Who We Are

Mission. Vision. Values.

MISSION

Our mission is to help individuals and families define and build legacies by aligning financial assets with family goals and values. In doing so, we prepare our clients for expected and unexpected events in life. This will be accomplished by creating incomparable service, solutions, and support that will change client and business partners’ expectations and create undying loyalty from clients and businesses; and employ people that love doing it.

Create an incomparable legacy of helping clients and serving others.

VISION

At S. Harris Financial Group, we feel we are responsible to continually improve the world in which we live – business, spiritual, environmental, social, economic – creating a better tomorrow. Our vision is for S. Harris Financial Group to deliver incomparable service and solutions to build value and improve the lives of clients while bettering our employees and serving those in need. In doing so, S. Harris Financial Group will be the premier provider of comprehensive wealth management services, which provides unequaled value and service with a reputation for impeccable integrity.

Create a better tomorrow.

VALUES

• Values-based actions and decisions
• Trust and Integrity
• Fiduciary Role – our planners are held to a higher standard of fiduciary responsibility
• Status quo is never acceptable, constantly challenging and finding new ways to service our clients and grow together
• Do our very best every day and hold ourselves accountable
• Hard work is rewarded
• Teamwork is required
• Service to others
• Family culture, where everyone is welcome and feels appreciated
• Fun!

Who We Serve

THOSE LOOKING FOR PRUDENT GUIDANCE

Because this is a relationship that requires mutual trust and commitment, we only work with a select number of clients to ensure that you get the personalized attention you deserve. We have a longstanding commitment to prudent investment management, careful planning and placing client needs ahead of all else.

THOSE FOCUSED ON MOVING FORWARD

We feel that it is important to work towards achieving your goals; and it is not just our desire to help you move forward, but with our fiduciary requirement, it is our responsibility to do so putting your needs ahead of our own. To that extent, we want to work with people who are willing to take action and willing to be held accountable. Again, because we work with a select number of clients; it is vital that our clients be committed to engaging and moving forward toward achieving their financial goals.

THOSE FOCUSED ON THEIR FUTURE

The decisions you make now may affect the rest of your financial life; our goal is to work with people to help them stay focused on the future while they live in the present. In doing so, we aim to create a comfortable balance between saving for the future and enjoying life now.

Specialties Include:

• Business Owners and Doctors
• Independent Women
• Family Partnerships and Trusts
• Corporate Executives
• Business Retirement Plans

What makes us different

• Personal Action Plan – Our process creates a personal action plan with continual milestones and activities to ensure we are addressing all areas of your financial picture. This process keeps us aligned and tracking progress towards your plan by regularly updating and reviewing financial risks and investment liabilities that could take you off-course.
• Secure Financial Portal – Your personal, secure financial portal, with a consolidated view of everything you own and everything you owe, updated daily. This portal organizes all of your financial information together in a single location to include your financial plan, investments, banking, insurance, wills, and a personal vault to store your important documents.
• Coordination and Alignment – As part of our planning process, we will coordinate with your complete team of specialists (attorneys, accountants, insurance providers, health care specialists, etc.) to ensure all of your advisors are informed and aligned regarding your financial needs.
• Commitment to Security and Privacy – We understand that ensuring your information security is one of the most critical tasks we face. We utilize the expertise and capability of Raymond James combined with knowledge and expertise of security consultants, to create systems, processes, and policies and procedures to protect you and your information.

Our Commitment

We never lose sight of the fact that when you become our client, you are entrusting your financial well being to us. Our distinctive approach to serving our clients stems from three fundamental commitments:

• Protection of Privacy and Information: We are committed to full confidentiality with each and every client, as we work together on personal financial goals. Our operating procedures, code of conduct and office processes are all dedicated to protecting the confidentiality of your financial information.
• A Disciplined Investment Process: We believe in thoughtful and disciplined investing. Impulsive reactions to market shifts can lead to poor decisions which are not in a client’s long-term best interest. With our breadth of experience and market knowledge, we can help our clients maintain a sound perspective and stay focused on their objectives.
• Unbiased/Objective Recommendations: As your independent professional advisors, we evaluate a wide array of investment alternatives. We then recommend the asset allocation and strategies we truly believe will further your personal and business goals. Each client we serve has a different set of circumstances and our recommendations are customized to each situation. We do not have any quotas for selling any products, and do not get compensated differently to sell specific products.

About Us

Collectively our team has more than 30 years of industry experience. Complementing one another’s skills and creating a unified approach, our team’s focus is on helping people define and pursue their financial legacy.

S. Harris Financial Group Biographies

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Financial Planning is Vital?
Have you ever started driving on a long distance trip without a destination and a map? Just as it is impossible to take a trip without knowing your destination, it is equally impossible to make your financial and family dreams come true without a plan.

Like most people, you have hopes and dreams and life goals for yourself and your family. These might include buying a home or business, saving for college education for your children or grandchildren, taking a dream vacation, reducing taxes, and retiring comfortably. Financial planning is the process of wisely managing your finances so that you can achieve your dreams and goals while helping you navigate the financial barriers that inevitably arise in every stage of life.

How can a Financial Planner help you?

• Set realistic financial and personal goals.
• Assess your current financial health by examining your assets, liabilities, income, insurance, taxes, investments and estate plan.
• Develop a realistic, comprehensive plan to help meet your financial goals by addressing financial weaknesses and building on financial strengths.
• Put your plan into action and monitor its progress toward meeting your goals.
• Stay on track to meet changing goals … changing personal circumstances … changing stages of your life … changing products … markets and tax laws.

Aren’t Financial Advisors and Financial Planners the same?
No! Be wary of people who call themselves “Financial Advisors” or “Financial Planners” but who appear more interested in pushing specific financial products at the expense of your real needs and goals. Some advisors may push products where they receive a lump sum on the front-end or receive incentive and rewards for selling proprietary products.

Financial Advisor is a general term. Subsets of the financial advisor group might include stockbrokers, financial planners, insurance agents, investment/money managers, estate planners, bankers and more. Note, every financial planner is also a type of financial advisor, but every financial advisor is not necessarily a financial planner. Most people think of stockbrokers or investment managers when they hear the term financial advisor. It is important to know what you are looking for and what services are provided.

Financial Advisors tend to focus on their particular specialty and in most cases that is investment management. A genuine financial planner can help you address a variety of financial needs, not just investments, just insurance or just taxes. Moreover, not everyone claiming to be a financial planner is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. CFP® professionals are held to a higher standard of conduct and have an ethical obligation to act in your best interest.

Why is a CFP® important?
Most CFP® professionals are dedicated to using the financial planning process to serve the financial needs of individuals, families, and businesses. Most CFP® professionals have earned a four-year college degree in finance-related areas, and have completed a course of study in financial planning approved by the CFP® Board. The process to earn a CFP® designation is very similar to the process to earn a CPA® designation.

To earn the prestigious CFP® designation and remain licensed as a CFP® professional, individuals must meet four main requirements.

• Education – There is a required curriculum that must be completed to sit for the examination. In addition, after they obtain the designations, CFPs must complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years to stay current in financial planning knowledge, including ethics.
• Examination – Candidates must successfully complete the CFP® Board’s comprehensive certification examination, which tests the individual’s knowledge and application of various key aspects of financial planning.
• Experience – At least three years’ financial planning-related experience is required before receiving the right to use the CFP® marks.
• Ethics – All candidates and licensees must voluntarily ascribe to the CFP® Board’s code of ethics and additional requirements as mandated. CFP® licensees who violate the code can be disciplined, including the permanent loss of the right to use the CFP® marks.

Compliance with these four all-important areas assures you that an individual who holds the CFP® license is well prepared and qualified to give you sound, comprehensive professional advice.