The Prudent Investor Blog

3 Qualities to Look for in a Summerville Investment Advisor

Posted by Benjamin Coakley on Mon, Sep 10, 2012 @ 08:48 AM

We have been blessed to be part of a great community for the past 30 plusSummerville Investment Advisor years.  That community is Summerville, South Carolina.  We have seen this community transform from a small bed and breakfast town to a thriving city where people want to live.   To illustrate this, our team was eating dinner last week at a small restaurant in town and, I asked three people where they lived before Summerville.  The first said Chicago, the second said Pittsburgh, and the third said Seattle.  Boeing relocating a second 787 dreamliner assembly line to the Charleston area has only accelerated this.

This also means that this community is becoming more affluent and, many people moving here will need the assistance of an investment advisor.  The question we get asked most is what should I look for in an advisor.  We believe that the investment world is changing and investments need to change with it.  The following are three things to look for in a Summerville investment advisor.

  1. Fee based advice - the best advice you can get from an investment advisor is fee based.  Hidden commissions and kickbacks from mutual funds have plagued the industry for a long time.  Prudent investors are moving more and more money to fee based advisors every year and this is something you should consider as well when choosing and advisor.
  2. Belief that forecasting is impossible - Timing the market or picking and choosing stocks has academically been proven to reduce long term investment returns.  The best strategy for an investor is to buy a diversified portfolio across a mix of asset classes over a long period of time and to rebalance periodically when the asset classes become unbalanced.
  3. Experience - Having experience working with clients through both good times and bad times can be beneficial to you as an investor.  The advisors that can help you weather the financial storms is one that can help you be successful over a long period of time.

Choosing the right investment advisor can have a tremendously positive effect on your financial future.  The above three things are not an exclusive list to help you choose the right advisor, but they can help narrow down your choices.  The ultimate characteristic of an advisor that meets the above criteria that you should work with is trust.

 

Tags: summerville investment advisor, investing, summerville