Financial Advisors

Even if your portfolio is way down, you may be patting yourself on the back: At least you didn't invest with Bernie Madoff. Brilliant investors bought into his alleged $50-billion Ponzi scheme, but not you. Well, don't get cocky (and not only because you probably never had the opportunity to give your money to Madoff). The sad truth is that the danger of investment scams is ever-present.

Los Angeles County officials said Monday that they were opening an investigation into possible financial exploitation of a housebound Palos Verdes Estates heiress by her money manager. The launch of a probe into the handling of Susan Strong Davis' affairs came in response to a Times article describing how the 87-year-old widow spent millions of dollars on a four-bedroom home in Beverly Hills despite suffering from what relatives said was dementia that left her unable to make even minor decisions.

One day there may be tens of thousands of professionals on Microsoft Network's financial advisor database. But the list was considerably shorter earlier this month when TheRightAdvisor.com was unveiled as part of the MSN MoneyCentral Web site. The site, a joint project of Microsoft and Boston-based Dalbar Inc., was launched with about 3,000 professionals in its resource bank, including several from Ventura County.

Dennis Rodman is in desperate need of a rebound. An Orange County court commissioner Tuesday told the NBA Hall of Famer he faces a possible 20-day jail stint for contempt of court unless he comes up with $860,376 in child and spousal support he owes his ex-wife by May 29, though it's likely he could get community service time instead. Either way, Rodman's attorney and his financial advisor say, their client's broke. "In all honesty, Dennis, although a very sweet person, is an alcoholic," said Peggy Williams, his financial advisor.

Question: I'm having a hard time finding a good accountant or financial planner. I've handled most of my mother's affairs for the last 10 years, but I'm concerned I may be making mistakes without knowing it. Considering my mother's age and infirmity, I am reluctant to make drastic changes in her finances on the recommendations of a planner or accountant whom I don't really trust.

Is the crazy stock market driving you crazy? Don't worry. To cope with the turmoil on Wall Street and beyond, financial advisors are forging professional alliances to provide their clients with psychiatric help. An advisor will work to keep a portfolio balanced while a psychologist will do the same with the client -- and, on occasion, the advisor.

Need advice on your finances? Don't say so too loudly--or you may soon find a mob outside your door. With aging baby boomers finally in their asset-accumulation years, and the nest eggs of many pre-retirees and retirees inflated by the long bull market in stocks, the potential audience for professional money help has never been larger. So here come the would-be helpers.

Financial planners should focus less on beating investment performance benchmarks and more on emphasizing broader "life planning" services for their clients, an industry veteran says. "This profession is making the transition from delivering or selling products to offering advice, from packaging portfolios to monitoring goals, from financial planning to life planning," Roy Diliberto, president of the national Financial Planning Assn.

Financial professionals are waging a heated battle over a little-noticed part of the financial reform bill moving through Congress that's all about one word: trust. For individual investors who pay professionals to help them invest or plan for retirement, it may be the most important piece of the legislation. Two similar versions of financial reform — the one approved by the Senate on Thursday and the one passed by the House in December — must now be reconciled to create a final law. Both bills contain a variety of controversial issues concerning financial regulatory changes, consumer protections, regulation of derivatives and corporate governance issues.

Morningstar Inc. said Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Labor had subpoenaed the financial research company for documents related to its services to retirement plan providers. Morningstar Chairman Joe Mansueto said the company believed the subpoena of Morningstar Associates, an advisor to 401(k) plans, was related to probes by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He said the firm was "fully cooperating."

Dear Liz: We are getting coaching from a finance advisor. He suggests using a home equity line of credit as investment capital. Your opinion on this? Answer: You're not dealing with a financial advisor who has your best interests at heart. You're dealing with a salesman who is mostly, if not solely, concerned about the commission he's going to earn from selling you an insurance or investment product should you take his unsound advice. Borrowing to invest is a risky strategy.

Tens of thousands of California state workers are taking advantage of a perk that pays them pension benefits for years they don't actually work, and reformers looking for places to cut have put it at the top of the list. State law allows the employees to increase their retirement benefits by tacking up to five fictitious years ? known as "air time" ? onto their public service. Although they pay a fee for the privilege and officials say it is high enough to cover the eventual payouts, critics of air time note that the boost can cost taxpayers millions when the state pension system's investment income falls short, as it has in recent years.

Los Angeles city officials have long used the "broken windows" theory to justify the $7 million spent each year on graffiti removal. The logic goes like this: Safe and prosperous communities start with clean streets. But this week the fate of the effort was called into question when the top financial advisor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recommended that the city slash the graffiti-removal budget in half as part of a round of short-term cuts. The graffiti-removal cut would last through the rest of the fiscal year and would save the city $1.5 million ?

The top financial advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that the city would need to stop hiring police officers if the City Council abandons plans to lease nine public parking garages to a private operator. City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana issued his warning as he recommended that council members press ahead with plans to find a company to run the garages, including three in Hollywood, for the next 50 years. Officials had hoped to secure up to $300 million from the deal.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a wide-ranging investigation of Bell's sale of more than $70 million in bond issues, the latest agency to probe the scandal-plagued city. The investigation comes after state auditors last month were highly critical over how the bond money was being used in Bell, including funds involving a sports park that has yet to be built. Among the documents the federal agency has requested are those involving nine current and former Bell leaders, the firm that audited the city's financial statements and underwriters and financial advisors in the bond sales, according to the subpoena, a copy of which was obtained by The Times.

Lenny Dykstra paced his Westwood apartment, fidgeting with a butterfly knife and mumbling profanities to an attorney. A succession of visitors, including a hulking bodyguard and a personal assistant named Destiny, streamed through the 12th-story penthouse. One wall held a framed poster from Dykstra's days with the Philadelphia Phillies, his cheeks characteristically bulging with tobacco chaw. Against another wall leaned a Sotheby's real estate sign, sullied with specks of fresh dirt.

Reliant Energy Inc., the owner of power plants in nine U.S. states, said it would explore strategic alternatives after cutting its profit projections and losing more than half of its market value last week. Morgan Stanley and Goldman, Sachs & Co. are financial advisors for a review of all options to enhance stockholder value, Houston-based Reliant said. The company didn't specify the alternatives that would be considered and said it wouldn't disclose developments until its board approved a course of action.

Want to see if your investment portfolio is properly diversified? Need ideas on how best to invest your money to meet your long-term financial goals? Then write to us for a Money Makeover. We are looking for readers who want to have their portfolios reviewed by expert financial advisors who will recommend stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investments. If you are selected, your results will be published in upcoming articles in The Times. To participate, send your name, age, phone number, income, assets and financial goals to Money Makeover, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053.

Sherman Oaks financial advisor Bruce Fred Friedman, who fled the country while under investigation for allegedly defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of dollars, has been arrested in France, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said Tuesday. Friedman, 60, ran a $228-million Ponzi scheme in which he promised to invest in rental properties but instead diverted millions of dollars to himself, family and friends, FBI Special Agent Perry Woo said in an affidavit. The U.S. attorney's office charged Friedman on Sept.

Beverly Hills financial advisor Stanley Chais made a fortune serving as Bernard L. Madoff's connection to Southern California's rich and powerful. He hobnobbed with Hollywood elite, won praise as a generous philanthropist and kept homes on both coasts. These days, the 84-year-old Chais spends the bulk of his time shuttling from one medical appointment to the next, tormented by an ongoing federal criminal investigation and myriad lawsuits that could ruin him financially. Eight months have passed since the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan disclosed that it was considering criminal charges against Chais, but there has been no indictment and little explanation of where the case stands.