Financial advisors are one of the best hires for a company. They push your products and only get about 40% of the commission. Most have to be only on commission, and have them prospect all day, every day. I have known a zillion of them. Most don't care about the markets, and gave up predicting. they sell in-house models, and just keep saying to me, "who cares, nobody knows." this is comical. most want to do the best for the customer, but they don't really care when they leave the office. they are not dumb, they either do, or are told, to push mutual funds that kick back a nice payment. A shares, or whatever. then they get more money from the fund if they push more. i've never met a broker smarter than a trader. never. i've never met a broker smarter than a fund manager. never. the best are the life coaches and CFM or something who say they do it all....
yeah. i've seen brokers only really speculate on 1-3 accounts. 1,000 share minimum, 10,000 if the guy have tens of millions. and those accounts are great, and then they are gone. one guy traded his account without telling him. got lucky and the SEC didn't get involved, but he closed his account. AUM is very key.
"... 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!..." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back in my days as an RIA, that would have been illegal.... suspect it still is.
Actually there is a gift allowance. I think it might actually be a $100 limit. Not sure if it can actually be money or if it has to be an actual gift.
Well well well : why not pass his details to as many people as possible. Spread abundance in all its forms.
It wasn't a merril lynch type firm. While the firms website looked respectable it could have actually been a boiler room. In my day the rule was 100 max per year and it had to be a gift that coincided with a standard holiday or event (like a wedding or child's birth). If it had the firms logo, it didn't apply to the limit. Firms took it seriously. I went to a Kanye concert and had box seats. The sales woman said she wanted to buy us those slotted glasses he wears and compliance nixed the idea (even though they were two dollars a piece). Inter dealer brokers on the other hand violated the rules all the time.