Fister Group is Unreliable? Let’s See What Claims Assert

While looking for a wealth advisor, it’s important that you go through every option and know their pros and cons. Some advisors offer a lot of advantages while others have too many drawbacks. The Fister Group Morgan Stanley is among the ones who fail to offer any useful benefits. 

This firm relies on implementing various unethical strategies to make its profits. They trap investors in unfavorable agreements. In the following review, you’ll learn about their unethical strategies and more: 

The Fister Group Morgan Stanley: About the Firm

The Fister Group Morgan Stanley is a wealth advisory firm based in Lexington, Kentucky. Their address is 444 E Main St Ste 111, Lexington, KY 40507, US and their contact number is 859-231-9510. 

This firm claims to address their clients’ needs by focusing on a solutions-based approach. Additionally, they claim that they focus on developing strong relationships with their clients to address their complex investment needs. 

The Fister Group also claims to have a philosophy based on independence, education, advocacy, and customization. Their offered services include:

  • Life insurance
  • Financial planning
  • Wealth management
  • 401(k) rollovers
  • Annuities
  • Lending products
  • Retirement planning
  • Estate planning strategies
  • Professional portfolio management
  • Life insurance
  • Donor-advised funds

And more. 

Did You Know?

Annuities are the sole product that may guarantee a stream of income. As, few of it are framed to protect & lock the income. Anyways, you can rely on the financial entity solely if the associated firm is reliable, too.

The managing director of this firm is W Morgan Fister. Apart from him, other notable people at this firm are:

  • Justin E Fister (Senior Vice President)
  • Andy A Milliken (Vice President)
  • Thomas Springate (Senior Vice President)

Although the firm makes many attractive claims about its expertise and philosophy, most of them are fake. When you look at their terms and conditions, you see the various predatory provisions present there. They make you realize just how misleading all of these claims are.

Hence, the following section of this review will give a detailed overview of those predatory provisions:

Red Flags The Fister Group Morgan Stanley is Trying to Hide

Dispute for Misinforming a Client

When you’re looking for a new wealth advisor, it’s best to check their FINRA BrokerCheck listing. There, you can find out their professional history, past employers, and the disputes they have faced. 

The FINRA BrokerCheck listing of W Morgan Fister shows one dispute. It occurred on 7-31-2007. Here, the client alleged that he was misinformed about the mutual funds purchased. Also, he claimed that Fister didn’t tell him about hte possible downside of the investment. 

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He didn’t specify the damages. But he rescinded the allegation later. 

Surprisingly, there’s no additional information available on this dispute. The disclosure doesn’t highlight why the client rescinded the complaint. 

Still, facing a dispute for misinforming a client about an investment’s risk is no laughing matter. It means the Fister Group MD is prone to ignoring his clients’ interests. 

Putting Clients at Excessive Risk

Apart from having a questionable leader, the Fister Group Morgan Stanley charges performance-based fees. This is a heavily looked down upon practice in the finance industry. 

Why? Because it encourages the advisor to ignore their client’s risk tolerance. 

When the advisor follows this fee structure, they earn money according to the performance of your portfolio. So, they tend to implement high-risk strategies. Such strategies can show quick growth in a short period of time. 

However, high-risk strategies are unsuitable for most investors. They can wipe out a large chunk of your invested capital instantly especially in down markets. 

While these strategies are dangerous for all portfolio types, they are particularly detrimental to portfolios with low risk tolerance. Furthermore, if you suffer any losses because of your advisor’s recommended strategy, you can’t do anything about it. 

If you complain about the losses, the firm would say you understood the risks. Hence, it puts the investor in a very problematic position. 

Charging Hidden Fees

The Fister Group Morgan Stanley recommends securities that charge 12b-1 fees. This is a promotional fee which goes straight into the advisor’s pocket for marketing a specific investment. 

Unlike other fees, this fee doesn’t reflect any value. 

The SEC had conducted a study to compare the returns of the investments that charge 12b-1 fees and those that don’t. They found no difference between the returns of the two. 

Moreover, the study concluded that the investments that charge 12b-1 fees have a worse ROI than those that don’t charge this fee. 

This means you end up paying more for an investment that offers worse returns on your investment. Also, this is a percentage fee. So, how much you pay depends on the size of your portfolio. 

Due to this reason, the 12b-1 fee is particularly unsuitable for portfolios of significant sizes. 

Should You Trust This Financial Advisory Firm?

There’s no reason for me to recommend The Fister Group Morgan Stanley. The reliability of its leadership is questionable and the firm has multiple shady provisions in its terms and conditions. 

Hence, it would be best for you to avoid doing business with them. Luckily, there are plenty of skilled wealth advisors in Lexington and you don’t have to stick with these guys. 

3 Total Score
Avoid the Fister Group

This financial advisory firm has too many flaws to consider. First of all, they charge hidden fees, which can add up over time and cause you significant losses. Also, the firm can ignore your risk tolerance for mere profit. Certainly, they are not worth your time.

3Expert Score
Trust
3
Experience
2.5
Service
3.5
Concern for Clients
3
3User's score
Trust
4
Experience
2
Service
2
Concern for Clients
4
PROS
  • None
CONS
  • Faced a dispute for misinforming a client
  • Putting clients at excessive risk
  • Charging hidden fees
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3 Comments
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  1. 1.5
    Trust
    40
    Experience
    20
    Service
    20
    Concern for Clients
    40

    Been working with them for some years. Sad to say, some of these points hold true. They claim to be transparent but that’s all nonsense.

    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  2. What I surmise from this entire article: The Fister Group can take as much money from its clients under the false pretense of “hidden fees”.

    Isn’t this illegal? Can’t they be held liable for it in court?

    Maybe they have been duping their clients for so long that they don’t really know how much money Fister group has actually stolen from them.

    • Yeah that bugs me too. How are these guys able to get away with all of this?

      Maybe this firm specifically targets people who wouldn’t ask a lot of questions about their charges?

      Maybe if you have the brand name of Morgan Stanley in your name, you don’t have to worry about these things??

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