Harmful People: How Full Service Brokers Are Paid to Hurt You
They Are Salespeople, Not Portfolio Managers
A long time ago in places far away from the stock exchange, brokers were
needed by anyone wanting to buy any stock. Since deregulation of the industry,
and especially since financial platforms were put on the web, anyone can buy and
sell stocks, bonds and almost every other type of security with a mere click on
a computer.
Succinctly put,
if you invest through David Lerner, Edward Jones, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney, UBS, or
any of the other "full service, full price" brokers, you are being ripped off.
You have access to shiny reports, colorful screens, and a seemingly empathetic
representative. Unfortunately, you are paying top dollar sales commissions while not
getting a scintilla of added value. Brokers, by definition, get paid for
transactions. Most of these firms have set up means to smooth out and even
exaggerate commissions via schemes like wrap accounts and certain mutual fund
platforms. Brokers are paid to get you into these. They are not paid to serve
you. Whether they go by the title financial consultant, advisor, whatever,
the brokers at the full service firms have one goal ? get your assets into their
institution. Once in, the fees and commissions hit hard and then the
salesperson's job is to
keep you. They are paid handsomely to do so, and you are the one paying them.
How
Can Help
gives you the power to shed all the heavy fees imposed by the major brokers. You
can double your return on bonds and increase your equity returns by 30% or more by
simply moving your assets from a "full service" firm to a discount brokerage.
Meanwhile
can provide the support you sought from your rep in a completely
unbiased fashion whenever you want it. Without wrap fees,
commissions, or pressure of any kind,
brings to you the reports,
projections, and financial info you might expect from the top brokers.
also demonstrates how much you can save, or hopefully are already saving, by avoiding full-service brokers.