28 Investing at its Best and 
the investors’ pockets, for, as a rule, their amount 
is returned manifold to the investor in the results which 
this advice produces. 
So certain is the Registry of its capacity to improve 
most of the investment lists submitted, that it is 
willing to be paid solely by results, whenever such a 
proposition is made by an investor before he accepts the 
Registry’s estimate for the work. 
It is obviously impossible to fix a definite scale of 
charges for advice. Such a scale could neither be based 
upon the amount of capital involved nor the number of 
stocks reported upon. A capital of p£io,ooo may be 
invested in, perhaps, five well-known securities whose 
comparative merits are easily ascertainable. A capital 
of £i,ooo only, may on the other hand, be invested in no 
less than fifteen stocks little known, and correspondingly 
difficult to investigate. In fact, the amount of the fee 
must necessarily depend upon the character of each 
investment list and on the amount of work its investiga 
tion will require. 
The Registry invites investors to forward a rough list 
of their holdings, giving the name and quantity of each 
investment, the purchase price of each, and, where 
possible, the date of its purchase. If only the names 
and quantities of the stocks held are known, these will 
suffice; but the other particulars, while not absolutely 
essential, form a valuable additional guide to the expert 
when advising upon a list, and should therefore be 
included wherever possible.