Financial Advisors vs Registered Investment Advisors: What Catholics Need to Know

Trust Your Finances to the Advisors Obligated to Help You

There are a lot of options for today’s investors. Most know better than to go it alone, especially Catholic investors who must balance potential financial rewards with the moral implications of investing. Financial advisors come in many shapes, sizes and SEC regulated designations, some more suitable for Catholic investors than others. As investors look for help, they are likely to encounter non-fiduciary financial advisors and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs).

All registered investment advisors are considered Fiduciaries of their client’s money, meaning they can only give advice that is in their clients’ best interest. If there is a conflict of interest, a Registered Investment Advisor must disclose the conflict in advance. These requirements are taken very seriously and any breach of duty by an RIA can have serious repercussions, including heavy fines issued by the SEC and mandatory reporting of the breach in the RIA’s ADV brochure.

Registered Investment Advisors who are assisting you as a Catholic client have the same legal requirements as any other RIA plus an ethical responsibility to uphold your moral values.

By comparison, only some financial advisors have fiduciary obligations to their clients. Exemptions exist which allow a financial advisor to substitute a standard of suitability in lieu of the fiduciary standard. There is also significantly less regulatory oversight of financial advisors who are not RIAs. Having an RIA handle investments offers peace of mind, knowing that the person responsible for handling your money has a legal obligation to always put your interests first. Some non-fiduciary financial advisors are little more than salesmen with only vague obligations to their clients.

For Catholic investors, the benefits of using a RIA like Summit go beyond simple monetary considerations.

With its Catholic portfolios, Summit will invest your money with your best interests in mind, but also keeping your moral compass at heart, as well. After all, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Summit will keep your portfolio in line with the moral teaching of the Church while also working to invest every dollar for your greatest financial benefit.

Contact Summit’s Registered Investment Advisors for a free consultation on how best to manage your investment portfolio in line with Catholic values.

Post from: Insights