Fiduciary Wealth Management

As a registered investment advisor, the firm is legally required to place client interests ahead of its own under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. This differs from broker-dealers, who operate under FINRA's suitability standard — they must recommend products that are suitable but not necessarily optimal or lowest-cost. An RIA cannot accept commissions, revenue-sharing, or kickbacks that create conflicts without full disclosure and client consent. For retirement plan sponsors governed by ERISA, this fiduciary alignment is often a prerequisite for engagement.

Fiduciary Wealth Management advises qualified retirement plans — such as 401(k) and profit-sharing plans — on investment menu construction, provider selection, and ongoing fiduciary oversight. This includes periodic plan reviews, fee benchmarking against peer plans, and participant education. Under ERISA Section 3(38), a plan advisor can assume discretionary investment authority, which shifts fiduciary liability from the plan sponsor to the advisor for the investment selection and monitoring function.

Neither. The firm is structured as a registered investment advisor serving multiple unrelated clients, not as a family office. It does not operate under the SEC's single-family office exemption under Rule 202(a)(11)(G)-1. Its client base includes high-net-worth individuals, but the organizational form and service model — standardized advisory contracts, third-party custody, pooled investment vehicles — align with a conventional wealth management practice.

As a fee-only RIA, Fiduciary Wealth Management's compensation likely comes from asset-based fees calculated as a percentage of client portfolios under management, flat retainer fees for financial planning, or a combination. The firm cannot earn commissions on product sales or receive revenue-sharing from fund companies — compensation structures that create tiered incentives in broker-dealer models. Specific fee schedules are not publicly disclosed and would be detailed in the firm's Form ADV Part 2A.

The firm appears to follow a traditional diversified portfolio approach using publicly traded securities — primarily equities, fixed income, and packaged products such as ETFs and mutual funds. There is no indication of direct private equity, venture capital, hedge fund allocations, or proprietary fund structures. The strategy centers on asset allocation, risk tolerance alignment, and tax-aware execution rather than security selection or tactical trading. For retirement plan clients, this translates to constructing investment lineups of institutional share-class funds across core asset categories.

Ownership information is not publicly available. The firm's Form ADV — filed with either the SEC or the Commonwealth of Virginia depending on regulatory assets under management — would disclose direct and indirect ownership, but this document has not been captured. The firm's low public profile suggests it is closely held, likely by its founding principal or a small partnership group.

As an RIA, Fiduciary Wealth Management does not custody client assets directly — a safeguard required by the SEC's Custody Rule. Client funds would be held at an independent qualified custodian, such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity, or Pershing, which provides account statements directly to clients. This separation of custody from advisory authority is a core investor protection; clients should verify that the custodian named in their advisory agreement matches the entity issuing their statements.