We help our clients maintain, create, and grow their wealth. We help clients who may not have the knowledge, time or desire to thoughtfully and carefully manage their investment and financial matters. We believe that well-managed finances and investments give our clients peace of mind, free up their time and energy, and allow them to provide for their family, the community and society at large.
We are here to be your family’s CFO – to help in all matters financial. We want to understand your goals, hopes, and needs. We want to understand what is important to you. We want to find the best possible financial path for you in order to prepare you to meet your goals and to also plan for unexpected adverse events that may happen. We help people plan for and invest towards having a fulfilling retirement. We help people plan for and invest towards funding their children’s or their grandchildren’s education, including college and graduate school. We also help with estate planning, tax strategies, creating a legacy for your children and grandchildren, charitable gifting, debt minimization and optimization, protection strategies, and assistance with various other financial matters.
We provide our clients professional investment management. What do we mean by professional investment management? We mean using our in-depth expertise, experience, and judgment to invest client assets using sound investment principals and methods. As a former mutual fund manager, I have 29 years of investment experience including managing top performing funds. I perform thorough, in-depth research and analysis on mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds, and other investments. Our focus and strength are on investments – not on salesmanship. We do not focus on the superficial. We do not just scratch the surface. We really dig into what the investments are and what they are not. We are not swayed by the “flavor of the month” or by emotions. We filter relevant information from noise posing as news. We separate sense from nonsense for our clients. In our opinion, there is plenty of nonsense in the “investment business.”
We keep costs low for our clients. We place a very large focus on low-cost investments, including passive funds, passive ETFs, index funds, and index ETFs. We avoid investments that have loads or unnecessary fees. In our opinion, loads do not benefit people. We also vigilantly attempt to minimize taxes for our clients.
We do real, in-depth research. We do not primarily rely on brokerage firm research reports. We crunch the numbers. We examine the fundamentals. We analyze the facts. We are also cognizant of when the facts are lacking or are unclear. We are never influenced by third-party compensation or commissions as we receive none. We are fiduciaries. We do this to provide the investment advice and implementation that you deserve.
We avoid high-cost investments that have a substantial risk of being “subpar”. Investments that we avoid include private REITs, fund of funds, and closed-end funds at offering among others. Why? Because these investments tend to have large fees that benefit the businesses selling the products and have a good chance of not being the best alternative for you. Bad deals are often wrapped in complexity so that investors will have a harder time understanding them. We help you steer clear of those. We also shy away from high-cost share classes (A, B, and C) of mutual funds. We utilize the lower cost institutional share classes (Y and I) for our clients. Ironically, the lower cost share classes have the same portfolios and the same portfolio managers as the higher cost share classes. The only difference is that the lower cost share classes (Y and I) are less expensive which leaves more money for our clients and less money for brokers, “advisors,” and mutual fund companies. Lower cost class Y and class I mutual fund shares are available through an advisor and are usually not available to the average retail investor. Many of the better long-term investments (in our opinion) are lower cost.
With some items in life such as cars or televisions, better items can cost more than lesser products. In investments, it is not always that way. Paradoxically, many of the better long-term investments are lower cost. While promoters and salesmen may try to convince you that high returns require high expenses, the evidence shows that the opposite is usually true – low-cost investments usually outperform high-cost investments. We have a very strong focus on low-cost investments for our clients. And we keep our costs low as well so that you get more benefit.
We work to minimizing our clients’ taxes. We craft well-diversified portfolios for our clients. We will diversify your assets by asset class, by industry, by country, by foreign exchange, and by individual company. These layers of diversification are important in helping to reduce risk. Importantly, we will not invest your hard-earned capital in investments solely in the name of diversification without regard to the risk and return outlook for these investments given current market conditions. In our opinion, investing blindly in the name of diversification without regards to the risk and the attractiveness of the proposed investment can cause subpar investment returns and is not an attractive use of capital.
We keep costs low for you and receive no compensation from third parties based on which type of investments we recommend to our clients. We are fee-only and receive no commissions or any other compensation based upon the sale of investments. Our compensation is completely unrelated to our investment advice to our clients. Our compensation comes solely from you, our client. This results in us being fully aligned as possible with our clients’ interests. It also results in our being unbiased and conflict-free. We believe that this is a must for clients. This unbiased and objective focus frees us to use what we believe to be the very best investment choices for our clients.
Yes, we do help people with their investments. However, we do more. While investments are critically important, we believe that a financial plan that incorporates a person’s comprehensive financial position is critical for meeting objectives. We’ll help you develop a financial plan guided by your unique goals, needs, risk tolerance, time horizon, tax situation, and other relevant information. In our opinion, financial planning is a fundamental part of an investment strategy. As a result, Leder Fiduciary Capital is pleased to provide financial planning as a complimentary service to our clients. We feel so strongly about the importance of a financial plan that we do not charge extra for it, unlike some advisors who may charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars to prepare a financial plan.
We help people by being a fiduciary. Being a fiduciary requires us to act with honesty, to act with good faith, to act with fair dealing, and to act with undivided loyalty. As a fiduciary, we must put our clients’ interests first – at all times and in all circumstances. It is not just the right thing to do (which it most certainly is). It is also a legal obligation. It sounds simple and straightforward. You would think that all advisors would be fiduciaries and put their clients’ interests first at all times. Very sadly, this is not the case. Some “advisors” follow a lesser rule (in our opinion) of suitability – investment recommendations based on what is suitable for a client’s individual situation. In the investment advisory industry, the suitability standard does not require advice to be in the clients’ best interest. You could wind up with an investment that is suitable for your needs even if a better and/or lower cost investment is available. An example of the difference between fiduciary and suitable is that a broker could recommend a mutual fund if it met the requirements of a client (that is, it is suitable). However, the broker could recommend a high cost, high commission share class of the fund even if a lower cost, no commission share class of the exact same fund (with the exact same stocks and the exact same manager) was available. A fiduciary could only recommend the low cost, no commission share class because that is what is in the clients’ best interest. We do not believe that suitable is sufficient. We are fiduciaries. We act in the in a clients’ best interests – at all times and in all circumstances.
We have discussed how people should be careful of some “advisors.” We also believe that the “do it yourself” approach has risks. Some people lack the time, interest, experience, knowledge, investment skill and/or the emotional discipline to properly invest. In our opinion, some people become too conservative with too much of their portfolio allocated to cash. The main problem with cash is that inflation can eat away the purchasing power of these assets over time. In real terms (that is, after inflation), people’s wealth can decline slowly from the corrosive impact of inflation. A different, larger problem some other individuals have with the “do it yourself” approach is by being far too aggressive. These people can wind up with “story stocks,” “hot tips,” or other speculative holdings. We view this as potentially very dangerous and may result in a permanent loss of capital.
We aspire to provide our clients the highest standard of client service. We return phone calls and emails promptly. We strongly believe that personal attention, energy, and excellence in service is paramount. We treat people the way we would wish to be treated if the roles were reversed.
We believe client assets should be separated from an advisor. Charles Schwab and Company physically holds all marketable securities and funds for our clients. We do not have physical custody of any of our clients’ funds and/or securities.
We maintain the strictest confidence regarding our clients’ information. Your information is exactly that – your information. Our clients’ trust in us, our fiduciary status, and our internal moral compass all compel us to safeguard our clients’ information. We view client confidentiality just as a doctor would or a therapist would – it is paramount and it is fundamental.
Our goal is your goal – to put you on the best possible financial path. We also want to free up your time for the most valuable parts of your life – your family, your profession, your business, your leisure activities, and your charities. We want you to use your time and your energy towards those activities that you find most meaningful and not towards worrying about finances. If you believe that we can be of assistance to you, please feel free to call 713-870-9516 or email jleder@lederfidcap.com; and we can see if we are a good fit for each other.