If you are not a financial expert, the tendency is to rely on your broker or financial advisor to pick the right investments to suit your profile. The truth is, what other options are there – the broker is the expert, so why not entrust your financial decisions to him, right? Wrong.
As the recent months have shown, it’s up to each person to take some responsibility for their own financial affairs. If you use a broker or financial advisor, you should be more active in guiding the final investment decisions that are made.
The question is – how can you do this if you are not a sophisticated investor? Well, Jemstep helps you in precisely this situation. Let’s say a mutual fund has a superior return over the past three years, and is recommended to you by your broker. Traditionally you may have simply relied on your broker ‘s judgment and proceeded with the investment. But now you can validate recommendations in an instant, taking your specific preferences into account.
Simply search for the mutual fund on Jemstep, input your preferences and in a split second you will see where that fund ranks in the entire mutual fund universe. Out of approximately 18,000 mutual funds, let’s say this one pops up at #16,072. You check out the details and realize that although its return is superlative, this fund’s level of risk is too high for you. You call up your broker and give him the information – or simply share it with him on Jemstep using our collaboration tools. You can also both see which fund was ranked #1 by Jemstep and why. Now you can start a constructive discussion, and hopefully arrive at the best choice for you.
So if you don’t decide to go it alone just yet, with Jemstep you can participate meaningfully with your broker in choosing the best investments to suit your profile.
We are still in private alpha testing, but will be bringing you our beta version (with mutual funds) in the near future. We’ll keep you updated on progress!
Excellent article, and seems like Jemstep is certainly something we can all look forward to. It makes a lot of sense to be able to validate what my broker tells me. If my broker knows I have the ability to verify his advice, I am sure the quality of his advice will improve over time also. How much will Jemstep’s service cost?
Hi Morrison,
Thanks for your comment.
Jemstep is free and completely unbiased, so please take 5 minutes to sign up and we will contact you as soon as our beta version is ready.
Sincerely,
David Buchanan.
Certainly will, and best of luck with the successful launch of your company.
Great article . Will definitely apply it to my site