Developing loyalty among customers should be the goal of all financial institutions, and that goal is particularly challenging during uncertain market swings or times when clients might be losing money.

Loyal clients are more apt to respond to up selling or cross-selling activities, are more likely to forgive mistakes or poor investment performance, and guarantee a steady flow of business rather than a constant requirement to bring in new customers.

In recent years, there has been growing discussion about the level of fees charged to investors. This is attributed, in part, to increased regulatory and investor scrutiny. In addition, the proliferation of discount brokerage firms has arguably helped shed some light on the relative levels of various types of hidden fees, such as trading fees and mutual fund loads. It’s no question that fees can offset portfolio returns to some extent, but where are investors getting their information about fees?