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do financial advisers in canada who work at the bank, make investing decisions not in your best interest?
user
the way this works, as i understand it, is that financial advisers come in two kinds. some are free to recommend you any financial products they think fit, but many are restricted in what they can recommend. most advisers who work for finance companies are the second kind, and will only offer you products that their company sells. i believe they should tell you up front if they are the second kind. they should certainly tell you that if you ask. so in essence, your scotiabank advisor is not necessarily making bad decisions for you - but they are restricted in what they will offer, and will not tell you if there is a better product for you that scotiabank doesn't sell. in most cases, 'management fees' means something you pay to the actual managers of the fund you buy, not to the person who sells you the fund. you can compare the funds you are invested in yourself, both for performance and for the fees charged. making frequent unnecessary changes of investment is another way that an advisor can milk you for money, but that is not necessarily restricted to bank-employed advisors. if you think that is happening to you, ask question, and change advisors if you are not happy.
assistant