Do you recommend personal investing (flatex) or investing in stocks through a financial advice company?

Question

I am specifically looking for mid-term investing. I am quite young and want to save some money for the next 5-10 years that will help me build a house or buy an appartment.

My first idea was, as recommended by a friend, to use flatex to invest all that money I save into an etf that is basically the msci world, balanced with emerging markets which would minimise the small risks msci world has, while still keeping the etf profitable.

A financial advisor that works for a company contacted me and built me a portfolio that spans 5 stocks. They said that my idea of investing via flatex into the etf, is a good idea but it would be even better to spread further, not only investing in an etf but also in the 4 stocks they provided. Obviously they would get a small fee but it is more managabe than what I know most other financial advisors demand.

The stocks were spanning from an IT-Stock with a strong yearly average of 15-20% (ofc more risky) over a stock that focuses on companies that are climate friendly (laws or society might change to favor those), the stock has been on the rise for the last years. One stock opted to invest in Europe as a whole and another was a dividend oriented stock that made 6% yearly but also paid out 4% as dividend on top of that.

The explanation why this was good was that the IT and climate stock had very good growth while the Europe and dividend stock were safe. In times of crisis I would get almost the same dividend even if the stock price is at a low and europe is so broad that even in crisis, losses would be minimised. I was told the portfolio was so diverse that whenever I need to take money out there would be some stock that should be at a high meaning I can just take out money from this stock and waiting for the others to recover.

Now this all at least sounds smart, but why would I want to invest via the advisor if they take fees when I can also invest in the same stocks via flatex? They told me that they can help with advice that will in the long run make me more money than I pay them. They could tell me when to take out of which stock and when to invest in what more. Also they can help with taking loans, repayment strategies and offer advice on how I can best use my health insurance in case of sickness. As they have a better overview over my financial situation than me, they can better manage my money. That is their argument.

However, I am very cautious of this. Do you believe it makes sense to get an financial advisor, or just be self responsible by investing on my own through flatex?

Answer 1

A financial advisor that works for a company contacted me and built me a portfolio that spans 5 stocks.

This sounds like cold calling. To my mind this is a flashing red light. Why would you believe that some stranger calling you at random has your best interests at heart?

They may be an honest but low level employee at a reputable brokerage, but they don't know anything about you and therefore are not in a position to offer honest advice about the most suitable investments for you. It's far more likely that they are just trying to make their quota of calls and sales and are utterly indifferent to your needs. Even worse, they could be calling from a boiler room, pushing worthless penny stocks as part of a pump and dump scheme.

If you want/need a financial advisor get one that has a fiduciary duty to you, and where you are explicitly paying for their advice. If they are just making their money via commissions on the transactions they suggest there are too many conflicts of interest.

My advice would be to stick to major index funds, educate yourself on how the markets work, and then consider getting a fee based advisor with a fiduciary duty to you. The advisor should be one that you've picked based on your research, not one that picked you at random from a phone book.