Five Star Quality Rating

Paladin uses a proprietary methodology to rate the quality of financial advisor credentials, ethics, and business practices one to five stars. Paladin only profiles five star rated advisors in the Registry.

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The Two Faces of Wall Street

Why have so many Wall Street firms paid hundreds of millions of dollars of fines for cheating investors? Why did tobacco companies lie to consumers for decades about the health hazards of smoking? Why do drug companies say dangerous products are safe?

Companies lie to protect revenues and profits. They tell gullible customers what they want to hear then executives manage their businesses to maximize short-term profits and personal bonuses. This type of deception is good for Wall Street and disastrous for investors.

Financial service companies, along with tobacco and drug, are at the top of the list of special interest groups that lie to customers to benefit themselves. For example, investment companies advertise the importance of trust and then systematically violate that trust. They deliberately hide information that could help investors make better decisions because that information may adversely impact company stocks, revenues, and profits.

The benefits are huge. If companies convince enough investors to trust them, shareholders benefit from stock appreciation, executives take home eight and nine figure bonuses, and advisors earn hundreds of thousands of dollars of compensation.

So how do Wall Street and other industries get away with it? In the first three quarters of 2009 financial service companies spent $336 million lobbying Congress. Most of the money went to politicians who serve on committees that control industry regulations and oversight. For example, Cris Dodd (D, CT) Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has received more than $9 million from Wall Street lobbyists since 2005. What did Dodd do for all of that money? He made sure new legislation favored financial service companies and not investors. (Source: Consumer Watchdog)

Unfortunately, lying to consumers is legal because politicians are as corrupt as company executives. We need honest politicians to clean up Wall Street and that's not going to happen. Individual investors and voters have no power. You have to figure out another way to protect your financial interests.