The 1990's, and the last five years in particular, have been unusually great years to be invested in large blue chip companies and high growth high technology companies. This is unlikely to ever be repeated, and as all stock professionals like to say, past performance is not always a good indicator of future returns. You can invest in stocks yourself or hand off decisions to a professional manager. This can be exhilarating and fun for you, or nerve-racking and time consuming, depending on your personality. You may also be tempted to buy and sell on emotion and poor information.
Research is important.
They offer a good bit of advice and research. Many now offer internet trading options. This gives them an incentive to actively trade in your account so they can charge more fees. Unfortunately, this can also lead to high tax bills. Their incentive is thus to grow your assets as quickly and safely as possible.