In a seminal paper titled, "Advisor's Alpha," the famously fee-sensitive folks at Vanguard estimate that the value added by working with a competent financial advisor is roughly 3% per year. In a recent article by Barron's Investment Publication, Daniel Crosby, Ph.D., of Nocturne Capital summarizes the paper and provides some analysis to complement its findings. Below is an excerpt from the article (for more, follow link below):

"In an era of seven-dollar trades and fee compression, some have been quick to dismiss the traditional advisory relationship as a relic of a bygone era. Years ago, brokers and advisors were the guardians of financial data, the keeper of the stock quote.

Today, investors need only an iPhone and a free online brokerage account to do what just 30 years ago was the exclusive purview of Wall Street. It is worth asking in such an age, "Is my advisor really earning their fee?" An appeal to the research shows that the answer is a resounding "yes", albeit not for the reasons you might have supposed..."