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) | October 22, 2009 | Financial Advisors, Who Can I Trust?

A lot of investors say they want independent advice, but when queried, very few investors can tell us what that type of advice that is.

48.2% of investors believe independent advice comes from financial advisors who are not employed by big Wall Street firms. They believe advice from Wall Street advisors is tainted because their firms need rising revenues and profits to support the price of their stocks.

These investors must believe advisors who are self-employed or independent contractors provide superior advice because they do not have employers telling them what to sell. But, that is not always true. A lot of independent contractor advisors are licensed with broker/dealers who pressure them to sell products that make the companies the most money.

It is my contention that independent advice is not a function of employment status. It is a function of providing advice that is free of all potential conflicts of interest. It is advice that always put the investors’ interests first regardless of the needs of financial services companies and advisors.

Advisors who provide independent advice should be willing to certify their advice has no conflicts of interest that negatively impact the achievement of investor goals. This means they are under no pressure to sell particular products and they receive no extra incentives to market particular products.

If you want quality results, you need independent advice.