Beware of “Ultra-Processed” Advice

When Advice Becomes “Ultra-Processed”

If you’ve ever tried to read a financial firm’s formal disclosure documents (Form ADV)—especially the sections describing services, conflicts of interest, and advisory fees—you may have felt like you were scanning the nutrition label of an ultra-processed snack. Long sentences. Ingredients you can’t pronounce. Additives on top of additives. And somewhere, buried deep inside, the thing you actually want to know: Is this good for me—or not?

Just as ultra-processed foods are engineered to look wholesome while concealing a dizzying list of fillers and preservatives, an overly complex ADV can signal something similar: layers of conflict, fees, and exceptions dressed up to appear simple. When clarity is missing, consumers—whether of food or financial advice—lose their ability to make informed decisions.

In nutrition, whole foods tend to speak plainly. An apple needs no footnotes. A handful of almonds doesn’t require two dense pages of disclosures. In financial planning, the same principle holds. Advice that is aligned, transparent, and rooted in your interests reads cleanly. You can see what you’re getting. The “ingredients” look familiar and make sense.

But when a firm’s service description balloons into a maze of cross-references, when conflicts of interest require paragraphs of explanation, or when fee structures sprawl across multiple subsections, it’s worth pausing—just as you would when picking up a packaged food that lists thirty-seven ingredients before you even reach the sugar content.

Because complexity is rarely added for your benefit.

A clear, straightforward ADV is like a wholesome meal: honest, nourishing, and built from real ingredients. A bloated one can feel like a processed product engineered more for the manufacturer than for the person consuming it.

So the next time you’re reviewing a financial advisor’s disclosures, imagine you’re reading a label in the grocery aisle. If it feels “ultra-processed”—layered, mysterious, highly engineered—trust your instincts. Good advice, like good food, should leave you feeling informed, healthy, and confident about what you’re taking in.