I'm amazed by the upsurge in investment advisors in my neighborhood. I receive many solicitations from them to the finest restaurants, and the number is increasing every day. I could be eating out every night off these people, if I wanted to put up with a 2-hr spiel to get a filet mignon or lobster. I'll bet there are people doing just that.
The spike happened in 2008. Many of my friends got into the business then. That is when most of the public said f*ck it, I'm not managing my money anymore. The next big event that happened was the industry moving to a flat fee structure. That removed the agency risk that is embedded in the business. And finally you have the explosion of actively managed ETF's where advisors now can allocate money much more efficiently then before. All these things created a boom. And why are people becoming advisors? Because all my friends doing it now are making more money then most doctors and lawyers.
I had an investment advisor recently send me a tiffany style box with 100 crisp singles in it. He gave me a 100 dollars with a one page letter explaining who he is. This is clearly a good financial advisor!
I'm a financial adviser , one thing i regret is trading my own money , never get high on your own supply
I have met some women who are doing very well at it with female clients. Although it seemed interesting to me at first, I later realized (having spent years practicing medicine) that it would probably just be another career consisting of giving advice to people who won't follow it. Unsatisfying.
They don't give advice anymore. That's the old days. They just put them into managed products. No more phone calls or office visits.
Timing is perfect. Anyone can be adviser today. Or as I say -don't confuse geniosity with a bull market. Specially playing with someone else's money. It's like a job of a weatherman on CA tv. All you need to know is a one word- to describe upcoming weather -NICE!
Actually no, not quite true. In fact, it's kind of the opposite. First of all, it was the crash that created the boom, not the bull market. In fact, it's usually bull markets that hurt the industry "because" every Tom, Dick and Harry think the market is easy. Why pay a fee when all you have to do is get long. No, most advisors are notoriously conservative and under perform the market because their number one goal is not making you rich, it's protecting their asset base since THAT is what they get paid on, not performance. A good buddy of mine that has about 100 million in assets really took off when in 2008 he had most his clients in cash. They never lost a dime. People like the fact that advisors now have no incentive to over trade or make risky bets since they don't profit from that, they profit from protecting your capital.