How many of you use a financial advisor, and do they have you in mutual funds, etfs, or individual stocks?
u/snotick ·
Reddit — r/investing
· February 25, 2026 at 23:18
· ⬆ 27 pts
· 💬 94 comments
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Summary
The post discusses a conversation with a financial advisor (FA) who suggested investing in individual stocks, specifically mentioning General Mills (GIS) as undervalued, rather than mutual funds or ETFs, even for risk-averse clients.
The author, a proponent of the Boglehead method, questions whether this individual stock-picking approach is standard practice for financial advisors and is curious about others' experiences.
Quality assessment: This is an anecdotal discussion, not research or due diligence. It's primarily noise from an investment analysis perspective, but it contains a specific stock mention that can be extracted.
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I just spent 2 hours with my parents financial advisor and he mentioned something that's stuck with me.
My parents are both in their mid 80's. My mom wants very low risk investments, since they have enough money to cover their expenses for 20 years. But, when I asked what the FA would do with the money if he had free reign, he said he would not have money in any mutual funds (they are currently in some mixed funds and bond funds.) He said he would do all individual stocks. The only stock he mentioned was General Mills due to it being undervalued.
I tend to lean more towards the bogglehead method of diversification through a few ETFs or mutual funds. And it got me wondering, is the the standard practice of financial advisors to invest in individual stocks only?
Curious what other people are invested in if they are using a financial advisor?
EDIT: I looked at my notes, it was not Proctor and Gamble, it was General Mills. I updated the OP. But, my question wasn't about the stock, just investing in stocks instead of mutual funds.
The financial advisor for the author's parents stated that if he had "free reign," he would invest in individual stocks, and specifically mentioned General Mills as being undervalued. An FA, presumably a professional with market expertise, has identified a specific large-cap consumer staples company as undervalued, suggesting potential for price appreciation or a favorable risk/reward profile. The FA's professional opinion that General Mills is undervalued presents a potential long opportunity, although it is presented without supporting data and as a single, off-the-cuff example. This is a second-hand, anecdotal comment without any analysis. The FA's rationale is unknown. The consumer staples sector can underperform in strong bull markets, and company-specific issues could negate the "undervalued" thesis.