Oct 24, 2007 -- Merrill Lynch guilty of compromised ethics
Merrill Lynch -- the largest financial house in the United States -- has just written off $8.5 billion in losses stemming from weirdo exotic investments that didn't work out. Clark makes no bones about having issues with Merrill Lynch. He believes they've fought being a good corporate citizen for years. Specifically, they've battled against their brokers being fiduciaries. What this means is that Merrill's stockbrokers aren't required to help make the smartest investment choices for you; they just need to steer you toward "suitable" investments. The investments they push you towards, however, can be very lucrative for them. And there's no telling where you'll bottom out once you go down that slippery slope of ethics. For instance, one Merrill broker had a senile elderly couple as customers and put them in variable annuities. The broker made $600,000 and Merrill made $2.5 million on the deal. That was just plain unethical, and a jury assessed a six million dollar penalty against the financial house for wrongdoing. But instead of acknowledging their mistake, Merrill is still fighting the verdict.
You have the choice to use fee only or full commission brokers to help you invest your money. But it's obvious that there's a risk of compromised ethics when you go the full commission route. Clark isn't saying that there aren't decent people working at Merrill Lynch. The problem comes when brokers are held to a lower standard of ethics -- it creates a real "buyer beware" mentality. Any spokespeople from Merrill Lynch who dispute Clark's characterization of the company are welcome to discuss it on the show.
