“Woke” in the Financial Industry.
Look, let’s get real as they say in this “woke” environment, it seems that we continue to redefine the meaning of words where evil is good and good is evil. This is now taking place in the Financial Markets, where we see words like the judiciary, asset allocation, institutional investing, and diversification take on all new definitions or are given more emphasis than they had just 10 to 15 years ago.
Hello, my name is Dave Duley, a 40-year veteran of the financial markets and Lead Advisor for Georgia Advisory Group, in Alpharetta, GA.
We hear these phrases like “Do business with me,” and “I’m a fiduciary,” we see them in commercials, and we push them as if they’re some new concept or somehow, in the 21st century, have taken on some added value or weighted meaning. Since the 16th century, that word has meant the same today as it did 500 years ago. holding something in trust or entrusted confidence and pledging to act in the beneficiary’s best interests, yet we use it as a selling point to say, “Hey, I passed an exam, which means I can be trusted more than someone else who is not.” It’s nonsense, Total nonsense !!
We have certified fiduciaries today. Judiciary advisors register fiduciaries, and it goes on and on. Am I to believe that an insurance guy or girl or a real estate agent is assumed to be crooked because they choose to be paid in commission instead of a fee? Does it matter if the agent or advisor is paid a commission or fee if it’s in the best interest of the client? This goes to redefine the meaning of the word “look.” It means what it means to put your client first and act accordingly.
Let me give you an example: if you bring in $100,000 this year and he charges a fee of, say, 1.5% annually, and your account gains 10% over the course of a year, you now have a $110,000 and your fee at 1.5% to your advisor is $1750, which seems fair right? But wait, the advisor made you $10,000; remember, you brought in $100,000 and you paid $1,750 of the $10,000 or 17.5% of your gains to them; does that 17% seem fair on your gains? What about the insurance representative that invested $100,000 in an annuity and was paid 5% commission? Is he or she not acting as a judge and charging you a third of what the fee-based advisor charges? The best interest is the best interest as long as it is disclosed before the transaction and understood by the client as being in their best interest based on the prevailing need of the client. Both are sound actions. I’m using examples to demonstrate my point that we shouldn’t push one or the other for the purpose of selling a service or demeaning the other.
If the representative’s goal is simply to collect assets and get more money under management in order to charge a fee, that’s wrong. On the other hand, if someone is selling a product regardless of how it benefits you in order to earn a commission, that’s also wrong. Nosey, you’re still in the market as a whole. Diversified meant holding money in the stock market, CDs, real estate, commodities, and a side business years ago; today it means holding a lot of different investments all tied to market risk versus completely different areas all together outside the market. Sound financial planning takes a team of experts in one location to walk you through your choices and options based on your specific family makeup. Your job is to ask the right questions, and that’s what we want to do: provide you with the questions to ask. Dealing with a local firm has a lot of advantages over dealing with a national firm because sitting face-to-face with someone who knows your exact situation and the changes that will take place over the next few years makes a difference.
Everyone you deal with in life should be a few this year to you and your family looking out for your best interests always now listen, I hope this video gave you some food for thought and helped you make better decisions when deciding what advisor to surround yourself with, click on the Subscribe button below. It won’t bite you, it just notifies you the next time I post graded information.
