In the more than thirty years in the investment adviser business, we’ve seen the financial services sector transform itself from personalized hand-holding to selling commoditized hi-tech products. The industry has moved away from focusing on the unique one-of-a-kind goals of each individual client to pushing a boilerplate formula all in the name of “optimization.” We believe the industry has become consumed by a failed academic theory. As a result, clients have suffered. We believe this is wrong and unethical. We also believe conflicts-of-interest within the industry adds to the momentum of the unfortunate shift we’ve experienced. We believe personal fiduciary liability can and should be reduced. Finally, we believe this can only be accomplished through intellectual and professional honesty. This means all clients should have a team of advisers – this eliminates most conflicts-of-interest and, at the very least, provides an unbiased second opinion when inevitable tough decisions must be made. This also means members of the team of advisers must be truly independent, including the disclosure of all fees. Clients are best served when offered an open up-front environment. We belief this represents the first step to reversing the awful industry trend of the last generation.
