Who’s Watching the People Watching Your Money?

Minneapolis Firm Leads National Campaign To Protect Consumers

The economic crisis is forcing Americans to watch their money more closely than ever, but recent studies show the opposite. Nearly 49 percent of American consumers don’t trust financial advisors to work in their clients’ best interests.1 Further, brokerage documents’ legally required disclosures are often relegated to “fine print,” typically never read or understood.2

That’s why Minneapolis-based Wade Financial Group, Inc., (WFG) and The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) are leading a national public service effort aimed at educating Americans about the need for financial professionals to work on a fee-only basis while meeting fiduciary ‘client comes first’ standards.

At the 54th annual Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants (MNCPA) Convention (November 20-21 at the Minneapolis Convention Center), Jon Govin, WFG CPA, will emphasize the importance of helping clients locate and evaluate fee-only, fiduciary-driven financial advisors in the marketplace. Govin will speak at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, November 20. Mr. Govin also holds the designation of Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF).

WFG Chairman Jerry Wade built his firm in 1984 on the principle of acting in his clients’ best interests as fee-only Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs). Recent research confirms a clear need for such transparency:
Just 26 percent of investors know that only RIAs provide protection to act in investors’ best interests in all aspects of the relationship.
If those same investors knew that non-registered financial advisors weren’t required to act in their best interest in all areas, 70 percent wouldn’t use them.3
After learning about the protections provided by financial advisors who abide by fiduciary standards, 97 percent of Americans say they would seek an advisor who adheres to a fiduciary standard over one who doesn’t.4

To help consumers make educated decisions, WFG has written an educational paper, “Will the ‘Real’ Financial Advisor Please Stand Up? Why It’s Critical That You Know the Answer.” WFG is also making available to the public a questionnaire to see if their advisor passes the ‘client comes first’ fiduciary conduct standards. If you want the paper or the questionnaire, please contact Kay Strand at kay {at} wadefinancialgroup(.)com.

ABOUT WADE FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.

Based in Minneapolis, Wade Financial Group, Inc., is consistently identified in national rankings such as Worth Magazine’s “Top 100 Most Exclusive Financial Advisors in the U.S.,” and Wealth Manager Magazine’s “Top 300 Wealth Managers.” Wade Financial Group, Inc., offers comprehensive wealth management and patent-pending investment advisory services, and will launch its first mutual fund in the fall of 2008. For more information, please visit www.wadefinancialgroup.com.

ABOUT NAPFA

With more than 2,000 members since being founded in 1983, The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is the leading professional association dedicated to the advancement of fee-only financial planning. NAPFA provides fee-only financial planners with some of the strictest guidelines possible for professional competency, comprehensive financial planning, and fee-only compensation. For more information, please visit www.NAPFA.org.

1 TNS Financial Services Study, 2006.

2 TD Ameritrade Institutional Survey, 2006.

3 TD Ameritrade Institutional Survey, 2006.

4 TNS Financial Services Study, 2006.

Contacts

For Wade Financial Group, Inc.:
Riley Hayes
Jeff Grayson, 952-240-0848
jgrayson {at} rileyhayes(.)com
or
Fred Keller, 952-212-5291
fkeller {at} rileyhayes(.)com