2. Do you get commissions for selling a particular offering vs another?
3. What exactly is your experience?
You can bet most will not respond truthfully to the above questions. Most, if not all, of them are somehow commissioned (directly or indirectly) to "sell" you certain products.
So, buyer beware (caveat emptor) applies - Be VERY careful when going with these guys. They do not have a crystal ball, neither do you.
Re: Financial Advisors are really Salesmen, not advisors..
by R Swaminathan on Aug 03, 2009 07:35 AM
Dear Mr. vader Do you do any work without remuneration.Like any other profession the financial planner also needs to be remunerated.Till now it was being taken care of by the entry load which got paid to the advisor.In fact most investors demand a kick-back out of this commission.now that entry load is off you may pay a fees to the advisor and knowing our culture people want free service. Regarding the right advisor,inspite of all planning the equity based investments are market based hence the investor mindset of accepting this is crucial. what u need to look at is the set of parameters mentioned earlier and have an experience/sincere advisor and ensure that he tells you all the ramnifications of a particular investment. It is ur choice and once u learn the basics of investments u may be on your own and save the fees just as u can save medical consultation once u know how to treat yourrself without a doctor
The following may be checked before chooding a financial planner; 1)Is he qualfied. 2)does he give enough time to understand your needs 3)Is he focussed on a wholistic view of your investments or he is interested in selling specific products without any planned startegy in keeping with your longterm objectives. 4)does he have the maturity and experince or a is he just a front line salesman impreesiing upon you to invest in a product i.e.does he tell you the 'why' or he is interested only in the 'where' to invest. 5)Like a good doctor who nowadays explains the ailement and treatment thereof in a laymens language ,a financial planner is a finacial doctor who need to be at your beck and call. 6)Unlike medicine,finance is comparatively easy understand and hence in the company of a good financial planner the invetsor must be able to understand the basics and nuances of investment prodcucts.A good financial planner will encourage and educate the investor. I say it with my experience as a financial advisor that if you take pains to educate the investor it is easier to make them accept the risk-return uhilosaphy of investments and the investor can be retained on a long term basis.
Re: right financial planner
by DarthVader on Aug 02, 2009 09:13 PM
what proportion of your ilk (financial planners) are really salesmen in disguise? Do you have an idea?
I took a 16-year LIC policy 3 years ago. The premium I pay is 30241 anually ,and the risk ciovrage is just 5 lakhs.Later I came to know there were much better policies offering risk coverage of 10-11 lakhs for a premium of 10-12000 anually. I took the policy in a hurry as I had to save tax, but over all, Investing in that policy was a loosing proposition. These agents dont give the correct information.They suggest the policies in which they get more commission and not the ones which are actually suitable for you.Even if I close that policy , I will get a very meager return now.Its like I am trapped.
Re: Good article
by DarthVader on Aug 02, 2009 09:17 PM
They are in it for their commissions, not your well being. It is too bad that you have had to learn this lesson the hard way, hopefully you will not repeat the same errors again.
Big advice about financial planners!!! The truth is there are very few in India. None in smaller cities. I have not found one in last five years in my city.
Re: Re: Very few of them exist
by DarthVader on Aug 02, 2009 09:15 PM
What exactly is "certification"? Who gave you that certificate? How did you obtain it? Does this require you to have fiduciary responsibility to the customer (like a lawyer or a doctor) - meaning you can be sued for negligence?
If not, then your certification is just a marketing tool and a sales gimmick and means nothing.
Re: Re: Re: Very few of them exist
by Prasanna Choudhary on Aug 03, 2009 04:13 PM
If you have got sufficient evidence regarding the entire process of consultation then there should not be a problem in dragging the culprit to the court, regardless of the certifications the person is holding. I do not understand, why you are so against the Financial Planners? every one is doing their own job this is a free country and if you want to give some thing better to your client and then it should be always welcomed. It should be a good thing instead of nagging people you should offer them better solutions so that people can take benefit of your knowledge.
