OUR STORY
Established Experience. A Growing Team. A Firm Built for What Comes Next.
For 30 years, families throughout North Georgia have trusted our firm as their independent financial advisor in Alpharetta, Cumming, and surrounding communities to help them navigate important financial decisions.
The name is evolving.
The commitment behind it is not.
Fountain Wealth Partners represents the next chapter of a firm established in 1996—combining decades of experience and personal relationships with the capabilities, team, and coordinated approach today's successful families increasingly need.
Private Wealth for Life's Next Chapter: Helping successful families navigate retirement, manage significant wealth, and build a lasting legacy.
Most financial advisors operate under brokerage models that distribute investment products for commissions. Fountain Wealth Partners is an independent, 100% fee-only fiduciary—meaning we accept zero sales commissions, transaction markups, or third-party revenue sharing. We are compensated solely by you to help protect, optimize, and steward your balance sheet.
YOUR GOALS. OUR GUIDANCE. YOUR LEGACY.
Why software alone falls short: How automated algorithms fail during critical life transitions, tax adjustments, and market volatility.
The four pillars of human wealth management: How direct access to a dedicated senior advisor, 100% fee-only fiduciary independence, comprehensive wealth coordination, and long-term continuity protect your legacy.
What you can expect as a client: The exact written deliverables, fee transparency, and local face-to-face access you gain by partnering with an independent CFP® lead advisor.
Why software alone falls short: How automated algorithms fail during critical life transitions, tax adjustments, and market volatility.
The four pillars of human wealth management: How direct access to a dedicated senior advisor, 100% fee-only fiduciary independence, comprehensive wealth coordination, and long-term continuity protect your legacy.
What you can expect as a client: The exact written deliverables, fee transparency, and local face-to-face access you gain by partnering with an independent CFP® lead advisor.
Direct consultation with a CFP® professional • Comprehensive tax and portfolio alignment • Zero obligation
1996
Independent Fiduciary Founding
Established to deliver conflict-free, fee-only wealth planning for high-net-worth families, executives, and business owners in Alpharetta, Milton, and Cumming.
2000–2015
Navigating Major Economic and Market Cycles
Guided client balance sheets through the Dot-Com contraction and the 2008 Great Financial Crisis, demonstrating the value of proactive asset location, tax coordination, and disciplined distribution planning.
2016–Present
Advanced Private Wealth and Legacy Architecture
Expanded specialized multi-generational advisory capabilities for families and business founders managing $3M to $7M+ in complex assets.
Built Around Independent Advice and Personal Relationships
Our story began in 1996, when Darcy Searl co-founded Financial Consultants Group in North Georgia.
Darcy had already spent years in financial services, including leadership experience with Fidelity, before helping establish a firm centered around a more personal and independent approach to financial advice.
The idea was straightforward:
Know the client.
Understand what matters to them.
Provide thoughtful advice.
And build relationships meant to last.
Over the years, Financial Consultants Group grew alongside the families it served.
Clients retired.
Businesses grew and were sold.
Children became adults.
Grandchildren arrived.
Spouses lost loved ones.
Financial markets rose and fell.
Tax laws changed.
And through those changes, the firm's role increasingly extended beyond managing investments.
The relationship became about helping families make good financial decisions through different stages of life.
That foundation remains an important part of who we are today.
Our 30-Year Operational Track Record
Independent Fiduciary Founding
Established in North Georgia to deliver objective, fee-only wealth planning for families, executives, and business owners in Alpharetta, Milton, and Cumming.
Navigating Major Economic and Market Cycles
Guided client balance sheets through the Dot-Com contraction and the 2008 Great Financial Crisis, demonstrating the value of proactive asset location, tax-aware coordination, and disciplined distribution planning.
Advanced Private Wealth and Legacy Architecture
Expanded specialized multi-generational advisory capabilities and coordinated planning for families, executives, and business founders managing significant balance sheet complexity.
Helping current and former business owners connect the value they have created in their companies with their personal retirement, investment, tax, and family objectives.
Helping families thoughtfully consider gifts, education funding, charitable priorities, support for children and grandchildren, and the responsibilities that accompany significant wealth.
A Shared Philosophy Became a Partnership
David Fountain, CFP®, and Darcy connected approximately 15 years ago.
Although their professional paths had been different, they shared an important belief about financial advice:
The client should come before the product.
David brought decades of experience from the financial services industry, including work with Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, First Horizon Advisors, and an estate and financial planning firm in South Florida.
More importantly, David and Darcy shared a similar philosophy about the kind of firm they wanted to build—one where clients could receive sophisticated financial guidance without feeling as though they were being sold something.
That shared philosophy eventually became a partnership.
And when Darcy retired from day-to-day practice, David became President and owner of Financial Consultants Group.
The leadership changed.
The commitment to the families we serve did not.
Our Name Is Changing Because the Firm Has Evolved
Financial Consultants Group served our clients well for decades.
But as the firm grew, so did the financial lives of the families we served.
Our work increasingly involved more than investments.
Retirement decisions became connected with taxes.
Investment decisions became connected with estate plans.
Business decisions became connected with family wealth.
Charitable intentions became connected with investment and tax strategies.
And families increasingly wanted their financial professionals communicating with one another rather than providing advice in separate conversations.
At the same time, our own firm was changing.
Our team expanded.
Our planning capabilities deepened.
The number of CFP® professionals grew.
Our investment platform evolved.
And our ability to serve families with greater wealth and complexity continued to expand.
Eventually, the name Financial Consultants Group no longer fully described what the firm had become.
Fountain Wealth Partners does.
Wealth Is Broader Than Investments. Partnership Is Broader Than Advice.
We chose the words Wealth Partners intentionally.
Wealth
Because your financial life is more than the value of your investment accounts.
It includes your retirement.
Your income.
Your business.
Your taxes.
Your home and other property.
Your estate.
Your family.
Your charitable intentions.
And ultimately, what you want everything you have built to make possible.
Partners
Because the most meaningful advisory relationships develop over time.
We want to understand the decisions you are making today.
But we also want to be there as retirement arrives, businesses transition, families grow, wealth transfers to another generation, and priorities change.
And when appropriate, we want to work alongside the other professionals advising your family.
The name Fountain Wealth Partners reflects both sides of that relationship: a broader view of wealth and a deeper commitment to the people behind it.
A New Name Does Not Mean Starting Over
For our existing clients, Fountain Wealth Partners is an evolution of the firm they already know.
The relationships remain.
The history remains.
The commitment to independent, fee-only fiduciary advice remains.
And the belief that sophisticated wealth management should still feel personal remains.
We continue to believe:
- The financial plan should guide the portfolio—not the other way around.
- Change should have a reason.
- Clients should understand why they own what they own.
- Taxes should be considered before important financial decisions are made.
- Your CPA, attorney, and wealth advisor should not be working from completely different financial pictures.
- Both spouses should feel informed and comfortable with the advisory relationship.
- And your family should know who to call when life changes.
Those principles are not part of the rebrand.
They are the reason for it.
STRATEGIC WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Navigating the Transition from Wealth Accumulation to Capital Preservation
Fee-only · Fiduciary · CFP® professional
Building a substantial balance sheet requires decades of discipline, smart execution, and enterprise.
But as you approach a business liquidity event, executive transition, or retirement, the financial rules shift fundamentally.
You move from growing assets to coordinating distributions, managing tax friction, and defending purchasing power across market cycles.
At this stage, traditional retail investment advice is no longer sufficient.
As your fiduciary quarterback, we address the strategic priorities of high-net-worth families:
Tax-bracket distribution sequencing
Structuring multi-year Roth conversion windows, asset location strategies, and tax-efficient investing to help manage tax erosion prior to required minimum distribution (RMD) age.
Concentrated risk and liquidity planning
Structuring private business sale proceeds, executive stock options (ISOs/RSUs), and executive equity and compensation plans to help manage tax drag and preserve liquidity.
Multi-generational legacy coordination
Coordinating alongside estate counsel on trusts, donor-advised funds (DAFs), and philanthropic structures that help protect family capital and transfer values to future generations.
Cross-discipline advisory integration
Leading active collaboration between your CPA, estate planning counsel, and advisory team so your legal structures, tax returns, and investment accounts operate in alignment.
We Are Investing in the Firm Our Clients Will Need Tomorrow
The financial lives of successful families are becoming increasingly complex.
Our responsibility is to continue evolving with them.
Today, Fountain Wealth Partners brings together five CFP® professionals and a broader team supporting financial planning, investment management, and the client experience.
We continue to strengthen our capabilities across:
Professional coordination
We are also expanding our presence in Alpharetta while continuing to serve clients from our established Cumming office.
The goal is not simply to become a larger firm.
It is to become a stronger one.
A firm with greater depth.
More resources.
More perspectives.
And the continuity to serve families well beyond any one advisor.
Fountain Wealth Partners does not prepare tax returns or provide formal tax advice. Instead, we help identify planning opportunities and coordinate with your CPA or other qualified tax professional when their expertise is appropriate.
Growth Should Improve the Client Experience—Not Change the Relationship
As Fountain Wealth Partners grows, there is something we do not want to lose.
The personal nature of the relationship.
We want to know more than the value of your portfolio.
We want to know when you hope to retire.
What you worry about.
What your children are doing.
Whether you are considering a second home.
Why a particular investment matters to you.
What you hope to leave behind.
And what you would like to enjoy along the way.
Technology can improve the way we plan.
A larger team can provide greater depth.
More sophisticated investment resources can strengthen portfolios.
But none of those should replace knowing the people we serve.
We want to provide the capabilities you would expect from a sophisticated wealth management firm—with the personal relationship you would expect from people who know your family.
Experienced Wealth Advisory Leadership Built for Continuity
Your family's financial future should not depend upon one person.
One of the most important ways Fountain Wealth Partners has evolved is through the depth of our team.
Today, five CFP® professionals contribute to the advisory and planning capabilities of the firm.
That provides clients with multiple perspectives and broader expertise.
It also provides something we believe is equally important:
Continuity.
We want the knowledge of your financial life to extend beyond a single advisor.
We want your spouse to know our team.
When appropriate, we want your children to know us.
And if an unexpected life event occurs, we do not want your family meeting their financial advisory team for the first time during a difficult moment.
We want to already know them.
David Fountain, CFP®
President & Owner
David directs our comprehensive retirement income design and private wealth strategies, stewarding multi-generational client relationships with over 30 years of industry experience.
Sandee Fricks, CFP®
Managing Director | Financial Planner
Sandee brings extensive fiduciary financial planning expertise to client families, specializing in advanced retirement distribution modeling, multi-generational legacy design, and cross-disciplinary CPA and estate attorney coordination.
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Building Wealth Is Important. Knowing What You Want It to Do May Be Even More Important.
For much of life, financial success is measured by accumulation.
Save more.
Invest more.
Build the business.
Grow the portfolio.
Pay down debt.
Prepare for retirement.
But eventually, the questions begin to change.
- Have we accumulated enough?
- When can work become optional?
- How much can we comfortably spend?
- Can we buy the home we've talked about?
- Can we help our children now?
- How much should we leave behind?
- What causes do we want to support?
- What do we want the next chapter of our lives to look like?
At that stage, wealth is no longer simply something to accumulate.
It becomes a tool.
A tool for independence.
For experiences.
For family.
For generosity.
For security.
And for legacy.
Our role is to help you use, enjoy, protect, and ultimately transfer what you have built with greater clarity and confidence.
This Is Where Our Firm Grew Up
Financial Consultants Group was established in North Georgia in 1996.
Three decades later, Fountain Wealth Partners remains deeply connected to the communities that helped build the firm.
Our established Cumming office continues to serve families throughout Forsyth County and the surrounding region.
Our growing Alpharetta presence brings us closer to families throughout North Fulton, Milton, Johns Creek, Roswell, and neighboring communities seeking an independent financial advisor in Alpharetta.
We also serve clients who have moved throughout Georgia and across the country through our national wealth management capabilities
(Virtual & National Wealth Management).
Our reach may continue to grow.
Our roots remain here.
We Are Proud of Where We Came From. We Are Even More Focused on Where We Are Going.
Thirty years of history gives Fountain Wealth Partners an important foundation.
But history alone does not build the firm our clients will need in the future.
That requires continuing to invest in people.
Developing the next generation of advisors.
Strengthening our planning and investment capabilities.
Embracing technology where it improves the client experience.
Expanding our ability to serve families with increasingly complex financial lives.
And preserving the culture that made the firm successful in the first place.
Our vision is for Fountain Wealth Partners to become a trusted financial cornerstone for the families we serve—
a firm capable of advising not simply one client, but spouses, children, and generations of a family over time.
The firm may continue to evolve.
The standard should not.
Thoughtful advice. Sound judgment. Genuine care.
A Thoughtful Discovery Process Designed Around You
Evaluating a wealth management partnership should be straightforward, thorough, and low-pressure. Our initial discovery process is designed to provide clear, actionable insights into your balance sheet and tax structure.
Step 1: 15-Minute Fiduciary Discovery Call
We begin with an open, zero-pressure conversation to learn about your family, your goals, what you have built, and the questions on your mind.
Step 2: Financial & Balance Sheet Review
Our advisory team conducts a comprehensive review of your balance sheet, investments, and tax profile to identify planning opportunities, help reduce structural drag, and evaluate mutual fit.
Step 3: Coordinated Strategy & Implementation
We present a custom wealth roadmap and coordinate directly across your portfolio, tax planning, and estate professionals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Financial Consultants Group change its name to Fountain Wealth Partners?
Our firm was originally co-founded in 1996 as Financial Consultants Group. Over three decades, our work expanded beyond investment management into comprehensive, multi-generational wealth planning, tax coordination, and estate strategy. Under the ongoing leadership of President & Owner David Fountain, CFP®, our name changed to Fountain Wealth Partners to better reflect the comprehensive advisory firm we have become.
What distinguishes a 100% fee-only fiduciary from a fee-based advisor?
Fee-only fiduciaries (like Fountain Wealth Partners) are compensated exclusively through transparent advisory fees paid directly by clients based on a tiered percentage of assets under management (AUM) with householding provisions. We never accept sales commissions, 12b-1 distribution fees, or third-party product incentives. Fee-based advisors charge a client fee while also maintaining brokerage licenses that allow them to earn commissions on financial products. Learn more about our fee-only structure.
How does your team coordinate with our existing CPA and estate attorney?
We act as the central fiduciary coordinator for your complete financial architecture. We provide your CPA with annual tax-harvesting summaries, gain/loss projections, and 1099 distribution planning, while collaborating directly with your estate attorney to ensure trust funding, beneficiary designations, and entity titling match your estate plan.
Who holds custody of my investment assets?
Fountain Wealth Partners does not hold direct custody of client funds. All client accounts are held safely with independent, established custodians—primarily Charles Schwab & Co. and Axos—providing institutional-grade security and transparent third-party reporting.
Where are your offices located, and do you work with clients outside Georgia?
We maintain offices in Alpharetta (12600 Deerfield Parkway, Suite 100, Alpharetta, GA 30004) and Cumming, Georgia. In addition to serving families across North Fulton, Forsyth County, and Greater Atlanta, our team works with clients nationwide through our virtual wealth management services.
David Fountain, CFP® — Founder & Lead Advisor
OUR STORY IS STILL BEING WRITTEN
Perhaps the Next Chapter Includes Your Family
You do not need to know whether Fountain Wealth Partners is the right firm for you before meeting us.
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what you have built.
Tell us what is changing.
Tell us what matters to you.
And tell us what you would like your wealth to make possible.
We will tell you about our firm, our approach, and how we might be able to help.
Then we can decide together whether it makes sense to take the next step.
Direct consultation with a CFP® professional • 100% fee-only standard • Objective analysis
Contact Our Alpharetta Office
Fountain Wealth Partners 12600 Deerfield Parkway, Suite 100, Alpharetta, GA 30004 Phone: (770) 650-9392 Inquiries: Carson@FountainWealthPartners.com (Attn: Carson Greene, Relationship Manager) Serving Alpharetta, Milton, Cumming, Johns Creek, and high-net-worth families across North Atlanta.
YOUR GOALS. OUR GUIDANCE. YOUR LEGACY.
Fountain Wealth Partners, a Financial Consultants Group company, is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. FWP provides tax-aware wealth planning and coordinates alongside qualified CPAs and estate attorneys; FWP does not provide direct legal or tax preparation services, draft legal documents, or act as an attorney or corporate trustee. Additional information regarding advisory services, fees, and business practices is available on the SEC's website at adviserinfo.sec.gov and in our
Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS disclosures. CFP Board owns the marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the U.S.
