3200 Steck Avenue | Suite 250 | Austin, TX 78757

About Us

Financial Aurora provides financial advice, investment management, and insurance in Austin, TX and across the U.S. We are an independent RIA fiduciary.

The name of the company was chosen by our clients and means Financial Dawn, or Financial Sunrise, because it is the dawn or sunrise of our clients' finances.

aurora

noun.
1. dawn

2. from the Latin word aurora, meaning "sunrise," or the Roman goddess of dawn

3. a luminous phenomenon that consists of streamers or arches of light appearing in the upper atmosphere of a planet's magnetic polar regions.


Independent Fiduciary

Financial Aurora is independent, not owned by any company, and is required to act as your fiduciary and put your needs first.  Many financial professionals are not required to act as your fiduciary, which means they are NOT required to put your needs first.  Does your financial professional operate this way?

No Commission Revenue in Investment Advisory Accounts

Does your financial professional earn commissions on your investments in their investment advisory accounts?
We CANNOT earn commissions, therefore, our clients don't have to worry that when we replace one of their investments with another investment, if we made the change to generate a commission or to help their account.  We earn money solely from the advisory fee.  This fee is a percentage of the assets under management, so the fee only increases if your accounts grow.  Therefore, there is no conflict of interest in these accounts.  (The custodian charges $0 per equity trade and $0-$24 per mutual fund trade.  Financial Aurora does not receive these fees.)

Proactive Contact

Does your financial advisor contact you? For meetings? For updates?
Do you get a new advisor assigned to your accounts frequently?
At Financial Aurora, we proactively contact our clients, and they don't have to worry about getting a new advisor every year.

Comprehensive Financial Products & Services

Does your financial professional only provide recommendations for products from their company?
Financial Aurora is independent, not beholden to any company.
So, we have access to a range of financial products from a variety of providers.

Ask yourself the following questions when deciding which financial professional to use:

Has someone said that you don't have enough money for them to work with you?

Does your financial professional have an investment minimum before working with someone?
At Financial Aurora, we don't have an investment minimum.  You're a person, not a profit margin.  You do NOT have to have a certain amount of money to work with us.  If your financial advisor has an investment minimum, do they care more about helping people or something else?

Is your financial professional a registered investment advisor (RIA)?

Financial Aurora is a RIA.  RIAs have a fiduciary duty to their clients, which means the RIA has to always act in the clients' best interests.  Feel free to look us up on the official Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) website. Our CRD# is 260786.  You may also use the website to look up any other financial professional.

Does your financial professional hold your accounts and investments or do they use a custodian?

Financial Aurora uses a custodian (Charles Schwab & Trade-PMR), because your accounts are more secure with this separation:  you pay your financial advisor for advice, management, and transactions, but the accounts themselves are with a large, reputable, decades-old financial institution.  Therefore, your money is safe and you don't have to worry about a Ponzi scheme with your money.

Does your financial professional have their disclosure readily available?

Financial Aurora's disclosure is available here (Firm Brochure).  Our privacy policy is available here (Privacy Policy). Every financial advisor has a disclosure, but most make it hard for you to access it. Do you really want to use a financial advisor that lacks transparency?  In addition, how many other financial professionals have a link directly to the SEC website, like we do above, for clients and the general public to review our information and compare it to our competitors?

Does your financial professional have their fees listed on their website?

Our fees are listed clearly on our website.  Click here to see them along with our services.  Our fee structure is also simple (no minimum investment advisory fee or complicated equation).  Use a financial advisor that's transparent.  How many advisors list out the trading fees the custodian charges?  If they're not open about their fees, or their fees are complicated, do you really want to use them?

Is the financial professional realistic about investment performance?

The stock market will go up and down.  Even with us managing your investments, your accounts will go down, a lot, periodically.  However, over time, your accounts should grow.

Does your financial professional have access to mutual fund institutional share classes?

Financial Aurora does.  Institutional share classes have lower fees and better performance than regular mutual fund share classes.  Most individuals cannot access institutional mutual funds without a financial advisor.  So, if we have the opportunity to work with you, we'll be able to utilize institutional mutual funds to help your accounts.  Furthermore, many mutual funds don't allow new investors.  If you use us, many of those funds are still available; so, you'll have access to more investments with us than going it alone.

Does your financial professional usually charge their fee on cash?

We do NOT.  This method makes our fees lower than other financial professionals.
Most financial advisors charge their fee on cash in your investment accounts. So, if you have an account with us that's 50% invested and 50% in cash, our fee is only on the invested portion. Does your financial advisor treat you this way?

Does your financial professional charge their fee in arrears?

The fee charged for managing investments (sometimes referred to as an investment advisory fee or asset management fee) may be charged in advance or in arrears. Financial Aurora charges its fee in arrears, meaning after the work is done. Most advisors charge in advance...like a cable company. Do you really want to pay a financial advisor before they've done their work?  If the advisor charges in advance, what happens when a client wants to move their account?  Does the client have to call the advisor that they're leaving to ask for a pro-rata refund?  What a hassle!  Is that the kind of advisor and client experience you want?

Does your financial professional use the same financial products and investments they recommend?

Ask them.  If they don't follow their own advice, should you?  At Financial Aurora, we follow the recommendations we make and use the same investments we recommend to our clients.  So, you know we are vested in your successful wealth management.

What happens if you move?

We will continue to work with you even if you move.  We will continue to have meetings with you either over the phone or video conference.  So, unlike other financial advisors, you do NOT have to worry about starting over with a new financial advisor just because you moved to a new location.

Does your financial professional work for a publicly traded company?

Financial Aurora is a privately-held company and always will be.  So, you don't have to worry about the interest of the stock price taking precedence over the interest of the client.

How secure is your money with your financial professional?

Do they have FDIC or SIPC or both?  Do they have any other insurance on your accounts?  Do they use a custodian?  Financial Aurora has FDIC, SIPC, and other insurance available on most accounts and uses a custodian.  Therefore, your accounts are secure.

How secure is your data with your financial professional?

Financial Aurora computers have encrypted hard drives, off-site encrypted data back-up, cable locks to prevent theft, and an office camera surveillance system.  Does your financial professional take security as seriously?  Does your financial professional's website say https?

Do you have to call a 1-800 number and get put on hold to get service for your financial accounts?

Financial Aurora has real people that answer the phones, and they'll know who you are.  Do you really want to keep on calling your current financial services company and go through a maze of phone choices and be put on hold just so you can speak to a real person?

Do you have online and mobile access to your accounts and statements?

Our clients can access their accounts at any time online and on their mobile device via the mobile application.  Account statements and tax documents are also available for download.

Does your financial professional perform probability modeling or Monte Carlo analyses?

We do.  Probability modeling is more thorough and involves calculating multiple simulations with changing variables.  These analyses help plan better for financial goals like retirement.

Does your financial professional look at the financial services industry critically?

We know that many people have a negative view of Wall Street and the financial services industry.  We definitely look at the industry critically, therefore, we stay objective and are an advocate for our clients.  Please use someone that views the industry as we do, and do yourself a favor and avoid financial advisors that have drunk the Kool-Aid of the industry.  To download the PDF for the 2020 Texas Investor Guide, click here.

Does your financial professional use options?

Options are another investment that can help your portfolio reduce risk or generate income.  If your financial professional doesn't use options, why not?  If you're going to hire an advisor, hire an advisor with more capabilities, not less.  For a listing of all our services and fees, please click on Financial Aurora Services.

Does your financial professional ask for suggestions on how to improve their service?

We do.  We actually have client focus groups where we get their suggestions and opinions to constantly get better so we can exceed our clients' expectations.

Does your financial professional care about the environment?

We do: we recycle and try to have a paperless office.


Being independent, privately-held, a fiduciary, having lower fees and no investment minimum, and not charging fees on cash shows that, unlike other advisors who just say they put their clients' needs ahead of theirs even though they really don't, we actually do, and our business is structured so that clients come FIRST BY DESIGN.