Resources for Consumers

"What the American Consumer Expects" (February 5, 2009).

 

White Paper entitled "Fiduciary Matters."

Provided by the Zero Alpha Group, this paper offers guidelines while educating consumers about investment professionals who hold themselves to one of the highest standards of trust in the industry: that of a fiduciary.

 

FiduciaryNow's Financial Advisor Interview Guide

FiduciaryNow offers consumers this detailed guide on how to interview a financial advisor.  A list of questions which consumers can ask their financial advisors (and obtain from them written answers) is also provided, along with one registered investment adviser's answers to those questions for comparison purposes.

 

NASAA's Top 10 Traps Facing Investors

State securities regulators, with nearly 100 years of experience in protecting individual investors, highlight the "Top 10" traps for unwary investors today.

 

Cutting Through the Confusion

Produced by a coalition of consumer and industry organizations, this brochure explains the differences between brokers, investment advisers, and financial planners and identifies questions investors should ask themselves and potential providers before making a choice.

 

AARP's Financial Advisor Questionnaire

AARP has developed a questionnaire that ordinary investors can give to brokers, advisers or others in the investment business to help investors evaluate whether they can entrust their money to the person who fills it out.