A Fiduciary Team Model.
Almost 20 years ago our founder, Zurich Awes, realized the typical investment services model of a couple of advisers and a half dozen, unlicensed, administrative staff to process paperwork was both a disservice to his clients and a dysfunction to the firm. So he decided, instead, to look for talented, high-end, fiduciary expertise at outside firms. He then contracted with them to handle the critical, but non-client facing, work processes. Finally, he hired other licensed, credentialed, fiduciary advisors who could provide direct investment and financial planning advice to his clients.
Direct Access.
Think of this process as a flattening of the management hierarchy paired with a dramatic increase in expertise. Zurich went from one advisor and a half dozen staff members, to a few advisers and nearly 30 outside specialty partners. This gave his client direct access to the people who could answer their questions. And it gave the advisers direct access to the high-end, specialty expertise that could guide them through the many difficult client issues.
Strong Results.
At the end of the day, the clients got better results, the firm provided better advice, the advisers had better resources, and it all took significantly less time. A few of our major partners include TD Ameritrade Institutional, Schwab, ACA Global, Synology, MorningStar, and eMoney.