Greg Baker Merrill Lynch is a name that may come up regularly in your search for a financial advisor in the Bethesda, Maryland area. He is a risky advisor who traps his clients in bad deals for his gain.
There are several questionable clauses in his terms and conditions. His firm can easily take advantage of its client’s portfolios and not face any consequences thanks to these clauses.
This analysis will clarify these troubling clauses. In addition, you would find out a couple of things that Greg would rather you didn’t know:
Firm and Services by Greg Baker at Merrill Lynch
Bethesda, Maryland is home to Greg Baker Merrill Lynch, a financial advisor. You can reach him at (301)215-4424 or visit his office at 7501 Wisconsin Ave Ste 600 W, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
Greg is the leader of the Baker Ellis Group, a financial planning firm that promises meticulous attention to each client. They also state that they focus on the client’s needs and goals during the wealth management process.
Greg runs the company and advises clients on financial matters. Michael Charles Ellis is the Senior Vice President, and Mellisa M. St. Louis is the Vice President at his company.
The company claims that it will make an effort to learn about the specific difficulties, priorities, and financial means of each client. Healthcare costs, family obligations, retirement plans, and home-related investments are just a few of their numerous concerns.
Among the many things they offer are:
- Other Investment Options
- funding based on the value of a security
- Donation accounts
- Strategy for the Future
- Management of inventory with laser focus
- Swap Money
- Financing structures
- Investments in Long-Term Debt
- Financial planning dossiers
- Common Investment Funds
- Influence Portfolios
- Plus many more.
Even though Greg Baker Despite Merrill Lynch’s alluring claims, almost all of them are false. Despite his assurances that he is looking out for his client’s best interests, he has included several problematic clauses in his disclosures.
Therefore, it is difficult to trust them. You’ll find out about these dangerous clauses and why you should stay away from Greg in the next portion of this review.
Concerns About Greg Baker To Merrill Lynch
Client Disagreement Worth $500,000
One of the most crucial things to do when searching for a new financial advisor is to look them up on FINRA’s BrokerCheck. There you can find details on their background, state licenses, exams passed, and any complaints lodged against them.
One serious complaint is listed on Greg Baker’s FINRA BrokerCheck profile for Merrill Lynch. This happened back in 2001. In this case, the customer claimed that Greg disregarded his requests. He was seeking damages of $500,000.
Morgan Stanley, though, said the complaint was unfounded. They said there was no basis for the complaint.
Keep in mind that the client rarely wins in these kinds of arguments. That’s because dishonest advisors like Greg Baker want their new clients to sign a laundry list of disclaimers before they’ll even work with them.
The advisors can evade responsibility thanks to the waivers. Doug Kisker Ameriprise is another advisor who has utilized a similar strategy to deflect blame.
Exposing Customers to Unacceptable Danger
Greg and his company are paid based on results. Advisors who charge performance-based fees obtain compensation depending on your portfolio’s relative performance relative to a predetermined benchmark.
It’s possible that the pricing structure will appeal to you. It’s a disaster for any investor, though.
The wealth advisor is incentivized to take risks due to the performance-based compensation structure. These methods facilitate the portfolio’s rapid improvement over the benchmark. However, nearly no investor types would be comfortable with their high-risk plans.
Low returns can be expected from high-risk investments. Most investments result in low or negative returns for the investor. In addition, when markets are unpredictable, these methods can cause you to lose a sizable portion of your capital.
The Broker-Dealer War
The best financial advisors put their client’s needs above their own. Dual-registered brokers and advisors, on the other hand, have no incentive to prioritize their client’s needs over their own.
The Greg Baker Merrill Lynch firm is a licensed investment advisor and broker. This puts his clients at risk because he may favor associated mutual funds, receive commissions on sales of those funds, and share in the profits from other items that he recommends.
Such consultants are constantly under the scrutiny of regulatory bodies. However, they cannot look into every single transaction.
Investors who work with a dual-registered advisor pay more than those who work with a broker-dealer. They also give their brokerage clients access to the same mutual funds that have underperformed but are offered instead in institutional share classes.
Conclusion
Author: Greg Baker Merrill Lynch boasts extensively about the quality of his offerings. But there are just too many problems with his company.
The company stands to make more money if it disregards its customers’ risk tolerance. Because of the inherent broker-dealer conflict of interest, it also fails to meet the fiduciary requirement.
For these reasons, you should probably steer clear of working with Greg and his company.
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