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WIP: Fenix is the best investment web tool to double-check on your financial advisor wherever you are

When you've entrusted your financial future to an advisor, one managing a globally diversified portfolio of U.S. and international equity and bond ETFs, it's smart to monitor their performance. Even the most trustworthy professional should be held accountable through clear, data-driven evaluation.

A good place to start is by understanding the benchmarks your advisor should be using to measure portfolio results. Your advisor is likely to be diversifying your portfolio in ETFs like S&P 500, international developed economies, emerging economies, and a sequence of bond ETFs like U.S. Treasuries and global debt instruments.

Make sure you're comparing your portfolio's returns to the appropriate blended benchmark-not just one part of the whole pie. Ask your advisor for a breakdown of your asset allocation and compare each segment to a corresponding index or low-cost ETF to see how it stacks up. Transparency of fees is also a key factor in determining performance. ETFs are typically low-cost, but your advisor's management fee should also be competitive and transparent. Check your statements to understand the all-in cost: ETF expense ratios, advisory fees, and any trading costs. Performance needs to be calculated net of these costs.

Sharpe ratio, standard deviation, and maximum drawdown are a few tools that can help. If your advisor isn't doing this already, you can request a performance report that includes risk metrics or use our calculators.

A quality advisor will welcome questioning, answer your questions assertively, and offer explanations on why your portfolio performs in a specific market setting.