Our Fiduciary Duty

We will always place our clients’ interests and the integrity of the investment profession above our own interests, which means that we are fiduciaries to our clients.  We have always acted in a fiduciary manner to our clients and will always have our clients’ best interests as our primary concern.

 Webster’s Dictionary defines a “fiduciary” relationship as one held or founded in trust or confidence.  Our clients can put their confidence and trust in us based on our skill and experience, but also, as fiduciaries, knowing that our actions are always driven by our clients’ needs and interests. 

 It’s very hard to mandate ethics across an industry. The Department of Labor (DOL) attempted to do just that in 2017 with a “fiduciary rule,” and tried to enforce that all financial advisors serve as fiduciaries to their clients. While this rule was not perfect, it would have mandated a certain standard. However, this rule did not come to fruition. As a result, while some financial advisors like ourselves serve in a fiduciary manner with their clients, many other advisors in the industry do not act as fiduciaries to their clients and are not obligated by law to do so.

 We believe it is an ethical and moral responsibility to serve as fiduciaries.  That is why we have always acted in a fiduciary manner to our clients and have and will always have our clients’ best interests as our primary concern. Had that rule been implemented, nothing at our practice would have changed.

*To the extent that we are providing you with investment advisory services, including either financial planning services or ongoing investment advice as part of an LFA investment advisory program (i.e., fee-based managed account) pursuant to a written agreement and related disclosures that describes this investment advisory relationship, we are acting in a fiduciary capacity related to those services under the federal securities laws, in particular the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.