The Pledge Most Advisors Won’t Sign!

The Pledge Most Advisors Won’t Sign!

Is your advisor a true advisor who is legally bound to put your best interests first or is your advisor a broker/sales rep who is selling you product you may or may not need?

Your lifestyle in retirement may hinge on your advisor signing this document!

Advisor Pledge

As of 2/3/17, it looks like President Trump may delay or significantly water down the new Fiduciary rule (scheduled to go into effect in 2018 or delayed???) that would require brokers and advisors to put clients interest first for retirement accounts (IRA’s and 401k’s).

Don’t wait for this new rule.  Take action NOW!  Protect your hard earned money!

Many investors don’t understand the relationship they have with their advisor.  They don’t understand how much they pay their advisor and how much they pay in total investing fees each year.  Many of these investors are shocked they are paying $5k, $10 or $25k+ in yearly fees (above 2% in total fees – commissions, expense ratios, 12b-1 fees, management fees).  Do you have high expense funds in your portfolio?  Do you have A shares, B shares or C shares?  Do you have non-traded REITs?  Have you been sold expensive insurance products that pay high commissions?  Are you paying your Advisor over .6% per year?

Here is a simple way to quickly find out.  Copy and paste the below to an email and send it to your advisor.  Warning: If you are using a broker from Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wells Fargo or Ameriprise, according to the Bloomberg article below, they are trying to fight the fiduciary standard.  They don’t want to be a fiduciary for their clients.  Most investors are shocked to find out that their advisor won’t sign the below pledge.  Your Advisor may tell you that you don’t need it and of course they have your best interest at heart.  This is wrong and you need this pledge!  Times have changed over the last 5 to 10 years.  You deserve to work with an Advisor who is legally bound to put your interests first!

You deserve to have a low-cost advisor who is a fiduciary for you 100% of the time.  Give the extra money to your kids or charity or spend it!  Depending on the scope of services, our fees are 0.6% on the first $1 million and our fees decline above $1 million.  This is a tremendous value for our clients.

When we look back at the retirement crisis in 15 or 20 years, we will wonder why we let so many brokers sell clients expensive products at high commissions.  You, your family and your friends deserve to have your hard earned money working with someone who is a fiduciary for you 100% of the time.  Take action today!  Don’t wait for the Government to try to save your retirement.

  • There is more than $14 trillion invested in IRA’s and 401k’s.
  • Wall Street has already spent more than five years lobbying against the fiduciary standard so their sales reps can keep selling product to investors.
  • Insurance Reps are not held to a fiduciary standard because they are governed by each state’s Insurance Commissioner.  Their products are not investments, they are insurance products.
  • A fee-based advisor is NOT the same as a fee-only advisor.  Fee-based advisor means that sometimes the advisor is a fiduciary for you and sometimes, they are selling you product.  In my opinion, way too many investors work with a fee-based advisor and they think they are working with a fee-only advisor.  This can be very dangerous and expensive.

I strongly encourage you to find out if your advisor is a fiduciary for you 100% of the time. If not, you should understand the below.
Quote:

“Your Advisor/Broker/Insurance Agent is not a fiduciary. Therefore, they are not required to act in your best interests, and are allowed to recommend investments that may earn higher fees for themselves or their firm, even if those investments may not have the best combination of fees, risks, and expected returns for you. They have no obligation to put your interest first. They must only do what is suitable for someone your age”

————————Send this to your Advisor ——————————————————————————-

To my Advisor,

Given the current volatility of stock and bond markets, I wanted to make sure that I understand the foundation of our relationship.  I have worked hard for my retirement savings and I want to make sure that my investments are aligned with my best interests and my goals.

Please answer the following:

  1. Are you currently a fiduciary for me 100% of the time?
  2. How do you and your firm get paid for my account?  Please list all sources.
  3. Do you receive any other soft dollar compensation, awards, trips, meals or other items from vendors or products in my portfolio?
  4. What were my total fees for 2018, 2017,2016, 2015, 2014 & 2013 for my accounts?  Please break out by Advisor fees, mutual fund expenses, 12b-1 fees, commissions, other fees.
  5. What percent of my portfolio has commission products and 12b-1 fees?  Mutual funds with A, B or C shares, UIT’s, closed-end funds, non-traded REITs, insurance products?

Will you sign and agree to the following?

  • I will be a fiduciary for you 100% of the time for all of your accounts
  • I shall always act in good faith, with prudence and with candor.
  • I shall always put the client’s best interest first.
  • I shall be proactive in my disclosure of any conflicts of interest that may impact you.
  • I will provide to each client full and fair disclosure of all important facts, including full transparency of how we are paid by the client or other financial companies.
  • I shall not accept any referral fees or compensation that is contingent upon the purchase or sale of a financial product.  No commissions or revenue sharing.
  • I shall disclose my advisor fee, any commissions, all operating expenses and any trailing advisor fees or 12b-1 fees.

FIDUCIARY DEFINITION: A person legally appointed and authorized to hold assets in trust for another person. The fiduciary manages the assets for the benefit of the other person, rather than for his or her own profit. (source: Investopedia.com) USAGE: A registered investment advisor, who is held to a “fiduciary standard of care”, looks after the assets of another person on that person’s behalf, is fully transparent, and required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest

_____________________________  Name of Advisor (print)

_____________________________  Signature of Advisor

_____________________________ Date

Some investors don’t want to send the above to their advisor.   If you have a portfolio over $500k and would like a free 2nd opinion about your portfolio, we can answer many of the questions for you.  Then, you can make an informed decision about your investments.

At Integrity Investment Advisors, we are a low-cost, fee-only advisor firm and we are a fiduciary for you 100% of the time (we agree to the above pledge).  If you have a portfolio over $500k and would like a free second opinion about your strategy and your portfolio, give us a call or Click here to subscribe to my blog  or email us. 

If your current advisor won’t agree to the Fiduciary Oath above, give us a call….. we will.  303-549-4720 — Call us today.

Huffington Post – Your ‘Wealth Advisor’ Probably Isn’t One

Huffington Post – Non-Disclosure Is Harming Your Returns

The Document You Should Insist That Your Adviser Sign – WSJ

Wall Street Gears up as White House Pushes Retirement Fund Rules — via Bloomberg 1/30/15

We are a Fiduciary for our clients

Morgan Stanley Exec: “No way we let fiduciary standard happen…”

Whitepaper — Major Investor Losses Due to Conflicted advice: Brokerage Industry Advertising Creates the Illusion of a Fiduciary Duty

Please Remember: Past performance may not be indicative of future results.  Moreover, no current or prospective investor should assume that future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product made reference to directly or indirectly in any general informational materials or educational sessions, will be profitable or equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s).  Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment will either be suitable or profitable for an investor’s retirement portfolio.  Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this website serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Integrity Investment Advisors, LLC. To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing.

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Subscribe To OurBlog!We help Clients retire without getting killed in taxes!

Sign up for our blog to get timely and valuable information about the markets. Free checklists!  Your retirement will thank you!

You have successfully subscribed. Thank you! Here are some free resources - Video - A note from your future self - https://youtu.be/HKMYTLyhOGU 5 Free Checklists That May Save You Thousands – Really! Countless people need help in these areas. Checklists include: end of year tax planning, funding a child's college education, caring for aging parents, items to consider before you retire, critical documents to keep on file. Please like & share with family & friends. You can download the PDFs for free. https://www.integrityia.com/5-free-checklists-that-may-save-you-thousands-really/

Todd Moerman - Integrity Investment Advisors

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