Structured for best
INTENT
FEE-ONLY ADVISER
Transparent. Clear. Fair.
Eliminating fee-related conflicts of interest, Milestones is a fee-only adviser.
When Milestones was founded, one of our essential goals was to structure our platform in a way that it is incredibly easy for our clients to understand how we are being compensated for the work we do for them, and so they can see and appreciate that they are being treated fairly.
We do not accept commissions or share revenue of any kind with the managers we recommend for client portfolios, and we have no allegiances to any particular investment company product. Our independence allows us to make recommendations that do not have any "soft-dollar" incentives.
A key attribute of fee-only adviser is they are compensated solely from the client. Neither the adviser nor any related party may receive compensation contingent on the purchase or sale of a financial product, strategy or solution.
Milestones is a fee-only investment adviser. We feel this is critical to fully and properly embracing the level of responsibility and care that must be exercised on behalf of each client.
A financial advisor who has a financial stake in the course of action that they recommend to a client faces an inherent conflict of interest and cannot be considered objective or unbiased. Unfortunately, the vast majority of financial advisors in the United States are sellers of financial products. Some or all of their income may be dependent upon their ability to steer their clients to a limited number of the thousands of financial products available today. Putting aside the conflict of interest factor, such as limiting investment choices, may be enough to impact the quality of advice. It stands to reason that many of the problems that beset investors today in their financial affairs relate directly to the conflicts of interest that pervade the marketplace.
Fee-only signifies that your investment adviser does not receive commissions or additional revenue from product providers. This eliminates any conflict of interest and bias when allocating assets and ensures that your investment adviser has your best interests at heart.
However, fee-based financial advisors may receive fees from you as well as commissions from selling products and/or have revenue sharing agreements with product providers. A fee-based structure, therefore, introduces unwanted monetary influence in the way your financial advisor manages your portfolio.
Milestones is a discretionary, fee-only money management firm providing wealth management and private portfolio management to high net worth individuals and institutions. Milestones is not a broker-dealer and does not earn commissions on our client’s trades. Instead, Milestones charges a percentage of assets under management. Our firm's incentive to perform well is directly aligned with clients' investment objectives.
Some firms base their fees on performance, claiming it encourages mutually successful investing. But performance-based fees may mean the manager chases short-term returns to maximize fee collections—and shuns proper risk management in the process.
When comparing portfolio management services, remember advisory fees misaligned with your interests can jeopardize your retirement goals. That is why at Milestones we genuinely believe a straightforward financial plan and investment strategy with transparent fees based on the size of your assets is the best way to help clients.
At Milestones, we appreciate the issues fees raise. Hence, we offer a simple and competitive advisory fee based on your portfolio’s size. It is designed to be easy to understand and we believe it puts your interests first. Moreover, highly unique and unlike almost every other investment adviser in the industry, you may not incur trading fees directly billed by the third-party custodian housing your portfolio. Our goal is to work to keep these brokerage charges as low as possible. You may not find another investment adviser who does that.
We believe Milestones' advisory fees are often lower than those of other firms. Why? Many asset managers can charge commissions on products they sell in addition to management fees. Some charges, like annuity commissions, can be as high as 5% to 10%. This creates significant and material conflicts of interests. Often, better and more affordable products or strategies exist.
Milestones is both a financial fiduciary and fee-only financial adviser. We are rare.
At the heart of a good client-adviser relationship is trust, and it can be difficult to have that trusting relationship if you are not assured that your financial professional is recommending products that are in your best interest. That is one of the important reasons why Milestones has been held to the fiduciary standard since its founding.
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