There are good reasons to hand your money over to a bank, financial planner, or mutual fund, and there are bad reasons. Low costs and a strong record of sound management would be good reasons. A recent hot-streak or sexy advertising may be bad reasons. But then there are really bad reasons, and I would put a company's aptitude at genealogical research into that category.

According to a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is trying to seal the deal with wealthy prospects by offering the services of genealogist Andy Anderson, the bank's corporate historian. According to the article, "In recent years, the former Stanford University history fellow has turned genealogical research into an unusual marketing vehicle: After Dr. Anderson taps into rich families' fascination with their forebears, the bank aims to turn them into customers for its private-banking arm. By Wells Fargo's estimate, Dr. Anderson has had a hand in developing relationships that have led to $1 billion in new assets for the bank."

I don't even really know what to say. But next time a bank offers you nice perks, ask yourself this: How much money is the bank going to be making from my account if it can afford to deploy a Stanford history fellow to research my ancestors?

Any bank that can provide that service probably is not the lowest-cost option, which is really important when it comes to money management.

Genealogical research as an investment perk? Seriously? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 20 May 2007 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.