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.

Paladin ratings are based on data that are submitted by advisors. We validate the accuracy of certain data if advisors subscribe to Paladin's Financial Advisor Due Diligence (FADD) service. If advisors do not subscribe to the FADD service Paladin publishes data as submitted by advisors.

Paladin's five star quality rating and FADD service do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, guarantee, or favoring by Paladin of any advisor and do not constitute a claim by Paladin, whether explicit or implicit, that advisor credentials, ethics, business practices, products, services, opinions, advice, recommendations, or claims are reputable, honest, competent, or will result in exceptional financial returns. Investors are solely responsible for advisor selection decisions that may be based on information that is published in the Paladin Registry. Investors are encouraged to request additional, current information from advisors that validates their competence, ethics, business practices, and services.

What is Financial Advisor Due Diligence?

Think about selecting a financial advisor as a contest and there is only one winner. On one team there is you and your family. You want to achieve your financial goals. On the other team are financial advisors. All too often, their goal is maximize revenues and personal incomes. If you select the right advisor, you win. If you select the wrong advisor, you lose.

Your team needs a competent, ethical advisor who has the specialized knowledge and services to help you achieve your goals. The other team is dominated by advisors who do not have that knowledge and may or may not put your financial interests first. Advisors have a huge range in quality and they are skilled at making themselves sound better than they are and at hiding information they don't want you to have.

Some advisors have little or no education or investment experience
Their principal skill is selling investment and insurance products
They know what to say to win your trust and gain control of your assets

You challenge is to identify the highest quality advisor on the opposing team and select that professional to help you and your family achieve your financial goals.

This is more difficult than you may realize. Low quality advisors know how to muddy the water so you select them versus their higher quality competitors. For example, they claim to be experts and they promise high returns for low risk. They leave out any information that would cause you to terminate the relationship.

Your best defense is an objective due diligence process for selecting financial advisors.

Objectivity is a critical part of this process because you select a quality advisors for the right reasons
Your selection decision is based on questions about advisor credentials, ethics, business practices and services
You require documentation for all important information
You are not influenced by advisor personalities, sale skills, or sales pitches

Due diligence is uncovering information about advisor competence and integrity. Since selecting a quality advisor is every bit as critical as selecting the right investments, it pays to take a little time to put together a list of questions that produces the information you need to make the right decision.

How many years of financial experience do you have?
Do you have a college degree? What school? What major?
Do you have current certifications or designations? Which ones? How long?
What licenses and registrations do you hold?
Do you have a clean compliance record? (What is your CRD number?)
Do you provide financial advice and services for fees?
Do you sell investment and insurance products for commissions?
Do you have any conflicts of interest that impact the achievement of my financial goals?

You can conduct your own advisor research or select an advisor who is profiled on the Paladin Registry and is FADD (Financial Advisor Due Diligence) Certified.