Many years ago, Adam Schwallier worked for a full-service brokerage firm. Although the firm was located in an office, it acted more like a factory. The branch manager wanted each advisor to hit certain “production goals”. He congratulated them on having a “good month” when their quarterly fees hit.

Adam didn’t like this. He was not interested in churning out widgets or treating people like dollar signs. In fact, he realized most people didn’t understand the “buyer beware” nature of working with an advisor who also acted as a broker or insurance agent. No matter how well meaning, those types of advisors have a baked-in conflict of interest when they earn commissions on the products they sell.

Divided loyalties have no place in an advisor-client relationship. To Adam, trust and respect for others is foundational. That’s why he left that factory firm and started his own business more than 15 years ago.

As independent, fee-only registered investment advisors, we are fiduciaries. That means SWM works for you–without the middlemen and the accompanying conflicts of interest. We feel so strongly about this, we belong to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. Learn more about what it means to be a fiduciary (see below) and why it’s the only way we’ll ever work.