As we approach the two-year anniversary of becoming an independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), I thought it made sense to reflect on the benefits of the change and summarize what has happened over the past 24 months.
You may recall that the change to RIA was intended to support us in maintaining our high fiduciary standard with limited conflicts of interest, give us more flexibility to choose the tools, resources, and business model that serves our client’s best interests, and more freedom in how we communicate with clients.
As an aside, Raymond James, our custodian, is somewhat unique in their open architecture, providing larger, growing firms like ours with the ability to operate as a fully independent RIA. That means we run our wealth management firm in the best interest of our clients as fiduciaries, while having full access to all the resources of Raymond James, a $1T+ in assets under advisement.
The following are some specific changes and improvements we have made.
☐ Maintain our high fiduciary standard – This means that we always operate in the best interest of our clients. The move to RIA has enabled us to minimize or eliminate potential conflicts of interest, such as commissions on investments.
☐ Flexibility to choose the tools, resources, and business model that serves our clients best. This means that we were able to design our own technology platform and have access to a greater variety of tools, especially on the financial planning front. For instance, we now employ more powerful financial planning software with more advanced tools for working with our most complex clients and simple, user-friendly tools for helping all clients model out or answer specific questions. Other tools include a tax planning system to support our comprehensive approach to tax planning, and our upgraded Client Relationship Management system that helps us more effectively manage our relationship and communications with you.
We have also added solutions to our investment management quiver:
- Pontera – This tool enables us to provide direct management of a client’s outside 401(k), 403(b), or other type of retirement account, as well as 529’s and HSA’s. We are notified directly when there are changes to an investment line-up, can rebalance accounts on our client’s behalf and more.
- TIAA-CREF and Fidelity – We now have access to manage client retirement accounts directly on these two platforms. This impacts educators, automotive employees, and anyone else who has a retirement plan through TIAA-CREF and Fidelity.
- StoneCastle – Last quarter we added StoneCastle, an FDIC-insured (up to $25M) cash solution. It is a high yield account (currently 4.4%, net of fees), that requires a deposit of at least $100,000. One account, with access to more than nine hundred banks, enables us to provide an efficient and competitive cash solution with daily liquidity.
☐ Freedom to tailor communications and add more vehicles. You may have noticed that we have several options for staying on top of financial and investment topics of interest to you. We have added our Word on Wealth podcast, covering topics such as buyouts and pensions, the SECURE Act 2.0, and more. We also provide a monthly newsletter with financial planning, market, and lifestyle information. Finally, value-add communications such as our client service calendar and beneficiary letter are being received with enthusiasm.
You may have also noticed our increased focus on snowbirds. That is people who typically move between homes in the south and the north. We have expanded that to include any client with multiple homes because all the aspects of planning (i.e., tax, healthcare, estate, insurance, cashflow, etc.) apply. We are also about to launch an increased focus on services for business owners. During every phase of business ownership, there are planning priorities that impact both the business and the individual/family. We have experience partnering with attorneys and CPAs on everything from benefits to succession and exit planning, and how it all impacts your personal financial plan.
There is more to come in the evolution of Stephens Wealth Management Group, and we are so glad you are on the ride with us.
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