There’s a financial guru out there who many wealth advisors to high-net-worth individuals and families in Canada regard as an astute source of financial news and analysis. His name is Michael Kitces, whose opinions expressed on his website Nerd’s Eye View can be extremely critical—though all-too-often right about many financial and investment related subjects. The following is one such topic.
Can a Financial Advisor Give Your Investments an Edge?
An issue he put under the microscope with special care recently is contained in the following subject headline: Evaluating Financial Planning Strategies and Quantifying their Economic Impact.
In other words, he’s taken an analytical look at whether the advice you receive from an expert—let’s say, your credit union financial advisor—is likely to improve your investment performance over the long run. Does it?
The Answer is a Resounding ‘Yes’
Mr. Kitces has published a 22-page document (which you can download here), packed with graphs and comparative evidence gleaned from multiple authoritative sources. The bottom-line conclusion is portrayed in the following chart:
According to his analysis, and as highlighted by this chart, a competent financial advisor can potentially add 1.59% to over 3% a year to investment performance.
At Everything Retirement, we frequently field questions about the real value of credit union financial advisors and, more specifically, what such a financial advisor can help you achieve. This data is a great reminder that expert advice can lead to a stronger financial future and the retirement lifestyle you envision. But, there’s more.
We Looked to Canadian Securities Administrators for Guidance
To find a balanced answer to the question, and to some others which that question implies, we turned to the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) for guidance. Here’s what they say a financial advisor can help you do:
- Set your goals
- Build a plan
- Choose suitable investments
- Track your progress
- Adjust your plan, when needed
CSA also adds:
You can look to an adviser for answers to your questions about investment products and strategies. An adviser can also act as a sounding board for your ideas and keep you motivated to stay with your plan.
No financial advisor can predict the performance of the markets with certainty, recommend investments that are always profitable or help those with unrealistic goals or expectations of profit. However, there’s little doubt that a competent financial advisor can make a significant difference to investment performance compared with what most individuals can achieve alone.
If you haven’t already enlisted the services of a financial advisor, consider connecting with one of Everything Retirement’s credit union partners (Coastal Community Credit Union, Coastal Community Private Wealth Group, and Interior Savings) – then you’ll see for yourself how they can help your finances succeed.
