CW 546 FBF - Dubious Ethics and Deceptive Practices in the Financial Services Industry with Investor Watchdog Jack Waymire

Join Jason Hartman and Investor Watchdog, Jack Waymire, for a discussion concerning the ethics of the financial services industry. According to Jack, the frequent lack of integrity undermines the achievement of investors’ financial goals.

Companies do not do what is best for you. They are very good at hiding information that they do not want their investors to know. Investor Watchdog investigates these companies and products, acting as a go-between for investors and advisers, answering frequently asked questions, such as, “How do I know I’m getting the right financial advice?” Jack shares examples of deceptive practices by various companies and how the executives that run the companies, i.e. Goldman Sachs, are insulated from accountability simply by paying fines rather than serving jail time for unethical and illegal practices.

Jason and Jack touch on the subject of the Madoff Ponzi Scheme, where Jack talks about some of the evidence that was found, as a glaring example of unethical sales pitches and conman tactics. Jack also informs listeners of what deceptive sales practices to watch out for when dealing with financial advisers.

Jack entered the financial services industry as a financial consultant in 1976 for Warburg, Paribas Becker. He provided financial advice to companies, public entities, Taft-Hartley funds, endowments, and foundations with assets exceeding $7 billion. After spending two years with an investment firm, Jack co-founded Lexington Capital Management in 1983, a money management firm that wholesaled its services through wirehouses and regional broker-dealers. In 1989, Jack also founded a broker-dealer and built a national retail distribution system to market its products and services. Between 1996 and 2003, Lexington was sold to two larger financial service and technology companies. In his last position, Jack was President of Sungard Advisor Technologies. During these 20 years, Jack worked with thousands of investors and financial advisors and was responsible for providing services to individual investors with billions of dollars of assets.

In 2004, Jack left the financial services industry to market a book he authored: Who’s Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor. Published in December, 2003, by John Wiley & Sons, his book was widely regarded as the first to provide an objective process investors could use to select higher quality advisors and to avoid the risks and consequences of bad advice from lower quality advisors. In 2004, Jack co-founded PaladinRegistry.com, a website that took selected content from his book and made it available to investors over the Internet. Later in 2004, a Registry of pre-screened, five star rated financial planners and financial advisors was added to the website. Paladin became the first online firm that vetted financial professionals for investors and provided comprehensive documentation for their credentials, ethics, business practices, and services. In 2008, Jack was instrumental in the development this blog site (InvestorWatchdog.com) that reports on investment risks that result from ethical conflicts in the financial services industry. Jack has appeared on CNNfn and over 100 national, regional, and local radio shows to talk about the subject matter of his book, the risk and consequences of bad advice, and Paladin’s free online solutions. He is also widely quoted in the print media including Forbes, BusinessWeek, Worth, and Kiplinger and is a columnist for Worth Magazine. Jack can be reached at Jack@InvestorWatchdog.com.