Your Investments Have Ratings
So Should Your Financial Advisor
Are You Working With A Properly Qualified Financial Advisor?
How Do You Know?
When choosing a financial advisor you should research, ask questions and rely upon a consistent due diligence process.
Yet most investors do not have the time nor know what to ask when interviewing advisors or how to evaluate the differences among them. They may be swayed by less objective information which may have nothing to do with the experience, credentials, ethics or business practices of an advisor or his team.
While “chemistry” is important when establishing a trusted advisor relationship, you shouldn’t rely simply on a dazzling personality, office environment or a company brand name.
Why is Selecting a Quality Advisor so Difficult?
They will never acknowledge it, but financial services companies go to great lengths to make selecting an advisor or planner a risky, difficult process. They have three ways of hiding information that would make it easier for you to select a high quality advisor:
- Advisors don’t have track records
- Advisors don’t have mandatory disclosure requirements
- Advisors don’t provide public data that’s accessible to investors
Choosing a Financial Advisor or Planner
Consumers should use a consistent process like the one suggested by the Financial Planning Association or the “10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Planner” by the CFP Board of Standards.
The nation’s premier organization of Fee-Only, Fiduciary financial advisors is the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. They offer the Pursuit of a Financial Advisor Field Guide, a consumer resource that helps prepare for your search, outlines questions to ask and how to evaluate advisors.
In addition to this you can use the help of independent adviser rating services which have checked and verified the objective information put out there by an advisor. These include verifying education, professional credentials, business licenses and practices, ethics and consumer complaints, insurance and bonding.
Click here for Rating Services
Definition of Financial Advisor
“Financial Advisor” Is A Generic Term And Does Not Require Education. It is an Unregulated Term and often there is No Licensing for those who hold themselves out as Financial Advisors or Financial Planners.
There Are More Than One HUNDRED Financial Certifications and Designations? Many Are Marketing Ploys Used To Mislead Investors. Proper Licensing Is Incredibly Important, Yet Many “Advisors” Have One License And Sell One “Product”. Does That Sound Like Financial Advice Or Financial Product Sales?
We understand that it is highly stressful to try to decide on who you can trust for advice or for help managing your money. This is why we believe in having a full, open and honest discussion with each prospective client and we have voluntarily submitted for review and verification all advisor background information to two independent rating services.
AdvisorRating.com and Paladin Registry Rate and Verify Advisors, So That You Know Who Is Handling Your Money or Giving You Financial Planning Advice. These services check and verify Financial Advisor Credentials using a 125 Point Check List to Determine Their “Star Rating.”
And our principal, Steve Stanganelli, has voluntarily become a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, the only fee-only financial planning organization that requires peer-review and extensive continuing education in order to gain and maintain membership.
Click here for Star Rating Checklist
There Are Hundreds of Thousands of Financial Advisors. Is Yours Properly Qualified?
If you’re dealing with Clear View Wealth Advisors and Steve Stanganelli, you know they are.
