Are clients happy with fee-only financial advisors: Survey Results

Last Updated on December 29, 2021 at 4:59 pm

As readers may be aware, for the last six years I have been maintaining a list of SEBI registered fee-only financial advisors. It is a matter of great pride that hundreds of freefincal readers work with these fee-only advisors (FOAs). Recently I had requested such clients to complete a feedback form. Here are the results.

For those who may not be aware, a fee-only advisor is one that does not accept any kind of commissions from any product manufacturer and has no profit-sharing arrangement with any third-party. They are registered with SEBI as investment advisors and work only with you the client.

I am glad that 412 responses were received for the survey and except 26 of those responses all others were from clients working with FOAs on my list. I presented these survey results to gather of such advisors in Chennai on Aug 24th and 25th. Only generic information was shared with the advisors.

Fourth Fee-only India Meet Photos

Fee-only India is an informal association of SEBI registered investment advisors offering commission-free and conflict-free investment advise launched in Sep 2017. Some of them are part of my list (depending on their experience and my comfort level).

Although I was the organiser of the meet, I missed most of it due to fever. Also since it was a two-day meet, not all participants (24, including non-advisors – me and FB group Asan Ideas for Wealth admin Ashal Jauhari) are found in the same photo.

Standing L to R: Basavaraj Tonagatti, Ajay Pruthi, Shashi Singh, Avinash Luthria,
Venkateshwaran Subramanian, S R Srinivasan, Upasana Mondal, Shilpa Wagh,
Preeti Zende.

Sitting L to R: V Brijesh, V Sudheer, Chandan Singh Padiyar, Pattu, Ashal, Melvin, Sriram Jayaram

Standing from L to R: Swapnil Kendhe, Venkateshwaran Subramanian, Vikram Krishnamoorthy, Basavaraj Tonagatti, Ajay Pruthi, Shashi Singh, Gursimran Singh, Shilpa Wagh, S R Srinivasan, Avinash Luthria, Preeti Zende, Aniksha Lanjewar.

Sitting from L to R: Chandan Singh Padiyar, V Sudheer, Ashal Jauhari, Melvin Joseph, Sriram Jayaram, V. Brijesh.

Are clients happy with fee-only financial advisors: Survey Results

Two types of questions were asked: multiple-choice and short-answer. I shall present only the former here as they can be represented by charts. We have received some excellent positive and negative feedback. The planners have agreed to work on this to make their service better. So a big thank you to all participants. I shall present snippets of positive feedback and discuss negative feedback in detail in subsequent posts/videos.

Is your Fee-only Advisor (FOA) a part of the list maintained at freefincal.com

How did you come to know about your FOA?

Why did you choose to work with an FOA?

What factors did you look at before deciding on your FOA?

How was your experience?

Will you renew the contract? That is, will you go back to them for a review?

Note many DIY approach FOAs for a second opinion and so there is no need for them to renew. Best response:

I will not renew because my FOA made me a DIY!  

Are you able to reach your planner whenever you need his support?

Will you recommend your planner to others in your contacts?

Brutally frank response (that advisors will appreciate more!)

I will not recommend to my contacts because they will not pay fee!

Summary

So the results as you can see are fairly encouraging. At the Chennai meet, we did not waste time feeling good about the overwhelmingly positive feedback. Instead, we talked about how the nature of the service should be made clear and how the FOAs can improve their service. More on this in upcoming videos and posts.

If you think you need help in managing your finances then pick an advisor from my list. You can choose one that speaks your mother tongue if it will make you comfortable: List of Fee-only Financial Planners in India