In today’s world of uncertain markets, many clients are looking for a good return with little to no risk.

If you are offered this type of investment opportunity, your first instinct may be to say, “Sounds great; let’s buy this!” To complete the transaction, your Financial Adviser will ask you to sign a document confirming you understand the risks associated with the investment. You may sign it, confident that you made a good decision.

Did you really read what you just signed?

While most Investment Advisers are ethical and disclose all information to their clients, this is not always the case.

If you don’t read before you sign, you won’t know if your Investment Adviser disclosed all the risks and fees associated with this investment.

Investors Experience Unexpected Losses

In “UBS Clients Burned by Iron Condor Strategy“, WealthManagement.com reveals what can happen when investors don’t read the fine print.

USB created a type of investment sold to clients as a way to improve their return with low volatility and risk strategies to minimize market risk.

Some clients in the ‘yield enhancement strategy’ say they suffered losses greater than 20% in an investment they were told was ‘conservative’ and ‘low risk.’

Takeaway

Be sure you really understand the risks and fees associated with an investment – particularly one that promised a high return with little risk – before you sign any documents. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.