Values & Fit
- Am I confident that they have my best interests in mind?
- Do they understand and respect my aspirations and risk tolerance?
- Who will I be dealing with on a daily basis? Am I comfortable with this person?
- How frequently will we be meeting?
- How involved do I want to be and are they in agreement on this?
- Do I feel good about being associated with this firm?
Qualifications
- What is the background and experience of the personnel? What credentials have they earned?
- Can they provide me with referrals from clients that have needs similar to mine?
- What is the level and extent of financial planning provided?
- Do I need other services and do they provide them (estate planning, insurance, tax planning, banking, credit, etc.)?
Compensation
- Are fees transparent and understandable?
- Is compensation “fee-only”, “fee-based”, or “commission-based”?
- Does their compensation align their interests with mine?
Business strategy
- Who owns the firm?
- How is the firm structured?
- Who are the decision makers?
- Are they going to be there for me over the long haul?
- What are the plans for succession?
Investment Approach
- Do they have a particular philosophy to investing and am I comfortable that it suits my needs?
- What specifically is their investment process?
- Is their approach well-articulated and proven?
- What process do they use to ensure that they understand my needs?
- What are the level of sophistication and resources of the investment team?
- Do they build their own solutions or do they partner with other firms to provide them?
- What is their service model?
Risks
- Where are my assets custodied? Are they segregated from the advisor?
- Is my advisor acting as a fiduciary?
- Will my relationship be discretionary or non-discretionary?
- How is my advisor regulated (SEC, FINRA, state)?
- Have there been any regulatory violations?
- Have any conflicts of interest been disclosed?
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