How to Sum Up our Business Model
How to sum up our business model at Journey Wealth Partners? It’s personal and powerful.
We not only act in your best interest, but also want to change the world. If you are like most people, you probably assume all financial advisors have to act in each client’s best interest. Many do, but they don’t have to. Lots of the name-brand big brokerage firms hire armies of lobbyists to make sure this is not going to become written into the Department of Labor’s regulations.
You would think acting in a client’s best interest is good business. We do. Plus, we never have discretion or custody of our clients’ assets because we don’t want to be in control of your money. We want you to get the most out of your hard-earned income and assets.
To see if an wealth manager is required to always act in your best interest, ask them to send you their ADV (a regulatory document). If they don’t have one, ask them to put it in writing that they are a fiduciary.
Also, ask if they are a fee–only or fee–based firm. It’s a critical distinction. Journey is a fee-only firm, so our sole source of revenue is the fees we charge clients for our financial planning and investment management services. In order to fulfill our fiduciary duty, we chose to be a registered investment advisory firm and CFP® Certificates, which obligates us to put our clients’ best interest first and make recommendations accordingly. Living it is what motivates us every day — and allows us to sleep like babies at night.
Fee-based private wealth management and asset management firms, on the other hand, can earn money through commissions on product sales. This may create pressure to meet their quotas by selling certain investments such as annuities or higher-fee mutual funds and insurance. Their first master is their firm; clients are second.