[VIDEO] What is an Independent Registered Investment Advisor?

What exactly does it mean when you hear the phrase independent registered investment advisor? Well, let’s dig in. When it comes to financial planning and making decisions on who to help you with your financial future, investors are often faced with many options. I feel one of the most important decisions is to figure out what firm to work with to and throughout retirement. A good place to start is by getting together with an independent registered investment advisor. And here’s why.

An independent investment advisor is just that…independent. Independent advisors are not tied to any particular investment company or products and have the ability to help evaluate the strengths and weaknesses from a world of financial products, from many different financial institutions. They have the freedom to shop around and choose from a wide range of investment options in order to customize their advice, based on what’s ultimately best for the client.

Many independent financial planning firms are not owned by a bank, insurance company, or brokerage firm, so they are often free to hit the marketplace and find solutions that are in the best interest of the client, without the corporate structure and constraints dictating what to recommend. Now, while many advisors claim to be independent, in my experience, if they are employed by one of those large companies, a lot of times you are going to be offered products from that particular company or their affiliated partners. This doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t looking out for you, or their company’s products are bad, it may just mean they don’t have ability to search high and low for the best comparable products for you. In my experience, the advice you’ll get from an independent advisor should be objective and conflict-free in nature since, they typically do not have sales quotas or proprietary products to push. The client needs are always first and at the center of everything the independent financial advisor does.

Another reason you may want to seek out an independent registered investment advisor is because they are often held to the fiduciary standard. That means they are legally obligated to put their clients’ best interest first, ahead of their own and held to the highest standard when it comes to financial advice – isn’t that the way it should be? That’s not to say that all financial advisors aren’t looking out for their client’s best interest, however, as mentioned before, they might be limited in their access to financial solutions that could be a better fit for the client’s overall situation. Once again, that doesn’t necessarily mean the product is bad, it just may not be the best solution for you.

Deciding where to go for financial advice can be a very difficult decision. And while there are many great advisors out there, I encourage to spend some time seeking out an independent investment advisor to see if it could be the right fit for you. I think you’ll be glad you did.

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