Unfortunately, like Jake said, your sister's experience is not unique. And sad to tell you that I am one of the unfortunate. I let Fisher managed my money because they claimed to know how to weather a bear market (using short, puts, etc). They did none of that and lost 20% of my money.

The major problem is they chose to go with a high risk and super aggressive portfolio. They said they follow the Morgan Stanley World Index, which is far more aggressive then S&P 500. Not just that, they went even more aggressive in energy sector. When oil price dropped, they lost tons of their clients' money.

I have since fired Fisher. One big reason was I went to one of their investor seminars for their existing clients. I was told most of clients have the same portfolio. But I saw their clients base are mostly senior in their 50s, 60s, 70s. That tells me these guys are scamming the seniors. Seniors in retirement should never be investing in such aggressive investment. They can't afford to lose 20% of their investment but unfortunately many did. After what I witnessed, I lost trust in Fisher Investments that this company lack integrity.

To further prove my point, when I started asking question, my friendly investment counselor became friendly no more. He wouldn't call me any more but instead send me nicely, legally typed up letters (to protect themselves in case I sue them, I guess). When I finally fired them, they quickly deduct adviser fees PLUS termination fees within a few hours. Again, that clearly showed what they are after, the fees.

My suggestion is to fire them. You might want to fire them now (and pay the termination fee) or wait until after 1 year and fire them. Remember you don't need to sell your stocks after you fire them. Slowly sell shares (hopefully the market will recover also) and move your money to safer place. Don't know how old your sister is but she probably shouldn't be investing aggressively anyway. Good luck!