At Global View we know that investors can be their own best enemy. But investors also know their next best enemy can be the big banks and insurance companies who sell them products and services not in their best interest. Especially the publicly traded banks.

Investors dupe themselves, making only 3.2% p.a. for the last 15 years. But then they have to contend with the banks and insurance companies who are ready to take a profit at their clients’ expense at every opportunity. You see, publicly traded companies have a fiduciary loyalty to make as much money as possible for their shareholders. Not their clients.

Adam Wiles pointed out this article showing how employees at Wells Fargo opened over 2 million phony accounts, because they were pressured to do so with high quarterly sales targets. Specifically the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said: “Wells Fargo employees secretly opened unauthorized accounts to hit sales targets and receive bonuses.” They also opened credit card accounts that cost their customers high fees.

CNN Money link: 5,300 Wells Fargo employees fired over 2 million phony accounts

I feel sorry for the salespeople at Wells Fargo who were put into this unfair position, just because Wells Fargo had unnecessarily high quarterly sales targets to keep shareholders happy. But at the same time it begs this question: “does it make sense for you to do business with an organization that treats its employees (and customers) like this?”

At Global View we are fiduciaries to OUR CLIENTS, not to shareholders. A key element of worry-free portfolio management is ELIMINATING debt (including your mortgage instead of selling you a mortgage), not opening accounts or, heaven forbid, unnecessary credit cards. We aren’t perfect but we work hard. Imagine others you love could be worry-free because they know that all investment and planning recommendations are done in their best interest.

With this in mind, we have created a truly no-obligation process for investors at the banks to learn what conflicts of interest they may be exposed to. We call this Setting the Path. Setting the Path is a two session process where we charge $485. There is no ongoing obligation for portfolio management services. Period.

At the end of the second session we will deliver a high level plan summary that highlights key issues and action items. Your friend (or family member) may decide to hire us for ongoing services or they may decide to continue to do it themselves or with another advisor. If your friend does decide to hire us for ongoing services we will rebate the $485, but rest assured there will be no high pressure sales tactics!

To schedule a Setting the Path session for a friend or family member you can email me directly, ken@globalviewinv.com or Erin, erin@globalviewinv.com. Erin schedules our Setting the Path meetings with our team of advisors and is probably better than I am at deciding which advisor is the best fit!