Having a fiduciary is the most important aspect of a relationship with an advisor. Advisors who are not fiduciaries have perfected describing their situation and how they can still take just as good care of their clients - it's a lie.

Sadly, it is possible for an advisor to be a fiduciary for only certain parts of the relationship, such as financial planning, but not for the most important part, investing your money.

Brokers who work for Ameriprise Financial, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Edward Jones, Raymond James,, and many others are not required to be fiduciaries. Instead, they owe what is called a “duty of suitability” to their clients, which means they are only required to suggest investment products suitable for an investor but are not required to give advice or recommend investments in the investor’s best interest. Brokers are “registered representatives,” and that is not the same as being a Registered Investment Advisor - the terms are very similar, but they mean very different things. Brokers might call themselves “advisors,” but they act as agents for their brokerage firm and typically earn commissions.

Would someone prefer a salesperson or an advisor? Simply put, if an advisor can earn commissions in any way there is a barrier between the desired outcome of maximizing wealth. This is because the advisor is motivated to put clients in an inferior investment due to commission paid while shunning a better investment choice that doesn't have commission.

This is not a joke: most advisors that sell insurance have this exact quote in the documents that they must give a client: "These professionals therefore have incentive to recommend insurance products based on the compensation to be received, rather than on a client’s needs. The receipt of additional fees for insurance commissions is therefore a conflict of interest, and clients should be aware of this conflict when considering whether to engage or utilize these professionals to implement any insurance recommendations."

Find a fee-only advisor that charges only to manage investments and provides other services included as part of investment management.

There’s no federal law that defines who can and cannot say, “I am a financial advisor.” One does not have to pass a specific exam or take certain classes to claim the title. Just because someone says,“I am a financial advisor,” it means nothing about whether that person is qualified to choose investments and manage an investment portfolio.

If an advisor has experience in an institutional investment management role combined with the hard-to-get CFA designation, there's a good chance these qualifications can maximize the investment management part of the relationship.

Does the advisor make any changes to their client's investment portfolio depending upon the future economic outlook? Many advisors make no changes to an investment portfolio. Look for an advisor that makes tactical investment changes to improve the risk/reward of investments throughout the business cycle.

There are indeed investment advisors who include financial planning as part of investment management for no extra fee.

Find an advisor who does financial planning included with investment management. 

Some advisors offer to do financial planning for what is typically a high fee every year.

Odds are there will be a new face every few years to an advisor relationship. Turnover in this industry is high. 

Think about how it feels to have a changing face for the relationship every few years.

A new face has the potential for changing investment strategies and varying returns that come with someone new.