Someone Calm me Down , Fidelity

[Breedlove]

Is the managed account the problem are they losers ? I don’t know .

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Car-Guy Been there, done that. That's exactingly what I tell them, and it works.... I think I have you by about 4 years. Been with them ~42 years now...

That's pretty long. We were both there when Chuck was a young guy and answered the phone once in a while.

[Car-Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 That's pretty long. We were both there when Chuck was a young guy and answered the phone once in a while.

I'm not sure if I ever talked to Chuck/Charles (maybe) but I do recall the early days when the brokers fees were high enough that I had to calculate them in my break even cost on every trade I made. (Of course a few hundred dollars was a big trade for me back then) And everything was done on the phone either via touchtone or by talking to a trader. All confirmations, correspondences, statements, were VIA snail mail. One thing I can say over all the years, they have always had the best customer services. Very few problems..

[njhowie]

When I moved the big money over to Fidelity and first met with my local advisor, we discussed what I/we wanted from him. He understood that I did not need hand holding, and I did not need/want him for any financial advice. We have a very good relationship. If I need anything, I drop him an email and he takes care of it immediately. Could be informational, could be needing a direct contact in support or fixed income, could be facilitating a new account opening that needs to be done in person, whatever. If needed, he makes himself available at my convenience to meet in the office.

I send him a $25 or $50 Amazon gift card every year as a token of my/our appreciation. We get much more than that out of the relationship and have been very happy with the level of service he's given us over the years.

[rodi]

I have misc accounts at Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard... Most of the money is at Schwab - but HSA and a small IRA (100k...) are at Fidelity, and kids 529's and DH's IRA are at Vanguard. My schwab person knows I'm DYI - but also knows to toss me 'client activities' periodically. I've been offered golf outings (declined) but enjoyed the cooking class they offered a few years ago. Fidelity and Vanguard ignore me... That's just fine.

[kgtest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 Maybe if they sent you a fruit basket? That would be better than those annoying calls. One of my friends is with Ameriprise (I know) and he gets a dozen Titleist Pro V1's each year

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides The alternative is they tell you to sell and buy other things - which would be a bad idea. If they said sit tight and wait, well, they said the same as a lot of smart folks here.

I work at an investment management firm and heard a staggering statistic that 97% of day trader's lose money. I think they also said something like "a staggering amount of investors are selling at the worst time ever." and "over 80% of investment bankers are beat by the markets"

Stay the course.

[kgtest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckydude My question is what exactly are you expecting from them? Tell you to adjust your AA, or buy more, or that everything is going to be okay and you just need to hold? DM has a managed account with Fidelity and that's pretty much what she gets from her Fido adviser. That, and she gets annual free museum/attraction passes, which she then gives to me to use. A lot of these reps are no more than glorified salesmen (although I'm sure there are some good ones---don't want to denigrate the entire company), and they have as much clue about where the market is headed as you and me, which is to say they have no clue. As long as they are not making endless recommendations to churn your accounts, I would say that you're already way ahead of the game.

Yepp, wannabe white-collared salesman. They last as long as the car salesman.

[luckydude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckydude My question is what exactly are you expecting from them? Tell you to adjust your AA, or buy more, or that everything is going to be okay and you just need to hold? DM has a managed account with Fidelity and that's pretty much what she gets from her Fido adviser. That, and she gets annual free museum/attraction passes, which she then gives to me to use. A lot of these reps are no more than glorified salesmen (although I'm sure there are some good ones---don't want to denigrate the entire company), and they have as much clue about where the market is headed as you and me, which is to say they have no clue. As long as they are not making endless recommendations to churn your accounts, I would say that you're already way ahead of the game.

LOL... I just remember DM's managed account is with Chase and not Fido. Sorry... Please ignore my post.

[Born2Fish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead I am eligible for a rep based on account size, but I always refuse the offer. I love Fidelity for their bond tools and how they leave me alone.

Same here.

[foxfirev5]

Last week my local Fido salesperson called to check in with me. He mentioned the market turmoil which I assumed was a segue into a sales pitch. I mentioned I was unware of any turmoil. He evidently then looked at my account and stated that very conservative portfolio had it's own risks. All he could see was my IRA which is comprised of about 80 CD's / T Bills / STRIPS and TIPS with 5 Dividend ETF's. I then took about 5 minutes explaining my LMP plan for the next 20 years.

I concluded by informing him that this was about half our holdings with the next biggest chunk in broad index equity funds at Vanguard. I did throw him a bone that I would be willing to rollover these accounts to Fido but there would have to be a substantial bonus.

At this point I think he was worn out. He thanked me for my time and asked that I keep them in mind. Nice talk.

[eytonxav]

I am a diy investor and really cannot relate to all this advisor angst. Fidelity has one of the best websites for people like me if not the best. I do have a Fidelity Advisor due to my account size, and she is quite a knowledgeable CFA, but I only use her when I have a question on something and she does not bug me.

[mrfeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breedlove Is anyone else out there had it with Fidelity . I have had Fidelity for 30 years . I meet with my advisor twice a year and another guy calls me 4 times a year. The guy that calls me 4 times a year always asks . Do you have any plans to take money out of your managed account . ? The other guy just says well you look good everything is on track. I feel like they can do more as right now I am down a lot . What do y’all think .

Everybody is down a lot, because bonds and equities are down a lot.

What exactly to you expect them to do ?

[Golden sunsets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrfeh Everybody is down a lot, because bonds and equities are down a lot. What exactly to you expect them to do ?

That was my thought as well.

Sent from my SM-T510 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

[big-papa]

I manage my own portfolio at Fidelity. Not sure why anybody who has a managed account would expect them to do better, unless they were a perfect market timer. Plenty of data out there that shows how futile that is in the long run. Speaking of the long run, most of us are down. This is what the market does sometimes.

Yeah I have an advisor assigned to me. The 3rd one since I've been at Fidelity for over 30+ years. When a new one comes on board, they reach out and ask for a meeting. I ignore the emails and they stop. They also call, but we never answer the phone anyway. They leave a couple of voicemail messages then they stop.

End of story. Deleting emails and ignoring phonecalls isn't so big a burden for us. Plenty of other things of substance to be aggravated by these days. :-)

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrfeh Everybody is down a lot, because bonds and equities are down a lot. What exactly to you expect them to do ?

I've sat in a couple of pitches for Fidelity's managed accounts. They certainly gave the impression they had all the answers. I know that's not true but they gave people the impression they would protect assets.

[FLSUnFIRE]

As someone that doesn't hate Vanguard (but not a fan of the new interfaces), this thread warms my heart. LOL I have a Fidelity account and am less than impressed with their web/app and had issues opening my account but not particularly unhappy with them either.

[mrfeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLSUnFIRE As someone that doesn't hate Vanguard (but not a fan of the new interfaces), this thread warms my heart. LOL I have a Fidelity account and am less than impressed with their web/app and had issues opening my account but not particularly unhappy with them either.

This thread really has nothing to do with Fidelity, but rather is about unrealistic expectations.

[Calpurnia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freedom56 Fidelity advisors are sales people and by no means financial experts. It amazes me how little these advisors know about financial accounting and economics.

My assigned rep (who I’ve never actually spoken to) has a college degree in…wait for it…marketing!

[CRLLS]

My 1st Fido rep was amazingly good help. My 2nd fido rep was just OK. My current rep doesn't want to talk to me. When I had any specific issue, he didn't know the answer. His assistant is the one I get when I call him now. All that is okay too. I am a DIYer. There is not much that they can tell/sell me. I seem to get better and more accurate info if I call the Fidelity Private Client Group telephone number. I see now that my rep's name is no longer on my monthly statements. Go figure.

[Another Reader]

I think I had someone assigned to my Fidelity account until a year or two ago. Now all they seem to offer is fee based wealth management at various levels. Otherwise, call a number or use the virtual assistant for your needs. Did I miss something?