Frequently Asked Questions
NO! You retain complete control of your assets. Your account is always on your name.
SFS never takes possession of any customer money or other assets. Your money is always held in your own name at your choice of investment brokerage firm. We will only take our FEE from you for our advisory, not your investments/assets. Shaikh Financial Services holds no customer assets in its name.
You can receive substantial discounts (on brokerage Commissions charged) from our recommended brokers i.e if you ask you for it, Otherwise you are free to choose any broker of your choice and satisfaction.
It solely depends on you, your financial capacity and risk appetite.
SFS offers two choices to clients. Discretionary clients (international only) allow SFS to manage the portfolio in a timely and efficient manner. Non-discretionary clients prefer more control. Prior to making any change to an account, a recommendation is sent out with supporting information for the client’s review. The client then will either approve or cancel the recommendation and return it to SFS for execution.
You will receive confirmations for all trades in your account as well as Monthly statements directly from your broker and SFS’s Portfolio Statement
You are encouraged to call our office with any questions you may have about your account or other matters with which we might be of help to you. We believe that managing assets is a very personal matter and encourage ongoing, direct contact and conversation with our customers.
No. While we generally recommend long-term investment strategies, you may close your account with us at any time with 30 days’ notice. Simply notify your broker and us and assume personal responsibility for your brokerage account
It means that we sell advice not products. It means that we are not compensated for investment transactions. It means that we don't receive commissions, rebates or other types of soft-money of any kind of product we recommend.
Fee-Only is the most objective method of delivering financial advice to families facing change. Even though this move is somewhat groundbreaking and less profitable, we believe that the marketplace would reward them who hold their client's best interest at heart.
- A Fee-Only advisor focuses on your goals and not the need to sell a product or a product's performance.
- Trust is more easily established when the relationship is open and free from conflict of interest.
- Fees are fully disclosed and easy to understand.
- The financial interests of the advisor and client are aligned.
- As your portfolio increases in value, so does the compensation of the Fee-Only advisor.
- Your advisor can bundle services into the fee, which is difficult to do in a pay-per-transaction relationship.
- Your advisor has the freedom to make recommendations without raising suspicion of churning or acting in other manners of self-interest.
Your money is always held in your own name. Shaikh Financial Services holds no customer assets in its name.
While you (international clients) grant us Limited Power of Attorney (LPOA) to execute transactions on your behalf, you remain in control of your assets at all times.
Investors are bombarded multiple times daily by advertisements from investment advisors offering “independent,” “objective” or “unbiased” advice. Unfortunately, the emperor has no clothes, and investors must be constantly on-guard because conflicts of interest abound and advisors' duties are not what they seem.
While most investors view their Brokers as “Advisors,” Brokers are NOT primarily serving as investment advisors. This begs the question as to what constitutes brokerage services. Essentially, a broker-dealer takes orders, executes trades and provides custody services. Brokers also offer investor education, research and recommendations, but such advice is considered “solely incidental” to brokerage services. Similar to car-dealers, broker-dealers may buy securities from clients for their own accounts acting as “principals,” or they may buy or sell securities acting as commissioned agents for others. When acting as broker-dealers, brokers are paid by their clients what we call Brokerage Commission. The More you Trade the more commission the Broker will get, He will hardly be interested in making you money as his earnings depends on the number of trade you make and nothing else.
In a nutshell, in an advisory account, the advisor owes a fiduciary duty to hold clients’ interests above all others. In a brokerage account, no fiduciary duty is owed to clients.
As a Certified Independent Investment Advisor, Shaikh Financial Services embraces its fiduciary duty to hold clients’ interests above all others. Since we do not sell investment products, we have no “dog in the hunt” when it comes to investment recommendations.
While many investors recognize the conflicts of interest associated with a commission-based compensation structure under which “advisors” are compensated based on the products they sell, many are unaware of the conflicts inherent in a “fee-based” arrangement.
Fee-based advisors charge fees for services rendered, generally calculated as a percentage of assets managed. However, fee-based advisors also may receive commissions based on products that you buy (mutual funds, annuities, insurance products). As such, many fee-based advisors engage in “double-dipping” whereby they charge fees for providing investment advice and also receive commissions based on the products that you buy. A fee-based structure is analogous to paying a car salesperson an advisory fee to sell you a car. Since the salesperson gets paid to sell cars from his dealership, he is obviously going to recommend his dealership’s cars. In this case, he would also charge you an advisory fee for advice on the purchase of the car. Needless to say, the fee-based structure in which advisors charge fees for advice but also receive product-based commissions hardly seems to be in Clients’ best interests
In a fee-only compensation structure, the advisor is solely paid a fee to provide investment advice and receives no product-based compensation whatsoever. As such, fee-only advisors generally have no product biases and provide truly objective, conflict-free advice.
As a Certified Independent Investment Advisor, Shaikh Financial Services embraces its fiduciary duty to hold Clients’ interests above our own. As fee-only advisors, we are truly objective independent investment advisors. We encourage investors considering the use of an investment advisor to inquire about the advisor’s means of compensation and avoid situations in which advisors receive product-based compensation of any kind.
When it comes to achieving your goals, you are best served by a deliberate process. Before you commit to a long-term relationship with us, step by step, we explore:
An initial Discovery Meeting focuses on you and your life. This discussion becomes the cornerstone of the deep client relationship we build with you. You share with us your values; goals; personal, professional and institutional relationships; assets; and interests. What does financial success look like to you? What resources do you have? What challenges do you face?
In our Planning Meeting, we present your Discovery Profile, which reflects our understanding of what you’ve shared with us. Based on your input, we fine-tune it as needed. You also receive our strategy document, including your proposed plan for bringing financial clarity to your life.
At our Mutual Commitment Meeting, we decide together whether the strategy we have presented makes sense for you. If it does, we proceed. We both sign an agreement, and your finalized strategy document becomes a blueprint for coordinated action.