Caveat Emptor. Buyer beware.
If someone’s job title contains the word “Advisor,” you would think they’d be required to give you good advice. Or at least advice they BELIEVE is good advice.
It’s so obvious everyone assume that’s how it works.
It doesn’t.
If your “Financial Advisor” works for a large Wall St firm or insurance company – Wells Fargo Advisors, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Ameriprise, Northwestern Mutual, AXA, etc. – he is NOT legally required to advise you in your best interest.
Let’s say Mutual Fund XYZ sucks. And your “financial advisor” knows it. But XYZ pays a big, fat commission that will help him win a company sales contest. So your “advisor” recommends you buy it anyways. That’s totally okay in the eyes of the law.
Caveat emptor. It’s up to YOU to figure out that it sucks and he’s trying to win a sales contest.
Good luck!
The Dept of Labor tried to change this. They created the Fiduciary Rule which would require “advisors” at big brokerage & insurance companies to act like independent financial planners who are legally required to put their clients’ interests above their own.
It was supposed to become law last year. Then it was delayed. And last week it all but died. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decided investors should fend for themselves.
Buyer beware.
Only fiduciary financial planners are legally required to put your interests above their own. And only fiduciary financial planners are required to file a form called an “ADV Part 2” with the SEC each year.
So if you don’t want to figure out if XYZ is great or your guy is trying to win his sales contest, just ask to see their ADV Part 2. If he doesn’t have one, move on.
Here’s mine.
