REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
(With apologies in advance to any forum members who happen to be FA's... )
What “Financial Adviser” Means 95 Percent of the Time
"Want to guess how many people are called financial advisers? Cerulli Associates, a Boston firm that studies the financial services industry, recently put the number at nearly 250,000."
"Cerulli Associates says you can find people called financial advisers in six major places. Each place represents a channel of distribution. Here are the basic numbers:
That leaves about 13,000 registered investment advisers. In other words, of all the people who may call themselves financial advisers, about 5 percent are registered investment advisers alone.
This is an important fact. A registered investment adviser is the only person in this group who has a sworn fiduciary duty to put your interest first. The others provide what is deemed "suitable" investments. Micro print contract documents may even tell you that your interest and the interest of their firm may not always be the same."
What “Financial Adviser” Means 95 Percent of the Time
"Want to guess how many people are called financial advisers? Cerulli Associates, a Boston firm that studies the financial services industry, recently put the number at nearly 250,000."
"Cerulli Associates says you can find people called financial advisers in six major places. Each place represents a channel of distribution. Here are the basic numbers:
- National full-service brokerage. There are 69,000 advisers at national full-service brokerage firms such as Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney and UBS.
- Regional full-service brokerage. There are another 14,000 at the smaller regional brokerage firms such as RBC Dain Rauscher or Morgan Keegan.
- Independent broker/dealers. There are 98,000 at independent broker/dealers such as Raymond James Financial and Mutual Service Corp.
- Bank brokerage. There are nearly 16,000 at bank brokerage operations such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
- Insurance broker/dealers. Insurance broker/dealers add another 34,800 at firms like AXA advisors, NYLIFE Securities and Mass Mutual Investor Services.
That leaves about 13,000 registered investment advisers. In other words, of all the people who may call themselves financial advisers, about 5 percent are registered investment advisers alone.
This is an important fact. A registered investment adviser is the only person in this group who has a sworn fiduciary duty to put your interest first. The others provide what is deemed "suitable" investments. Micro print contract documents may even tell you that your interest and the interest of their firm may not always be the same."