Who is your adviser?

In my last post I was talking about bank advisers and how to evaluate them. So , the question arises that if the banks are not the right place to have an intelligent discussion on investment, where does a person go to.

Here are my thoughts ( and as my mom always said writing things down makes ones mind clearer.. And dad says teaching it to someone else will ensure you never forget it!)

There are multiple places where one can go to and ensure that we get good advice.

1 An independent financial advisor.
The word independent is critical since that allows the adviser to look at multiple products and choose the one that makes sense and not sell only one product range.

2 There are multiple portfolio management services companies - smc, religare, citibank pms ...etc
Now these are also good options to go for.
However, some key points.
A. Ensure that your relationship manager is a person with experience . Dont agree with a newbie being the person who gives you advice. In this field experience counts more than eagerness!
B. Go to the main branch and not to the smaller franchisees. Franchisees are great to get accounts, buy stocks, apply for Cd etc.. Not to manage your portfolio.

3. Do it yourself. Read magazines, talk to people who have been doing investment by themselves. However, think long term and evaluate if you have the energy to ensure the work that is required to be done. A lot of things can be done online and it is a lot lot easier today than it was a few years back.

I believe for myself a combination of 1 and 3 works best for me. I have not yet tried a pms.. Maybe sometime in the future?

Hope this helps .

Happy investing.
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