The Power of Partnership

February 26, 2020

Last summer, if you were to ask me, “How’s the summer going, Liz?” I would have said I was happy, but there was so much change.

 

I experienced personal changes – a change in daycare, my husband’s job, and a move (which is a lot!). But also, our company made a decision to affiliate with Kestra, leaving our previous Broker Dealer/Registered Investment Advisor (BD/RIA).

 

If you’re not familiar with the term BD or RIA, think of it as our investment vendor and legal oversight to make sure we follow best practices.

 

Advisors rarely make this change because it stops business revenue for a time and there is an incredible amount of paperwork to process. But we made the move confidently, because we knew we would gain resources for our clients and our team.

 

Recently, I spent time at an annual conference with Kestra. I was overwhelmingly reminded why we made the move.  Kestra partners with the independent financial advisor (like us!) to support our advice for customers (like you!) and the quality of our business.

 

At the conference I learned about financial planning tools, process improvements, and cyber security issues. I also learned about the types of client life stages and the constant new regulations that are rolling out.

 

A company like Kestra, invests thousands of dollars to put on an annual training like this. We value their culture of collaboration where ideas are shared between advisors. We also value the access to home office executives and employees – many of whom struck up a conversation specifically to make sure Pleasant Wealth was acclimating well to Kestra.

 

Here is how our partnership with Kestra helps you:

  • Even as Kestra is one of the largest growing Broker Dealers1, they continue to have a culture of collaboration
  • You gain access to National Financial Services (NFS), a wholly owned clearing entity of Fidelity Investments, a privately-owned investment ecosystem
  • You gain access to more favorable pricing on many investment programs
  • We have access to much better and more extensive financial toolbox to help serve a greater variety of client.

 

Our tagline at Pleasant Wealth is “With you on life’s journey” because we are committed to walking along folks as they enter and exit stages of life and encounter both hurdles and celebrations.

 

Kestra embodies this tagline, also.   Kestra innovates and walks alongside us to make sure we have the tools to serve our clients better.

 

1#9 Independent Broker-Dealer by Gross Revenue, ThinkAdvisor, 2018 Broker-Dealer Reference Guide
Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions® provides a comprehensive clearing and custody platform, brokerage services, trading capabilities, and practice management and consulting to registered investment advisors (RIAs), including strategic acquirers and professional asset managers, as well as retirement record keepers, broker-dealer firms, banks, and insurance companies through National Financial Services LLC (NFS) or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Members NYSE, SIPC. In addition to providing services to third-party institutions, the NFS brokerage platform supports all the clearing and custody businesses at Fidelity, including Fidelity’s retail and capital markets businesses, bringing NFS assets under administration to more than $4 trillion. 
Fidelity Investments and National Financial Services LLC (together “Fidelity”) is an independent company, unaffiliated with Pleasant Wealth LLC. Fidelity is a service provider to Kestra Financial, Inc. There is no form of legal partnership, agency affiliation, or similar relationship between your financial advisor and Fidelity, nor is such a relationship created or implied by the information herein. Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions® provides clearing, custody, or other brokerage services through National Financial Services LLC or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Members NYSE, SIPC. 918582.1.0