That is exactly what the financial industry wants us to believe. That we need a professional to manage our portfolio. I don't mind paying someone to do that but I expect the manager to do much better than the market. By that I don't mean that my portfolio is down 39% when the market is down 40%. I expect a manger to protect my capital and at the same time outperform the market. Modern portfolio theory doesn't do that. I need a stock picker and a market timer. Not many out there. Wish there was I would pay for that.
Nobody can give you absolute positive returns under all market regimes. When the market is down big, I'll bet even Jim Simmons is down big. There are plenty of managers who have positive returns, even market beating returns, year after year.
First off, you're asking a money manager to do something that isn't their profession. You don't go to a car mechanic and ask them to give you a hip replacement because they work on mechanical things. What you're asking a money manager to do simply isn't their job, no matter how much you seem to think it should be. Their job, as I clearly stated, isn't aimed at you. It is aimed at a bunch of people who aren't like you, as hard as it is for you to conceive of such a thing. For those without the time, interest, or inclination to plan asset allocation and ensure they don't have excessive concentration in something like their employer's stock, an asset manager is invaluable. That's not "something they want you to believe", it's simply true. Again for them, not for you, and again not everyone is you or me. A far bigger problem, though, is that you're looking for a unicorn in a leprechaun forest and while there may be a couple lurking about they know what they're worth and not only can't you afford to pay but they most certainly don't want to work with the likes of you and the $50k you have to invest. And as I said before, they call them hedge fund managers or if you're in mid 8 figures or higher you can set up a family office. By the way, by definition the financial industry as a whole can't "do better than the market", because they are the market! Some segment of them can do better while some segment does worse, but as a whole the market participants have to average out to the market's returns. That's fundamental and inescapable math. So it's nothing short of idiotic to criticize the entire financial industry of worthlessness because on average they produce returns that are the average returns of all their investments!
Why do you think a professional can do better than you? Why because they have magical training or went to special school for it? How many stock pickers were hired out of college as analysts or with a useless MBA that they are now applying to guess future earnings and stock directions in the future? Stock pickers are often no better than monkeys throwing darts so why not grab a few books and learn how to do the research yourself to understand market cycles, sector rotation, reading earnings reports, reading other analysts, etc.. There is no magic formula they have from some special school only 1% was accepted to. Go to the bookstore and there are plenty of ways to make you just as good as those monkeys who every day have to come up with more shit to push.
I don't think they can. But they give the impression that they can and demand a fee for that service. No I think the training they get probably keeps their performance close to average. To get whatever certification they have they have to give the same answers as everyone else. I don't know. That's what I have done. Developed my own system that has out performed the market since the 2001 tech wreck. I'm getting old and demented and would like to find a portfolio manager to look after my portfolio for my wife when I can no longer manage myself. I couldn't agree more. What I want is someone to manage risk. Diversification doesn't do it for me. I want superior returns and capital protection. I don't want to ride the market up and down; I want to ride it up and sit on the sidelines during the down. I have managed to accomplish that on my own but I haven't found a money manager that is willing to do that. They have all been trained that it can't be done.
Well congratulations then, you're better than the top 1% of financial professionals. Or you've been through one downturn and lucked out or you don't have audited returns and can make up whatever shit you want. Seriously, if you're really that good then there's no need for you to hire a money manager or waste your time here. And if you're an anti-intellectual smack talker then put up or shut up; bragging about improbable performance while complaining that you can't find someone to provide you improbable performance in the real world isn't going to get you much. Not sure what you're trying to prove?
Look, research a bunch of ETFs and diversify them into your portfolio. At your age you dont want a risk portfolio anyway. OR just go to one of the big house names at Wells Fargo or Bank of America and have them manage it. You want superior returns and capital protection....don't we all. Diversification at your age is your best bet. Anything else....then you open to risk.
I know what money managers do. Charging a 1 to 2% fee annually to allocate assets in a cookie cutter plan is a rip-off in my opinion. I know that a lot of people are satisfied with that because they don't want to take the responsibility. They don't mind losing money as long as they can blame someone else. You are making assumptions about me that are not correct. So lets call it the wealth management industry. We won't include the institutions like the insurance compamies and investment banks. If I'm going to pay someone to babysit my portfolio I would hope that they would out perform the index's and protect my capital. And you are right. I'm not looking for a wealth manage I'm looking for a portfolio mnager.