The vast majority of the financial services industry does not have your best interests at heart. It is more concerned about the money it makes, not the returns investors receive. Read on to hear what an agent himself has to say—it may shock you.
When you work in the brokerage, financial planning and insurance industries, it is all about sales. The training, the incentives and the pay structure are all designed to motivate the advisor to SELL. Their success in the industry is not based on how well their clients do, but on how much commission is generated.
I’m not against people making money. The workman is worthy of his wages. The problem is that it’s the individual investor who turns to the industry for help that ends up paying the price. Investors need to be skeptical and cynical when dealing with an advisor—especially one that is paid on commission. Reading actual quotes from an advisor’s email I received will give you an insider’s look into the industry.
The financial industry attracts those that are good at selling and want to make a lot of money. This advisor who emailed me calls himself “very aggressive” and a “grey haired 34-year old hustler.” “I’m a natural sales whiz and have found this biz very easy to succeed in. I’ve never made less than $200,000 in commissions [per year] since entering the biz 4 years ago.” Believe it or not, he was saying these things trying to impress me!
Here are his comments about Equity-Indexed Annuities (EIAs)—an investment that I have been warning investors about for over a year. “I have only been selling EIAs because I am not full of [investment] options.” In other words, it is one of the only ‘investments’ he can offer.
“I am more than happy to get $50,000 [invested by a client] all day long at 10% commission.” The agent makes $5,000 a pop. What’s the client make? Who cares! He goes on, “I realize there is a better way for …my clients.”
“Have I thought EIAs may not be as great as other alternatives? YES. [his emphasis] Obviously, if I get 12% commission it comes from somewhere and it’s not the carrier.”
The clients of this ‘advisor’ don’t realize his true motivation. They expect him to be knowledgeable and have access to a broad range of products, but he isn’t and he doesn’t.
How does this affect you? This could be the advisor that you are talking to! This could be the advisor that was such a great speaker at that free seminar you attended. This could be someone you thought was a financial genius when in reality all that he/she has done is learned a good sales pitch!
Most advisors aren’t as open about their motivations as this one was. Some advisors sincerely believe that equity-indexed annuities are a great investment. Only God knows how much their opinion stems from the outlandish commissions they’ll receive.
Not all advisors are like this. There are some that are willing to take a stand and do what is in the client’s best interest even when it means the advisor will make less money. They realize they can’t accomplish this working within a commission-based compensation structure.
They’ve left the big brokerage firms and work for themselves. This gives them freedom and control over the recommendations they make because their job security isn’t based on meeting sales production requirements. These advisors are paid a fee for their services instead of a commission.
By the way, it takes a fee-based advisor 7-10 years to make what the commission-based advisor makes off an investor in 10 minutes. The only way the fee-based advisor can do that is by keeping YOU satisfied. If you aren’t then you won’t continue to use his/her services. If commission-based brokers’ compensation was tied to their performance most of them would go hungry!
In the next article I will share an email I received from another advisor. You’ll be surprised at what he did to satisfy his conscience! I’ll also provide a list of questions that you should ask any advisor you are working with that will decrease your chances of being an easy ‘mark’ for a financial salesperson.
Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner® Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question – FREE at http://www.guardingyourwealth.com
Have a financial question? I’ll personally answer it. Go to www.guardingyourwealth.com and click on ‘Ask Jeff’.
In addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist and Certified Financial Planning Practitioner, Mr. Voudrie provides personal, private money management services to clients nationwide.