Are You Getting Value For The Fees That You Pay?
In his column in yesterday's Globe Investor: "A novel way to react to advisor fee shock", Rob Carrick suggests asking for more advice (to cover the cost).
I have a better solution: Forget the "old school" Investment or Financial Advice channel because more than likely they are just "middle-men" who will want to sell you mutual funds or a basket of ETF's (they all have embedded MER costs and it is not required by the regulators that these have to be revealed).
Instead look at the Private Client division of a portfolio management company (like High Rock) who does all the investing "in-house" and if and when ETF's are utilized, will show you exactly what that means to your total cost:
For example:
And make sure that there is a process and stewardship:
I have said it before and I will say it again (and again), you cannot have a proper portfolio strategy unless the portfolio manager(s) know your goals.
A good portfolio strategy needs to be tailored to your very specific needs and it has to be reviewed regularly on an on-going basis (at least semi-annually) to ensure that you are on the path to your targeted goals.
There has to be a reason that you are invested in the assets that you are invested in. The buy and hold, one size fits all type of portfolio is easy to achieve without advice at all. Save yourself the 85 basis points (or more) of the middle-man Investment / Financial Advisor and buy a basket of ETF's.
If you want to get the index average return, buy a global equity index ETF and a bond index ETF and voila, you have a "balanced", buy and hold portfolio".
If you want real portfolio management, turn to a real portfolio manager and get what you pay for.
Feedback...
If you would like to receive this blog directly into your inbox...
No comments:
Post a Comment