I hear you, and agree that it's silly to try to beat the market. But there's a difference between a fund manager and a financial advisor. A fund manager chooses

I hear you, and agree that it's silly to try to beat the market. But there's a difference between a fund manager and a financial advisor. A fund manager chooses an asset allocation for a given fund, ie "picks stocks". An advisor provides a service to clients by helping them understand the investing landscape and to plan their financial future. In the long run, is there enough value-add delivered by an advisor to justify his presence in the investing "supply chain"? I'm not sure. But at some level of accumulated wealth, "unsophisticated" investors will likely want to pay someone to guide them through the process of investing.