The Higher the Fees, the Better the Investment Manager?

Much to the dismay of Warren Buffet, in the years before the Great Recession the wealthy seemed eager to spend bigger and bigger bucks to obtain sexy, trendy investment managers or products.

Paying several percentage points per year for investment services is no big deal as long as the annual fees and charges are subtracted from double-digit returns. But lately, writes Warren Giles for Bloomberg, fees are a big deal indeed. Consumers of high-end investment services have become cost conscious. In London, they can even hire a firm that will give their investment managers a good talking to and negotiate lower fees. (Of course, the firm itself charges a respectable fee.)