If you’re looking for the best financial advisor in Australia, you’re at the right place. What makes us worthy of your trust? Well, the the Wall Street Journal has a list of questions to ask your financial advisor.
As they say “The burden of finding an adviser who will act in your best interest is on you.”
Unfortunately, this is absolutely true. It’s left to the individual to navigate themselves towards a financial advisor who will act their best interest.
The easiest way you can do this is by ensuring your financial advisor is a fiduciary.
And the very first question the Wall Street Journal suggests you ask:
Are you always a fiduciary, and will you state that in writing?
For us that’s an easy answer, yes we are a fiduciary financial advisor. We are certified by CEFEX and audited on an annual basis. In Australia this is a rare occurrence, Mancell Financial Group are one of only six fiduciaries in the country.
As you can see, that narrows down the field of choice significantly.
Three other important questions the Wall Street Journal suggests you ask:
1. What is your investment philosophy?
Quite simply we follow an evidence based investment philosophy, based on the following:
- A belief in capital markets
- Risk and reward are related
- Diversification reduces Investment Risk
- Asset Allocation determines performance
- Maintaining discipline
These five principles ensure we keep taxes and costs lower for our clients and that there is no speculation with your money.
We also maintain a formal investment philosophy document.
2. Do you believe in technical analysis or market timing? (No.)
As the Wall Street Journal says, the answer to that question should be no. A financial advisor who considers themselves the best shouldn’t focus on either of these factors. Over the long term there is no value in attempting to find correct entry and exit points, primarily because the investor needs to be right not only once, but twice to successfully time the market. This ensures there will be higher trading costs and taxes incurred to the investor.
The market is an effective information-processing machine. Millions of market participants buy and sell securities every day, and the real-time information they bring helps set prices. This means competition is stiff, and trying to outguess market prices is difficult for anyone, even professional money managers. The annual SPIVA active vs passive report shows that most active managers fail to beat their benchmark. An advisor placing their clients’ money with these managers is highly irresponsible and we’d argue, not adhering to their clients’ best interests.
3. Do you believe you can beat the market? (No.)
Again, as the Wall Street Journal says, the answer to that question should be no.
While some advisors may belief in nonsense like “conviction-style management” they are cheating their clients, as there have been numerous examples of conviction managers blowing up their funds and taking their investors’ money down with them. Had they practiced a simple belief in index style management instead of believing they could continually beat the market their investors would be in a much better place. A an astute financial advisor doesn’t believe they can beat the market, nor do they place their clients’ funds in managers who believe they can beat the market.
A tiny number of Australia’s financial advisors have a fiduciary certification and have a strong investment philosophy with a focus on working with the market, instead of trying to outsmart it. Does that make us the best financial advisor in Australia, well here are a few more reasons.
This represents general information only. Before making any financial or investment decisions, we recommend you consult a financial planner to take into account your personal investment objectives, financial situation and individual needs.
