patrick.net

http://www.napfa.org/

I don't use a financial advisor.

Yes there is a better choice at a convenient location: Your Own Self.

Be your own personal financial advisor.

permanent_marker says

Right now I am with an Ameriprise financial adviser; she manages every thing for me. of course the 'wrap fee' is 1%. All transactions / trades are free.

Ameriprise? Run.

Vanguard has different ways to do it, but "face to face" is with a skype type program I believe. Their maximum "wrap fee" is 0.70%, but many of their funds have a management fee of 0.60% or less. You could own index funds and have Vanguard help you full time for less than 1% TOTAL.
T.Rowe Price has an office in San Francisco. They are low cost also.

You can also use Vanguard services for a financial plan which is $1000 if you have UNDER $50K invested with them.
If you have $50K plus, it's $250 for a financial plan. Vanguard is excellent.
If you have $500K, there is no fee for a financial plan at Vanguard.
T.Rowe Price is good too and have a similar arrangement for financial plans and waiving those fees.
I once worked briefly for a mutual fund/planning company. There is little need to go far beyond a financial plan, constant changes defeat the purpose of most investing.
Warren Buffet didn't make a lot of dough by trading, for example.
The CFP designation is a bit exaggerated, the thing was created and the course is given which means they make money from all the "planners" who take the classes and pay for the little certificate. It's not really a big deal however it helps sort out the truly inept car salesmen.
Investing is really about 1. capital appreciation 2. income 3. capital preservation. Planning includes 4. asset/income protection (insurance)
So, 1=stock mutual funds, 2=bond funds 3=money market/cash/swiss bank account 4=life insurance.
The mixture of 1,2,3 is dependent on mostly your age and taste for adventure, and your need for capital appreciation. A guy who is already rich, and is highly paid, doesn't maybe need to risk the same amount as a guy who is younger and has time on his side but less cash to invest. If you have no one who depends on your income for any reason, then you don't need life insurance of course.
There is an army of guys waiting and happy to skim 1% of everyone's assets to give fake advice about where to invest "this year/month/today" They're full of shit.
Stocks will go up as a group or index over time until every human on the planet has all the crap, entertainment, cars, stuff he wants. There are still about 5.9 billion people left who want more.

thanks for the pointers:

1) as per doing it my 'own'... I simply do not have the time or expertise to research mutual-funds ..etc. I'd rather rely on some body who does this for a living. Just like I wouldn't want to self-diagnose my illness, I'd rather go to a doctor!

2) I am willing to pay for this service / advice. But I want to make sure I am getting an un-varnished advice that is not influenced by commissions

thanks

Oh, for the love of Christ. Investing is not brain surgery. If you want to beat the britches off market, sure --that's hard. But, as a rule of thumb: no one offering to do that for you is capable of delivering, except through dumb luck.

Matching the market is not just doable without the financial equivalent of an M.D. --it's really goddamned easy.

I recommend the following fee-based financial advice on how to do that with relative safety. It's only 88 pages, and it makes house calls:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/investment-answer-daniel-c-goldie/1100384406?ean=9781455503308&format=hardcover