Some tips when dealing with financial institutions.

Here are just a few which come to mind:

1) be very aware of conflicts of interest, where a financial institution or bank promotes their in-house perhaps less than competitive investor/products. At times with high commissions or mgt. fees.

2) the interest of investors and financial institutions should be the same/aligned.  I.e. only bonuses and excess rewards for superior investor % performance.

3) mgt. fees to watch out for along then with + commissions paid to banker, is a conflict of interest. Say No, to so called (hidden?) retro-commissions.

4) Be careful on IPO's so your not an "umbrella for poor offerings", vs the good ones which mostly go to big clients, ha or distant relatives. Don't be fooled if an IPO just does well the first 2-3 trading days due to speculators, only to languishing later -like so often in Thailand.

5) Always understand *all fees* which are levied.