A fiduciary is legally required to put your interests ahead of their own, at all times. Fee-only means paid solely by clients — no commissions, no product revenue, no payments from fund companies or insurers. Aduna Capital is both, on every account, and you can verify it in our Form ADV rather than taking this page's word for it.
Three kinds of "financial advisor"
| Fee-only fiduciary RIA | Broker / registered rep | Insurance agent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal standard | Fiduciary — your interests first, always | Best interest at the moment of recommendation | Suitability |
| Paid by | You, transparently | Commissions on products sold | Commissions on policies sold |
| Can earn more by choosing one product over another | No | Yes | Yes |
| Typical title used | Investment adviser | Financial advisor | Financial professional |
The titles are legally meaningless — anyone can print "financial advisor" on a card. The registration category is what binds. Ours is: registered investment adviser, California DFPI, CRD #311270.
What the duty requires of us, concretely
- Duty of loyalty. When an interest of ours could conflict with yours, we must disclose it — and resolve it in your favour.
- Duty of care. Advice must be based on your actual situation: goals, taxes, time horizon, the accounts you already have — not on what's easiest to implement.
- Best execution. When we trade, we must seek the most favourable terms reasonably available — we can't route trades to whoever benefits us.
- Ongoing, not transactional. The duty applies for the life of the relationship, not just at the moment of sale.
Where your money actually sits
Your account is opened in your name at an independent qualified custodian — Altruist, Betterment and Interactive Brokers — which holds the assets and issues account statements. Under the advisory agreement, you may elect to have Aduna Capital or the custodian calculate the advisory fee. You may authorize the custodian to deduct the disclosed fee from the account, or elect to receive an invoice and pay the firm directly. Apart from any written trading discretion and any fee-deduction authority you authorize, the firm cannot withdraw or transfer your assets.
This matters more than any promise on this page. A fiduciary duty is a legal standard; the custody arrangement is a structural constraint. The first depends on us behaving well. The second means a third party you can call independently holds the assets, produces the statements, and would have to be complicit for anything to go wrong. You should ask every adviser you interview who holds the money and who produces the statement, and you should be suspicious of any answer that is “we do” to both.
Six questions to ask any adviser — including us
- Are you a fiduciary on every account I'd hold with you, at all times? (Get it in writing.)
- How do you make money, and does anyone besides me pay you?
- Can I see your Form ADV Part 2A? (Ours is linked in the footer of every page.)
- What's your CRD number? (Check it at adviserinfo.sec.gov — takes one minute.)
- Will you tell me if I don't need you? (Our answer: yes, and we regularly do.)
- Who holds the money, and who produces the statement I see? (Ours: an independent custodian, for both. If one firm answers "we do" to both, walk.)
What we are not. We don't sell insurance products through the advisory firm, don't receive 12b-1 fees or revenue sharing, don't take referral payments, and don't display client testimonials — California law prohibits state-registered advisers from using them, and we'd rather show you our fees and our reasoning than curated praise.
Hold us to it
Bring these five questions to the first call. We'll answer all of them, in writing if you want.