The Transparent Advisor Movement’s mission is to further the ideals of:
- Honesty
- Integrity,
- Humility,
- Fairness,
- Logic, and
- Advocacy
in all aspects of financial advice, with a special focus on Advice Only, Flat Fee, and Hourly service models. There is an emphasis on logical and clear disclosure of services and their related fees.
The Transparency Movement is the future of the industry – and those who join us are the ones who are called.
Join the Transparent Advisor Movement
Who am I?
I am Sara Grillo, CFA and I’m declaring war on all forms of deception, manipulation, and other predatory, toxically controlling behaviors within financial advisor practices.
And who are we?
The Transparent Advisor Movement is a free networking and thought leadership group of financial advisors and related professionals.
The goal of the Transparent Advisor Movement is to create a new age of financial advice – delivered by the most ethical, logical, and fair financial advisors that the industry has ever seen in its history.
To do this, we are dismantling many of the norms and reconstructing them with a sheer focus on the experience of the end client, something that has never been done before.
Specific examples:
- Educating financial advisors of all business models (AUM, fee only, commission, etc.) about how to run a business with higher transparency to the client
- Working with advocacy groups to influence state and national legislation that is more support of transparent marketing practices
- Mentoring younger advisors
- Matching up advisors one on one to be accountability partners and support each others’ growth
- Speaking on college campuses to encourage college students to avoid “career trafficking” smile and dial predatory wirehouse and insurance training programs and pursue fee-only paraplanning jobs instead
Join the virtual community!
Join our LinkedIn group for online discussions and to network with those who share our values. Many are financial advisors who practice as Advice Only, Flat Fee, and Hourly planners.
If you want to meet flat fee and advice only planners, here is a Directory of some of the financial advisors participating in our Transparency Movement.
Read the Transparency Letter!
Join our email list to receive monthly “Transparent Advisor Letter” and get the latest transparency news, from industry events to practice management tips.
Come to our monthly meetups!
Join our next Transparent Advisor virtual meetup.
These meetups are free and the goal is to learn from each other about how to grow and manage a transparent practice for the benefit of clients. We meet over Zoom on the second Wednesday of every month at 1 PM ET.
October 9th, 2024
Guy Penn: How to grow an RIA firm the cool way
November 13th, 2025
Chat Around: Send in your best Flat Fee, Advice Only, and Hourly Practice Questions
December 11th, 2024
Rick Ferri, CFA, Hourly practice tips
January 9th, 2025
Scott Witt, Insurance transparency
February 12th, 2025
Chat Around: Send in your best Flat Fee, Advice Only, and Hourly Practice Questions
March 12th, 2025
In person: Immersion2025 in Kansas City
April 9th, 2025
Chat Around: Best takeaways from Immersion2025
May 14th, 2025
Mike Zung, CFP: Niche practice development as a flat fee advisor
June 11th, 2025
Hourly Planning: Speaker TBD
July 9th, 2025
Advice Only: Speaker TBD
August 13th, 2025
Chat Around: Best technology for FF, AO, and hourly
September 10th, 2025
Flat Fee: Speaker TBD
October 8th, 2025
Hourly Planning: Speaker TBD
November 12th, 2025
Advice Only: Speaker TBD
December 10th, 2025
Chat Around: Best FF, AO, and Hourly Practice Management tips
Even if you can not make the meetup, please register for the replay and to be notified of the next one.
And we’re even having an in person event in 2025 in Kansas City, MO.
Will you join us in real life?
When: Wednesday, March 12th – Thursday, March 13th, 2025
Where: Four Points by Sheraton Kansas City Airport, 11832 NW Plaza Circle, Kansas City, Missouri, 64153
It’s called Immersion 2025.
And so you ask: What’s an “Immersion”?
It is a radically different experience.
Expect LOTS of this:
- Peer to peer conversations
- Opportunities for personal growth
- Strengthening of group unity
- Strengthening of values
- A group volunteering event
- Purity of thought and humility
- Small group interactions such as role playing and tech demos from other advisors not vendors
- “Ask me anything” sessions with practical insights from actual practitioners
- Information about “how to do stuff” from people who are actually doing it!
- 25 minute presentations – short and to the point before you fall asleep!
- Clean, safe accommodations that won’t cost a fortune
And NONE of this nonsense:
- Sponsorships
- Sales pitches
- Hidden agendas and conflicts of interest
- Boring, long presentations
- High level lectures from “thought leaders”
- Monogrammed water bottles and other junk
- Showing off, posturing, and the usual virtue signaling crap
Here are some blogs to help you transparent financial advisors.
- Flat fee and advice only income statement and balance sheet templates
- Website template for flat fee advisors
- Inspirational advice only planner, hourly planner, and flat fee advisor interviews
Just select “Transparent Advisor Movement” playlist on the blog section of my website.
Alright and that’s all I’ve got for now.
Go ahead and join our next meetup and we’ll see you on Zoom!
-Sara G
Code of Conduct and Safety Policy
To ensure an inclusive environment, discrimination or harassment in any form is prohibited in any and all activities held by the Transparent Advisor Movement, including but not limited to:
- Sexual harassment
- Racism
- Sexism
- Ageism
- Homophobia
- Transphobia
- Ableism
- Physical aggression or harm
If you experience any of the aforementioned instances of misconduct, or any others not included on this list, please report it to me, Sara Grillo, in person and via email at sara@saragrillo.com.
The Code of Conduct applies to all participants. Choosing to join this movement evidences your cooperation and agreement with the policy.
Let’s talk about sexual harassment
Sorry for mentioning this, but I really want to get this out in the open.
Sexual harassment is a big problem in our industry.
Sexual harassment spans the broad range of an inappropriate look, touch, comment, or written messages. There is a “no tolerance policy” when it comes to sexual harassment at all activities in the Transparent Advisor Movement. Everyone attending, men and women alike, is expected to abstain from sexual harassment.
Often times, sexual harassment is unintentional and resulting from miscommunication. The way we avoid sexual harassment is through clarity and communication about boundaries.
I don’t want anyone to feel like you can’t be yourself. I want everyone to feel comfortable, relaxed, and safe. Everyone – every man, and every woman.
So to do that, here are some boundaries I suggest we consider:
- Exercise caution when given the opportunity to hang out in private, one on one, with anyone of the opposite sex. For example, going to someone else’s hotel room for a prolonged amount of time. Instead, I would suggest meeting in the hotel lounge or another public area.
- Stay sober. You can have fun socially without drinking alcohol or consuming any type of mood-altering substance. I encourage you to abstain from this, as it may lead you to let down your boundaries/impose on other people’s boundaries without full consciousness you are doing so.
- Be conservative and think twice when commenting on anyone’s appearance. This includes their dress, age, attractiveness, etc. What may be intended as a compliment may be misinterpreted between two people who don’t know each other well.
- Exercise caution and try to avoid touching anyone else other than a handshake. When people don’t know each other well, touch can be misconstrued.
- Try to be aware of body language clues other people may be giving you. If somebody seems to want more space, give it to them.
- We should all, men and women alike, be aware of the signals we are giving with how we dress. Clothing choice affects how people perceive us and what our intentions are.
- In general, if you aren’t sure if something could be misconstrued, hold back. Better safe than sorry. Remember, you can think about committing this action at a later point, once the signals are clear that it’s okay with the other person. If it’s not completely clear that the person is okay with something, abstain.
Let’s be clear about boundaries, and honor them, as they can help us avoid awkward social situations. They aren’t constructed to kill the good vibe or ruin the fun; on the contrary, boundaries help us make sure we all are safe, and that everyone can be free to be themselves without having to worry.
