Dear Friends and Clients,
The management of a professional services firm, like Fiduciary, is in large part an exercise in collaboration and alignment. At its core, Fiduciary is a collection of professionals who dedicate themselves to the provision of exceptional service and great outcomes for their clients. As such, the firm is a living organism with different personalities, perspectives, skills and tenures. What truly differentiates Fiduciary, and other leading professional service firms, is its ability to align and harness the expertise of these many professionals on behalf of its clients.
This past year was an excellent example of the collective work of Fiduciary’s professionals on behalf of our clients. We achieved our highest client retention rate in a decade—above our standard 98%. We steered clients’ investment portfolios through uncertain markets with an eye toward the future. And we assisted many families and individuals in making significant financial decisions to enable them to lead the lives to which they aspire.
Additionally, Fiduciary was an important partner and service provider throughout the year to other wealth advisors, RIAs and family offices in administering trusts, filing taxes, serving as a custodian and facilitating donor-advised funds. From our inception, Fiduciary has always worked with other professionals and very much believes a professional ecosystem is required to serve clients.
2023 will also be recognized for our best new business year ever. This is the seventh year out of the last nine in which we have exceeded the previous year’s result. The combination of high retention and increased new business has accelerated our net organic growth by over seven times since 2014. While there are multiple factors that have contributed to this success, we believe the two largest have been maintaining our focus on client service and increasing the awareness of Fiduciary’s distinctiveness more broadly.
To help the Company fulfill its commitments in the years to come, we added to our ranks. A few of the new additions include Sid Queler as Head of Wealth Management, Tom Nonnweiler as an Investment Officer and two colleagues in our New Hampshire affiliate, Jill Mastroianni and Toni Brogna. The past year was also the first full year for the Company to operate in its updated hybrid work model. By incorporating the silver linings learned during the pandemic with new technologies and our focus on mentorship, we have crafted a modern and flexible approach that is proving effective.
Indeed, 2023 was a full year with the achievement of noticeable milestones. And, while I and my colleagues are proud of the year, we are equally excited about continuing our positive momentum into the years to come.
Best,
Austin V. Shapard
President & CEO