"financial advisers"

[mickeyd]

One of the many, many reasons that my financial adviser has been sleeping with my wife for many years. No one has my financial interests at heart more than I do.

The stampede into bonds coincided with a rush out of stocks that may be intensifying. A recent survey of financial advisers by Charles Schwab found that 77% planned, over the second half of 2010, to maintain or even raise the proportion of their clients' assets that are invested in bonds—up from 71% in January. Yet bond prices are near all-time highs and future returns are likely to shrink.

Financial advisers contend that one of their most important functions is encouraging clients to "rebalance," or sell whatever has gone up and buy whatever has gone down.

The TD Ameritrade and Schwab numbers suggest, however, that financial advisers have been unbalancing instead of rebalancing their clients' accounts. By selling stocks as they fell and buying bonds as they rose, advisers may have ended up exposing clients to more risk, rather than less.

The Intelligent Investor: Why Your Adviser Is Scared to Set You Straight - WSJ.com?

 

[lowflyer]

Although I use one of the "discount brokers" for all our accounts, I am still assinged a Flinancial Consultant, whos job it is to make sure I'm well taken care of and know where to go if I need help. He and I have a good relationship, in that we talk once or twice a year and he sends me a birthday card. I always thank him for being around, but that for good or for bad, I make my own investment decisions. I clearly do not always make the right decisions, but again, I have no one else to blame and it forces me to stay in-tune with what's going on and do my homework. It's not for everyone, though.

Regarding this extended rise in bond prices, one thing I have learned over the years is that even when we think we are "near the top" or there is a "bubble", these things can go on alot longer than we would normally expect. So bonds could certainly stay high for an extended period of time, but I would not interpret that as being a good time to get in or even stay in. Time to look elsewhere.

 

[sengsational]

There's no such thing as a financial adviser that makes a commission (that's called a salesman). Next time someone offers you financial advice, ask them if they are acting exclusively in a fiduciary capacity for your benefit. You might look for a fee-only planner at Home Page - NAPFA - The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors

--Dale--

 

[Sarah in SC]

There are FAs that are salesmen--I saw scores of young bucks in my CFP review course that were charging back into their Ameriprise, Prudential, and Edward Jones offices armed with designations to garner more commissions.
Disclosure must be made as to how the FA is paid, whether it be by hourly fee, commission, or percentage of AUM.

And Mickey, that is a great article, but it took me a moment to figure out your comment on your FA sleeping with your wife--I thought, wow, what a way to get a discount on commissions! <grin> Here's that decent forum we were looking for....