Can You Avoid a Madoff-Style Ripoff?

Dec. 16, 2008 — -- If your financial adviser tells you your portfolio is making money, it's time worry about your adviser.

That's the joke I told when friends and clients asked for my thoughts on this year's market collapse.

Little did I know how true the joke would turn out to be until last week's emergence of the massive fraud allegedly engineered by Bernard Madoff.

According to press reports, Madoff continued to report positive returns to his wealthy investors during the worst market cycle since 1929 when even the mighty Harvard University endowment lost money. That alone should have set off alarm bells in the minds of Madoff's clients.

Instead, it shows even the super rich can be duped. It's not just the desperate who fall for scams.

For good reason, this episode will lead many investors large and small to take a second look at their own advisers and ask whether they are on the up and up.

I expect a higher degree of scrutiny from my own clients even though I operate in a realm far removed from the one in which Madoff operated.

A healthy degree of skepticism is something every investor should possess. It would have gone a long way toward protecting members of the Palm Beach Country Club, where Madoff is alleged to have found many of his victims.

So what questions should skeptical investors ask about their current or prospective advisers? Here are a few every reputable adviser should be able to answer without hesitation. If not, that might be a warning sign.

A custodian is the firm that is in possession of your investment accounts. It could be a large, well-known operation like Fidelity, Charles Schwab or Merrill Lynch, or a smaller, reputable firm unknown to most investors, such as Shareholder Services Group. Either way, you want to know who's in possession of your nest egg. Never hand over your funds directly to your financial adviser.

Also, make sure the custodian is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which ensures client accounts in the event a firm becomes insolvent. Don't do business with a custodian that is not an SIPC member.