Veritat Advisors -- Worthy of Praise

Every once in a while I run into a financial services company that really impresses me. I feel it would be almost irresponsible to not be public about my praise. Based in the United States, Veritat Advisors was brought to my attention by the insightful Chris Stephenson of Steadyhand Investment Funds.

Veritat Advisors quite basically is a financial planning service offered online. Now, wait! Before I lose you, I'd like to recognize that it is an uncomfortable dynamic for a lot of folks. To take a professional service that is offered online seriously might be tough for some people.

That being said, Veritat Advisors set their company up in a manner in which a financial advisor can take on a client anywhere in the US, not just the city they’re a resident of. They have a virtual console in which a client can see their advisor on a webcam and be presented slides, presentations, etc. Their fees are low, and they offer the fee-only compensation arrangement charged monthly ranging from $25-$40/month after a $250 initial fee. Even their most basic service guarantees a financial plan, which they go over once every quarter. They say they are legal fiduciaries, which is amazing.

For financial advisors to become a fiduciary is something I’ve been really passionate about seeing in Canada. As it stands, Canadian financial advisors can’t legally just become a fiduciary, but many like to deputize themselves as such (do you ever hear “we hold ourselves to a fiduciary standard?”)…it is something, but we can do better.

This is just from what I can see. They say their financial plan is comprehensive, but I haven’t seen it myself. The FA whose profile I was able to look at is well educated (CFP and MBA) and certainly is qualified to write a comprehensive financial plan. They have an optional portfolio managementfee of 0.5%, which is low. It’s really amazing value, but they don’t give any suggestions on to what investment counselor they may be using (my guess it has to be a strong indexing approach as, although US has cheaper management fees than Canada, they aren’t that low).

That all being said, the service is based online and over the phone. If you feel face-to-face meetings are important, they would certainly be under par in that department. However, their online client console does seem like quite an able substitute.

It must be pointed out that I’ve never been a client of Veritat nor have I formally evaluated their service as I would an advisor for the Onus roster. My conclusions are based strictly on observations made in the manner in which they present themselves on their website. However, with a 14 day free trial and 30 day money back guarantee, they’re putting their money where their mouth is, as a client can walk after the financial plan is done for them. That’s quite a risk and illustrates confidence.

The bottomline is if these guys are as advertised, this is a pretty amazing service, and Canada would be well served to have a similar shop like this.

‘Z’