How to pick a good financial adviser?

[chesebert]

What are the criteria I can use to judge whether a financial adviser is 1) trustworthy 2) knows what he/she is talking about and 3) cares about my goals and tailors his/her advice to my goals?

What are the risks associated with an adviser who is not the money manager and I am not privy to the specifics of the securities bought or sold, and can only set parameters within which the money manager is suppose to operate?

What's a reasonable fee to pay for a fully managed portfolio?

What are some good firms from from which I can pick a good financial adviser? (any ones I should avoid period?)

NOTE: I cannot (don't ask why) invest in any individual U.S. or foreign equity securities, and I have specific goals I need to accomplish (other than make as much money as possible) with the money; so I don't need advice wrt DIY. And this is not a retirement account (I am DIYing my retirement stuff and doing just fine)

THX

 

[darcyb62]

1st of all you want someone you can trust. 2nd you want to know how they manage money. I would look for somebody that has a model that is applied consistently across a broad spectrum of clients and has demonstrated success with that model. I would avoid a financial advisor that wants to actively move your assets as that will cost you over the long term. (ps. I work on the IT side for an institutional money manager)

 

[Benaiir]

I'd say steer away from reviews. I can say that Madoff is the best broker in the world, and she turned my 10K savings into 211K in just 3 months... But he didn't

 

[axion]

Why would you got to a financial adviser if you're somewhat competent in regards to this stuff? (as demonstrated by handling your own retirement stuff)

I'd say skip the financial planner and put money in some index funds (incredibly generic advice..), especially since most active money managers fail to beat the index and even fewer beat the index when accounting for fees.

But if you're (for some reason) set on getting someone else to do it, trustworthiness and care for your goals could be evaluated by getting info from friends who have fiancial planners, they'll hopefully not recommend someone who is neither of those two things. And knowing what they're talking about comes from seeing a history of long-term and consistent results.