How to Tell If Your Financial Adviser Is Doing a Good Job

如何判断你的财务顾问是否称职

These five questions will help determine whether you are getting what you pay for

我付的钱物有所值吗？问过这五个问题，你心中就会有答案。

Cheryl Winokur Munk

谢丽尔·温诺库尔·蒙克

It’s the difficult question that anybody who uses a financial adviser wants to know: Is my adviser measuring up? Or more bluntly: Am I getting my money’s worth?

但凡用了财务顾问的人，他们都想知道却又很难找到答案的一个问题是：我的顾问称职吗？或者，更直接一点：我的钱花得值吗？

The answer is tricky, entailing both objective and subjective evaluations. But it’s also worth addressing, rather than simply letting the status quo continue out of inertia.

这个问题很难回答，需要客观与主观双重评估。但它值得去弄明白，而不是仅仅出于惯性而让现状延续。

“It’s important to make sure that you’re really comfortable with the person you are working with – their communication style as well as the overall results that you’re getting,” says Amy Arnott, a portfolio strategist at Morningstar Research Services LLC, a unit of Morningstar Inc.

“很重要的一点是，确保你和所选择的顾问共事感到很舒服——无论是他们的沟通方式，还是你得到的总体结果，都是如此。”晨星公司（Morningstar Inc.）旗下晨星研究服务（Morningstar Research Services LLC）的投资组合策略师艾米·阿诺特（Amy Arnott）说。

Here are five questions consumers can use to evaluate their financial adviser’s performance.

你可以通过以下五个问题来评估自身财务顾问的表现。

1. What am I paying for?

1．我支付的费用水平如何？

One objective assessment is to see how an adviser’s fees stack up against industry averages. If an adviser’s fees are widely out of range, it is worth digging deeper, especially if the higher fees don’t seem in line with the services he or she is providing.

一种客观评估方式是看财务顾问的收费与行业平均水平相比，大致处于何种位置。如果其费用大大高出行业均值，就值得深入研究一番，尤其是过高的费用与他们提供的服务似乎不匹配时，更应如此。

As a rule of thumb, investors who pay fees based on assets under management might expect to pay 0.59% to 1.18% a year in fees, according to a 2021 analysis by AdvisoryHQ, a global news media and publishing company.

根据全球新闻媒体及出版公司AdvisoryHQ 2021年的分析，通常来说，投资者若是按资产管理规模来付费，他们支付的年费大概应是资产总额的0.59%-1.18%。

Some advisers may charge fixed fees for financial planning, which can range from $7,500 to $55,000, depending on assets. Others charge hourly fees, typically between $120 and $300 an hour, according to AdvisoryHQ.

有些顾问会对财务规划服务收取固定费用，视资产类别不同，这部分费用从7,500美元到55,000美元不等。据AdvisoryHQ，还有顾问会按小时收费，时薪通常在120-300美元。

While investors might be able to figure out what they are paying in fees by looking at their monthly or quarterly statements, or by logging in to their account online, it can be confusing. There could be multiple types of fees and fee structures, and these can vary from one firm to another. The investor should feel comfortable asking an adviser to help flesh this out, and advisers should be willing to share fee information candidly.

投资者也许可以通过查看月度或季度账单，或是登录网络账户，来了解自己的钱花在哪里，尽管如此，还是会有令人困惑的事情。无论是费用类型还是费用结构，都有很多种，况且不同公司的情况也存在差异。遇到不明白的地方请财务顾问帮忙梳理时，投资者不应感到为难，而作为顾问，也应在费用问题上开诚布公。

2. How does my investment performance stack up?

2．我的投资收益如何？

Compare your portfolio performance with appropriate market benchmarks, Ms. Arnott says. While investments don’t always line up perfectly with the S&P 500 or the Russell 2000 small-stock index, for example, it is worth raising the question if your returns are significantly lower than an applicable benchmark. It is also a red flag if the adviser is not willing to provide comparative performance information, Ms. Arnott says.

阿诺特说，可以将自身投资组合的表现与相应的市场基准进行比较。举例来说，虽然投资标的并不总会与标普500或罗素2000小盘股指数保持同步，但若是你的回报率明显低于相应基准，这个问题就值得重视了。她还说，要是你的财务顾问不愿提供可供比较的业绩信息，这也是一种警示。

Remember, too, that performance will fluctuate, especially in a volatile year like 2022. Regardless, the adviser should be communicating with clients to let them know whether they remain on track to meet their goals, she says.

还要记住，投资回报也会有波动，尤其是像2022年这样动荡不安的年份。阿诺特说，不管怎样，财务顾问应与客户保持沟通，让他们知道他们是否仍在朝着既定目标前行。

Another concern would be if the adviser is making dramatic changes to the portfolio’s asset mix amid a market downturn. Asset allocations that are appropriate for a client’s time horizon and risk tolerance should not change because the market is down, Ms. Arnott says.

还要留意的一个问题是，在市场下跌期间，财务顾问是否对投资组合中的资产配置作出了大幅调整。阿诺特指出，适合客户投资周期及风险承受力的资产配置不应由于市场下滑而作出改变。

3. Does my adviser communicate to my liking?

3．财务顾问采用了我喜欢的沟通方式吗？

Everyone’s expectations are different, but an ideal advisory relationship is collaborative, says Pam Krueger, founder of Wealthramp.com, a free referral service for vetted fiduciary advisers. Investors should ask themselves whether they are getting information on a regular enough basis to give them comfort and confidence in their plan, she says.

Wealthramp.com是一家为有资质的信托顾问提供免费转介服务的公司，其创始人帕姆·克鲁格（Pam Krueger）说，每个人的期望都不一样，但理想的顾问关系是协作的。她说，投资者应该问问自己，是否会定期获得信息，从而对投资计划既感到安心，又抱有信心。

Roughly 42% of advisers said they connect with clients quarterly, according to an April survey by SmartAsset, a provider of consumer-focused financial information and advice. About 32% of advisers cited monthly check-ins, and 11% said they communicate weekly.

专注于消费者的金融信息及咨询服务提供商SmartAsset去年4月的一项调查显示，约42%的顾问表示，他们每季度与客户沟通一次。约32%的顾问说，他们同客户的联系频率是每月一次，另有11%的人说，他们每周都会与客户联系。

Clients should hold advisers accountable for communication preferences established early in the relationship. Likewise, advisers should respond promptly to queries – ideally within a day or two – and communicate in the way clients prefer, whether that’s email, phone or another way, says Susannah Snider, managing editor of financial education at SmartAsset.

SmartAsset金融教育业务执行编辑苏珊娜·施耐德（Susannah Snider）说，在业务关系建立之初，客户应该让顾问了解自己的沟通偏好。同样，对于客户的询问，财务顾问也应及时回应——最好是在一两日内——并以客户喜欢的方式与其沟通，不管是电子邮件、电话或其他方式。

Advisers should use plain English, so hard concepts can be more easily understood. And if working with a couple, does the adviser address both partners equally? “Both members of the couple should be comfortable with the adviser and up-to-speed on their finances since eventually one of them will pass away and the other person will be left to handle things,” Ms. Arnott says.

财务顾问应使用通俗易懂的语言，以便让复杂的概念更容易理解。如果客户是一对夫妻，财务顾问是否会一视同仁？“面对财务顾问，夫妻双方都不应感到拘束，而且双方都要掌握家庭最新的财务状况，因为最终，其中一人会先离世，事情会留给剩下一方来处理。”阿诺特说。

4. Does my adviser keep up-do-date on industry trends?

4．我的顾问了解最新的行业趋势吗？

It’s a bad sign if your adviser is not familiar with the latest industry trends, including income strategies, tax-law changes and new investment types, or isn’t willing to do more research on your behalf. “Whatever it is that you care about, you want to know that your adviser knows more about it than you do,” Ms. Krueger says.

假若你的顾问不熟悉最新的行业趋势，包括收入策略、税法变动以及新的投资类型，或者不愿代你去做更多研究，这是一种不好的迹象。“无论你关心的是什么，你都希望你的顾问在这个问题上比你懂得更多。”克鲁格说。

She offers the example of a woman who wanted to learn about cryptocurrency, not necessarily to invest, but to understand it better. Instead of using the opportunity as a teachable moment, her adviser of five years brushed her off, telling her he didn’t do that type of investing. She decided to switch advisers because hers came across as being “asleep at the switch,” Ms. Krueger says.

她举了个例子，一名女性客户想了解加密货币，不一定要投资，只是想多一些了解。可她的财务顾问非但没有利用这个机会向她介绍相关知识，反而不予理睬，还告诉她，自己不做这类投资。于是，她决定换掉这个为她服务了五年的财务顾问，理由是他给人一种“工作不尽责”的感觉，克鲁格说。

5. Does my adviser tell it to me straight?

5．我的顾问会对我一切如实相告吗？

A good adviser won’t just tell you what you want to hear. For instance, an adviser needs to be able to tell clients candidly to postpone retirement if there is a strong likelihood they will run out of money in their lifetimes, Ms. Krueger says. The adviser should also walk clients through the math and assumptions used to reach these conclusions. “It’s not fun to share negative news with a client, but the stakes are too high, especially at retirement. An adviser needs to be able to tell you that you need to postpone retirement in order not to run out of money in your lifetime,” she says.

一名好的财务顾问不会对你“报喜不报忧”。克鲁格谈到，比方说，如果客户很有可能在有生之年花光所有的钱，财务顾问就需要坦诚地告诉他们，让他们推迟退休。作为顾问，他们还应让客户明白得出这些结论所用的计算方法和所有假设。她说，“虽然把负面消息告诉客户不是什么好玩的事，但不告知的风险太高，尤其是退休的时候。财务顾问要能告诉你，你需要延迟退休，这样才不会‘人活着，钱没了’。”