Trust is paramount in our business. But, when your wealth and financial well-being are involved, one must trust and verify. Checks and balances are crucial in all business, banking and corporate relationships. Most of our clients house their investment accounts with Fidelity Investments, enabling the client to maintain control of their account, but delegating the investment responsibility to us.

Separating the “financial advisor” from the “custodian/brokerage firm” is preferred by affluent investors because they can independently verify their account holdings and transactions with a separate third-party, giving them the greatest peace of mind.

As a boutique firm that provides independent and objective advice to our clients, we are able to manage investment accounts held at virtually any custodian. It is in our client’s best interest to custody their assets at a large, financially sound discount brokerage firm like Fidelity or Charles Schwab for several reasons.

First, these institutions provide the same world-class features, benefits and SIPC insurance coverage that major full-service brokerage firms offer, but at much lower costs to the client. And, since these custodians operate far less risky businesses than traditional brokerage firms, one need not worry about their financial soundness.

Second, these bigger custodians have gained widespread client acceptance and have eclipsed brokerage firms as the preferred choice for clients that desire safety and transparency. Fidelity, for example, is the largest mutual fund company and the largest provider of 401(k) plans in the U.S., has 74 million account holders and manages or custodies $3.2 trillion in customer assets¹.

1. At December 31, 2009. Source: www.fidelity.com, corporate statistics
http://personal.fidelity.com/myfidelity/InsideFidelity/index.html