"The investment advisory business just doesn't inspire confidence," Jonathan Clements
wrote recently in The Wall Street Journal.
The well-regarded columnist went on to say that the industry does have some great
investment advisers, but the problem is that the public has difficulty differentiating the
great from the rest.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a number of investment advisers and financial planners
began to make the transition from commission-based to "fee only" compensation. So
important was the basis of fee-only compensation to their practice that a group of
financial planners in 1983 established the National Association of Personal Financial
Advisors in Arlington Heights, Ill., to further the movement.
The time may be ripe for a parallel movement to evolve - the "fiduciary only" adviser -
the investment adviser who works with clients only on a fiduciary basis. Every client of
the adviser is provided the same standard of care - a fiduciary standard - whether the
client is a retail investor or a 401(k) plan sponsor."
I encourage you to follow the link and finish reading this piece by Donald Trone. I've been practicing as a Fiduciary Only advisor since I started Meridian Wealth Management in 2001.
Do you know what a Fiduciary is? Is your advisor a Fiduciary? Will he or she put in writing signed by their principal (manager) that they are a Fiduciary? If not, its time you made a change.
Scott Dauenhauer, CFP, MSFP
