Why We're Different

When you go to a big financial firm with a famous Wall Street name, you don't necessarily get that choice. While many big-name firms offer quality investment products, the ones that get promoted most are often from the parent company’s inventory. The financial professional helping you may have a sales quota or an added incentive to sell those products. 

In other words, your investment choices are often limited, and there may be hidden agendas. We don’t think that’s the right way to do business.

Here’s how we prefer to do business:

• Provide clients with quality, independent financial products and services. Our Registered Investment Adviser–broker/dealer, Commonwealth Financial Network^®, doesn’t have an inventory or products to promote. As independent advisors, we work with clients to determine the best investments without conflicts or sales quotas. 
• Know our clients and their goals. We understand that investing is more than just a numbers game. There’s emotion involved as well. People assign different values to money and approach investing for many reasons. The so-called best investments aren’t necessarily the best for everyone. When we first get to know each other, we’ll ask you a lot of questions so that we can learn about you as a person, and we’ll tailor your investments accordingly. We want to be just as excited about your dreams as you are.
• Treat clients like people, not like portfolio balances. One thing you’ll notice about our firm is that we're friendly. Down to earth. Good listeners. Having been in the business a long time, we’ve encountered this mix of attitudes—and a whole lot of market cycles (both good and bad!). We’ve got a lot of perspectives that can help keep you on an even keel through the ups and downs.
• Empower clients to feel confident about their decisions. You don’t have to know the difference between a REIT and a UIT when you come to see us. We’re happy to explain it to you if you’re curious. If you’re not, that’s okay, too. Some clients want to take more of a hands-on role in the investment process; others want nothing to do with it. Either way, our goal is to make sure you sleep easily at night, secure in the knowledge that your money is working effectively for you.
• Practice time-tested financial approaches. At Canandaigua Financial Group, we follow prudent financial principles. We treat your money responsibly. As your needs or financial picture changes, we’ll work with you to adjust your course of action accordingly. We monitor your portfolio’s performance so you don’t have to worry.