Mailload,

I see you're point, and agree. I don't expect to be reimbursed for losses, these are the chances we take in investing and don't do our own homework. Just the reason why Morningstar is tool that we can't put a price on. 

My investor has had me in two other funds that I feel comfortable with, FRFTX, and a Putnam tax exempt income FD Class C fund (for some reason the Putnam fund has no CUSIP symbol, only identified as a number 746870401).

I realize how long posts on message boards are not enjoyed by others, but if you'll indulge me;

I feel he has my best interests at heart, but still, I have this discomfort that I can't seem to shake. 

The funds I invested in is money I had to place in investment accounts per a Medicare Set aside agreement after I settled a spine injury case in 2006.

I guess what exacerbates my Prozac moments that trouble me about investing money that I have to keep safe comes from the following;

a) Prior to signing a settlement, I requested info on CD's, Money Market accounts and special savings; wanted to keep the funds protected from risks; didn't want to pay fee's and penalties for my own funds and needed to keep them fluid to pay for my medical needs as they arose;

my branch manager recommended I sit with an investment advisor) I met with a Webster Bank senior advisor who made recommendations and took all my information, I.e. family situations and so on; we were to meet again when I received my check.

b) Upon returning, the advisor was replaced by another, we had to start from scratch, his recommendations were completely different, I was adamant about keeping funds safe, no fees/penalties. I asked what was in it for them, he said there was nothing, no charges. Thats exactly what he said. He started me off with two tax exempt class c funds with Putnam and Franklin, and a cash account.

c)  I was satisfied with the ease of Webster investments website as I was able to easilly understand when the funds were up or down, it was easy to understand and my investment accounts were directly linked to my special checking for easy and quick transfers;

d) a couple months into my new accounts and without notice, Webster changed investment companies to UVEST, I had great difficulty now logging into my investment accounts. Once able to log in, I could no longer understand one thing (to this day) of what my money was doing.

e) My accounts were no longer linked, had to complete new forms to do so, was told it would only be a month or so to link up my accounts, it took eight months! When I contacted the bank investment center because I couldn't understand my advisor and still had questions, I asked that they do not start questioning my advisor, I only felt they could better explain things, and I didn't want to keep bothering him with questions.

What did they do? They contacted him asking why he wasn't answering my questions, I felt terrible and looked like I didn't trust him. They broke my trust of confidentiality. 

f) when I needed to make a sale to get some of my money, I was getting hit with charges and mailing fee's of $12 each time I needed my funds and then had to wait for FedEx or the USPS for delivery, and I had to be home to sign for the envelope.

g) Now when I could no longer understand my statements or anything on the website, my advisor's answer to my concerns when I could see losses was "you're fine, don't worry, you're safe". He keeps telling me these funds are not affected by the market, and until recently, I now find out they follow the S&P 500.

h) Last May, I inquired about a higher rate of return without risk, he recommended an Oppenheimer fund ORNCX, placed 20K in that based upon the track history.

I inquired about college funds for two of my girls ages 10 and 15, he closed two CD's I had for my kids and placed  a substantial amount in two age based Alliance Burnstein College bound Funds. 

Since opening these three new funds, I watched my bottom line balances shrinking, each month, I'm more and more concerned (I still didn't understand the markets, my statements or the website), he continued to assure me everything was fine, don't worry, said I worry too much, he said he has his own kids in the same funds, he'd keep an eye on it.

I'm thinking a college account would be a safe saving account for my children, I was NEVER informed of risks, never!

Within the first five months, the college funds had a balance several hundred dollars less than what I placed in them, again alarmed, he reassured me this was normal, my funds were safe.

I now find out I am locked into the funds unless I want to pay $50.00 each to switch to another fund within the same company, or pay the same plus fees to switch out side of Alliance Burnstein.

I also only now find out I am being charged administrative fees of $25.00. And/or, I'm locked into them until the kids reach of age. This angers me, I was not advised on this at all. Had I known then what I know now, I would have just opened all CD's or money market accounts.

I asked a lot of questions before investing, and got a lot of short answers like "I have my own kids in the same fund" and "you've got nothing to worry about".

In December, he sends me a statement with the fund amounts where he highlighted with an exclaimation mark and wrote "these are great numbers!"

The balance was ONLY ten dollars more than what I originally invested, I'm thinking "whats so great about this? I've been loosing since we opened these".

i) Last month, the college accounts lost over a thousand dollars in value, ORNCX lost over three thousand!

My advisor was disappointed that I decided to sell what I had left in ORNCX and placed it into a cash account for now. But since day one, the fund has taken a nose dive and I now see what is to me, a major loss.

When he explains things to me, it is all gibberish, he talks fast and uses technical explainations I do not understand. I know he's very busy and I'm not the only investor he deals with, and my investments are peanuts compaired to major investors who deal in the millions, but nonetheless, I am a customer with my life savings in his hands. 

I ask him to explain in laymens terms, he tries, but its still all gibberish. Its like myself, as a professional automotive tech trying to explain the inner workings of a transmission to a housewife.

I have to understand where and why anxiety affects their lives, Re; she may be arguing with the husband, the kids giving them a hard time, maybe she has her monthly friend, finacial troubles and now facing a major cost to fix the second most valuable possession they own. 

I have to use pictures and give them hands on experience, take time until they can grasp what I'm describing. I have to determine if the repairs will be cost effective, Re; cost of repairs vs. value of the vehicle, then she will determine how this will affect their expenses and whether its time for a new vehicle.

I feel it is likewise for an investment advisor and a back yard investor as I am, so I'm disappointed that he did not keep a close watch on my accounts such as the case is with my Oppenheimer fund. Even he seemed at a loss for words and merely continued to say that I was fine.

When an advisor starts telling me he's one of the top ten advisors in the country and he's very good at what he does, I begin having questions what the motives are.

I don't share his optimism for the future markets or for my accounts. Our nation is bailing out bad loans, borrowing money from China we can't repay, national debt climbs, consecutive negitive unemployment reports, talk of recession, wars, terrorism, cost of living tripling in just one year, corruption, CEO's and companies taking record profits, we're in a presidential election year with fears of record tax increases and potential hits on businesses, towns and cities going broke,

and now Bush, lobbyists, national and military leaders and commerce is pushing for the North American union, NAFTA Super Highway and the L.O.S.T. treaty, I wonder when our nation will resemble Europe as we unite Mexico, Canada and other nations from our hemisphere.

My advisor argued that I did not loose any money, but all I see is I had $20K in one account, now I have under $17K. My others funds have been down for quite a while now and when I see the S&P 500/Futures constantly down, I'm going to start getting alarmed. 

Last week I called my bank branch, the manager answers, I ONLY wanted informatrion on CD and Money Market rates because my investment accounts were loosing money.

He says I have to speak to my advisor. I said I didn't want to speak with my advisor or bother him at that time, the S&P was down -40.00, I only wanted a bit of information on other bank rates that my advisor does not handle.

It just so happened that he was speaking to my advisor on the other line, he told him I was questioning things and for him to get ahold of me.

Again, they broke my trust of confidentiality and they just can't seem to keep their mouths shut. I'm loosing faith, and don't know what to do. But, I don't want to make hasty decisions that I don't know what I'm doing either.

Do I continue to trust his every word, or do I start thinking for myself and acting on my gut feelings?

I want to believe him, I want to believe he has my interests at heart, but when everything is contrary to what he tells me and the funds he recommends to me, I start getting quite uncomfortable and loose sleep.

Like I said, If I had known then what Morningstar and other financial reports had to say, if I had a better understanding, I would have made a judgement call that I could be comfortable with.