Financial Advice and the Fiduciary Standard

You may already be familiar with the word fiduciary.  It is defined as:

–noun

1.  Law . a person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another.

—From Dictionary.com

We act based on the Fiduciary Standard, but what does the fiduciary standard mean for you?

Briefly, it means that our decisions and recommendations regarding your investments and financial planning are always made with your best interest in mind.  Not our own interests or those of another company’s, but your well-being alone.  

Some background - Anyone acting as a registered and/or licensed financial adviser is required to act either by the Suitability Standard or the Fiduciary Standard.

Some financial advisers make recommendations based on the suitability standard alone.  The suitability standard states that an investment must meet the investment objectives and means of an investor.  

We choose to be accountable to the Fiduciary Standard.  The Fiduciary Standard encompasses the Suitability Standard, and goes further by specifying the deep commitment an advisor must have to his client. As a Fiduciary, we are required to act with undivided loyalty to our clients.  This includes disclosure of how we are to be compensated and any corresponding conflicts of interest.  Being aware of and up front about potential conflicts of interest, as well as minimizing them, is crucial to fulfilling our commitment to you.

How your financial adviser is compensated and how he/she handles conflicts of interest can have an effect on the quality of advice you receive.

The vast majority of our practice is compensated on a fee-only basis.  When providing our fee-only services and when considering strategies that may include different or additional compensation,  we seek to provide you with the highest quality advice while minimizing the effects of costs on your strategy.. Analyzing the effects of costs on investment returns is always part of our process, and we are constantly searching for ways to increase efficiency for our clients.

The Fiduciary Standard takes the phrase “for the benefit of another” and expands on it, in regard to how recommendations are made by advisers who are accountable to the standard.

We operate by these standards because we believe that our clients deserve the best, and we believe in the service we provide.  We believe in the value we bring to our clients, and we enjoy doing everything in our power to help them. Professional advice and assistance should never be based on less.