Professional asset management isn't all bad. The important thing is to know what you are getting yourself into and make sure you end up with a good manager. Most people here I believe tend to think that they can do better then most of the profession (and I would tend to agree). I would say that five questions are the key here to ask prospective assest managers: 1) What are your investment philosophy? 2) What has your past rate of return been? 3) Can I have the name and number of some clients of yours, that have been clients for a number of years, that I can speak with? 4) What was your worst investment decision last year? 5) If I want to change management what is the penalty to do so in six months, one year, etc...

Question one will tell you if he has the same belief and principals as you. Take the answer to question two and compare it to the market; insure the rate of return he gives you is after he takes his fees out and that it's a rate of return over 5 to 10 years. With question three you can find out if he told the truth on questions two. He may not wish to give you the numbers of people due to "privacy concerns"; although these may be real it is my opinion that if he is as good as I'm sure he is claming to be that some of his clients would love to tell you about it. Question four will tell you if he is honest. Question give will tell you your escape factor if you change your mind.