Financial advice . . . from Uncle Sam?

By SmartMoney

Recommendations for questions to ask your financial adviser, tips about asset allocation and suggestions on keeping spending in check . . . from the U.S. government?

The Securities and Exchange Commission offers all that and more at a new Web site, Investor.gov. The site bills itself as the "first ever" dedicated solely to educating investors.

Though much of the advice is relatively basic, it marks an unusual effort to instruct individual investors about topics that have otherwise been in the realm of professional advisers, authors, TV money pundits and, of course, Web sites like SmartMoney and MSN Money.

It also adopts a tone that seems likely to raise hackles in at least some corners of the investment biz, with "Avoid Fraud" the most prominent section on the site, after the home page, in a navigation bar across the top.

For now, at least publicly, industry organizations say they welcome the site.

Given the SEC's role as a regulator, it's appropriate for the agency to focus on providing information about how to avoid fraud, said Bill Baldwin, the chairman of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.

Just the facts

The new site isn't the most interactive or dynamic place to go for advice, Baldwin said. "It has a little bit of an institutional look. It makes you feel kind of like you just walked into a government building."

Baldwin also noted that the site relies on tools and information from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA. SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro is the former chief executive of that organization.

The institutional feel may not matter to investors seeking only reliable information on how to protect their assets. "It doesn't need to be pretty. It just needs to get people answers to those kinds of questions," Baldwin said.

"Especially in the area of fraud, regulators are in the difficult position of picking up the pieces," said John Gannon, the senior vice president for investor education at FINRA. The more regulators "can protect investors by educating them so they don't fall for a fraud, the better off we all are," Gannon added.

Much of the information was available online already, but the new site "is a one-stop shop," said Lori Schock, the director of the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.

A lot of the content is intended to help investors avoid becoming victims of fraud, and much is directed particularly at seniors or people who care for seniors. Seniors are often targeted by crooks, Schock said. "Research has shown that seniors aren't more susceptible to investment fraud -- they're just pitched more often," she explained.

Too much information?

The site drew mixed reviews from financial professionals and academics. Some are offering early praise.

"It reminds me an awful lot of what we do in terms of fact sheets on various topics," said Jonathan Fox, an associate professor of financial planning and personal finance at Ohio State University. "I was pretty impressed . . . that it did a comprehensive financial-planning structure in each area."

Brian Hellmer, who teaches applied investing and is the director of the Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis at the University of Wisconsin's School of Business, said the site could help investors better understand the risks and costs of their investments.

"A lot of people even in their 40s or 50s who have been investing for a while wouldn't necessarily know what red flags to look for when they talk to investment advisers," he said.

But in some respects, Fox said, the SEC may have gone too far in its effort to give investors as much information as possible. Within two clicks of the home page, for example, is a link to the SEC's Edgar database of annual and quarterly reports and other regulatory findings.

"What we're not trying to do is train brokers here. We're trying to train people to manage their finances," Fox said. "I am much more comfortable with giving people advice on how to find a broker than on how to research companies yourself."

This article was reported by Sarah Morgan and Aleksandra Todorova for SmartMoney.