My wife and I have been a client of Bryan's since 2001/2002. He got us through 2001 and 2002 pretty well with only minor losses in the market. From 2003-2007 we did okay; by okay, I mean okay. We never under performed the market and never really outperformed either. 2008 was a completely different story. He always told us that if things get bad that he would do his best to ""get out of the way"" and try to take advantage of the situation as best he could. He started to use covered calls on ETFs in September and bought some individual bonds instead of the usual bond funds -- both of which have paid off. I spoke to him earlier this morning and asked him how we did for the year ...he was really shy when he told me -13%, but I was thrilled. Everything I've read in the paper was saying the Dow was down triple that and my next door neighbor lost at least 30% with his guy. I think he did a great job in a really bad year.
Pros: Great follow-up on phone calls, prompt service, tells the truth, good performance in a bad year
Cons: Average performance in good years.
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