All advice is not the same...

Although many professionals call themselves "advisors" or "financial planners", only Certified Financial Planner professionals have completed extensive training and are held to the highest ethical and educational standards. CFP professionals understand the complexities of the changing financial climate and are committed to make financial planning recommendations in your best interest. No matter where you are in life, you'll find confidence in working with a CFP professional to evaluate your finances and develop a comprehensive plan for your financial future. Is your current advisory team qualified to give you the advice you deserve?  There are 10 questions your current or any potential adviser should be able to answer for you.

Are you a fiduciary?

Fiduciaries work in the best interest of the client, period. Non-fiduciaries need only recommend products that are deemed “suitable.” If the advisor makes more money for recommending some products over others, they are not a fiduciary, and the potential exists for conflicts of interest. A fiduciary responsibility encourages relationship-building and a sense of responsibility to the client.

How do you get paid?

The financial industry is this weird meld of commission and hourly, and percentage of assets. In addition to acting in a fiduciary capacity, your advisor should be fee-based so that he or she is working for you. Fee-based asset managers have little incentive to "sell you" on any particular product, thus your advisor has access to a myriad of financial instruments that will work best for your situation.  

What are my all-in costs?

In addition to paying the advisor, you’ll face other fees, and you’ll want to know what they are. Fees in the absence of value are a drag on your portfolio over the long term. A large part of our investment management process involves considering and limiting your costs...

What services are included?

Consider what you’re looking for. Then make sure the planner aligns with your needs. For example, do you want holistic financial planning services, including tax and retirement planning, or are you looking for an advisor whose main focus is managing your investment portfolio? Asbury Wealth Partners offers financial planning and investment management services in a concierge, service oriented atmosphere. 

How will our relationship work?

Put another way: How much access will you have to the advisor? You want to know how often you’ll meet and whether he’s available for phone calls or emails outside of scheduled appointments. Asbury Wealth Partners is committed to delivering a full-service experience. Through our partnership with LPL Financial Corporation, we maintain access to over 2000 investment and market professionals and state-of-the-art technology solutions to better serve you.

What’s your investment philosophy?

It’s important to ensure your advisor has an investment philosophy that is in-line with yours.  You have to believe in what they’re doing to stick with it thru market cycles.  When financial advisors really earn their keep is when the market is down and they can coach you back to the plan, so you don’t sell at the bottom of a market cycle.

What asset allocation will you use?

You've heard how important it is to be diversified to both limit risk and take advantage of opportunities. Your asset allocation is how you create a diversified portfolio. Your individual risk tolerance should dictate a custom-tailored asset allocation. You should not be in a cookie-cutter model portfolio that does not take your individual or famili’s needs into account.

Who is your custodian?

Ideally, your financial advisor has hired an independent custodian, such as a brokerage, to hold your investments, rather than act as his or her own custodian — à la Bernie Madoff, the notorious financial advisor who defrauded clients through a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. This provides an important safety check. Asbury Wealth Partners custodians client assets with LPL Financial Corporation, the largest independent broker-dealer in the United States with over 15,000 financial advisors. 

What investment benchmarks do you use?

Advisors should use benchmarks that directly relate to what they’re invested in, or be able to explain why they don’t. Some managers will use a “straw-man benchmark”. For example, the advisor says: “My goal is to beat the Standard & Poor’s 500.” But if that advisor is investing in a diversified portfolio — including, say, bonds, emerging markets and small-cap stocks — beyond simply large-cap U.S. companies, that benchmark is a mismatch.

What tax hit do I face if I invest with you?

Asking this question is a way of ensuring the advisor has your tax bill in mind when making financial decisions on your behalf. Many brokers and advisors do a great job of selecting investments for clients that will target a specified risk tolerance or target return but forget to take the tax bill into account. As financial planners, we ask the questions and learn about each client’s finances first, and invest assets accordingly.

Finally, don’t forget that you’re paying for someone to clarify your financial life, not make it more confusing. If an advisor makes you feel dumb, walk away. Make the planner or advisor answer every question you have.