Your Financial Team

Your future … fueled with the power of partnership.

As independent financial advisors, we take our role as your advocate seriously. Managing your financial well-being is our priority. To ensure the highest quality of personalized service, we work with your existing and new partners to support every facet of your financial future. Likewise, when you work with our team, you also gain the strength of our network, including a nationwide community of wealth management professionals at Buckingham Strategic Partners (BSP).

See below for details about the partners included in your financial team.

Buckingham Team Spotlight

Through our independent partnership, you enjoy the benefits of Buckingham’s team of dedicated professionals who are constantly exploring and assessing the ever-changing landscape of investments, tax code, markets and planning strategies—with a singular focus on maintaining an evidence-driven, fiduciary approach that puts clients’ interests first. Through this partnership you have access to industry thought leaders – thought leaders who include some of the most respected in the finance industry.

The Copper Leaf Financial Team

We are a team of fee-only, fiduciary financial advisors.


Investment Management

Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) is a leading global investment firm that has been translating academic research into practical investment solutions since 1981. They are grounded in academic research on the efficiency of capital markets, so they are well-aligned with the Copper Leaf investment philosophy. DFA funds are not available to the general public in retail investment accounts. Instead, they are sold only through select Fee-Only financial advisors who have gone through a lengthy approval process including Copper Leaf Financial.

We construct client portfolios (as well as our own) using primarily DFA funds because of their meticulous, disciplined process, as well as their access to some of the greatest minds in the industry – minds that include Nobel Prize *winners and industry thought leaders. Click here to learn more.

Copper Leaf Financial is a fiduciary and our loyalty is only to our clients. We have no sales relationship or duty to DFA, and we use other mutual funds in instances we believe there is an advantage to doing so.

Having an investment philosophy that is fully transparent and backed by decades of research can help us all sleep a little better at night.

*DFA is a separate entity and nobel prize honors are unrelated to Copper Leaf Financial.


Primary Custodians

We have carefully selected institutional custodians to hold client assets in accounts in their name.  These custodians provide a comprehensive custody and clearing platform for client accounts at discounted rates.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc was founded in 1973 and is now one of the world’s largest brokerage firms. Schwab offers institutional-caliber products, services and tools to our clients, as well as, providing custody, trading and back office support.

Fidelity investments has demonstrated a commitment to innovation and a dedication to creating the best client experience. Founded in 1946, Fidelity Investments serves 26 million individual investors.


Member Affiliations

Copper Leaf Financial is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA). As members we are held to the fiduciary standard which ensures that we act in your best interest.

Click here to find out why fiduciary advice matters.

Copper Leaf Financial is a member of the Financial Planning Association® (FPA). The FPA is the leading membership organization for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals and those engaged in the financial planning process.

Members of the Copper Leaf Financial management team hold the prestigious Personal Financial Specialist (PFS™) credential through their membership with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The PFS certification is earned by CPAs who specialize in various areas of financial planning.


Our investment approach is informed by both Buckingham’s Investment Policy Committee and Evidence-Driven Planning Committee (EDPC). This collaboration results in a strategy combining strong convictions and a passion to progress.
Evidence-driven recommendations are based on decades of academic and practitioner research and as the evidence evolves, so do the recommendations.
Relying on peer-reviewed research to guide investment decisions might slow down the implementation of new strategies. But that is OK. Your financial well-being deserves a careful, thoughtful approach.

The value of working with a professional team extends well beyond the returns you earn on your investments. According to a Vanguard study, professional support across implementation, rebalancing, behavioral coaching, tax management and spending strategies has the potential to add about 3% in total net returns each year!

Unlike some in the financial industry, we approach your investment experience with care and dedication. Our partnership and your success is important to us. Working with us means having a sage guide through both opportunities and challenges for years to come. Through our community and the Evidence-Driven Investing philosophy, we will work tirelessly to find ways of potentially improving the outcomes along your financial journey.

Do something wise today

Schedule a time for a free consultation.

*Value is significant but too unique to each investor to quantify. Source: Vanguard, July 2022

©️ Buckingham Strategic Partners. EVIDENCE-DRIVEN INVESTING™️ and DESIGN | BUILD | PROTECT® are trademarks of Buckingham Strategic Wealth and are being used under license. All rights reserved. The information presented is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as specific investment, accounting, legal, or tax advice. Certain information is based upon third party information which may become outdated or otherwise superseded without notice. Third party information is deemed to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. IRN-22-4512

A Community Empowers Us

As independent financial advisors, we take our role as your advocate seriously. Managing your financial well-being is our priority. To ensure the highest quality of personalized service, we work with your existing and new partners to support every facet of your financial future. Likewise, when you work with our team, you also gain the strength of our network, including a nationwide community of wealth management professionals at Buckingham Strategic Partners (BSP).

See below for details about the partners included in your financial team.

The Copper Leaf Financial team