Services for Investors
FREE Paladin Research services are based on five types of interaction that you have with financial advisors: Find, Research, Monitor, Connect, and Terminate. Plus, Insight provides factual information about advisors, How-to-Guides, and financial articles.
Find Advisors
Don't know any high quality financial advisors in your area? Want additional choices before you make your final selection decision. Our most popular services help you find 5 Star rated advisors in your community:
- 5 Star Match: We match you to advisors who meet your specific requirements
- Self Search: You input your zip code and conduct your own search in our Directory
Research Advisors
Know some advisors in your community, but want more information before you make your final selection decision? Use FREE Paladin tools to research ANY advisor at ANY U.S. financial services firm. You select the best advisor when you have the facts.
- Check a Credential: Avoid advisors who use fake credentials
- Request for Information: Obtain data for advisor credentials, ethics, and business practices
- Advisor Scorecard: Compare advisor responses side-by-side
Monitor Advisors
Advisors derive income from your assets so they have potential conflicts of interest. Advisors do not volunteer information that may cause you to terminate their services - their incomes stop. Should advisors monitor themselves or should you use Paladin's FREE monitoring services?
- Quarterly Monitors: We ask questions that protect your financial interests
- Performance Benchmarks: How good is your relative performance?
- Performance Tracking: Develop a track record for your advisor
Advisor Connect
The investment of assets is too important to rely on verbal communications that can be misunderstood or forgotten over time. Plus, you need written records if there is a future dispute. Paladin's communication tools include:
- My Investment Policy Statement: Communicates your financial requirements in writing
- My Performance Requirement: Calculate and communicate your rate of return requirement
- My Tolerance for Risk: Calculate and communicate your tolerance for risk
- My Expenses: Your requirements for expenses that are deducted from your accounts
Advisor Terminations
There are right and wrong ways to replace financial advisors. The right way benefits you (reduced risk and expense). The wrong way benefits advisors who are being terminated.
- Why Replace Your Current Advisor?
- Your Replacement Process
- Tips for Minimizing Your Risk & Expense
- Don't Make the Same Mistake Twice
Advisor Insight
There are three types of Insight. Facts are "factual" information about advisors that are not generally known by investors. How-to-Guides describe how to use Paladin tools, how to make better decisions, and how to protect your assets from bad financial advice. Articles are whitepapers for a broad range of financial topics.
- Facts: Advisor Dictionary, Advisor Credentials, Advisor Compensation, Advisor Licensing
- Guides: How to Select High Quality Advisors, How to Avoid Low Quality Advisors, How to Use FINRA BrokerCheck, How to Minimize Investment Expenses
- Articles: Written by real financial experts