FEE-BASED FINANCES

Investment News

Result:

Brokers who get their incomefrom commissions on transactionsthey execute are losing ground to fee-basedbrokers who charge based onthe time spent on a client's account,or on the amount of assets in theclient's portfolio, according to arecent report in . Theconflict of interest that is inherent inthe commission-based broker's relationshipwith the client got tarredwith the same brush that paintedWall Street's analysts as too cozy withthe stocks they analyzed. Thenumber of fee-based brokers is onthe rise, with some big-name firmslike Merrill Lynch setting up programsto dispense fee-based financialplanning advice.