Vincent Fishbaugh and David Lyddall met in 2002 when Vince hired David at McDonald Investments to be one of their brokers. Both were frustrated with the inherent conflict of interest in the brokerage business as well as being judged by how many commission sales were generated each month instead of how well the client’s accounts performed.
It 2003 Vince was offered a severance package when brokerage management was replaced by bank management. He then accepted an offer at another brokerage firm.
David, however, had the foresight to realize that the same conflicts and frustrations would still be present at any other brokerage firm. As a result, he went on his own and formed StyleTrack Investment Advisors, a fee-only, fiduciary-focused, advisory firm that gave him complete independence.
Vince and Dave were discussing the brokerage/advice business in 2006 and Vince lamented that he was told “that if he didn’t take care of himself, he won’t be around to take care of his clients.” He was very frustrated and related to Dave that, “the customer statements still do not show if a client is actually making money or not. All the firms seem to care about is commissions.” Dave explained to Vince how the fiduciary model worked and that you actually are required to put the client’s best interest first. “We do better when the client does better.” This idea appealed to Vince and he was persuaded to join Dave at StyleTrack and did so in January of 2007.
David left in 2008 to start another business in the automotive industry. Vince has continued to serve investors with the same investment philosophy and techniques that they originally developed together.