This is a common occurance – you don’t make any money on your portfolio for the year, but your financial adviser makes 1% (or more) of your portfolio’s value. See this article by Mitchell Tuchman in Marketwatch from The Wall Street Journal:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-save-400000-for-your-advisers-retirement-2014-05-08

This may be a simplification, as your adviser can make you a lot more money in (hopefully) most of the years you are using him/her. The point I am making is that you need to keep track of how well your adviser is managing your money, remembering you are paying him all the time and reducing your return by the fees. If the adviser is making more than you, perhaps you need a new adviser.

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