by Tom Bradley

If you’re not a Steadyhand client and the fees you pay for investment services are a mystery, you’re not alone. Andrea Fuller, an investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal, shares your pain.

In a recent article, Ms. Fuller writes about her experience when she tries to find out what fees she’s paying her investment advisor. The story is amusing and depressing at the same time. I say depressing because her journey is all too familiar for many investors.

Certainly, in Canada there are advisors who are forthcoming about fees, but we’ve also seen many clients and prospective clients treated like Ms. Fuller. For asking a perfectly reasonable question, they’re run through the gauntlet. Instead of a straight answer, they have to appease offended advisors who question their loyalty. And then they get vague, sometimes incorrect, answers. And as was the case with Ms. Fuller, the answers can change depending who or how you ask. At the end of it, they’re still not sure if they’re getting the straight goods.

As Ms. Fuller found out, there are still too many advisors who are offended when you ask what you’re paying. Despite the new reporting regulations in Canada (CRM2), Canadian wealth management firms have a long way to go when it comes to transparency and openness.