FAQs

Greater Midwest Financial Group advisors are typically paid based on either financial planning fees or asset management fees. Our financial planning fees are based on the time involved for the planning engagement. We always provide you with that information up front.

Asset management fees are based on the amount of assets we are managing. Occasionally we are paid a commission for some products or assets that we manage. For example, some of the insurance products we use for your risk management needs will pay us a commission. On the asset management side, some products like 529 college savings plans are not allowed to be purchased using an asset management charge. Under those circumstances, you will pay our firm a commission.

GMFG is an independent financial advisory practice whose professionals hold themselves to the fiduciary standard. We do so by striving to put our clients’ interest first.

A fiduciary advisor is someone who, for compensation, acts in the best interest of his or her clients. The Fiduciary Standard of Care requires that a financial advisor act solely in their client’s best interest when offering personalized financial advice. We believe in and follow the Fiduciary Standard of Care when addressing any of our clients’ concerns. Not every financial advisor accepts this fiduciary duty. For example, some brokers are held to the much lower standard of suitability. This standard of care means an advisor need only suggest products that are suitable for their clients’ objectives and no disclosure is required for possible conflicts of interest.

We use a custodian to hold your money. A custodian is a financial institution that holds customers’ securities for safekeeping. Investments that you entrust to our firm are placed in custody with Fidelity’s clearing firm, Fidelity Institutional℠. A clearing firm is an organization that works with financial exchanges to handle the confirmation, delivery and settlement of transactions.

As part of our effort to provide you with quality service, Fidelity Institutional℠ provides a comprehensive clearing and custody platform, brokerage services, trading capabilities, and practice management and consulting to broker-dealer firms, banks, and insurance companies through National Financial Services LLC (NFS). 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 over $4 trillion as of 8/31/20.

The strength and reputation associated with Fidelity Investments is one of the many reasons we are pleased to be working with Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions.

Our clients typically enjoy healthy household incomes and have investment portfolios of $500,000 or more. However, we welcome and enjoy working with clients who have not yet met that threshold but are on a path to reach it in the near future. We also enjoy building longstanding relationships with families and working with our clients’ children as they graduate from college and enter the workforce.

Because we’ve been investment advisors for a long time, we understand that accumulating and growing your investments over time requires a consistent and monitored approach. Our investment committee meets at least monthly to monitor portfolios, discuss market conditions and determine if changes are necessary.

We have investment models ranging from conservative to aggressive. We’ll make sure you’re comfortable with your portfolio and that your portfolio is aligned with the other financial goals you’re trying to achieve. We put a heavy emphasis on generating growth and/or income in client accounts depending on specific needs, but know that preserving assets during market declines is a key component to long-term investment success

GMFG has been in business for over 30 years. During that time, we have worked to place our clients’ interest first.  We care deeply about helping you and your family reach your financial goals. By working with dentists, professionals, business owners and retirees, we’ve put together a team of professional advisors that has the expertise needed to help you maximize your success.

Give us a call and we’ll schedule a convenient, complimentary consultation. During this consultation we’ll learn more about you, your goals and your resources. We’ll explain how GMFG can help you further your goals and the costs you would incur to engage in our services.