Where to Financial Advisor, the city's best firms/people are...?

[TheCat]

Please don't list insurance sales people.

[Jomar]

While I don't have firsthand experience with them, a close friend of mine who has experience as a financial planner told me the best firm he knew of in Jax, and the one he would have worked for if given the opportunity, is Trustwell Financial Advisors.  (www.trustwellfa.com)

The biggest difference between Trustwell and many/most financial advisors and planners is that they have a fee-only (not fee-based) structure, which means they're only compensated via flat or hourly fees for providing advice, not on commissions.  Not all fee-based (fee + commissions) or fully commissioned advisors are bad or give bad advice, but there's a built-in conflict of interest because they get paid more for recommending products with higher commissions or products that are provided by their employer, whether it's in your best interest or not, and they're not legally required to disclosed which products are which. 

Whoever you go with, I would recommend making fee-only a make-or-break criteria.  More info: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/102014/feeonly-financial-advisers-what-you-need-know.asp

[Snaketoz]

I must agree with sanmarcomatt.  I retired in 2001 just before 9/11.  My financial "guru" talked a big game, but that was until the economy tanked after the attacks.  He kept me in mutual funds, and left me parked there while my retirement account sunk everyday.  Nobody can predict the future.  Learn all you can, research, know what your risk tolerance is and do it yourself.  Look at Morningstar ratings, upfront costs and fees for mutual funds, and take charge of your own money.  Save the 1+ per cent that the middle man will take to do nothing but wait around for his cut.  On dividend stocks make sure the payout percentage isn't much over 50% to insure continued dividends.  Research, research, research.  Open an account with a discount brokerage and take it slow.  Do some test investing without risking you money.  You can do as well as Joe Blow the expert.  Just remember this.  You can't go by what happened yesterday to predict the future.  Don't buy at historic high prices.  All the info you need is free on the internet.  Yahoo, MSN, etc.  Good luck.

[mtraininjax]

Jacksonville Magazine or their 904 Magazine has become a haven for expensive ads by Financial Managers. Those would be a good start, along with the JBJ, or the Book of Lists down at the Library to get an idea of the top 50 in Jax.

[marty904]

The flat-fee approach makes sense and I used to feel the same way - most people are greedy by nature so if they can make more money for themselves by selling you more, then they will.  The key is finding professionals that are honest and great at their craft, then commission is okay with me.  Because if my brokers are making lots of money, that means I am making lots of money, and I am more than okay with that.

It's all about changing your mindset on paying commissions.  Most people have no problem paying a server at a restaurant 15-25%, even when they get bad or just so-so service but then feel negatively about paying their real estate broker 3-7% for selling something for you.  You're okay with paying a high commission to an expense (meal cost) but you're not okay with paying good commission to someone that makes you money.

Forget the stigma of "commission-based will rip me off" and go interview brokers/planners that are professionals and have track records.  More importantly, try to find out what investments they personally have/make and if you can, find a broker/planner that invests in the same types of investments that you are considering - that way you have someone that loves the same kind of thing you do and have something to talk about.  Keep you expenses low, build your assets, and pay your brokers, planners, lawyers and accountants well.

[DrQue]

I advise you to seek out a financial planner more so than a financial adviser. Pay the planner a fee to put a road-map together and handle the investment decisions yourself to save on commissions and annual fees that eat into long term returns. Since you inevitably cannot beat the market, investing in index funds is a simple, low cost way to accomplish investment objectives.

"Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it." - Albert Einstein

[Jomar]

I advise you to seek out a financial planner more so than a financial adviser. Pay the planner a fee to put a road-map together and handle the investment decisions yourself to save on commissions and annual fees that eat into long term returns. Since you inevitably cannot beat the market, investing in index funds is a simple, low cost way to accomplish investment objectives.

I completely agree, and I wouldn't dispute sanmarcomatt or Snaketoz's perspectives either.  As much as possible, develop the skills to manage your financial life and investments on your own and you'll save a boatload in costs and fees over the long run.  I think the biggest need most people have isn't picking out specific products to invest in (low cost index funds - done.), but taking a big picture look at their entire financial situation beyond just investments and creating a long-term plan to get where they want to be.  That, as you said DrQue, is where a financial planner creates value.

[finehoe]

[finehoe]

Timeline choices gets about a D but 1974 gets an A+.

If  more people would spend less on housing/automobiles and more on 1974, we would probably get 80% less finehoe posts about income levels

LOL.

I agree some of those choices are a bit odd.  I think the robo-advisor services at the end is an interesting development that may be pertinent to this thread's discussion.

[marty904]

sanmarcomatt,

I pay an advisor 1% for the accounts he manages.  If the accounts goes up, his fee goes up.   If I lose money, his fee goes down.  Yeah sure I wish I was paying nothing, but I'm sure this is the type of arrangement marty is referring to

Yes, precisely.  And you nailed it in your previous post as well - there are some dishonest brokers (of each flavor), whether a stock broker, real estate broker, etc. My point was that if you take the time to interview brokers and do your own homework to get a good one, they are well worth their (relatively) small commission. Sure, I could sell my own real estate but having a great broker to do it for me is two fold - not only do I not have to do the ton of work it takes to sell a property but because I am making my broker money, they are bringing me really good deals that are pre-vetted by a pro.  So to me, it is a "win/win".

@sanmarcomatt - that's just it - I have thought about it and put this proven concept to work!

[ProjectMaximus]

There's been a 4-6% commission on every home purchase or sale I've been involve in.  Talk about an industry that just jams themselves into a transaction while adding little to no value.  The freaking contracts are boiler plate and written by some broker association anyways. 

Hoping Zillow or somebody really upends these folks to make their fees competitive in todays worlds- probably already discussed or in the works, but if Zillow or the like could pay some body $12/hour to go open houses and get a closing procedure down hopefully residential real estate fees get in line with investment brokers

Obviously Redfin and a few others are attempting to disrupt the traditional model. Some agents do structure their business in a flat-fee pay-what-you-use model. But a lot of clients don't like that either.

You must consider if you would pay a realtor ~$50/hour for their actual work. And then pay for their expenses as well. Whether or not you actually end up closing, you owe this money. If you're willing to do this, then great! There are more and more agents willing to work this way. But for some reason most clients still prefer to pay nothing until they purchase or their house sells.

[ProjectMaximus]

hmm...you can get licensed and certified in a weekend perhaps (that's a bit of a stretch though for even the highest performing individuals) but you can also choose to be far more qualified than that. There are a lot of equally high paying jobs that don't even require that weekend certification to legally perform.

There are indeed a lot of disruptive possibilities in the industry, and hopefully sooner rather than later the consumers will realize those benefits. But I'm also trying to be fair and balance out your viewpoint.

[Jomar]

John Oliver must have been stalking this thread, because he just did a great segment two days ago on retirement plans, brokers and financial advisors that came to some of the same conclusions.

https://youtu.be/gvZSpET11ZY

[Gunnar]

Here is some interesting data as it finds 84% of Active Fund Managers UNDERperforming over 5 years. Generally, the longer the time frame the worse it gets for a rather highly compensated group. I wonder where that compensation comes from?


http://us.spindices.com/spiva/#/reports

From the people whose money is invested in the funds.

But maybe it was a rhetorical question 

[Hellosolifornia]

Financial consulting firms are generally staffed by thousands of highly qualified individuals from the University of Texas.  Some of them have deep, foreign accents and says phrases such as, "Eh, Donn-be-lame",that deter smaller US clients away.  I personally think financial consulting firms are better than Turbo Tax, Quickbooks and the like, but I suppose there can be a need for those as well.  In summary, I think you should go with a tier 1 outsourcing firm like Infosys or Yahoo.