The financial advisors and planners at Argent Advisors, Inc. each have different accreditations, backgrounds, focus areas, and experiences which they use to help clients. We pledge to stay by your side throughout your lifetime and beyond through the generations. We can scale up or down to meet your needs. Our planners and advisors are guided by the fiduciary principle—placing you and your best interests first at all times.
Please Note: Limitations. The achievement of any professional designation, certification, degree, or license, membership in any professional organization, or any amount of prior experience or success, should not be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results or satisfaction if Argent is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services.
Our Mission Statement
At Argent Advisors, Inc., our mission is simple: to help you make the most of life by making the most of your financial resources. We pledge the following:
To Understand Your Priorities
We believe money should be a tool, not a goal. Therefore, we serve you by designing plans that make money your servant, not your master. The result should be greater financial independence, peace of mind, and security.
To Balance Your Needs
Our macro-economic planning system is a wealth building and protection process. Using this process, we seek to maximize the efficiency and performance of your money. We always keep in mind that ultimately, your wealth is to be enjoyed by you and those you love.
To Personalize Your Investments
Our ongoing investment management is designed to assist you in aligning your goals and objectives with appropriate investment strategies. We know that you probably have competing interests with regard to your money: you want growth…and safety…and inflation protection…and access…in short…everything! We try to help you balance these competing demands in an investment process that fits your individual circumstances.
Communicate Regularly
We endeavor to help you maintain confidence in the plans and strategy we have recommended by communicating with you clearly and on regular basis.
Why Consider Argent for Your Investment and Financial Planning?
All financial advisors are not created equal. Some focus on you and your goals, others focus on themselves. Some things you can settle for… a financial advisor isn’t one of them.
We Serve You as a Fiduciary
There’s a lot of jargon in the financial service industry. And much of it flies right over the heads of most investors. But if there’s one word that every investor should know and understand, it’s “fiduciary.”
The fiduciary standard is a set of regulations requiring advisors to act always in the best interest of their clients, to disclose any potential conflicts of interest, and to be transparent about how they’re being compensated. Being a fiduciary is the highest legal duty of one party to another. It has a legal, moral and ethical component.
At Argent, all of our advisors follow the fiduciary standard.
Why Is the Fiduciary Standard Important?
When you invest your money, you want to know that your financial advisor is putting your needs before their own. Without the fiduciary standard, an advisor only has to make sure that an investment is suitable for their clients – even if similar ones might be a better fit. This is known as the “suitability standard.”
Some proprietary products have a variety of hidden fees attached to them that non-fiduciary advisors aren’t required to disclose to clients. They also aren’t required to disclose conflicts of interest, which could include receiving a bonus to promote a particular investment.
Does That Mean I Shouldn’t Invest with Brokers?
Brokers have an important purpose in the financial services world. They’re often the only resource available to investors who don’t have a large amount of money, and because they don’t have the additional fiduciary requirements, their services tend to be less expensive as a whole.
It’s a basic rule of economics. If you impose a higher cost, through increased regulation, on an industry, it’s going to show up somewhere. It could show up in reduced supply or trimmed back services. There has always been a need for people to just execute transactions. Using a broker involves a lower cost, and if you’re capable of looking out for your own interest, that may be all you need.
How Can I Feel Secure That My Advisor Is Looking Out for My Best Interests?
Ask your financial advisor if they are serving you in a fiduciary capacity. If they’re not, take that fact into account as you weigh the pros and cons of investments that they suggest to you. If you’re looking for an advisor and you don’t know where to start, your best option may be asking people you know.
FAQs
(Frequently Asked Questions)
How Are You Compensated for Your Services?
We are an independent firm with no proprietary investment products to push. The vast majority of our investment advice is rendered on a fee basis. We have found that the commission system for investment advisory services may be an obstacle to serving you. A commission-based compensation system may stress transactions, which may not always be in your best interest.
From time to time, insurance company products may be utilized in the implementation of a client’s financial strategy. In those instances, a compensation system financed by the participating insurance company may be utilized. In these instances, there is no need to charge our client an additional fee.
Our fees vary depending on portfolio size, type of assets and management style.
Because our fees increase only if your portfolio grows, our interests are aligned with yours. We focus on your financial objectives and your future.
I Don’t Live In Northern Louisiana. Can I Still Work with You?
Absolutely! While most of our clients are in the North Louisiana area (Shreveport/Bossier, Ruston and Monroe/West Monroe), we work with many out-of-region and out-of-state clients. Typically, meetings with these clients are held remotely utilizing telephone and web conferencing technologies.
Do I Have Enough Money to Be a Client?
Most of our clients are mid-to-late-career professionals, business owners, or retirees who have accumulated meaningful savings and want direction about how to navigate the next chapter of life.
If you’re at that point —that is, your financial life feels too complex to manage alone —we may be a good fit. Let’s have a conversation.
If you’re just getting started and need help establishing good spending, saving, and investing habits, we’d be glad to point you toward some trusted resources that can help you build that foundation.
I Hear You Talk About Your Unique Philosophy and Process—What Does That Mean?
Building wealth and creating financial independence is both an art and a science or you could just hope to get lucky! Coordinating these three aspects is an ongoing and ever-changing process.
In order to provide a more efficient and cost-effective approach to wealth building and preservation, we use an economic planning process. Our “macro-economic” process of strategic wealth building, distribution, and conservation focuses on the flow and positioning of your money to help effectively increase its performance over time.
“When it comes to your finances, three things are true: 1. Hope isn’t a strategy. 2. Worry doesn’t have to be your constant companion. 3. A better situation starts with a wiser plan. Call us today.”
Contact Us
Getting started is easy! Call us at (318) 251-5858, or email us here.
