Helping you learn how to select financial advisors to get BETTER FINANCIAL ADVICE
AdvisorSmart® Research
Asking the Right Questions about Financial Advice
"I keep six honest serving-men. They taught me all I knew.
Their names are: WHY, HOW, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHO."
The purpose of AdvisorSmart® research is to systematically investigate and gather information about the field of financial advice, with the aim of answering questions, solving problems, or advancing knowledge. AdvisorSmart® aims to use evidence-based research to identify trends or patterns, gather information for investor decision-making and to evaluate the effectiveness of government regulation and policies.
The objectives of AdvisorSmart® research include:
- To explore and describe in greater detail the field of financial advice in the United States.
- To identify patterns or trends in financial advice which can provide insights into investor behavior and to the businesses that provide financial advice.
- To inform policy decisions and improve public policy.
- To improve existing knowledge and fill gaps in the current understanding of the field of financial advice in the United States.
Our goal is to advance the understanding of the field of financial advice and to contribute to the development of new ideas that can be used to improve financial advice for both individual and institutional investors in the United States.
AdvisorSmart® Research
Legal Fiduciary Relationships
Our AdvisorSmart® research is focused on strategies that help the investors to get better financial advice. One of main focal points is to identify financial advisory firms that embrace and provide a legal fiduciary relationship with the customer. Look for the AdvisorSmart® badge.
Question for a Financial Advisor
At AdvisorSmart®, we are working to help investors get better financial advice. It seems that financial advisors may call themselves “fiduciaries” for marketing purposes, but many financial professionals working for banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies are reluctant to make this promise to the client in writing. How can the consumer identify a financial advisor willing to provide a comprehensive legal fiduciary relationship? We recommend that the consumer ask this question:
Will your firm offer all your clients a written promise to serve in a legal fiduciary relationship to always act in the best interest of all your clients with all your advice?
If you do not get an unequivocal YES to this question, you should continue your search for a new financial advisor. If you currently have a financial advisor, ask your financial advisor this same question—and if you don’t get a YES answer, ask your current financial advisor: Why not?
Fiduciary Financial Advisor Promise
Confused consumers have been taken advantage of by financial product salesmen for a long time and we feel that there is an opportunity for all of us to be more exact in our language to help the consumer to get better financial advice. To make it easier for the consumer, we also recommend that financial advisors who are able and willing should provide a comprehensive legal fiduciary relationship and provide evidence of this status in their marketing materials and on their website with the following statement:
Our firm offers all our clients a written promise to serve in a legal fiduciary relationship to always act in the best interest of all our clients with all our advice.