Are You Getting Hosed?

If you’re like lots of Americans, at some point a securities broker sold you a bunch of mutual fund or annuity products. He or she made a lot of money, and they called a few times in the first year. Since then, you haven’t heard from them in ages.  Sound familiar?  Unfortunately, this is all too common in the financial services industry.  It’s time to ask yourself:

“Am I getting Hosed?”

You most likely have no clue what the broker is earning or what you are really paying for your investments.  It’s not that your broker/advisor is a bad person – there is just an inherent lack of transparency in the process.

What these brokers are doing has been “the norm” for decades. However, in a rapidly advancing industry, these brokers are afraid of the new standard, the F Word…

At HeartStone Advisors, we work in a fiduciary capacity for our clients. Fiduciaries have a legal obligation to put the interests of our clients first! We receive no commission from the sales of products. We are simply paid an annual percentage (generally well below 1%) to help manage your assets. Because we’re paid by you (the client) and not a mutual fund company, we are able to be independent and objective, analyzing tens of thousands of options for the ones that suit you best. Better yet, we have to prove we are serving you best through continual monitoring and reporting of our investment selection.

Nullum Gratuitum Prandium is a Latin phrase meaning, “there is no free lunch.” Every investment professional has a right to get paid; however, we feel this payment should be done in a clear, concise manner. If you can’t easily tell someone how much you’re paying for investment services, chances are your investment advisor is not an F word. (Well. At least not the F Word we’re talking about.)