About Paladin

You have three choices when you select a financial planner or advisor who will influence or control your investment decisions:

• You can accept the content of sales pitches as complete and accurate without validating information
• You can validate the accuracy of sales claims yourself
• You can use Paladin's Financial Advisor Due Diligence (FADD) background check service to validate advisor claims for you 

Paladin provides information-based services to investors who rely on planners and advisors to help them achieve their financial goals. Our services include advisor background checks, advisor quality ratings, online documentation for advisor credentials, ethics, and business practices, and a service that matches investors to local, pre-screened professionals who achieve five star quality ratings.

Longevity

Paladin has been providing information and services to investors since 2003. In addition, Paladin's founder spent 28 years in the financial services industry and he authored: "Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor"

Independence

Paladin is not licensed to sell any financial services or products. No Paladin employee holds any investment or insurance licenses. No financial advisor is employed by, licensed by, or affiliated with Paladin. No financial advisor or firm has an ownership stake in Paladin.

Background Checks & Validations

A high percentage of financial advisors omit, misrepresent, and exaggerate information to gain control of your assets. They have everything to gain and nothing to lose - only you do. Blind acceptance of advisor sales claims increases your risk of selecting advisors with the best sales skills. Our background check and validation services reduce the impact of advisor sales skills and increases the probability you will select the advisor with the best qualifications.  

Specialized Expertise

All advisors claim to be ethical financial experts who produce exceptional investment returns. How do you know they are telling the truth? We have spent 10 years developing a proprietary methodology that that we use to produce quality ratings for financial planners, advisors, and money managers. 

Pre-Screened Professionals

We pre-screen financial planners, investment advisors, and money managers, we rate their quality, and we document their credentials, ethics, and business practices. You use a free Registry service to find five star rated advisors in your community and review their Registry documentation. Our screening process has seven minimum requirements. Advisors must:

• Be Registered Investment Advisors or Investment Advisor Representatives 
• Acknowledge they are fiduciaries when they provide financial advice and services
• Be compensated with fees for their knowledge and services
• Have clean compliance and criminal records
• Have at least five years of financial services experience (Registry average is 16)
• Have college degrees, industry certifications, and/or substantial years of experience 
• Be willing to provide full disclosure for compensation and potential conflicts of interest