Truth is a characteristic that I esteem in my friendships and relationships. I surround myself with high achievers and “iron sharpens iron” influences. I prefer direct and honest, even at the expense of awkward or uncomfortable. Truthfulness is a selfless gift and expression of respect. It arms those making decisions with the complete picture and manifests a safe place to share vulnerably and intimately.
Trustworthiness is a Syverson Strege core value that is critical to a fiduciary culture. David Strege and Johnne Syverson took steps in courage and faith to create a fee-only financial planning and wealth management firm that would require all planners to attain CFP® certification and prevent conflict of interest by surrendering all licenses to sell products of any kind. We joke internally that we are the worst salespeople, and that truth overjoys me!
As I was exploring a career in financial planning, I knew a sales culture would be unfruitful for me. I was thrilled to join a financial planning firm that embraced comprehensive financial planning with the fiduciary purpose to provide accurate information, act in the client’s best interest, and empower those we serve with knowledge to make confident decisions.
I refer to myself as “the vault” in my personal life. What is shared with me stays with me. We strive to create that same condition for every client we serve. They know our meetings are confidential, and that our sole goal is to advise in their best interest. We only work for you. Period. Finances are very personal and private, enmeshed with family dynamics, unique personal goals, and challenges. Without creating a trustworthy environment of transparency, we cannot serve our clients comprehensively and ensure we are appropriately advising in ways that impact their decisions and legacy. Clients confidently know that information shared with us is for the sole purpose to collaborate to provide the most useful and accurate advice and direction.
Trustworthiness is not only important for our clients, but internally as colleagues. We work collaboratively not competitively. Although each client is assigned a specific planning team, our clients are clients of the firm and not an individual planner. Knowledge and experience are shared freely with one other to provide our clients with collective insight and perspectives. Moreover, our teammates in our respective roles know the importance of our tasks and responsibilities, and we trust each other to do them with high quality, timeliness, and accuracy. I am truly grateful every day to come to work in an environment with such high values.
Click here to learn more about the client experience and our values. We invite you to reach out to us to schedule a complimentary, private consultation at (515) 225-6000 or request to be contacted online.
