By MyPerfectFinancialAdvisor
Very often a woman’s intuition is spot-on, especially in these turbulent times of market drops, Coronavirus and economic uncertainty. When it comes to an advisor that has long given you an unsettling sense, your “sixth-sense” is likely correct. Most of the time, you know far more about your advisor than you give yourself credit for. While you might not be an expert in all things financial, if there are aspects of the advisory relationship that have been worrisome, then this may be time to take action on those little internal red-flags you have been sensing.
If any of the below points apply to you, it may be time to find an advisor more appropriate for you. This is especially true if your current advisor was selected by your husband or other relative, as you likely have been less prone to be critical of the advisor. Here are the “gut” check points to reflect on and if more than a couple apply to you, give thought to a finding a new advisor:
- He rarely looks you in the eyes and primarily addresses your spouse during meetings
- The questions you ask are either not answered, or the answers are not clear or not followed up upon if your advisor cannot answer them immediately
- More than 10 percent of your investment portfolio are either proprietary investments or from a related company, and your advisor does not provide independent research showing these are the best investments in their class
- He seems to use social connections or lifestyle similarities a little too much and too coincidentally, such as oddly enjoying the same affinity of a hobby
- When you ask how much money he makes from your accounts, his answer is not clear and concise
Many women are highly insecure about their knowledge of financial services and this includes their financial advisor. There are many reasons for this. Quite often the advisor was the advisor of their husband or father, and they just kept using him because of the relationship. The pre-existing relationship kept building and unfortunately the woman was not included in the process. In other cases, the advisor simply treats women differently, either through overt bias or ignorance.
Whatever the root cause of being treated differently, many women do see the red flags but are not confident enough to trust that gut and begin to take action. They often see these markers as a problem but cannot put their finger on exactly why they are issues.
The good news is there are many resources available to allow women to ask more pointed questions confidently and when ready, to actively search for a new advisor that is better suited to them.
www.MyPerfectFinancialAdvisor.com is the premier matchmaker between investors and advisors using personalized data, proprietary algorithms, and deep industry experience.
