The Emperor Has No Clothes

The investment industrial complex does not want you to know how to evaluate its members. If it did you would have easy access to the following data:

1. Each investment advisor would establish a target rate of return that could be measured against in future years.
2. Each investment advisor’s portfolio would be compared to several reasonable benchmarks to test if the risk/return relationship that the investor experienced was in the right zip code.
3. Each investment advisor would provide their clients a  clear, written fee agreement.
4. Each investment advisor would disclose in writing all potential conflicts of interest.
5. Each investment advisor would provide a performance report that is understandable and supports the client in knowing how the advisor was doing compared to agreed upon key performance indicators.

But you don’t have easy access to this data. The investment industrial complex does not require its members to provide this level of disclosure to its clients.  So it’s on you to figure out how to monitor your investment advisor because the industry has no incentive to teach you how.

Following is a link to a short video on how to test if your emperor is wearing clothes.