FIDUCIARY DUE DILIGENCE
7 Questions To Ask Before Choosing A Wealth Advisor
Choosing who manages your family's wealth is a major decision. While titles and credentials often sound alike, the standards of care and pricing models behind them vary widely. Asking straightforward questions gives you immediate clarity.
Advisory services offered through Financial Consultants Group, Inc., an SEC-registered investment adviser. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal.
7 Questions to Ask Before Trusting an Advisor With Your Family's Legacy
How to audit your financial advisor, expose hidden conflicts of interest, and ensure absolute fiduciary alignment before signing an agreement
Choosing who manages your family's wealth shapes your legacy for generations. Yet most people spend far more time vetting a real estate transaction or business deal than auditing their financial advisor.
The right questions reveal everything. The wrong answers can cost long-term financial clarity, and structural protection is on the line.
Are you a fiduciary in writing at all times?
If the answer isn't an immediate, unqualified yes, you can stop right there. A fiduciary has a legal duty to put your interests first in every market environment and with every piece of advice.
At Fountain Wealth Partners, we operate as a pure fee-only fiduciary. We put that commitment in writing in our client agreements, in our
Form ADV Part 2A, and in every recommendation we make.
Seven Questions Every Wealthy Family Should Ask Before Hiring An Advisor
(Framework developed from nearly three decades of fiduciary wealth planning for North Fulton families.)
1. How are you compensated, and what are the total costs associated with my portfolio?
- Why it matters: Clear pricing is the foundation of trust. Ask whether the advisor receives product commissions, 12b-1 mutual fund fees, or third-party incentives.
- The Fountain answer: We're 100% fee-only. We're compensated only through a transparent, asset-based advisory fee that's clearly explained before we begin. We don't sell products and we take zero commissions.
2. What professional credentials do you hold?
- Why it matters: The CFP® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®) mark requires extensive coursework, a rigorous board exam, years of experience, and a mandatory commitment to fiduciary ethics.
- The Fountain answer: Our team includes five CFP® professionals dedicated to comprehensive planning and fiduciary care.
3. What is the typical profile and complexity of the families you serve?
- Why it matters: Complex balance sheets need advisors experienced in executive compensation, corporate exits, trusts, and family estates.
- The Fountain answer: We focus on successful professionals, corporate leaders, business owners, and retirees across North Georgia who need help managing complex financial lives.
4. How often will we meet, and will I work directly with a senior planner?
- Why it matters: You need direct access to seasoned advisors when life changes or markets move.
- The Fountain answer: You work directly with your dedicated lead advisory team through scheduled reviews, proactive check-ins, and open communication year-round.
5. How does your investment strategy fit my financial plan?
- Why it matters: Your investments should serve your overarching financial plan—not the other way around.
- The Fountain answer: We build disciplined, low-cost, tax-aware portfolios tailored specifically to support your lifestyle, cash flow, and legacy goals.
6. How do you help reduce my tax burden?
- Why it matters: Real wealth management goes beyond market returns to help you keep more of what you make.
- The Fountain answer: We provide tax-aware wealth planning—optimizing asset location, timing withdrawals, analyzing Roth conversions, and coordinating directly with your CPA.
7. How is your firm built for long-term continuity?
- Why it matters: Your wealth plan spans decades and generations. You want to know your advisory team will be there for the long haul.
- The Fountain answer: With firm roots dating back to 1996, Fountain Wealth Partners has provided 30 years of continuous, multi-generational fiduciary guidance.
Cutting Through The Noise In North Atlanta
Alpharetta, Milton, and the North Fulton area are home to many successful families and business owners. That also means a crowded marketplace of financial firms with very different standards of care.
Asking direct questions helps you look past polished marketing and find a partner with genuine independence, transparent pricing, and deep experience.
We operate as an independent, owner-led firm dedicated to multi-generational client stewardship.
We deliver comprehensive, written financial plans tailored specifically to your life goals.
NAPFA Member
What you will hear when you ask us
We believe you should know exactly what you are paying for and what you are getting in return. We operate under a transparent, flat fee-only pricing model.
- We operate under a strict, legally binding fiduciary standard, placed in writing for every client since day one. Fountain Wealth Partners is a marketing name for Financial Consultants Group, Inc., an SEC-registered investment adviser.
- We charge a single, transparent fee calculated as a percentage of assets under management. We accept zero commissions, zero revenue sharing, and zero sales contests.
- Our planning team is led by David Fountain, CFP® professional, meeting the rigorous initial and ongoing certification standards required by the CFP Board.
- We specialize exclusively in serving high-net-worth families, corporate executives, and business owners in North Fulton with $1M+ in investable assets.
- When you call our office on Deerfield Parkway, you speak directly with your dedicated lead advisory team.
- We focus on securing your lifestyle and preserving your legacy through disciplined asset allocation, tax-efficient distribution strategies, and risk management.
- We deliver comprehensive, written financial plans tailored specifically to your life goals.
- We operate as an independent, owner-led firm dedicated to multi-generational client stewardship.
What You Will Experience At Fountain Wealth Partners
Written fiduciary duty: A legally binding fiduciary commitment in writing for every client relationship.
Fee-only pricing: Asset-based advisory fees with zero commissions, revenue-sharing, or hidden markups.
Five CFP® professionals: Certified planners leading every strategy.
Direct advisor access: Personal communication with your lead team at our Alpharetta and Main offices.
Tax-aware planning: Close teamwork with your CPA and estate attorney.
Retirement confidence: Clear income modeling and cash-flow sequencing.
Bring Your Questions To An Introductory Conversation
We welcome an open conversation about your goals, how we work, and how we can help your family.
A complimentary 15-minute introductory conversation.
Regulatory Disclosures and Legal Notices
Entity Disclosure: Fountain Wealth Partners is a marketing name for advisory services offered through Financial Consultants Group, Inc., an Investment Adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
General Investment Risk:
Advisory services are only offered where Financial Consultants Group, Inc. (d/b/a Fountain Wealth Partners) and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.
Tax & Legal Limitations: Fountain Wealth Partners does not provide legal or tax advice. We coordinate tax-aware strategies alongside clients' qualified CPAs and estate planning attorneys.
CFP® Certification Notice: Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and the CFP (with flame design)® in the United States to registered individuals who have successfully completed the initial and ongoing certification requirements.
Legal Links & Copyright: Important
Disclosures & Form ADV / CRS |
Privacy Policy |
Terms of Service
Fountain Wealth Partners. All Rights Reserved. Firm history dating to 1996.
FEES & TRANSPARENCY
Transparent, flat-fee pricing. No surprises
We believe you should know exactly what you are paying for and what you are getting in return. We operate under a transparent, flat fee-only pricing model.
Zero Commissions: We never profit from product sales or transactions
Zero Hidden Costs: No referral fees, third-party incentives, or asset-under-management markups
Complete Alignment: Our flat-fee structure ensures our incentives are completely aligned with your long-term financial security
Securing your lifestyle, preserving your legacy.
