Advisor annual review checklist
Take this one page to your yearly review with your financial advisor or money manager. Fill in the answers as
you go: if a blank stays empty, that's worth a follow-up. Free to print and share.
Advisor annual review checklist
Account: Advisor: Date:
Before the meeting
- Last year's statements (all 12, or at least the year-end one)
- The fee disclosure (for a 401(k), the plan's yearly fee notice)
- The firm's Form CRS (2-page relationship summary)
- Your own check of how the account did against the market
Five questions to ask
1. What has my account returned after all fees, and what is it compared with?
1 yr
3 yr
5 yr
Since opening
Benchmark
2. What benchmark fits how my money is invested, and why?
3. What do I pay in total each year, in dollars?
Advisory fee $
+ Fund expenses $
+ Other fees $
= Total $
4. How are you paid, and are you a fiduciary on my whole account?
Flat fee
% of assets
Commissions
Fiduciary on the whole account? Yes No
5. What would make you change course, and what's the plan if markets fall 30%?
Red flags
- No numbers for question 1, only "a good year"
- The benchmark is different from last year
- No total cost in dollars
- No clear answer on how they're paid
After the meeting
- Look the advisor up: brokercheck.finra.org and adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Compare their return figure with your own check