RJ and Makay

Just as financial advisors allocate clients' money to different asset classes to blunt investment risk, clients are now spreading assets between multiple advisors to hedge another type of risk — falling victim to the next Bernie Madoff. Indeed, an ongoing study by Cerulli Associates of 400 affluent households with at least $10 million of investible assets found that 57% are working with five or more advisors. Nearly 64% are working with at least four advisors.

Only three years ago, barely 16% of wealthy households had four or more advisors, points out Cerulli. Now, it's the other way around. Just 19% of such households have only one advisor. Forty-four percent changed their primary advisor in the past 12 months, Cerulli's also reports.

Just in time for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is launching the Multicultural Financial Advisors Forum (MFAF). The MFAF, a blog for financial advisors (FAs) of diverse backgrounds, is located at www.multiculturalfaforum.com.

It's similar to MSSB's Women Financial Advisors Forum (WFAF), a blog about successful women FAs located at http://www.womenfaforum.morganstanleysmithbarney.com/. Since its July 2009 inception, WFAF has had more than 70,000 visitors.