The SEC released some guidelines recently regarding how registered investment advisors should treat reviews that may crop up on myriad Web sites. The concern among advisors in referencing reviews revolves around the SEC’s testimonial rules.  

The guidance is pretty reasonable overall. Soliciting reviews will likely still be viewed as soliciting testimonials. Compiling virtual thumbs up to influence prospective clients remains forbidden, but if a site that you do not control, like Yelp, collects reviews on you, it leaves all bad ratings up along with the good ones, and you cannot control which ones are highlighted.

A lot of marketing experts talk about the benefits of letting prospective clients know what other people think of your services. It is natural for a consumer of just about any product or service to wonder what others think about the pending purchase, so maybe this use of reviews would help paint a picture for a prospective client.

Of course, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

There are many other ways you could paint that picture. Lately, I have been inundated with several dubious offers to do just that.

Marketing people will tell you, getting published can be good for business. Check out your local lifestyle or business magazines and you may find that $1,000 or so per article will get you a bylined column.

With local publications, it used to be common that to be the subject of a story, it helped a great deal if you advertised. Now you can flat out pay some local and/or online publications to be the subject of one of their stories. “Advertorials” have been around a long time and usually look like or are explicitly noted as paid advertisements, but these paid profiles look like normal content. You no longer have to earn "earned media."

In addition, it appears to be bogus award season.

I got a solicitation from the “Melbourne Award Program” notifying me that I could claim my award by clicking a link. That took me to a page to order a plaque. I have never heard of the award or the outfit, and since the FAQs were quite vague about how I was selected, I passed. It struck me as little better than a sole proprietor giving himself an “Employee of the Month” award. I put it in the same category as one of the more notorious fake awards.

Several years back, I received a notification that I was one of the best advisors in the country. The Consumers Research Council of America had selected me and SLD Industries had a variety of plaques and certificates I could buy to commemorate the feat. It was easy to dismiss this since one of our employees, who at the time had never advised a single client, got the identical notice and solicitation. Other advisors figured it out when a planner out west got some publicity by actually getting the award for his dog.

In 2009, Forbes ran an exposé on the outfit. It confirmed that it was little more than a plaque-selling enterprise that had suckered not just planners but doctors, dentists, lawyers and several other occupations. That quieted it for a spell, but in the last few years, the solicitations have returned.

It is ironic that Forbes did the exposé because it is somewhat complicit in another form of award program that can be quite misleading.

Several years ago, we got a call from Goldline Research stating we were being considered for designation as one of the area’s “Most Dependable Wealth Managers,” and if selected, we would be featured in Forbes. Cool! We are very dependable and Forbes is a big-time publication. Then they wanted to know if we would support the effort to the tune of $8,000.

Turns out being featured meant being included in an ad and the money would help “offset” that cost. Our policy has always been that we do not pay to play, so we declined. Sure enough, we saw a firm or two, and still do from time to time, touting themselves as the “Most Dependable Wealth Managers, as featured in Forbes.” No mention that there was an ad or a cost.

That strikes me as misleading, but the statement is true. They were named “Most Dependable Wealth Managers,” and they were “featured in Forbes,” at least under one interpretation of the word “featured.” I’m sure some of the firms really are quite dependable, though apparently not particularly transparent.

If you think paying a few grand to state you were similarly featured is a great deal, you may get a chance soon. I got a call recently to be on a list of “Florida Financial Leaders” compiled by EMI Networking. Cool. We’ve been called leaders before. Then the guy mentioned being featured in Forbes, so I asked the obvious question. Yep, you guessed it. They were looking for us to support the effort and offset costs. The price was up to $8,900.

Even better, $7,900 got you into Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fortune through Advent Media Group. No award with this, just profiles. To their credit, the sample profiles are labeled clearly “Special Advertising Section.” Again, we will pass, but it will be fun to see who might boast, “As seen in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fortune.”

Actually, eight grand or so is not that expensive. You could possibly appear on TV in an episode of In View hosted by the one and only Larry King. Got a call from a producer just a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t get too excited because another show hosted by Terry Bradshaw had called last year. I don’t recall if we ever got to the price for Mr. Bradshaw’s show, but In View wanted over $20,000.

If these are beyond your budget, there are plenty of cheaper options.

A group called Advanstar will put you on their list of “Best Financial Advisors for Doctors” that runs in Medical Economics or a similar list for dentists in Dental Practice Management for just a few hundred dollars. The Medical Economics one is a real shame. Ten years ago, this was a highly coveted accolade and a list of very good advisors.

For $795, you will be put in the running for a Women’s Choice Award from WIFE.org and WomenCertified. You might get some value from this because the fee covers a survey of your clients. Award winners are chosen from those results, and the first 100 selected will be featured in a full page ad in USA Today. That fee also covers licensing and marketing rights for two years, which you must have to be listed.

To me, it seems odd to pay to be considered for an award or stay on a listing, but it could be a good survey. The last e-mail I got from Hertz, the rental car company, included the Women’s Choice Award logo. Congratulations, Hertz.

There are more “opportunities,” but let’s back up a bit.

There is nothing wrong with advertising, and it is a little odd to think being on a list of top advisors is a bad thing, but both can be bad when they are presented to the public as more than they are.  

I think it reasonable to assume that as the SEC pays more attention to testimonial issues, like those presented by review sites, it may also examine the use of other third-party awards and recognition. Omitting a financial element for an award or inclusion on a list or presenting an advertisement as an accolade is asking for regulatory trouble.

It is also a good way to lose credibility. Prospective clients shop around more than ever. Embellishing an ad campaign won't make you look good to clients or other professionals that may refer clients to you. It may make you look shifty.

If there is any aspect of qualifying that you would not want to tell your client, just say no and remember, in the case of paid-for accolades, something is not better than nothing.

Dan Moisand, CFP, has been legitimately featured as one of the America’s top independent financial advisors by Financial Planning, Financial Advisor, Investment Advisor, Investment News, Journal of Financial Planning, Accounting Today, Research, Wealth Manager, and Worth magazines. He practices in Melbourne, Fla. You can reach him at [email protected].