Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions we are asked in regards to how Mission Wealth operates.- All wire or distribution requests have to be verified with a phone call.
- Any distribution requests to addresses or non-linked accounts (such as indicated above) can’t be done without you signing new paperwork authorizing such a distribution (per Schwab and Fidelity rules, they will not act on instructions from our office without your signature).
Schwab has handpicked approximately 200 firms nationwide and Fidelity about 100 to which they refer clients. Mission Wealth is on a very short list of firms “approved” on both platforms. For perspective, there are approximately 26,000 firms in the country.
Yes, our conversations are confidential. We adhere to industry and professional ethics standards.
Since we are not attorneys, however, our files and our staff can be compelled by court order to share information.
Non-discretionary management means that the client needs to approve the timing, amount and pricing of each trade.
Discretionary trading allows your advisor to make transactions on your behalf without your approval on each transaction. Mission Wealth operates on a discretionary basis, which allows us to rebalance, replace investments and manage the collective investments of our clients in an efficient and timely manner. For each client, before we invest money, we come to a mutual agreement regarding the asset allocation and risk levels, and we stick to those agreed-upon parameters. If we deem a change to those parameters to be warranted, we obtain permission with the client on those modifications.
With how the financial industry is structured, your funds are not assets of the custodian (with the exception of “cash” or money market funds, which have SIPC protection limits). In the unlikely event they were to go out of business, you can transfer your funds to another institution (i.e., just like the brokerage clients of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns did in the 2008 crisis).
“How Your Assets are Protected at Schwab”
Fidelity's “Safeguarding Your Accounts”
At Mission Wealth we take security very seriously. Our clients gain peace of mind in knowing that we work to safeguard any sensitive information and data against potential malicious cyber-attacks. Considering this, we protect client data in numerous different ways. Here are a few examples:
- Data and machines are encrypted.
- Our systems have 24/7 monitoring, along with malware and virus protections that scrub all incoming and outgoing communication. Both in hardware and software form.
- We require multi-factor authentication (MFA) to gain access to our system as another layer of defense. Then additional security systems are in place before client data can be accessed.
- Our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system requires an additional MFA step.
- Our custodians also have their own security systems. We add an additional layer of security by limiting certain custodian functions to people who have MFA codes specific to those systems as well.
- Our passwords are held in an encrypted electronic vault. And those are obsolete without the MFA codes which change every 30-45 seconds, and then access to the MFA's stand behind biometric security measures.
- The client portal we use is also encrypted and requires dual authentication for clients to access as well.
In summary we do not take this lightly and have implemented multiple layers of protection with ever changing codes.
We have also purchased cyber insurance as a further protection element.