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You might not get what you need: The discrepancy between financial advice and commissions in Germany

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  • Mietzner, Mark
  • Molterer, Manuel

Abstract

Retail banking customers seeking financial advice naturally aim to build portfolios that will support their lifetime planning goals. However, discrepancies may arise between the quality of financial advice and advisor commissions. We use savings and loan contracts (SLCs), a financial product earmarked by law for housing purposes, to empirically show that professional advice is no guarantee of a suitable match between investments and individual savings targets, even for the most financially experienced households.

Suggested Citation

  • Mietzner, Mark & Molterer, Manuel, 2018. "You might not get what you need: The discrepancy between financial advice and commissions in Germany," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 167-170.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:162:y:2018:i:c:p:167-170
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2017.11.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Inderst, Roman, 2010. "Misselling (financial) products: The limits for internal compliance," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 35-37, January.
    2. Hackethal, Andreas & Haliassos, Michael & Jappelli, Tullio, 2012. "Financial advisors: A case of babysitters?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 509-524.
    3. Utpal Bhattacharya & Andreas Hackethal & Simon Kaesler & Benjamin Loos & Steffen Meyer, 2012. "Is Unbiased Financial Advice to Retail Investors Sufficient? Answers from a Large Field Study," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(4), pages 975-1032.
    4. Calcagno, Riccardo & Monticone, Chiara, 2015. "Financial literacy and the demand for financial advice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 363-380.
    5. Roman Inderst & Marco Ottaviani, 2009. "Misselling through Agents," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(3), pages 883-908, June.
    6. Beyer, Max & de Meza, David & Reyniers, Diane, 2013. "Do financial advisor commissions distort client choice?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 117-119.
    7. Bolton, Patrick & Freixas, Xavier & Shapiro, Joel, 2007. "Conflicts of interest, information provision, and competition in the financial services industry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 297-330, August.
    8. Sendhil Mullainathan & Markus Noeth & Antoinette Schoar, 2012. "The Market for Financial Advice: An Audit Study," NBER Working Papers 17929, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Roman Inderst & Marco Ottaviani, 2012. "Competition through Commissions and Kickbacks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 780-809, April.
    10. Kramer, Marc M., 2016. "Financial literacy, confidence and financial advice seeking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PA), pages 198-217.
    11. Daniel Bergstresser & John M. R. Chalmers & Peter Tufano, 2009. "Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Brokers in the Mutual Fund Industry," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(10), pages 4129-4156, October.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Eduard Gaar & David Scherer & Dirk Schiereck, 2022. "The home bias and the local bias: A survey," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 21-57, February.
    2. Cruciani, Caterina & Gardenal, Gloria & Rigoni, Ugo, 2021. "Trust-formation processes in financial advisors: A structural equation model," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 185-199.
    3. Jünger, Moritz & Mietzner, Mark, 2020. "Banking goes digital: The adoption of FinTech services by German households," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    4. Altmann Kristina & Bernard René & Le Blanc Julia & Gabor-Toth Enikö & Hebbat Malik & Kothmayr Lisa & Schmidt Tobias & Tzamourani Panagiota & Werner Daniel & Zhu Junyi, 2020. "The Panel on Household Finances (PHF) – Microdata on household wealth in Germany," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 21(3), pages 373-400, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Commission selling; Financial advice; Agency problem; Earmarked financial product; Savings and loan contracts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

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