Primo Numero Uno wrote:
Advisors are highly overrated. The finance industry has very marginal talent and most of them have been trained in fake economics so they really don't understand the economy. You can see with hedge fudge managers no one consistently outperforms the market. It really is a hot hand industry where someone will do great for a few years then stink for the next few. The other thing you have to understand is they are pushing investments on you that bring in money to their firms or gain them commissions. There are very few financial advisors who are worth anything and even good ones cannot predict short term results but understand long term results.
You look at someone like Warren Buffet. He admits he has no idea where a stock will be a month from now but over the years he will do well. The only ones who can predict short term results on individual stocks have insider information or are part of groups pushing speculative money into an asset to drive up its value and dump it for a profit before it collapses.
There are three different categories of Financial Advisors: Series 6, Series 65 at life insurance companies; Series 7 & Series 66 (some gals & guys have a tough time with series 66, so series 63 & series 65), N.Y.S.E. firms; Series & Series 66, N.A.S.D. firms.
Poster, do you have over $100,000 in assets outside of 401-K or 403-B or 457 account(s)? If so, walk into a few N.Y.S.E. firms, ask for Broker of the Day, and get a review. A review will include a Psychological Questionnaire. Said questionnaire is more detailed than asking a prospect their risk tolerance. Back in the 1990s, we used to simply ask prospects their risk tolerance. Vanguard does not do that for you.
The most efficient way to manage bond portfolio for clients with greater than one million at investment firms, are actual bonds, not bond indices or bond mutual funds. Financial advisors at insurance companies and Financial Advisors at investment firms possess life insurance license. Either Whole Life or Term make sense for many citizens. Full service firms offer Initial Public Offerings and Primary Offerings. Vanguard have neither.
Poster, you are turning the conversation back to stock picking. At N.Y.S.E. firms these days they want ex-pro athletes, ex-top end auto salespersons and ex-jewelry salespersons as F.A.s. The industry no longer wants stock pickers. The industry wants portfolio managers, If the current F.A.s do not seem like they know as much as Day Traders doing Option Spreads & Option Straddles, it does not matter. There are men & women with master or PhD degree in economics or master or PhD in finance or master degree in accounting reviewing your portfolio. None of that occurs at Vanguard. At N.Y.S.E. firms, F.A. are not allowed to manage one-hundred million dollar plus accounts. F.A.s get a one time finders fee at that's it. N.Y.S.E. will pressure a young and inexperienced F.A. to allow corporate to manage accounts greater than twenty-five million. Gone are the days of a young Bud Fox catching a Whale and ruining the account. Heck, there is subtle pressure to allow corporate to manage accounts greater than 1/4 million at N.Y.S.E. firms.
