Do you know who is actually managing your money? Are you in mutual funds? Do you realize that mutual fund companies will never advise you or your advisor to move out of their funds and into cash?
So if your advisor has you in mutual funds, is he or she changing your exposure in response to market signals? Most advisors state that they “re-balance portfolios quarterly”. Why do you suppose this is the industry norm? Could it be that they want to get the poor-performing positions out of your account the day before your statement is printed. I can think of no other reason for making adjustments (corrections) in your accounts on those four dates.
I have always found this practice quite odd. I once spoke to a gentleman at a conference in early 2000 who asked me how I knew to raise so much cash early in January and February of that year. When I told him we watch the market closely and respond (as needed) to market changes, he said, “Oh, I could never do that. I play golf two or three times a week“. You see, he was a quarterly re-balancer, only making changes to his client's portfolios on those four days each year.
What the major Wall Street firms are really looking for is “asset gatherers“ rather than investment advisors. An investment advisor should be working daily to make sure your money is deployed to those areas of the market which are showing strength relative to other areas of the market (positive relative strength).
Managing money in the stock, bond and other markets requires diligence and constant attention. No advisor or advisory firm is perfect, however, knowing who is actually managing your money and how they go about doing it should give you an added amount of comfort. After all, you are trusting that they are taking care of that very important piece of your financial well-being.