The Professional Financial Advisor II: How the Financial Services Industry Hides the Ugly Truth.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

This is de Goey’s second book promoting professionalism in the financial advisor field by calling for a separation of advising from product sales. It is inappropriate, he says, for the person who sells financial products — stocks, mutual funds, insurance, etc. — to be the same person who is giving you advice on what products, if any, to buy. His position is that embedded fees and commissions must go (“unbundling”), creating transparency in the financial advising profession.

De Goey brings considerable passion to his philosophy, advocating for improvements in the education and training of financial advisors and for industry-wide standards that put consumers’ interests first.

The work is an examination of how to move the industry from a culture of sales to a culture of stewardship, and a look at how this will change the financial services landscape. This change, he says, must involve the corporations, individual sales agents and brokers, industry associations, the certification standards boards, training agencies, and consumers of financial products. Part of the necessary change involves establishing a standard designation for advisors — of the 20 designations now in use, CFP is the most likely to come out ahead — and a standard of competencies for that designation. Education for a profession is discussed and professional behaviour analyzed, using comparisons to law and dentistry.

To bring about the changes needed in order for financial advisors to be considered professionals, there has to be a new way of viewing stocks, funds, and insurance within the financial portfolio. This means a change in the way they are sold. This viewpoint is supported with a look at “market efficiency” — a topic neglected by most financial planning texts — and an extensive discussion of passive versus active investing.

The text is packed with information on how the financial services industry works and energetic, even passionate, arguments for change. At least a basic knowledge of investing is required to follow the discussions, although there is a sincere effort made to explain concepts in laymen’s language. Touches of humour are effectively used as a tool to further engage the reader.