Integrity Wealth Solutions - Member Spotlight
Keeping Integrity as Financial Advisers
An Interview with Clint Thomas, cofounder of Integrity Wealth Solutions
Hiring a financial adviser implicitly requires a great deal of trust in that individual. Knowing they will handle your situation with your interests about theirs is simply required, but not always the case.
That’s why Clint Thomas is dedicated to a integrity-based relationship with his clients, always valuing their interests above his own.
Clint is a member at our Greenwood Village office, as well as uses other locations to meet with clients that are a bit farther, even out of state at times. We sat down to talk with Clint about his business and his time with Office Evolution.
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About Integrity Wealth Solutions
My name’s Clint Thomas. I’m the cofounder of Integrity Wealth Solutions, and we are a comprehensive wealth management firm located here in Denver. We feel like integrity is a foundation of that, where we feel like putting the client first, making sure there’s no conflict of interest, and making sure we’re always doing things the right way is of utmost importance.
The Ultimate Purpose
I think our biggest success stories are when we can take someone’s situation and help them develop a game plan to achieve what they want to achieve. They may not know exactly what it looks like right now, but we can help them get their arms around their entire picture of their financial situation. So whether it’s retirement planning or college funding, or maybe they’re looking for someone to look at their investment portfolio… Just getting it planned together so that they have a road map to achieve something.
What differentiates your firm?
The biggest difference between our firm and some others is that we have a flat fee structure that is unique in the sense that most firms out there typically charge commissions or they do what’s called a fee-based platform, where they’re charging a fee on the assets being managed. So a typical situation is where an advisor will charge a percent of the assets they’re managing. In dollar terms, if you’re dealing with a million dollar portfolio and you’re getting charge 1%, that’s about a $10,000/year that you’re paying. And another client that might have $2 million is paying $20,000/year in fees. And the difference between the two clients as to what the advisor’s doing for them, there’s really not a lot of difference in one client versus the other. Yet they’re making $10,000 more on client B than they are on client A. We don’t feel like that’s justified. With our flat fee structure, we have a fee that’s the same across our client base.
How has the industry changed?
Traditionally there was a focus on commission-based products where advisors were selling a product and generating a commission for that. But they didn’t necessarily have the best interests of the client in mind with those products they were selling. There’s been a shift away from that over the last 5-10 years where advisors are focusing less on commissions and more on fee-based type of environment and moving towards a fiduciary role in the client-advisor relationship. Which simply means that the advisor has to put the client’s interests first before their own.
How do you see your business changing in the future?
We see our business evolving over the next 5-10 years with some of the new roles that have come down through the department of labor related to how an advisor should conduct business as a fiduciary. We feel like we’re really well positioned for that, being a flat-fee-only advisor. That puts us in a great spot to be able to grow and focus on the clients that we want to bring on board. Namely, in the area of retirement planning clients and clients that are looking for help in those different planning areas.
What are Your Best Business Tips?
Business Tip #1 – Find your Passion
I think the first one that comes to mind for me is making sure that what you’re doing, you have a passion for and that you let that show and convey that to your customers or clients. If you have a passion for what you’re doing and believe in what you’re doing, that will come out and only enhance your success.
Business Tip #2 – Keep up with Technology
The other thing we all have to recognize is that we live in a very fast-paced, ever-changing world as it relates to technology. Embrace that and make sure that you’re not falling behind with that.
Business Tip #3 – Know the Importance of Team Dynamics
A good partnership with your fellow workers and business partners is key to make sure that you both have the same vision and focus in line, that you’re going after the same goals, and you can work in a way that will accomplish those.
Why Office Evolution?
We chose Office Evolution for a couple reasons. Number one, we needed a good place to conduct client meetings and have a space that has a professional setting for client meetings. Office evolution offers that, and the environment is very conducive to the professional environment that we were looking for. In addition to that, we have clients spread out throughout the Metro area, in some cases out of state as well. It allows us to have meeting space in multiple locations, which is great for us as well.
How Has Office Evolution Helped Your Business?
They’ve been great in the sense that we have a home base that we feel very comfortable with. It’s a professional environment where we can conduct our business and we know that there’s a professional setting that we are coming to everyday when we go to work. They’ve helped us with setting that environment up to conduct business in a way that we want to project.
For more information about Clint and Integrity Wealth Solutions, visit https://www.integrity-wealth.com/
To rent an office space at Office Evolution or to learn more about how we can help you grow your business, visit our website at https://www.officeevolution.com/locations/greenwood-village or call (303) 447-6846.