Do financial professionals affect how a household allocates money between financial instruments? If so, in what ways? While there is evidence of a correlation between the use of financial advice and improved financial outcomes, it is difficult to establish direction of influence or causality (Kramer 2012). This study investigates how source of financial information affects household portfolio allocation decisions using methods that explicitly allow for the endogeneity of seeking financial information and investment decisions. Sources of information investigated include financial planners, brokers, magazines/newspapers/books, internet/online services and family and friends.
