Never Incomplete Data (with clients you care about)

According to Fiserv Inc.’s annual survey of financial advisors, ninety-five percent of financial advisors said their clients are asking them for advice on “held-away” assets, which are defined as accounts not actively managed by an advisor or custodian affiliated with the advisor’s financial institution.

Seventy-eight percent of advisors said they do not have access to an aggregated view of their clients’ overall financial picture.

Yet, these advisors are being called to advise with respect to the held-away assets.  And then most of them do it.

This highlights a broken industry. No matter how much money a family has, any advice based on incomplete information is never sound advice.  And those who give it shouldn’t do it.

Would you ever build a house without a complete blueprint of the home you’re building?  Would you ever build a home and not put in the windows.  This survey is pointing to the regularity of this happening in the financial services business.  It must stop.

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