Have you used BrokerCheck to perform a background check on your financial advisor? Don't worry. If not, you're not alone. In a casual survey, I found that only a small percentage of investors were familiar with BrokerCheck, a free tool from FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) that can help you research the professional backgrounds of brokers and brokerage firms, as well as investment advisor firms and advisors. Among those who knew about it, a smaller percentage had used it. In an effort to change that, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) recently approved FINRA Rule 2210 requiring broker-dealers to include a “”readily apparent reference and hyperlink”” to BrokerCheck on their websites.
Bulls (and Bears) Gain Ground in Barron’s Fall Big Money Poll
This week's Barron's cover story features the results of their semi-annual Big Money Poll. In the spring, a record 50% of respondents categorized themselves as neutral about the market's prospects through year end. This looks like a good call as the market traded sideways to slightly down since the spring.
In the latest fall survey, it found that the pros are slightly more bullish than in the spring. 55% of respondents call themselves bullish through next June, up from 45% in the spring survey.
Even though the bulls have increased, this doesn't mean that it will translate to big gains in the stock market. Based on their mean market forecasts, the Big Money bulls see the Dow ending the year at 17,140 which is below yesterday's close. The bulls expect the Dow to reach 17,965 by the middle of next year, for a slight gain of 4.3% from here.
Runnymede Team Makes Top 100 Most Social Financial Advisors List
Morristown, New Jersey, September 30, 2015 – Christopher Wang and Andrew Wang of Runnymede Capital Management have been named among BrightScope’s Top 100 Most Social Financial Advisors in the United States. The list recognizes the top advisors with significant online influence. Among seven New Jersey based advisors named, Christopher Wang and Andrew Wang topped the list at 42nd and 47th, respectively, followed by Sheri Cupo of SageBroadview Financial Planning (54), Gopal Gantayat of The Free Investors (73), Dan Crimmins of Crimmins Wealth Management (85), Brendan Thomas Mullooly of Mullooly Asset Management (88), and Thomas Froehlich of American Portfolios Advisors (95).
How to Use BrokerCheck to Perform a Financial Advisor Background Check
I have been doing an increasing number of Free Portfolio Reviews lately. It is nice to know that investors haven't yet entered the summer doldrums. Typically, our team will review an investment portfolio to help you understand:
- If you are taking too much risk.
- If you own investments that are unsuitable or inappropriate for you.
- If you are paying too much in fees.
For those whose account is currently being managed by a financial advisor, I like to also search BrokerCheck in order to do a quick background check on the advisor and his/her firm. In this post, I share with you how I use BrokerCheck in hope that it will inspire and help you use it too.
Chris Wang quoted in Barron’s
U.S. Money Managers Turn Cautious
Money managers have reined in their optimism since the fall, but they see bargains in Europe, energy, tech.
April 25, 2015
Buyer Beware: Your Broker is a F*@#ing Crook!
Now that I have your attention, I have no idea if your broker is a crook or not. But if you do one thing today, go to BrokerCheck to perform a background check on your financial advisor. Hopefully yours has a clean record and not several red flags against them.
In baseball, you get three strikes and you are out. In other professions, it may only take one or two strikes to get tossed. But at the self-regulatory organization FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, that oversees the brokerage industry, it could take 69! The New York Times just wrote a lengthy article about a stockbroker who received 69 customer complaints over 13 years before finally being barred from the business in 2014.