Thinking of Switching Financial Planners?

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Get an agreement up front, in writing, that the second adviser will evaluate your portfolio for a straight fee with no commitment to hiring him. "If they're willing to do that, your odds of getting good information have just gone up," says Waymire. And if your reviewer is highly critical of your portfolio, ask what they would have put you in instead, and why. Again, they have the benefit of hindsight, but the point is to see if their reasoning highlights issues that your adviser may not have fully considered.

Once armed with this new portfolio review, go back to your planner and use it as a jumping-off point for a forthright conversation. If you're not satisfied with the answers, it could be time to cut the cord. Try to keep emotions out of it, no matter how much of a buddy your planner is. "If I take you out to lunch, send you birthday cards, take you golfing, you're more likely to be tolerant of bad results," says Waymire. "You'll accept those results longer, because you want to preserve that relationship. Advisers figured that out a long time ago."

A RELATIONSHIP WORTH SAVING?

Don't be knee-jerk in blaming recent performance on your original planner, though. If you wanted to be in the market no matter what your adviser said and the market went down, that's on you. And just as you would with a marriage, work hard on the relationship before calling it quits. Your planner may have no idea something is amiss: According to one joint study by the Wharton School of Business and State Street Global Advisors, 65% of planners think their clients are very or extremely satisfied, while only 31% of clients actually are. So give them a chance to alleviate your concerns, or tweak holdings based on a changing risk tolerance. "You don't want to burn bridges, because you may very well end up wanting to keep [your adviser]," says Birke.

That's what happened with Lexington (Mass.) wealth manager Michael Tucci. A couple he advised, a pair of social workers, wanted a second opinion on how to handle a multimillion-dollar portfolio (they have inherited wealth) after they got slammed in the market downturn. So Tucci took the initiative and set them up with another adviser for a fresh look. They also consulted advisers they'd located on their own.

What they found: The grass was not necessarily greener, because returns would have been comparable. "They went out and looked at a number of other firms," Tucci says. "But ultimately they said, 'We know these guys, they've done a reasonable job, the service is good, and the numbers are in line—so let's stay after all.' "

Chris Taylor is a journalist in New York City.

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