Is Your Stock Broker Acting in Your Best Interest?

How do stock brokers choose investments for their clients? Most investors assume that stock brokers (who call themselves investment advisors,) assess their client’s risk tolerance and investment objectives and select investments that best match them. Indeed, stock brokers are legally required to select investments that are ‘suitable’ for their clients. Unfortunately, ‘suitable’ is a very broad termlearn more here>>

Have a look at your investment account statements. Ask yourself the following question: how did my broker choose the investments that I currently hold?

Mutual Funds

There are over 5,000 mutual funds are available in Canada. Theyre classified into more than 30 categories: bond funds, equity funds, sector funds, specialty funds, regional funds, diversified funds, balanced funds, index funds, etc. Stock brokers like mutual funds because they are paid sales commissions and ongoing trailer fees that are invisible to their clients. Did your broker choose a fund that meets your risk tolerance and investment objectives, or the one that pays him the most? How many funds are enough? Learn more about why mutual funds are still popular despite high fees and poor performance here>>

Stocks

There are thousands of stocks available on Canadian, US and international equity markets. One of the pitches that stock brokers make to prospective clients is, “as a client you will have access to our analysts’ propriety research.”  Brokerage businesses earn large fees by raising capital for publicly traded companies (known as IPO’s or initial public offerings,) and from mergers and acquisitions advice, (M&A’s). Studies show that the vast majority of analyst reports are buy recommendations, rather than hold or sell recommendations.

Exchange Traded Funds

Why have Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs ) become so popular? Low cost diversification and low management fees are the main benefits touted by the industry. ETF fees are in the 0.5% range, compared with 2% to 3% for many large Canadian mutual funds. However, in many cases, investors are switching to ETF’s without fully understanding what they are buying. You can read more about the risks associated with ETFs here>>

While ETF’s may offer low fees, stock brokers often charge clients a management fee to select funds on their behalf.  Holding a large number of ETFs can lead to over-diversified and potentially inappropriate portfolio diversification in relation to clients’ risk tolerance.

Alternative Asset Classes

Over the past few years, there has been growing interest in ‘alternative assets’ such as hedge funds and private equity funds. These funds often promise higher returns than public equity markets and paradoxically, lower risk. Not surprisingly, many have failed to deliver either.

Hedge and Private Equity fund managers typically charge clients based on a ‘2 and 20’ fee structure: an annual management fee of 2% of assets, plus 20% of profits above a pre-set threshold. This means managers have a big incentive to take on more risk. They also share those fees with stock brokers who sell their funds.

How can you protect yourself from the many conflicts of interest inherent in the brokerage business?

In each of these cases, there is a potential conflict of interest between the clients’ best interest and stock brokers’ incentives to earn higher fees. The OSC is reviewing the potential benefits of imposing a fiduciary, or ‘best interest’ duty on stock brokers.  Not surprising, their self-regulating body, the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) is resisting this initiative. Learn more here>>

At Sprung Investment Management, we are discretionary investment managers, not stock brokers. We are independent of any bank or broker and our only source of revenue comes directly from our clients. We do not receive any kind of commissions or trailer fees from stock brokers or fund managers. We are committed to meeting a fiduciary duty. A fiduciary duty or best interest standard (already the norm for lawyers, accountants and some other professionals) is a legal requirement that we put the client’s interests first. Our investments are made in your best interest.

At Sprung, our investment management approach is based on the value investing principles developed by Benjamin Graham .  Graham explained that “the essence of investment management is the management of risks, not the management of returns.” Learn more here>>

The management of risk begins when a new client joins us. You will meet directly with Michael Sprung and other members of our team. We take the time to get to know you in order to understand your investment objectives and risk tolerance.

Based on that understanding, we begin to build a portfolio that includes high quality stocks and investment grade bonds. Whereas mutual funds often hold a large number of stocks, our client portfolios typically hold 20 to 30. If you hold more, gains in any single stock will hardly affect the total value of your portfolio. If you hold fewer, losses in any single stock can have an adverse effect on your portfolio.

On the fixed-income side, we hold good quality investment grade bonds. We manage the duration of your holdings to reflect our view of the existing interest rate environment.

In summary, the benefits of portfolio management include:

• A personal relationship with the person who is actually making investment decisions on your behalf;
• Holding a well-diversified portfolio that properly reflects your risk tolerance and investment objectives;
• Avoiding the conflicts of interest inherent in the broker/ fund manager relationship;
• Transparency—no hidden fees or commissions;
• Lower cost.

Does your portfolio properly match your risk tolerance and investment objectives? Sprung Investment Management Is Pleased To Offer Qualified Investors A Free Portfolio Review—Without Cost or Obligation. Learn more here>>

UPDATE March 27, 2014: Barry Critchley of the Financial Post interviewed Michael on the topic of a best interest standard. You can read the complete article here>>