There are two types of stock analysts on Wall Street, i.e., buy-side analysts and sell-side analysts.  If an analyst works for a mutual fund, he is looking for good stocks to buy and is called a buy-side analyst.  If he works for a brokerage house, he is probably looking for good new stocks to sell to investors and is called a sell-side analyst.  Not surprisingly, the analysis of buy-side analysts is much more believable than the analysis by the sell-side analysts.  Everybody knows a sell-side analyst is “talking his book” or shading his analysis to make you buy whatever he is selling.

I listened to a presentation by a doctor that said financial advisors have an obligation to prepare our clients for Obamacare . . . by fleeing it.

His argument is this:  Obamacare is well-meaning, because another 40 million people will finally get the health care they need.  Of course, this creates the need for more general practitioner physicians to serve the 40 million new patients, and Obamacare does make some minor provision to increase the number of general practitioners.  Unfortunately, that part of Obamacare is deeply flawed, because it doesn’t recognize that new graduates from medical school are forced to become higher-paid specialists in order to payoff their crushing education loans.

Slowly, it will be increasingly difficult to get an appointment to see your local general practitioner.  At the same time, affluent patients will begin migrating to the newest delivery system for medical care, which is concierge care.  Under this arrangement, the patient pays an extra flat fee each year of, say, $3,000.  He is then assured of receiving immediate personalized care 24/7.  Of course, there are additional “fee-for-service” charges each time you receive medical care, which are billed to Medicare or your insurer.  You get much better, faster care and pay for it.  It is not for everyone.  But, what happens when the concierge doctors get overwhelmed with new patients?  They stop taking more patients, and the rest are stuck in Obamacare.

All of this makes sense to me, except the speaker was the doctor who was drumming up business for his own concierge care business.  Does that make him a sell-side analyst who is merely “talking his book?”  Or, is he a true-believer?

So, does a trusted financial advisor have an obligation to urge his clients, all of whom are affluent, to contract with a concierge medical care provider now, while they are still accepting new business?