Yes, I was surprised by their picks ... One-third of her cash went for large cap well known US stocks, some of which she had already owned (but mostly did not own when Fisher took over). I thought a couple were particularly untimely. Our legacy stocks (when we inherited in 2004) and those she or I had purchased since, included positions in over half of their US stock purchases. So I was really surprised in the sense of "nothing new here!" I was also surprised by the purchase of MSCI Ishares, by far the largest positions.

Your analysis of retention rates is interesting. You could certainly work the numbers to your favor. There just doesn't seem to be any value-added here ... but the biggest mistake was getting caught up in their enthusiasm for what they do, and not recognizing the inherent risk in turning her moderate conservative portfolio allocation into an aggressive, one. When you need income to live on, how can you survive the volatility? It just won't last. I think Fisher needs to be more responsible by taking a broader look at individual situations instead of selling an inappropriate product.