THE BENEFITS OF INDEPENDENCE

There are many forms of “financial advisors” in the world today. It is important to understand what potential conflicts of interest exist in a relationship with a trusted advisor. We have chosen to work independently as a Registered Investment Advisor. We have no direct affiliation with an overriding insurance company that provides incentives for us to sell their products. We are paid by charging our investment clients an asset-based fee. We are paid the same regardless of what specific investments we choose to place in the client’s portfolio. And, since our compensation grows as the clients assets grow, our interests are aligned with those of our clients.

Through the 1940 Act, we are held to a fiduciary standard of care. This means we must make investment recommendations that are based on the client’s best interest. Some advisors are held only to a standard of suitability, meaning their recommendations are suitable, but may not necessarily be best suited to their client’s needs.

Investment assets are held at an independent third-party custodian to give clients the added protection of oversight on their assets. They receive statements from the custodian detailing every transaction that took place in their accounts and rest assured that the custodian must obtain annual audits to verify client assets and records.

Lastly, compensation we earn on investment products is completely independent of compensation we earn on insurance products. The fees we charge for assets under management are not enhanced, modified, or dependent in any way on insurance products we may also place for those same clients. We are paid commissions on insurance products placed directly from the company where we place that business and those commissions are never enhanced based on investments held on the insurance company’s broker/dealer platform.