Fisher Investments?

[sparkee]

another way to pay .25%

I think that few on this forum want to pay someone else to do what they can easily do with ETF's or index funds, re-balancing periodically, or some version of the couch potato strategies.

But for those who want or need more hand-holding, here's yet another way to do that: https://www.wealthfront.com/

They use all Vanguard ETF's and, based on their measurement of your risk tolerance (for fun I took their quiz and it was pretty accurate of what I'd want to do), will invest in a package of ETF's and re-balance for you periodically (according to formulas about how far away from your target the funds get, not according to time--i.e. annually).

Frankly, if I was unable to do this myself, I'd see this as a better use of the .25% than Fisher, who invests in individual stocks. And I have some family members who are unlikely to be able (or want to) to handle their funds themselves, so it might be a good solution for them.

 

[sparkee]

more on wealthfront

An article on Wealthfront:
Wealthfront Debuts Customized, Intelligent Online Investment Advisor For The Tech Community | TechCrunch

and another about another service of theirs: "tax loss harvesting":
Wealthfront’s New Service Helps the Tech Set Easily Dodge Taxes | Betabeat

Again, I think few here would want to pay .25% each year for these services.

 

[wrichards58]

An article on Wealthfront:
Wealthfront Debuts Customized, Intelligent Online Investment Advisor For The Tech Community | TechCrunch

and another about another service of theirs: "tax loss harvesting":
Wealthfront’s New Service Helps the Tech Set Easily Dodge Taxes | Betabeat

Again, I think few here would want to pay .25% each year for these services.

so I was wondering what did tightasadrum do? did he pick an investment company

 

[comicbookgujy]

I was surprised to see him response to a review. LOL. Cracks me up.


Updated - 1/22/2013 Ken at Fisher responded to my review of Fisher Investments. I was with them for one year. I believe that is enough time to assess if a company is on the right track. Fisher Investments invites their clients to events during the year. We attended 4 such events and made a point of talking to as many investors as possible. Interestingly, not one person we spoke to was making any money with Fisher. In fact, one couple had been with them for 5 years and was still down nearly $25,000! They were waiting until they broke even before leaving Fisher...not a good idea in my opinion. Fisher does not even deserve one star, but I don't see where I can post 0.
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Comment from Ken S. of Fisher Investments 1/25/2013 « Hide

Susan,

We are sorry to hear you were so disappointed with our services. There is no question short-term volatility can be uncomfortable, and we appreciate that even temporary declines can be difficult to undergo. However, brief--and regular--corrections are a part of every normal bull market. Timing them perfectly is simply impossible, and trying to exit the market at every pullback is usually devastating to long-term returns and is simply not compatible with a long-term growth strategy. Experiencing a correction does not mean we are not paying attention to portfolios or are ignoring economic conditions. On the contrary, we spend a great deal of time and effort determining which events are likely to have market-moving power, and which are more likely to be noise that is soon forgotten. More often than not, remaining invested through a short-term pullback is the best strategy for staying on a path to long-term growth.

While we wish we would have had a longer time frame to help you achieve your goals, we appreciate and respect that this is your decision to make. After all, it's your money, you earned it, and you ultimately need to do what you feel is best. We wish you the best in your future endeavors and hope you find a strategy that is what you are looking for.

As for our fees, they're always charged exactly as outlined in our letter of agreement, and fully disclosed in each quarterly statement. You're welcome to contact us if you have any questions on fees that were assessed on your account, and we'll gladly do what we can to help.

- Fisher Investments

 

[tightasadrum]

so I was wondering what did tightasadrum do? did he pick an investment company

Well, since you asked:

I told the guy with Fisher in CA not to call me again until after December. I wanted to think about it and was way to busy to bother with it until late January.

Right on cue, I received his call near the end of January as expected. I'll admit he's got good telephone sales skills, very good at delivering a message for using Fisher, but without giving out a lot of ways to back it up in my opinion. He insisted that if I would only let his local guy visit once more, I would finally see the light. I declined.

The two main reasons: 1) the minimum $500K to play at their table, and 2) the management fee, of course. But mostly it was #1. I just felt that was too much to pass to just one entity to manage.

I explained that if I ever changed my mind, I'd contact him. So please don't [-]pester [/-] call me. I think he got the message. I hope so...Tight

 

[Lawrence of Suburbia]

Ken Fisher has a net worth of over $1 billion; I'd say he's very good at managing your money.

 

[mickeyd]

Has anyone had any experience with Fisher Investments?

I researched the firm years ago and I recall that they are housed in a beautiful facility that was paid for by past investors.

Nuf said.

 

[Bikerdude]

I researched the firm years ago and I recall that they are housed in a beautiful facility that was paid for by past investors.

Nuf said.

Reminds me of the quote: "Where are the customers Yachts?"

 

[brewer12345]

I researched the firm years ago and I recall that they are housed in a beautiful facility that was paid for by past investors.

Nuf said.

Heh, back when I used to visit the headquarters of life insurance companies regularly you could tell who was a better credit than the others most of the time simply by seeing how grandiose their building was. The fancier or bigger the HQ, the iffier they tended to be. Any company that had a stadium named after them generally was a also a good one to run away from.