Fee-only fiduciary financial advisor in Sandy, Utah

Harvest Lane Investment Partners is a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor in Sandy, Utah. Fee-only means the firm is paid only by its clients and takes no commissions, and fiduciary means it is required to put clients' interests ahead of its own.

Both words get used loosely. I’m Chad Butler, the founder. This page explains what each one means in practice, why a firm this size in Sandy is registered with the Utah Division of Securities rather than the SEC, and how to verify all of it on public records, for me or for anyone else.

What does fee-only rule out?

Pay from anyone but the client. The definition used here comes from NAPFA, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, which sets out what fee-only means: a fee-only advisor is paid by clients alone, and neither the advisor nor anyone related to them takes pay that hinges on a product being bought or sold. Commissions, rebates, awards, finder’s fees, and bonuses from product companies all fail that test. So do 12b-1 fees, which a mutual fund pays to whoever sold it.

Fee-only says nothing about how much an advisor charges or how the fee is structured. It rules out one category of conflict: being paid by someone other than you for what ends up in your account.

"Fee-based" sounds the same and is not. The difference is whether any of the advisor’s pay comes from a product sale.

Harvest Lane is fee-only. The firm’s fees are tiered, as described in Form ADV Part 2A. Nobody else pays me.

What does fiduciary mean, and who enforces it?

Fiduciary is a legal duty, not a marketing word. The SEC’s interpretation of the standard of conduct for investment advisers says an adviser’s fiduciary duty under the Investment Advisers Act has two parts, a duty of care and a duty of loyalty. The adviser must serve the client’s interest at all times and cannot put its own interest first.

The duty of loyalty means an adviser must eliminate conflicts of interest or disclose them fully and fairly, so the client can give informed consent. The duty of care includes giving advice that fits the client’s objectives and monitoring it over the course of the relationship.

Utah’s rules for licensed advisers incorporate the federal Advisers Act requirements in addition to the Utah Uniform Securities Act, so a Utah-registered adviser has to meet both sets of requirements.

Brokers work under a different rulebook, and some people hold both licenses. Check the records, not the business card.

Why is Harvest Lane registered with Utah and not the SEC?

Because registration follows a size test, not a quality test. Under the federal Dodd-Frank Act, the Utah Division of Securities licenses investment advisers that have a place of business in Utah or more than five Utah clients and manage less than a set level of assets. Advisers above that level register with the SEC instead, and they still file a notice with Utah if they have an office here or more than five clients here.

Harvest Lane Investment Partners LLC is an investment adviser registered with the Utah Division of Securities. The firm’s CRD number is 340042. Registration does not imply any particular level of skill or training. It means the Division has the firm’s Form ADV on file, and that I file annual amendments to it, keep books and records, and approve the firm’s advertising before it runs, this page included.

How do I verify any of this?

Four places, all free.

1. IAPD. The SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site at adviserinfo.sec.gov lets you search any registered adviser firm or representative, check registration status, read the current Form ADV, and see disciplinary events, which IAPD calls disclosures. Harvest Lane’s record is there under CRD 340042.
2. Form ADV Part 2A. This is the brochure. It has 18 required items covering services, fees, conflicts, and disciplinary history, and state-registered advisers such as Harvest Lane add a 19th. Advisers must send clients a summary of material changes every year. Item 5 is the fee section. Read it before you sign anything.
3. The Utah Division of Securities. Its Verify a License page has the Division’s own database for any individual or company, points you to IAPD for advisory firms, and says to call the Division about investment adviser representatives.
4. FINRA BrokerCheck. Built for brokers, BrokerCheck also carries basic information on adviser firms and representatives, with links to IAPD. If your advisor shows up with an active broker registration, ask how commissions fit in.

If you have run these checks on your own advisor and the answers came back fuzzy, that is what a second opinion is for. I read the statements and the paperwork, tell you what you own and what it costs all in, and say what I would change. Sometimes that is nothing. In Utah, I can walk you through it across a table in Sandy.