Dallas-Ft. Worth radio stations have lots of local financial planners, insurance salesmen and stock brokers who host half-hour programs on Saturdays and Sundays.
They primarily tell the audience that they can be assured that those who are listening have investment accounts that are suffering from bad advice.
"If you'd have been with me, you'd not have lost a dime in the last market reversal," they advise.
But there is hope, they promise.
These guys then say that they have the answers for how to get those things back on track.
All appear to require "churning your account." That means selling off most of the equities you have, and replacing them with others.
Churning results in commissions being paid to the advisor for each sale and for each buy.
Selling and buying for the sole purpose of earning commissions is illegal. But that rarely matters because churning is difficult to prove.
One fellow whose program is full of Spike Jones type sound effects, says, "I have an arrangement with the radio station that I will give an hour of my time to consult with any listener who has an estate worth at least $1.5 million.
"The rest of you who are retired or who will soon retire need to come to my next seminar which will be held in Dallas....."
I wonder what would happen if those interested in retaining a new investment adviser would ask at the first meeting, "May I see your personal financial statement?"
And that's an appropriate question, and one that the advisor should not be afraid to reveal.
If you or your friends get enamored with one of these guys, check the public court judgments and bankruptcy filings and IRS liens to see if there are any that are recorded in their names.
And be sure to require that he reveal his statement of net worth.
Oft times you'll find yourself amazed.
BILL CHERRY, REALTORS
DALLAS - PARK CITIES
Since 1964
214 503-8563
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