Brokers vs. Fiduciaries

man in building

Stock broker. Investment Advisor. Financial Advisor. Financial Consultant. Investment Consultant. All titles sound impressive, yet how do their responsibilities differ?

All too often, investors contact their investment professional under the assumption that they are receiving advice that is in their best interest. How is one to know? Are you being sold a product or being provided with unbiased advice? The first step is to employ a financial professional whose interests are aligned with your own.

Here is an analogy…

On Friday Mike went to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse for dinner and had a great New York strip.

On Saturday Mike had a barbeque at his house and cooked up some Filet Mignon.

On Sunday Mike and his family went to his relatives and had a gorgeous prime rib.

Monday Mike had a business lunch at The Keg and the steak sandwich was terrific.

We know what you are thinking…..Mike is going to drop dead from a heart attack after eating all of this red meat; this is not a balanced diet. Mike had eaten food from four different places, with different suppliers, but from one food group. Your diagnosis is correct — this is not a balanced diet and if sustained, will have a detrimental effect on his body’s performance.

Much like your diet, your investment portfolio must be balanced or diversified! All too often we see people attempt to diversify their portfolio by using different financial institutions to manage their money. This practice is the equivalent of eating steak at three different restaurants to balance or diversify your diet. Similar to the restaurants, balance or diversification is not achieved by employing different institutions, but instead by varying what your money is invested in.

Using different institutions to provide diversification is actually counter-intuitive. One institution will not necessarily be aware of what the other is doing. Consequently, your portfolio could be overweight in the same position or geographic region. This is not diversification.

Mike loves his meat, that’s for sure, but he knows he needs more than just meat to stay healthy. The attached link is to a video that accurately describes what a true advisor provides his/her clients.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg5RRMAc1GY[/youtube]

The McClelland Financial Group takes charge of your financial diet rather than focus on a specific product. We believe employing an advisor, whose interests are aligned with yours, is the first step in leading a balanced financial life. Don’t attempt to diversify by employing different sales people only interested in selling you the “great”; “innovative”; “hot”; company product at that time. The McClelland Financial Group, is committed to being a true financial advisor providing unbiased, independent advice.

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