Written by: Dennis McNamara

In a recent Wall Street Journal article , Andrea Fuller recounts her experience of searching for the fees that she is paying for her financial advisor and investments – the advisor is an employee of one of the largest financial advisory companies. What Andrea did not expect is that this hunt would require a steadfastness and rigor similar to that of Indiana Jones searching for the Holy Grail.

The first place that Andrea looked to find her fees was in her monthly statements. No luck. Next, she explored the company website. Again, no dice. She then spoke with various customer service representatives who were unhelpful and opaque. Ultimately, Andrea spoke with an advisor who shared that her total combined fee (advisory fee + fund expenses) was 1.4% of assets under management. This advisor has yet to provide any documents to her that show these fees in writing.

Does a 1.4% fee sound high? It should. With many “financial advisory” firms, the scope of their work is limited to investments or insurance (i.e. the products they sell!). A 2016 white paper from Personal Capital concluded that average fees for these “financial advisory” firms ranged from 1.07% to 1.98%. This then begs the questions: Are the investment and insurance products that these firms sell superior to other options out there? The answer: Absolutely not. Simply put, the employees of these firms are highly paid salespeople that rely on the ignorance of the general public.

How do you know if your advisor is taking advantage of you? Request the he or she agree, in writing, to disclose all conflicts of interest and to always act solely in your best interest. If they can’t agree to this, consider shopping around for a fee-only advisor that can.