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By Dr. Networth“If I were you, I would check out ETFs.”
And that’s how it started. An idea was planted in my head. A little nudge from a friend of mine. This was back in 2009, when Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs) were not widely known. I had never heard of the term before, and I did not know much about investing apart from hearing whispers that I should just go to MD Management, hand over my money and let them “handle it.”
I was just finishing up with residency/fellowship, and was about to embark on my first staff physician job. Since my pay cheque was about to dwarf my resident’s salary, I figured I should probably know the basics about investing, so I asked my friend for his advice. At the time, he was working as a financial advisor at Bank of Montreal (BMO) with “high-net worth clients” (portfolios over $1 million); thus he seemed like a good resource to start with. Looking back, I am extremely grateful for his honesty and transparency, as he could’ve easily recommended that I hand over my money and let him “handle it.”
I asked him what he recommended to his “high-net worth clients” to invest in. His answer: BMO mutual funds. Made sense, since he was at BMO.
Not all advisors invest alongside their clients
Then I asked him what he invested his own money in. To my surprise, he invested his own money in ETFs, and did not hold a single BMO mutual fund. I had always thought “wealthy” clients had access to the “best” investment products, so naturally, he would have done the same.
What??? I was confused!
Paraphrasing his answer: “At the beginning of each month, financial advisors are told to recommend specific mutual funds to their clients in order to meet quotas, which in turn results in bonuses/commission fees. The funds usually have a high MER (2% and above). It lines my pockets and the bank’s pockets. If I were you, I would check out ETFs.”
Looking back, I realize my friend was not your typical financial advisor. He enjoyed reading books on personal finance/investing topics, and was quite knowledgable about investing. Needless to say, he become disillusioned with the banking industry with all the sales tactics and the commissions and quotas driven nature of it all. Not long after our conversation, he left the banking industry to pursue a career in a different industry that made him much happier.
To this day, every time we meet, I thank him for that conversation from many years ago. That brief glance into the world of financial advisors and the nudge to “check out ETFs” started me out on the right path.
Meeting different financial advisors at different institutions over the years, I’ve always received the same answer when it comes to their own investments. Some may invest in ETFs while others invest in individual stocks, but they DO NOT (or very rarely) invest in the same mutual funds that they recommend to their clients.
This phenomenon is akin to physicians who prescribe medications to their patients while getting kickbacks from the pharmaceutical company. Meanwhile, they themselves would never use the medication.
Does this make sense to you? It shouldn’t. It is a conflict of interest. Don’t believe me? Ask your financial advisor next time you see them what they invest their own money in.
Couch Potato investing is not hard nor time consuming
This is essentially how my journey to passive index investing began. Hopefully, reading this and upcoming post will be your “nudge” to think about learning to manage your own portfolio. Nobody cares more about your money than you do.
Managing your portfolio via low-cost ETFs (couch potato investing) is not time-consuming or hard to do. Don’t think that you are alone, and don’t succumb to the scare-tactics by financial advisors. There are other physicians like myself (see Loonie Doctor), who also manage their own portfolios, and are doing well. The world did not end.
Are you a passive index investor? What made you become a passive index investor?
Dr. Networth is a 40-something year old Canadian physician who blogs anonymously at www.drnetworth.com, sharing with others what he has learned about DIY index investing and passive real estate investing
