About Us
Fiduciary Counsel is independent and unbiased; we truly work for you. We have no subsidiary, affiliate, or some big company to please.
For 20 years, we have worked in our clients’ best interest. It is our duty and responsibility. We really care about our clients.
Our pricing is upfront and transparent. It is aligned with you, so that we prosper when you prosper. Our interests are aligned with yours.
Craig Johnston
Craig Johnston, MBA, Registered with SEC Investment Advisor, Wealth Manager, Charles Schwab Advisor, Dimensional Fund Advisors Certified , 1031 Exchange Expert, BS Geneva College, MBA Robert Morris University
David Kinne
CPA (inactive), IRS Enrolled Agent, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Business and Personal Tax Planning and Preparation, Dave Ramsey Endorsed Local Provider. BA Bob Jones University
OUR STORY
After the stock market crash of 1929 our country entered the Great Depression which lasted the next ten years. Founded by a few prominent families, Fiduciary Counsel Inc. is the oldest and largest independently owned multi-family office complex in the United States.
Discretion and confidentiality were important elements in the relationships with clients. Being founded as an independent with no complicating corporate affiliations, assured clients that their affairs were properly protected.
The First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh was founded in 1773. When I came on staff in 1983, the Trustees gave me responsibility to invest the endowment fund that had been accumulated for over a century.
I retained Fiduciary Counsel whose office was at 40 Wall Street in New York, to be our money manager. We changed the investment policy statement from a strict 60% stock, 40% bond portfolio, to a “total return” objective. This was highly successful in the run up of the market before October 1987.
We earmarked the endowment income for maintenance and improvements in the cathedral, while allocating congregants tithes to programming. This enabled significant upgrades to the undercroft, sanctuary, and our mountain conference center. This new organ replaced the original organ which was installed in 1905.
I began working aside as a representative seeking new clients for Fiduciary Counsel in 1993. Subsequently, Fiduciary Counsel was sold to a mutual fund company, the assets were transferred, and the company was closed.
As Chief Operating Officer of YFC/USA, I was responsible for the investing of insurance reserve funds. We formed an offshore captive insurance company based in Bermuda, with five other large non-profit organizations.
Being on the Board of Directors for the insurance company, I headed the investment committee of the Board. We retained Schroders of London who has managed investments for over two centuries.
In January 2000, I incorporated the new Fiduciary Counsel Inc. and became licensed in the State of Colorado. We strive to the original tenets of acting in our clients’ best interests.
After the stock market crash in 2008, I remembered what our Fiduciary Counsel money manager said on Oct 19, 1987. That he was not concerned about the stock market, that it would recover, but that the brokerage houses might go out of business.
In 2008, I earned the insurance license so that I could provide insurance annuities to my clients. We moved money that we could from the brokerage houses to insurance companies to weather out the storm. Our annuities provided upside while the stock market improved and ratchet the gains while provided protection against another downturn.
Fiduciary Counsel provides due diligence research on commercial real estate alternatives to serve our clients’ real estate investment need.
Our state-of-the-art financial planning is interactive. Providing a real time experience tracking and adjusting your plan.
Our software provides interactive interfaces for our clients through a client portal and mobile app. We guide you in retirement, tax efficient distributions, estate planning, Social Security optimization, budgeting, student loan planning, Medicare planning, or more.