When financial advisors take it too far to embellish their credentials, it’s the investor who typically pays the price no matter how well-intentioned an advisor may be. In this case you have advisors giving speeches outside of Harvard and West Point with no affiliation to the institutions what so ever and taking credit as being invited guests.
The huckster putting these gigs together is Clint Arthur, a former taxi driver and butter salesman who, according to columnist Jason Zweig, “trains businesspeople—including, so far, about three dozen financial advisers—in media skills.”
“In order for a person to give you a lot of money,” Mr. Arthur said in an interview, “they must admire you, like you and trust you.”
Caveat Emptor