Jeffrey Camarda, well-known financial planner, has questions concerning his Ph.D.

The company website still lists La Salle as part of his education and the compliance officer of the company is a relative. Not alot of questions asked when positive returns were easy to make be interesting to see what type of returns people are now getting for the money they invested with this company. Fee only means they take a portion of your balance, I am sure like all other balances they are down but how do they compare. The article says no loss in business when letter sent out, is that because they are blaming the market?

Jeff did promote his PhD, so did his staff, over and over again. I was duped.

Hey I am considering hiring this firm, but am alittle disconcerted now. But my friend who has been with them for 9 years says they were down last year but not as badly as the market. They said the Phd doenst look good, but it is the Chartered Financial Advisor or Analyst, whichever is the designation that matters most in managing money. I am at a large broker now and have interviewed them(Camarda) twice. I like what I've seen and heard-before this article and comments but curious if there is anyone out there who used to perhaps work for them who might be able to shed some light on my thought process......Thanks

As a former employee who worked with the firm several years ago, I just have to say that these people treat their clients like GOLD! I cannot speak to his Phd personally, but trust me the man is a brilliant financial mind who truly puts the firms clients first and seemingly has every desgination out there. Maybe now he can fit all of his designations on one line on his business card!

Every now and then I skim the net looking for obscure pieces here and there and I must say....this one was too good to not comment on. All I can say is it sounds like somebody got fired in a bad economy. I run my own business and even if a customer were to leave my company....most people just take their business elsewhere. The details in these comments seem more like someone who used to have their hands on the proverbial wheel as opposed to a 'former client'. I should know I still have old employees who I occasionally hear comments through the grapevine. It's frustrating but really sad ....for them. I guess the ole grinding axe is tough to drop for some...........

Did you decide to use them as your asset manager?

We've been targeted by this firm both emailing us and calling our home (clearly they got our record from someone). We have not previously used a financial analyst and feel the need for expert advice. However, I was shocked to find their fees are 2 percent of your portfolio value, assessed annually. A fee that subtracts that large a value from the balance of your assets regardless of the performance sounds predatory to me. Not having experience with financial analysts, perhaps this is unfair, but finding out that the principle has an (alleged) fake education has reinforced my discomfort with them

We only have one record in our database for Poughkeepsie, for a “Nigel _______;” if this is you, apparently you contacted NAPFA sometime in 2008 requesting information on financial advisors, and we received the contact info you provided. You probably have been receiving the Chairman’s Communiqués I write via email, if you do not want these there should be an unsubscribe button. If you wish, email me personally at jeff@camarda.com and I will personally expunge your data. I think you have very much the wrong idea about us (including fees) and the value we represent, but we wish you all the best!– Jeff Camarda, CFP, ChFC, CLU, CFA, CFS, BCM

egudahl wrote:

We've been targeted by this firm both emailing us and calling our home (clearly they got our record from someone). We have not previously used a financial analyst and feel the need for expert advice. However, I was shocked to find their fees are 2 percent of your portfolio value, assessed annually. A fee that subtracts that large a value from the balance of your assets regardless of the performance sounds predatory to me. Not having experience with financial analysts, perhaps this is unfair, but finding out that the principle has an (alleged) fake education has reinforced my discomfort with them

Dear "enudahl." We only have one record in our database for Poughkeepsie, for a “Nigel _______;” if this is you, apparently you contacted NAPFA sometime in 2008 requesting information on financial advisors, and we received the contact info you provided. You probably have been receiving the Chairman’s Communiqués I write via email, if you do not want these there should be an unsubscribe button. If you wish, email me directly at jeff@camarda.com and I will personally expunge your data. I think you have very much the wrong idea about us (including fees) and the value we represent, but we wish you all the best!– Jeff Camarda, CFP, ChFC, CLU, CFA, CFS, BCM