Integrity is paramount in choosing a financial advisor, 95% of affluent investors say in a new survey.
But relatively few place a great deal of trust in insurance companies, stockbrokers or mutual funds, the survey by U.S. Trust, New York, found.
Of wealthy individuals surveyed, 95% believe the most essential attribute in a financial advisor is honesty, followed by "understands my situation" (83%) and "keeps me informed" (75%), according to U.S. Trust. Those attributes were even more important to them than an advisor's being a top performer, which ranked fourth at 69%.
The bank surveyed Americans with incomes of $325,000 or net worth greater than $5.9 million.
U.S. Trust found significant numbers of affluent investors deemed only three types of advisors very trustworthy: CPAs or accounting firms (53%), private banks (41%) and investment management firms compensated by fees instead of commissions (38%).
