Better Than "FEE ONLY"

"As I live and breathe."  an exclamation my grandmother was known for when frustrated by something that seemed petty or ridiculous.  Well that is where I am with the BRANDING known as "FEE ONLY" in the financial planning world.  The organization in the picture above started based upon a single purpose to register people whose only source of compensation for financial planning services was fees.  Their ranks have swollen (tongue-in-cheek) to a whopping 
2,400 members but it is amazing the impact they have had on the media.
Somehow along the way the media came to equate FEE ONLY with fiduciary or what is best for a client.  Unfortunately, since the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFPBOS) recently clarified their definition of FEE ONLY on their website it appears as many as a quarter of NAPFA members might not qualify as members of NAPFA. (weird huh?)
What is supremely unfortunate is that the consuming public has already been told that FEE ONLY is best and in our city of 1.2 million there is one fellow who claims to be the ONLY NAPFA member in the area.  REALLY?  As I live and breathe.   How in the world will people get the services they need from so few?
After 32 years in this wonderful profession here are a few things I have seen:

• Past Presidents of NAPFA have gone to jail just like the rest of the bad guys;
• FEE ONLY advisers have limited their choices;
• FEE ONLY advisers can cost their clients more money where the client pays twice;
• Many NAPFA members are so for marketing reasons as it is more or less a referral group;
• FEE ONLY by NAPFA's definition and the CFPBOS does NOT mean that the adviser is the best fit for all customers;
• FEE and COMMISSION does not mean an adviser is a crook.  It also does not mean that they are any less a FIDUCIARY than a fee only adviser.
• 98.4% of our revenue last year was from fees yet we non-fee only guys are regularly trounced in the press for being undesirable.  More than once when on a phone call with a prospect we were thrown out of contention due to not being fee only;
• FIDUCIARY is the legal term of art for how we relate to clients and how we get paid.  There is no distinction between fee and commission--only full disclosure and do what is BEST for the client;
• I know many excellent fee and commission advisers around the country (one who was my personal adviser until she retired) who I would be happy to recommend.  Frankly, if you have the right person, you WANT them to be able to use all the tools available--fee or commission.
• Michael Kitces, a nationally known speaker and commentator on things financial,  recently told me that he thinks a hybrid--meaning fee and commission--model would be the ideal place to start a new practice.
• At an insurance continuing education meeting a while back i proposed that agents disclose the dollar amount of their commissions for which i was soundly chastised by most in the room.

So here is where I propose my NEW Branding idea--

"BETTER THAN FEE ONLY"

BTFO--expand your choices and lower your costs  

CLIENT FOCUSED FIDUCIARIES.

Not really something we are branding, but if there is a better option for the consumer than fee-only wouldn't you want that?