Fiduciary Commitment
A Higher Standard
Fiduciary duty as defined by Investopedia, “Fiduciary duty is the commitment to act in the best interests of another person or entity. Broadly speaking, a fiduciary duty is a duty of loyalty and a duty of care. That is, the fiduciary must act only in the best interests of a client or beneficiary. And, the fiduciary must act diligently in those interests.” We strive to apply the highest standards in our dealings with our clients.
Privacy & Security
Privacy & Security
Technological advancements impact our daily lives on a constant basis. Generally speaking, these enhancements are put in place to improve our day-to-day experience. However, with technological progress comes a greater responsibility to protect essential data, privacy and personal information. Toward that commitment, we’ve aligned ourselves with some of the best companies in the world to ensure the security and protection of your privacy and personal information.
Providing Value
Providing Value
Simply helping clients invest money or purchase insurance is progress in the right direction. However, it isn’t enough when creating a holistic plan. Our goal is to leave no stone unturned when it comes to your finances. This includes providing recommendations and solutions regardless of compensation.
While we offer and strongly believe in managed money, there are plenty of situations that call for a different approach. This might be in the form of direct mutual fund purchases, or insurance-based sales. We have been and always will be transparent regarding the fees and expenses associated with our recommended solutions. However, we encourage clients focus on the solutions that can best serve their needs before simply dismissing ideas based on fee structure alone.
Investing back into the business is another way we provide value to our clients. Most notably we have several subscriptions including proprietary and non-proprietary software. These in-house and third-party software resources enable us to enhance the client experience and better monitor and maintain our clients' stated goals.
Lastly, we are able to make referral recommendations outside of our scope of services when necessary. If specialized attorneys and other advisors are required, we can direct you toward the appropriate professionals for handling your will, trust, power of attorney and medical directives. While we are not compensated for providing such information, we feel it is an important step for our clients to have the specialized support from other professionals they need.
Money Management
ABCs of Money Management
Proper money management takes some well-focused time, specialized expertise and data analysis. The annual management fee built into the investment is a reflection of the ongoing service a money manager provides professional. Below, we’ve listed some of the advantages of using a money management professional:
Asset Allocation and Reallocation
Building Tax Efficient Investments
Customization using multiple vehicles
Integrated Solutions
Integrated Solutions
"...What I have found in my research is that integrated approaches which draw from both investments and insurance can create more efficient retirement outcomes." – Dr. Wade Pfau
We believe that integrating a variety of solutions for our clients, rather than using just a single type works best to achieve success. When developing strategies for our clients, we find that tactics such as integrating whole life insurance into a retirement income plan can create a more efficient outcome for income and legacies. It is often difficult for financial markets to perform well enough for an investments-only strategy to provide better outcomes than an integrated plan.
Goal-Based Investing
Goal-Based Investing
There are many ways to increase a client’s wealth and generally several ways to make their financial more efficient. However, flexibility can be more difficult to employ when aiming towards goal-based investing. The reason is commonly associated with the specific time horizon and risk tolerance related to each goal. Our platform allows both you as the client, and us as the help you to identify and financial advisor create individual financial goals which can be taken into account when re-evaluating your overall retirement or estate plan.
We narrow down our recommendations by assigning a priority to each specified need, goal and desire outlined in our discovery session. This allows us to become more granular when identifying the best solution(s) to meet your goals.
Market Volitity
Market Volatility
There will always be a certain amount of give and a take when it comes to investing and there is no such thing as the perfect investment vehicle. However, properly identifying your goals and implementing planning processes appropriate to those objectives can help navigate the course. It is vital to have a full understanding of market volatility and how it can impact your investment. If this concept is new to you or if you feel you don’t have a great grasp on it, click on the link provided as a starting point.
Our Process
Holistic Planning Process
As previously mentioned, a holistic planning approach can be an excellent way to fulfill your short, mid and long-term financial objectives. This process includes an initial interview to best determine fit, before a discovery and onboarding session to help collect the necessary data and information. Next steps include a behind the scenes analysis and planning period that can vary in length, a recommendation and insight consultation that outlines and explains our findings and recommendations, and lastly the implementation and coordination period which permits both ourselves and the client necessary time to initiate required steps and regular reviews for necessary updates, adjustments and repositioning. Occasionally, non-scheduled contact will be made based on timely opportunities and findings throughout our account monitoring activities.
In addition, we’ve also designed our process to be fairly adaptable in nature. While we never want to skip steps in the process, we recognize that there are those who will be working under the unique restraints of time and circumstance (i.e. tax filing deadlines, business arrangements, divorce, etc.). This is why we’ve created the dynamic between our basic and comprehensive offerings. Those who were previously in need of a more simplified approach are able to progress towards our comprehensive services when desired and as time permits.
Please note: Regardless of the path you elect we will always follow strict guidelines set by industry standards to ensure even our most basic planning is sound and effective.
Financial planning and investment advisory services are provided through Eagle Strategies LLC, a registered investment adviser and a New York Life company.