o_19grqq7snim9mn019q11f7ds26a.pdf

As one destination is reached, a new dream begins...
Is your retirement plan keeping up with your vision?
regarding the potential fall-out when a
husband dies.
“I share with my investors what it
is like for the beneficiaries when the
“financial steward” of the family is
gone.” Ditter related. “It can be a real
eye-opener,” she admits. “The more we
can have those conversations up front,
the better the family can go through
that experience when it inevitably
happens.”
It’s one of the reasons Ditter
established her own practice in May
2013, after a 30-year corporate career
advising clients during several volatile
periods, including the 1987 Black
Monday, the savings and loan crisis
from 1986 to 1995, the Persian Gulf
War, the collapsing Tech Bubble of
1999 through 2001 and its resulting
Dot-Com Bust, as well as the recent
Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.
Ditter’s final position was an
eight-year stint as Vice President,
Senior Account Executive of Fidelity
Investments Private Client Group in
Palm Desert. While providing planning
and guidance for 423 households with
more than one billion in assets, Ditter
had a first-hand look at the concerns of
high net worth investors – and a front
row seat on how major nationwide and
global financial events can impact that
wealth.
“I finally listened to my own inner
wisdom and said good-bye to working
for the big brand,”
she said. “I saw
the gaps in
how big firms,
in general, are
serving and
delivering to
investors and
decided that I
could build my own
practice just by filling in those gaps. So
I started my own practice.”
One of those gaps that Ditter clearly
perceived was the aforementioned
lengthy series of conversations
regarding death and its effect on family
wealth that she – as a financial advisor
– wants to have with her clients.
“I believe that you cannot do that
if you are at a big firm that will only
provide guidance on their product
solutions as opposed to advice,” she
said. “When the advisor is required to
meet a substantial amount of metrics
each day, it may make it difficult for
the advisor to have those quality
conversations.”
Ditter, a person who is big on
communication, is enjoying the
national discussion on establishing a
uniform fiduciary standard to govern
all types of financial advisors.
“It really is an interesting time
right now,” she said, adding with a
laugh that she’d have to defer to legal
experts, regulators and a crystal ball
to determine if such a standard will
ever come to pass. Yet Ditter feels the
dialogue is valuable. “It stems from
concerns about how the investor is
served. The investors I come into
contact with are largely unaware of
what this all means for them. I think
investors do need more disclosure
from their advisors about whether that
advisor is merely giving guidance as a
representative of a product provider
or a registered representative of a
broker dealer or being advised by an
investment advisor representative–
and what these differing roles mean.
A candid conversation about how the
representative is compensated should
be clear and transparent.”
Yet, Ditter believes that these
conversations may not be discussed
with clarity to the consumer. Instead,
she believes many investors view
whoever provided a proposal and
recommended a product to be
their “trusted” financial advisor
looking out for their best interests –
which in many instances may not the
case.
“We need to deal with this matter
within our industry,” Ditter states,
adding she isn’t convinced a blanket
standard is the answer. “If my vote
counts, don’t put everything in one box.
Instead, focus on preventing abuses in
the industry in a way that enforces the
disclosure we already know we should
be making in this business.”
Jill Ditter is a Registered Representative
with and securities offered through
LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.
Investment Advice offered through
Gallacher Capital Management, LLC
a Registered Investment Advisor. JD
Wealth Management and Gallacher
Capital Management are separate
entities from LPL Financial. Custodial
Services offered through either LPL
Financial or Fidelity Investments.’
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.57