Know Who You Are Dealing With - Page 2

But what prevents that from happening to you? À la Madoff, these perpetrators are without question, the friendliest, most engaging, enrolling, extroverts around. Why shouldn’t you trust them? Especially when your friends and family recommend them. The stories abound on a national regional and certainly local level of those who were the most respected and well-known who have fleeced money from the savviest and the brightest.

What can you do to learn about whom it is you are dealing with? Well, fortunately, there is a database of complaints, warnings, suspensions and outright indictments of people in the business. Some of them have not mended their ways and were barred for life from the business. Others have had their wrists slapped and warnings issued and it seems they have found the straight and narrow. But, of course, buyer beware.

If you use your search engine on the Web, you can simply enter, “broker search” and end up at a site fed by FINRA (the acronym for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). At this site, this self-regulatory agency collects data that, for most of us, would normally be under the radar. This agency can tell you a lot of information about anyone who is registered to sell securities. All you have to do is put in the person’s name and lots of information will show up: where they are employed, how long they have been employed by the current employer, who they worked for in the past, and most importantly, if there are any Customer Disputes, Disciplinary, or Regulatory Events on record for this person.

"...the few minutes it takes to get that information is worth a lifetime of pain and self-incrimination."

And of course, not all people are on this registry. Those who are Registered Financial Advisors or a representative of this Registered Investment Advisor, like me, will not show up on that website. We are covered under a different authority, the PA State Securities Commission. Again, search for it by name. Once you get to the site, choose the Enforcement page, and then the Request for Information form. You can select the name of the person and/or the advisory firm you would like information on.

It may appear that it is a tedious and maybe onerous chore to find out what there is to know about the people you trust to manage your money. But when you consider the alternative, the few minutes it takes to get that information is worth a lifetime of pain and self-incrimination.