009 | Investor Information

One of the oldest and most “trusted” sources of investor information and fund management has succumbed to committing fraud against investors. I can remember using Value Line as a resource for class research and term papers back when I was an under graduate student in the 1970s. Granted, the fraud committed was not against the [...]

By: Bryan BeattycloseAuthor: Bryan Beatty Name: Bryan Beatty
Member: Member Paladin
Quality Rating:
Email: bbeatty@ebwllc.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com/external/beaninformedinvestor/advisor_profile.php?advisor_id=1967
About: Bryan is a 1991 graduate of University of MD with a BS in Finance where he was the President of the Finance, Banking and Investment Society. He is a Certified Financial Planner TM (CFP) Practitioner and a member of the Financial Planning Association. Bryan has been assisting clients in all aspects of investment and retirement planning since 1992. An avid lifelong musician Bryan plays guitar and writes music in his spare time and occasional plays area venues. Originally from Baltimore MD, Bryan has lived in Northern Virginia since 1992. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and which it awards to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements.See Authors Posts (5) | July 31, 2009 | Investor Information

Ameriprise to pay $17.3 million to settle case with the SEC. http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090719/REG/307199991&ht=ameriprise
One of the things that clients or prospective clients need to do is ask why a particular investment was recommended. Many people do. What they don’t ask however is how much do you get paid to recommend that investment. They should know how their [...]

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 (12) | July 9, 2009 | Bad Financial Advice, Conflicts of Interest, Deceptive Sales Practices, Investor Information

I recently attended a continuing education seminar for insurance and securities licensed representatives and happen to be sitting at a table with a group of insurance salesman turned investment advisor. During the CE session as well as lunch, a group of them from the same office happen to talk about their latest and very successful [...]