Independent Professional Fiduciaries Since 2004

We are independent professional fiduciaries.

Our Mission

To protect plan sponsors, employers, and their employees from the financial risk, legal liability, and hidden costs that result from conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency in the retirement plan industry — and to replace them with accountability and measurably better outcomes.

Why We Exist

In 1998, Brian Lakkides helped design a union-sponsored multi-employer 401(k) plan. While administering the plan, he identified serious shortfalls in the 401(k) products being promoted by insurance companies and mutual fund families. This included conflicts of interest that compromised quality, a lack of transparency that resulted in needlessly high fees, and an absence of personalized advice which negatively impacted participant results.

These observations led him in 2004 to deconstruct the 401(k) plan business model and create the Total Fiduciary Solution℠ — a single point of contact and fully outsourced process that eliminates excess fees and utilizes the cost savings to add a full suite of fiduciary services to the plan. These services improve participant outcomes and enable plan sponsors and trustees to outsource nearly all the fiduciary responsibilities and liability associated with the management, administration, and governance of the plan.

The problems we solve

Advisors who aren’t legally obligated to act in your interest
Funds selected because they generate revenue for the recordkeeper
Fees buried in expense ratios where they’re nearly impossible to find
Administrative tasks quietly accumulating legal exposure for business owners and HR staff who never signed up to be ERISA fiduciaries

Our Story

1983

Financial Freedom House is founded in Michigan as a fiduciary-focused financial planning and investment advisory firm. From the start, the firm is built on a transparent, non-elitist model — the Lifestyle Quality Financial Management℠ process — with a commitment to the fiduciary standard of care that would shape everything that followed.

1992

Fiduciary Firewall Administrators is incorporated, expanding the firm’s institutional capabilities and laying the groundwork for comprehensive plan administration services.

1996

Brian Lakkides assumes ownership of a Michigan-based third-party administrator (TPA), deepening the firm’s hands-on experience with 401(k) plan operations.

1998

Brian helps design a union-sponsored multi-employer 401(k) plan and begins observing systemic problems in the market: revenue sharing arrangements that inflate costs, proprietary funds chosen for profit rather than performance, and a near-total absence of personalized participant advice.

2004

After deconstructing the 401(k) business model, Brian launches the Total Fiduciary Solution℠ — a single-point-of-contact, fully outsourced approach to fiduciary plan management. The first installation covers a multi-employer plan including the A&P/Farmer Jack grocery chain, with over 100 locations and 7,000 eligible employees. Fiduciary Firewall has served as an independent plan fiduciary ever since.

2007

Brian earns the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies — among the first 2,000 practitioners in the country to do so. He later earns the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst® (AIFA®) designation, certifying him to conduct ISO-based fiduciary compliance assessments of retirement plans and service providers.

2011

Fiduciary Firewall Consulting becomes the 2nd firm in the United States to receive the Fiduciary Support Services Certificate from CEFEX. The ISO-based assessment confirms what clients already know: our processes, controls, and standards hold up to independent scrutiny.

2012

Fiduciary Firewall Consulting, Inc. is formally incorporated. The firm’s fiduciary plan governance practice developed over nearly a decade of real-world plan management and DOL audit experience is formalized as a standalone entity.

2016

Fiduciary Firewall Advisers receives the CEFEX Investment Adviser Certificate, becoming the 72nd CEFEX-certified investment adviser in the country and one of only two in Michigan.

Today

Fiduciary Firewall provides comprehensive, discretionary fiduciary services for over $200M in institutional and retail client assets covering more than 50 employers across 80+ locations in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Our processes have been tested in actual Department of Labor audits. Our indemnification contracts have protected our clients. Our participants are better prepared for retirement.

We’re still the only thing standing between your plan and the liability that comes with it.

Leadership

Brian S. Lakkides, CRC®, AIFAu®

President & Chief Compliance Officer, Financial Freedom House
Founder & President, Fiduciary Firewall Consulting

Since joining Financial Freedom House in 1992, Brian has focused his professional life advocating for the fiduciary standard of care and serving as an independent fiduciary for retirement plans and retail investors.

In 2007 Brian was among the first two thousand practitioners in the U.S. to earn the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies, Joseph Katz School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. He has since earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst® designation, which certifies him to conduct ISO-based fiduciary compliance assessments of retirement plans and plan service providers using the framework established by CEFEX.

Brian authored a paper on managing fiduciary risk published in the Journal of Pension Benefits. He is a speaker at continuing education events for the Michigan Association of CPAs and other professional organizations. He serves on the Scheme Committee overseeing the ongoing accreditation of the AIF® designation and was appointed to the Steering Group for the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard.

Today he serves Financial Freedom House’s 500+ retail and institutional clients as President and Chief Compliance Officer, while continuing to lead Fiduciary Firewall’s work as a professional fiduciary for corporate retirement plans.

Our Credentials

Credentials in this industry are easy to claim. Ours are independently verified.

CEFEX Fiduciary Support Services Certificate

CEFEX Certified — Fiduciary Support Services

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Awarded 2011. Renewed annually. Fiduciary Firewall Consulting was the 2nd firm in the United States to receive this certification. The CEFEX assessment process is based on ISO 19011 and conducted in accordance with ISO 17021—the international standard for auditing management systems.

CEFEX Certified — Investment Adviser

#CFX10319

Awarded 2016. Renewed annually. Fiduciary Firewall Advisers is one of only two CEFEX-certified investment advisers in the state of Michigan.

Insured by Lloyd’s of London

Our professional liability insurance is maintained through Lloyd’s of London, with coverage that is affirmative and explicit for the fiduciary services we provide—to the plan, to plan fiduciaries, and to plan participants.

Contractual Indemnification

Every service engagement includes an affirmative declaration of our ERISA fiduciary status and an indemnification clause holding us—not you—responsible for breaches that result from our actions or from your following our advice.

Adherence to Defined Standards

Our internal processes and controls are grounded in the Prudent Practices for Investment Stewards handbook published by fi360 and the Center for Fiduciary Studies—the same standards on which the AIF® and AIFA® designations are based.

Ready to talk?

Whether you’re a business owner evaluating your plan for the first time or an attorney looking for an independent fiduciary opinion, we’re here.

Get in touch