Ask the Right Questions
Not all financial advisors are the same. Asking the right questions can help you find the right advisor for your specific goals. However, you may not be aware of what questions to ask or even what a good answer would be. You may find this concise summary of questions helpful in your search.
The over-whelming answer should be “Yes”. A fiduciary has a legal obligation to work in your best interest. Not all advisors are required to take a fiduciary responsibility for their clients. Knowing whether your advisor has this level of responsibility for you is critical.
At Granite Harbor, we act as a fiduciary for any investment advisory or planning clients
Who is the common thread – the hub - that ties all parties together on behalf of your family? Most often, it’s you. As your wealth grows, the amount of time required to be in this extremely important position grows, while the time you have available shrinks. A holistic financial planner should be able to fill in as that hub, proactively collaborating with your other financial professionals to identify opportunities, maximize efficiency, and reduce redundancy across investment management, tax planning, and estate planning.
We like to be easy to work with and can serve in a variety of capacities for your family:
- CFO Service Only
- Standalone financial planning relationship - being the HUB - flat fee negotiated
- Advisory Only
- Investment management - managing assets for you and your family in both public and private markets - asset based % fee
- Ability to integrate CFO service with no additional fee with AUM above the threshold
- Insurance Only
- Addressing and managing risk portfolio and risk-based products
- All Areas Concurrently and Integrated
Many advisors will specialize in certain areas. For instance, some advisors will only offer investment management services, or only planning services. Others will only offer insurance or protection products. Still others will claim they “do it all”, including tax and legal work, auto and home insurance, etc., when they only implement and execute internally on a few areas. Be sure to have clarity on which services your advisor will be providing, and which services they will not from the beginning of the relationship to ensure what gaps may exist.
For more information on our services offered, please refer to our Who We Serve and Our Services pages:
Advisors can be compensated in many different ways and not all of those ways are transparent to clients. Some charge a flat fee for service; others charge a fee as a percentage of assets under management. Others receive commissions for products and securities placed. Others receive a combination of all of these depending on the circumstances. In any case, it is important to be clear on how your advisor is compensated to be able to correctly identify any potential conflicts of interest. Some advisors charge in advance while others charge upon satisfactory completion.
At Granite Harbor, we stand by our Help First Promise:
- We don't ask for an up-front retainer
- We don't bill until service is provided and completed
- We "invest" in you first
Investment philosophies include the values and beliefs that help guide your decision-making process while building your portfolio. Making sure your personal investment philosophy aligns with your advisor’s is key. Having a written, agreed-upon philosophy can help you and your advisor maintain discipline when challenges arise.
What We Believe:
- We focus on the four things we can control: Taxes, Fees, Diversification & Behavior
- We believe in efficient markets (but not always rational)
- Market premiums VS. Sector weightings/ rotations
- We believe in offering competitive pricing and are able to because of our unique target market focus