Tuesday, 16 June 2009 00:00
Good article from smartmoney.com about vetting your financial advisor:
1. “I got this gig on a whim.”
There’s a huge market of consumers out there desperately seeking financial guidance—especially in the wake of the 2008 market crash. And a wealth of advisers are eager to serve them. In the early 1990s, only about 25,000 people called themselves financial planners, according to Boston-based research firm Dalbar, but by 2006 that number had climbed to around 650,000. Part of the reason for the boom is that anyone can present themselves as a financial planner—one of several generic titles for someone who provides advice to clients about how best to handle their money. (As opposed to money managers, for example, who actually manage your accounts.) And since there’s no required training or experience necessary, why not hang out a shingle and tap into the profit?
