Fiduciary Duties

All Investment Advisor Associates (“IA Associates”) at CPI operate under fiduciary rules that require them to act in YOUR best interests and NOT put their interests ahead of yours.

When our IA Associates provide advisory services to you, they proudly uphold the rules that require them to:

• meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (i.e. give prudent advice);
• never put our financial interests ahead of yours when making recommendations (i.e. give loyal advice);
• avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in your best interests;
• charge no more than a reasonable fee for our services; and
• give you basic information about conflicts of interest.

In addition, the CFP® professionals at CPI have committed to uphold the CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct which reflects a high standard of competency and ethics. CFP Board’s Code and Standards benefits and protects the public, provides standards for delivering financial planning, and advances financial planning as a distinct and valuable profession. Compliance with the Code and Standards is a requirement of CFP® certification that is critical to the integrity of the CFP® marks.

The CFP Board’s Code of Ethics requires all CFP professionals to:

1. Act with honesty, integrity, competence, and diligence
2. Act in the client’s best interests
3. Exercise due care
4. Avoid, disclose, and managed conflicts of interest
5. Maintain the confidentiality and protect the privacy of client information
6. Act in a matter that reflects positively on the financial planning profession and CFP certification

The CFP Board’s Standards of Conduct is thoughtful and extensive, but at the top of the list are the Fiduciary Duties Owed to Clients when providing financial advice. All CFP® professionals must act as a fiduciary, and therefore, act in the best interests of the Client.

The following duties must be fulfilled:

a. Duty of Loyalty. A CFP® professional must:
• Place the interests of the Client above the interests of the CFP® professional and the CFP® Professional’s Firm;
• Avoid Conflicts of Interest, or fully disclose Material Conflicts of Interest to the Client, obtain the Client’s informed consent, and properly manage the conflict; and
• Act without regard to the financial or other interests of the CFP® professional, the CFP® Professional’s Firm, or any individual or entity other than the Client, which means that a CFP® professional acting under a Conflict of Interest continues to have a duty to act in the best interests of the Client and place the Client’s interests above the CFP® professional’s.

b. Duty of Care. A CFP® professional must act with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence that a prudent professional would exercise in light of the Client’s goals, risk tolerance, objectives, and financial and personal circumstances.

c. Duty to Follow Client Instructions. A CFP® professional must comply with all objectives, policies, restrictions, and other terms of the Engagement and all reasonable and lawful directions of the Client.

In addition to fiduciary duties, CPI will provide transparency and disclose conflicts of interest that may come up in our working relationship. Please refer to our Form CRS for common conflicts of interest that we’ve identified in our line of work.