One of the first places to seek transparency with investing is in the kind of relationship your advisor or broker has with you. There are two distinct standards of care that divide our industry:

• Suitability, which means your broker can sell you anything that they think is a reasonable fit for your situation, and
• Fiduciary, which indicates a relationship where your interests are placed above those of the advisor.

For a brief, entertaining look at the difference, watch this video: Butchers vs. Dietitians.

A recent editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discusses the topic, and highlights the conflicts of interest present not only for the advisors, but also for the politicians debating calls to impose the fiduciary standard on traditional brokers. To quote this editorial, “It would put some financial services advisers out of business. That’s OK. In fact, it’s good. The ones it puts out of business should go away and the ones that remain should be those who want to put their clients’ needs and desires above their own.”

At Hill Investment Group we believe all financial advisors should be held to a fiduciary standard and think the proposed changes are good news for investors.

Although wealthy families often find themselves buried in complexity, we work diligently to help them find transparency and simplify their financial lives.

Investment fees are often a mystery in the financial services industry, and we’re proud to take a different approach by reporting our advisory fees to clients on a quarterly invoice. It’s a welcome surprise to those converting from the traditional brokerage environment for the first time.

This recent article from Investment News details a lawsuit that alleges one family’s accounts were subjected to excessive trading that generated $40 million in fees. Some firms may never have any interest in fee transparency, but educated investors must know that they can find it elsewhere.