The Transparent Advisor Movement

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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.

Sara Grillo, CFA is a highly fun and slightly crazy marketing consultant based in NYC.
I am an irreverent and fun marketing consultant for financial advisors.

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.

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.  Will you join us in real life?

When: Wednesday, March 12th – Thursday, March 13th, 2025

Where: Kansas City, Missouri at a hotel to be determined

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

Tickets go on sale July 15, 2024. Sign up here to be notified.

Below are some pictures from Immersion2024.

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

Any questions? Send 'em in!

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