Trust is at the core of the relationship between client and advisor. That’s why trustworthiness is one of Park Piedmont’s core firm values, guiding the way we approach our work.
Firm Value: Trustworthiness
There are many ways we strive to make sure this value of trust shows up in our day-to-day work: acting as a fiduciary, always putting your (and all of our clients’) best interest before our own; being straightforward, honest, and responsive; and doing what we say we’ll do.
Cybersecurity is another important area where we’re building trust with you. Park Piedmont, in collaboration with Schwab and our other technology partners, has implemented various protections to ensure the security of our clients’ sensitive personal and financial information.
Beware Spear Phishing
Our Client Service team recently attended a Schwab conference, and one of the driving themes throughout the conference was the increased sophistication of scammers, along with the importance of fraud prevention to protect our clients.
In particular, the Schwab cybersecurity experts informed the conference that “spear phishing” attempts are on the rise. These targeted attacks are highly personalized and often appear to come from a trusted source, such as a colleague or even your advisor. The aim is to trick you into sharing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links. We have heard from clients about similar schemes.
To protect yourself from these attacks, please be vigilant for any unsolicited communications requesting personal information or prompting urgent action. If you receive anything suspicious, please feel free to notify your advisor. Our team will work with our outside information technology partner to confirm if the request is legitimate.
Use Schwab’s e-Authorization Tools
An additional layer of trust around your personal information: Schwab’s eAuthorization tools make this sort of fraud much more difficult. Even if the fraudster has access to your email address, they’re unlikely to also have access to your Schwab Alliance credentials or mobile device. Since multifactor authentication is required through these channels, eAuthorization is the best, safest, fastest way to conduct transactions for our clients, while at the same time protecting against fraud.
Expect Verbal Verification
We have also implemented a new policy requiring verbal verification for all one-time Move Money transaction requests from clients. You can still send in these requests via email, but before we process anything, your Park Piedmont advisor or a member of our Client Service team will reach out via phone call to verbally confirm that the request is legitimate.
(We want to be clear that this new policy only applies to one-time requests. If you have a recurring monthly distribution from your Schwab account, we will continue to process those transfers as normal.)
These changes mean you might be hearing from us more frequently – we look forward to it!
The Importance of Trust
In closing, we know well that trust is an ongoing process. Please be in touch with your valuable input and any feedback – we are eager to continue to earn your trust every day.