Take it from Bernard Madoff: When it comes to dealing with financial advisors, clients should ask good questions.
The convicted Ponzi schemer, now serving a 150-year prison sentence, says in an
They were sophisticated people who should have known better, Madoff claims in the piece. People asked me all the time, how did I do it. And I refused to tell them, and they still invested," he says. "Things have to make sense to you. You should ask good questions.
Nor should clients be overly impressed by an advisors credentials, Madoff warns. The former investment advisor claims his own scheme flourished for so many years precisely because of his own credibility on Wall Street, including stints on various industry committees.
One reason clients should be doing their own due diligence: Regulators sometimes fall short. Madoff actually faults auditors who didnt verify his firms assets at depository trusts. If they had checked me, I would have been found out, he tells the website.
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