[new2hongkong]

Hi

Can anyone recommend good independent financial planners in HK?

Thanks!

[Lammarite]

Oxymoron 101.

[new2hongkong]

Lammarite - very helpful. Thank you.

[PDLM]

I agree with Lammarite. If they were any good they would have invested their own money and retired. Most of them are low salary, commission only people with no significant position themselves.

[HowardCoombs]

Originally Posted by new2hongkong

Hi
Can anyone recommend good independent financial Planners in HK?
Thanks!

http://www.clearwater-international.com/

I'm a happy customer.

HC

[PDLM]

Isn't it wonderful that nearly all the financial planners' websites say "This site isn't intended for residents of Hong Kong" when in fact that is exactly what they are intended for?

But, yes, in the scale of IFAs the person I know at Clearwater (in their personal capacity - I'm not a client, although we've talked around this area) seems to be one of the better ones in the field.

[climber07]

Everyone here is on such a f***ng high horse its just ridiculous!!!

Yes, those of us in the Financial profession would likely never use the services of a financial planner. However, many people are completely foreign to the world of finance and investment and need at least some guidance in order not to piss away their hard to come by savings.

Financial Planners provide basic education and on occasion even help their clients make some money. Are they maximizing their returns? Probably not. But you know what, not even greatest stock market analysts can consistently outperform the market. Wall Street Journal ran a long-time experiment with a dart board constantly outperforming leading stock market analysts. So you can sit there and choose your strategies, look at the fundamentals or draw your damn trend lines for technical analysis. Bottom line is, many times luck outperforms brains. Here is a reading recommendation for some you guys: When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein (It's about LTCM).

So do us all a favor, when someone genuinely asks for help. Either offer up something useful or just shut the f*** up.

[PDLM]

You've just said it yourself - the vast majority of funds/analysts don't beat the index. The answer seems clear: if you don't have the time or inclination to educate yourself a bit then put your money in index trackers. You will make 8-10%pa in the long run.

[climber07]

Originally Posted by PDLM

You've just said it yourself - the vast majority of funds/analysts don't beat the index. The answer seems clear: if you don't have the time or inclination to educate yourself a bit then put your money in index trackers. You will make 8-10%pa in the long run.

And that's great I agree, however I'm almost 100% certain OP has no idea what an index tracker is.....maybe not even what an "index" is.

Many people's jobs/personal life may be so busy as not to allow time to educate themselves on this topic (it's really sad that Fianancial Planning is not a required basic education). However, if they seek out a Financial Planner, they will at least get a "high level" (in layman's terms) definitions of various financial products and "pros" & "cons" of each. A planner can also help them develop a budget, and plan for shorter term goals.

[PC_Man]

Gonna go with Climber here, as a person with no financial background, the help I have had from financial planners over the last 10 years has been invaluable.

Not so much for savings where I accept that I probably have been placed in funds that have the best return for the planner rather than the very best for me, but more for advice on insurance-based policies including life and critical care.

i wouldn't know where to start to compare all the policies that are available and can at least give a planner an idea of what I want then let them come back with a choice of a few for me.

Have seen over a dozen different planners over this time - some were (IMO) arseholes, others quite nice, couldn't tell you who was good or not for investments.

For OP - I do quite like the one I have currently but she's only started with me in the last half year and I've had business that needed attended so she's quite attentive at the moment.
Prev advisors do seem to move to different jobs frequently and do drop off interest once they think there's no more business short term.

PM - if you want more details.