Fiduciary Duty

Most consumers believe and reasonably expect that all investment professionals are held to the same legal standard, but unfortunately this is not the case. Investment professionals that are registered representatives or stock brokers are not held to a fiduciary standard. This means the advice they give is not subject to the same stringent legal obligations covering fiduciaries when providing investment advice.

Fiduciary Standard: The fiduciary standard states that a fiduciary has a duty to put each client’s interest ahead of their own. Regardless of the situation or what might be in the fiduciary’s personal interest, the fiduciary standard requires doing what is best for the client at all times.

There are many investment professionals who are dually registered meaning they are held to a fiduciary standard only some of the time. When choosing an investment advisor, it is important to ask whether they are a fiduciary 100% of the time.

Prairiewood Commitment:

We believe you deserve a firm that puts your interests first at all times. As a result, we formed Prairiewood as a Registered Investment Advisory firm which means we are legally held to the fiduciary standard 100% of the time. Accordingly, we are obligated to put your interests ahead of our own always. As our client, you will know that our loyalty is entirely and only to you.

Fee Only

Wealth management firms and financial advisors can typically be classified into one of three compensation models, fee-only, fee-based, and commission-based. The type of compensation model used can tell you a significant amount about the firm.

FEE-ONLY – All compensation comes directly from the client according to a pre-arranged fee. There are no commissions and no behind-the-scenes agreements incentivizing the advisor to make a recommendation resulting in additional compensation. This eliminates many conflicts of interest present in the other compensation models.

FEE-BASED – While fee-based sounds similar to fee-only, they are very different. A fee-based advisor is compensated both from the client as well as from outside sources. Most fee-based advisors receive commissions from selling investment products and insurance. These commissions create a conflict which makes it difficult for the client to determine whether the product being sold is really the best option for them or whether it is recommended primarily for the financial benefit that the advisor will receive.

COMMISSION-BASED – A commission-based advisor receives all their compensation from commissions on investment and insurance products sold. Similar to a fee-based advisor, the challenge of commission-based compensation is the inherent conflict of interest between the advisor making the recommendation (want highest compensation) and the individual purchasing the product (wants best product).

Prairiewood Commitment:

We believe that conflicts of interest present in commission-based compensation inherently detract from the trust that clients place in their advisors. We’ve chosen to avoid this conflict altogether by not engaging in any commission-based compensation. Being a fee-only advisory firm, we are compensated by a pre-arranged fee regardless of the advice we give. Ultimately, we make more money if you are satisfied and remain a long-term client.

Independent

We are committed to being fully independent which allows us to recommend any solution that is best for our clients. Many investment professionals are registered representatives of specific investment companies and only provide their company’s products.

This means they are restricted to offering the investment products of their affiliated companies. This reduces the solutions they can offer to their clients. Registered representatives who work for a specific company typically include a disclosure at the bottom of their website or marketing materials saying “Securities offered through Investment Company, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC.”

Prairiewood Commitment:

At Prairiewood Wealth Management, we believe you deserve the best solutions to reach your financial goals. We are fully independent which means that we are free to make any recommendation that is best for you. We are not restricted to any company, product, portfolio, or strategy which ensures we can recommend what is best for you.

At Prairiewood Wealth Management, we also take this one step further. We expect our Family CFOs to live by the same advice we give our clients. In other words, we should have skin in the game and eat our own cooking. That’s why we require each of our Family CFOs to invest their personal portfolios in the investments we recommend to our clients. If our recommendations are not good enough for our personal portfolios, they are not good enough for you.*

*Our detailed investment alignment policy is available to clients upon request.

Highly Qualified

The financial advice industry has an endless supply of designations and titles, and most advisors have a litany of letters after their name, many of which mean very little. Unfortunately, there is not a specific, required, and widely accepted qualification with substantial ethical and educational prerequisites that all financial advisors must have before serving the public.

This differs from the accounting (CPAs) and legal professions (JDs). As a result, there are advisors with minimal qualifications, but with no common standard, it is difficult to identify them until it is too late.

Prairiewood Commitment:

At Prairiewood Wealth Management, we believe financial advice should only be given by highly qualified individuals. We require our Family CFOs to go above and beyond to ensure they are best qualified to serve you. In addition to the required qualifications that all financial advisors must legally have, our Family CFOs are required to hold at least one of the following designations: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), or Certified Financial Planner (CFP).

Tax Integrated

Many financial advisors focus mainly on investments. While this is a necessary service, an appropriately designed portfolio must be part of a comprehensive plan that includes estate planning, insurance planning, and charitable giving planning. The common thread through each of these areas is that they all have tax implications.

No plan is complete without detailed tax planning integrated throughout the plan to reduce your taxes and ensure you keep more of what you make.

Prairiewood Commitment:

At Prairiewood Wealth Management, we believe in comprehensive planning and are committed to helping you coordinate your investment portfolio and financial plan so that each area works together for the best result. We include our in-house CPAs in the ongoing planning process to ensure your plan is tax-efficient and includes the appropriate tax mitigation strategies. We are committed to helping you reduce the taxes you pay over your lifetime.

Generational

We believe a firm that puts their clients first must ensure their clients will be well served beyond the career of a individual advisor. Many single advisor firms work with clients who are the same age as the advisor. Often this results in the advisor retiring right when the clients need their advisor most.

Prairiewood Commitment:

At Prairiewood Wealth Management, we are committed to training and recruiting the next generation of qualified advisors into our firm who will provide for lifelong and generational service to our clients. Our goal is to be the last wealth management firm you and your family will ever need.

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PRAIRIEWOOD WEALTH MANAGEMENT IS…

We are a fiduciary, fee-only, and independent financial advisory firm located in Fargo, North Dakota. We proudly serve clients in the Fargo-Moorhead and West Fargo area as well as nationwide.

Our
Clients

Our clients are individuals and families who need comprehensive wealth management services and whose largest lifetime expense is taxes.

Our
Difference

We offer full-service investment management; integrated estate, insurance, and charitable planning; and proactive tax strategies.

Our
Mission

Our mission is to help you keep more of what you make, make more with what you have, and create a legacy that will last beyond your lifetime.

We believe your wealth is too important to leave to chance.

The Problem

The government taxes you, inflation reduces the value of what you already have, and complexity keeps you from planning for your future.

The Solution

You need a plan that will reduce the taxes you pay, grow the wealth you have, and create the legacy you deserve.

Do you have a clear and comprehensive plan
for your future?

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CFOs Can Help - Prairiewood Wealth Management

Our Family CFOs
Can Help

We know that finances can be complex. Just like a business, families need an experienced professional who will look out for their best interests. In our approach to wealth management, we serve as your Family Chief Financial Officer (CFO) helping you navigate the complexities of investing, personal finance, and tax planning.

Your Family CFO will…

Listen to your needs and help you create a coordinated plan covering investing, tax, estate, insurance, and charitable giving planning

Guide you through financial complexity and answer your questions so that you understand your options

Stand ready so that you never have to make important financial decisions alone

Support your family's primary financial decision maker so your family's finances remain well managed if and when they are no longer able to manage them on their own

Ensure you avoid the consequences of inaction, uncertainty, and mistakes that lead to lost potential and regret

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Why more & more families are
choosing Prairiewood

You have hundreds of advisors to choose from. Why should you choose us? We founded our firm on six principles that ensure we are always putting your best interests first. Whether you are interviewing other advisors or simply wondering if your current advisor is the best fit for you, evaluate how they compare with the following principles.

50 Growers Across America Awards - 2020 - 2021

*Important Disclosures About Industry Recognition
50 Growers Across America is created and published by Citywire.
The time period covered by the awards were 2020 (published in December 2020) and 2021 (published in November 2021).
Prairiewood provided no compensation for this rating.

Fiduciary Duty

As a fiduciary, we are legally obligated to do what’s best for you 100% of the time.

Fee Only

We are a fee-only firm meaning we do not receive commission-based compensation from anyone. You can be sure that our loyalty is only to you.

Independent

We are fully independent which gives us the ability to recommend what is best for you without restriction.

Highly Qualified

We believe financial advice should only be given by highly qualified individuals. We require our Family CFOs to have either a CPA, CFA, or CFP license to demonstrate our commitment to providing quality advice.

Tax Integrated

We provide comprehensive advice covering all areas of your financial life, and we understand that almost every financial decision has tax implications. We believe tax planning must be integrated into the entire wealth management process so you keep more of what you make.

Generational

We are committed to training and recruiting the next generation of highly qualified advisors into our firm; so we can be the last wealth management firm you and your family will ever need.

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Who We Serve

Typically our clients are families that have accumulated $1M-$50M in net worth or are high income earners well on their way who are experiencing the same challenges around taxes, investing, insurance, and charitable planning.

The financial needs of families change substantially as net worth changes. This means it is important to work with a financial advisor that is specifically skilled in serving families similar to yours. Advisors who narrow their focus are able to concentrate on identifying, researching, and implementing the specific planning strategies that will be the most impactful to the families they serve. Our clients are families who have outgrown the simplistic model of many advisors that serve hundreds of clients at a time which limits their ability to provide detailed advice.

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Who We Serve

Services We Offer

Our Family CFOs serve our clients through the following three service areas. Each of these areas must be coordinated to create a comprehensive and effective plan.

Comprehensive Financial Planning

Comprehensive financial planning helps coordinate all areas of your financial life and ensures you take advantage of creative strategies to build the financial freedom you deserve.

Proactive Tax Planning

Proactive tax planning helps you reduce the taxes you will pay over your lifetime so you keep more of what you make.

Investment Management

Investment management ensures the wealth you’ve already created is invested efficiently for long-term preservation and growth.

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Your wealth,
your legacy

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Meet Our Team

Welcome! Thank you for your interest in Prairiewood Wealth Management. I founded our firm in 2009 after seeing how the financial industry put the needs of investment firms ahead of your needs as individuals. My goal has been and always will be to put you first by serving you with our highly qualified team who is dedicated to your success.

Fiduciary Duty

Prairiewood Commitment:

Fee Only

Prairiewood Commitment:

Independent

Prairiewood Commitment:

Highly Qualified

Prairiewood Commitment:

Tax Integrated

Prairiewood Commitment:

Generational

Prairiewood Commitment:

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Reduce Taxes | Grow Wealth | Create a Legacy

Simplifying & optimizing your financial future

PRAIRIEWOOD WEALTH MANAGEMENT IS…

OurClients

OurDifference

OurMission

We believe your wealth is too important to leave to chance.

The Problem

The Solution

Do you have a clear and comprehensive planfor your future?

Our Family CFOsCan Help

Your Family CFO will…

Why more & more families arechoosing Prairiewood

Fiduciary Duty

Fee Only

Independent

Highly Qualified

Tax Integrated

Generational

Who We Serve

Services We Offer

Comprehensive Financial Planning

Proactive Tax Planning

Investment Management

Your wealth,your legacy

Podcast

Online Resources

Meet Our Team

Our
Clients

Our
Difference

Our
Mission

Do you have a clear and comprehensive plan
for your future?

Our Family CFOs
Can Help

Why more & more families are
choosing Prairiewood

Your wealth,
your legacy