Trusted Financial Players, Bait and Switch Artists

What scares me is how easy it is to rig investment systems. Your retirement, your family's security, and your grandchildren's prosperity is being cheated, by gang-like crimes of once-respected members of society. Five short examples.

The shortest message I can share is to answer this million dollar question for every person I can reach: "How Do We “Bait and Switch” Thee?  Let Me Count The Ways" posed by the title. here goes:

Bait and Switch #1 is when any average Jane or Joe responds to any advertisement, offering the services of a professional financial advisor, an investment advisor or a wealth manger at one of the giant financial firms in the land. (Bank, Insurance Co, Fund Co etc)

You are told (Baited) that you will get nothing but the best for you....now here is the switch.....what you will actually be delivered, over 95% of the time, is a cleverly disguise broker or dealer representative, a sales agent and NOT an ADVICE agent.  (there is a million dollar difference between a registered "advice" agent, and a registered "sales" agent) Truthfully, the sales agent is a "double agent". since this agent works for the Bank and not primarily for the client.  This is the beginning of an "undisclosed dual agency" relationsship and it is trap #1 you just walked into.

Bait and Switch #2 is when the undisclosed dual agent then pitches you a number of investment products dressed up as his or her "advice".  Know the following underlined words as clearly as if Warren Buffet himself told them to you, and read his biography "SNOWBALL" if you want to hear it yoruself:  Investment Advice is NOT Sales.....and Investment Selling is NOT Giving Advice.

Bait and switch #2 is when your undisclosed dual agent, working for the giant financial company pitchs the investment products that are intended to make THEM the most money, while clevery dressing those products in the costume of "fantastic investments".  They are fantastic allright, but not for you....and you have just walked wide eyed, yet blind, into Bait and Switch #2.

Bait and switch #3 is when you assure yourself that you are in a safe country and your systems and your regulators stand on guard for anything that might harm you. You are certain that you are protected at all times.  Nope, you just walked into Bait/Switch #3 and you have not even started the investment process.

You will now hand over complete faith, trust, (and your life savings) to the hands of financial game-masters where you are secretly swindled twice already, and #3 is that you may never ever discover that virtaully ALL financial regulators in the best country in the world, are either hand picked, or hand paid, by the very industry they are supposed to protect you from.  They are paid to be sycophant rental cops at best, and sinecure (Latin for "without care") asleep-on-the-job security guards at worst.  That is bait and switch #3Finally, when you reach age 50 or 60, even older for some to discover this, you will spot bait and switch #4.  It is the promise that we all fall for in our great, developed, first world country, that political corruption happens in darker countries, hotter climates or simply elsewhere.  POOF! You have just fallen for another "cognitive dissonace" game of self delusion.

You will learn that each and every political party (certainly the party, if not each politician individually) prefers to "shoot, shut up, and shovel" (bury the problem) than be the politician that tries to tackle  the best organized and most powerful "gangs" of men in suits in the world.  Nope, once a politician is "in the boat", the first thing they learn to do is to no longer "rock the boat".  Most are forced to become a "team players" and "go along to get along."  This is Bait and Switch #4, which sets up every consumer in the land, to be used, abused, used again, and abused again.  And again.  



To summarize:

#1 You will be Baited with promise of a licensed professional financial advisor.

     You will be delivered the switch of a salesperson in a clever disguise.

#2 This sales agent will then promise (and sell you) you top quality investments.

      You will be delivered higher cost, lower performing, better fee's investments.

#3 You will be told at all times that you are fully protected by layers of regulators and self regulators.

      You will likely never (ever) meet, find, or speak with an industry regulatory person who is not either hand picked or hand paid, and hand influenced, by the very industry that they are purported to protect YOU from.  In truth, Billions of dollars are paid to thousands and 

thousands of such false regulators...in your "best country in the world".

#4  You will be told that your government servants, the politicians overseeing the entire system are making the game safe for you.

      You will discover (one day) that although the color of the party may change from election to election, the one  thing that will never change is the desire for the new-color party, once elected to do whatever is necessary to stay in power. Go along to get along. Don't rock the boat. 



Four (there could be more) ways in asnwer to the question "How Do We “Bait and Switch” Thee?  Let Me Count The Ways" posed by the title.



OOPS!  UPDATE Bait and Switch #5

#5  You will be told by your news media that all is well, and it's advertisers (financial giants) are protecting you.

      You will be misled, lied to, and used as cannon fodder for advsertisers who pay these essential (media) handmaids billions of dollars.  Every retail investment-news sucker just falls for #5.  Experts like Warren Buffet learned this trick...in the 1950's.  Be more like Warren.  See the image below on this media topic, shared on twitter by Congressional Candidate Bill Cimbrello attached.

Candidate for US Congress, District #MA09



Thanks for reading along, and thanks even more for passing this along to someone you love...or someone you intend to vote for.



Larry Elford

@RecoveredBroker