Claris encourages our clients to think critically about their investments and their investment plan. After all, shouldn’t all investors have a solid understanding of how their financial lives are being managed? Answering the following questions will help you better understand and evaluate your investment advisor and the inner-workings of your wealth management plan.
Evaluating Your Advisor
- Is my advisor legally bound to place my interests ahead of their own (a fiduciary standard of care)?
- How much am I paying my advisor? My investment provider? Who else am I paying?
- Do I feel that I receive solid value for the fees that I pay?
- Does my advisor have access to a dedicated fixed income desk? What is the mark-up on my bonds?
- Does my advisor follow the tenants of Modern Portfolio Theory?
- What steps are taken to minimize the impact of taxes on my portfolio?
- Does my advisor invest his/her own money the same way they invest mine
- When the market faced its last severe decline (fall of 2007 through the spring of 2009) what did my advisor and I do about it?
Evaluating Your Investment Plan
- Net of fees, what are my investment returns? How do these compare to a benchmark? Is this acceptable?
- Do I have an Investment Policy Statement (IPS)? Do I have a separate IPS for my fixed income portfolio?
- What kind of credit and term risk am I exposed to in my fixed income portfolio?
- Am I invested in particular investments because of someone’s hunch or because of scientific proof that a particular strategy works?
- How much risk am I really taking?
- Am I comfortable with the level of risk that I am taking?
- Is my portfolio truly diversified?
- What is the likelihood (an actual percentage) that I will exhaust my assets in my lifetime?
- How are low interest rates impacting my portfolio?
Are you ready to understand, invest, and relax?
Please contact Scott Iverson,CFP®, ChFC, CEBS, CRPS at 314-655-5573 or siverson@claris-advisors.com
