About Bernie Ross
Independent since 1997, working with pre-retirees and retirees from one office in Londonderry, New Hampshire.
Who is Bernie Ross?
Bernie Ross is the founder and Investment Adviser Representative of KBR Financial Solutions, an independent, fee-only advisory practice at 1B Commons Drive in Londonderry, New Hampshire. As a fee-only registered investment adviser he is held to a fiduciary standard at all times, with no commissions or product-sponsor payments to create a competing interest. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, entered financial services in 1997, and holds the FINRA Series 65 license. He works with pre-retirees and retirees across southern New Hampshire and neighboring Massachusetts, and his Investment Adviser Representative CRD number is 2780012.
What the work actually is.
Bernie has described the practice the same way for years, and it still fits.
He works with pre-retirees on the investment and savings strategies that prepare them for retirement, alongside the college funding and insurance questions that tend to arrive in the same decade. He works with retirees on investment management, estate coordination, and a considered strategy for drawing down retirement assets against their income needs.
Holder of a B.A. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Bernie entered financial services in 1997 and brings the depth that comes from many years of guiding households through these decisions.
As an independent advisor he works for clients rather than for a fund company, a brokerage or an insurance carrier. There is no home office issuing a product list, no sales target attached to a particular family of funds, and no manager deciding which households merit attention.
The three words he has used to describe how he wants the practice to run are integrity, experience and commitment. Those are easy to print and harder to demonstrate, which is why the rest of this site is mostly about process.
What you can check yourself.
Everything below is a matter of public record or is documented in the firm brochure. Both are linked in the disclosures at the bottom of every page.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Standard of care | Fiduciary at all times, as a fee-only registered investment adviser |
| In financial services since | 1997 |
| Practice | KBR Financial Solutions, independent and fee-only, Londonderry, New Hampshire |
| Licenses | FINRA Series 65 |
| Education | B.A. Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst |
| IAR CRD number | 2780012, searchable on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site |
| Office | 1B Commons Dr., Unit 13A, Londonderry, NH 03053 |
| Custody | Client assets held at independent third-party custodians |
The same person, in year ten.
This is a single-advisor practice, and that is a deliberate constraint rather than a stage it hopes to grow out of.
At a larger firm the person who opens a relationship is frequently not the person servicing it three years later. Here the person who sits in the first meeting is the person who builds the plan, processes the rollover, answers the phone when a parent goes into care, and reviews the whole thing a decade on.
The cost of that is capacity. There is a ceiling on how many households one advisor can serve properly, which is why the work stays concentrated on people living within roughly sixty minutes of the Londonderry office rather than spread thin across a wider map.
The benefit is context. Bernie knows the employers people around here retire from and the plans those employers run, the care facilities that come up in long-term care conversations, and the colleges that appear in family aid discussions. That is difficult to acquire at a distance.
Most of his clients live nearby, and a number of them he has worked with since before they retired. That is the only way anyone finds out whether a retirement plan actually held once the paycheck stopped.
Why the practice is called KBR.
KBR is not an acronym for anything in finance. They are the initials of Bernie's son, Kyle B. Ross. The practice has carried them in his loving memory and it will keep carrying them.
It is mentioned here because people are entitled to know why a firm is named what it is named, and this one was not chosen by a branding exercise.
Questions people ask first.
How long has Bernie Ross been a financial advisor?
He entered financial services in 1997 and has served clients across New Hampshire and Massachusetts ever since. His registration history and any disclosure events are public and can be reviewed on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website under CRD number 2780012, which is linked in the disclosures at the bottom of every page on this site.
Is Bernie Ross a fiduciary?
Yes, and there is no part of the relationship where he is not. As an Investment Adviser Representative of a fee-only registered investment adviser, he owes a fiduciary duty to act in your best interest at all times. Because the firm accepts no commissions, trails or payments from product sponsors, there is no second capacity in which a different standard could apply. That is the practical difference between a fee-only fiduciary and an advisor who is a fiduciary for some of what they do and a salesperson for the rest.
What licenses and credentials does Bernie Ross hold?
He holds the FINRA Series 65 license and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Series 65 is the qualification that permits him to act as an Investment Adviser Representative and provide investment advice for a fee in a fiduciary capacity.
What does independent actually mean here?
It means he is not employed by a brokerage, a fund company or an insurance carrier, and there is no parent firm setting a product list or a sales quota. Investment advisory services are provided through his own registered entity, and client assets are held at independent third-party custodians rather than by the firm.
Will I work with Bernie directly, or with an associate?
With Bernie. It is a single-advisor practice, so the person who meets you at the first conversation is the person who builds the plan and the person who services it afterward. That places a real limit on how many households the practice takes on, which is the intended trade-off.
Who does KBR work with?
Mainly pre-retirees five to fifteen years out and retirees already drawing income, plus families handling late-stage college funding in the same years. Most live within about sixty minutes of the Londonderry, New Hampshire office, with most residing in southern New Hampshire and neighboring Massachusetts.
Meet the person who will do the work.
The first meeting costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Bring your last tax return and your Social Security statement.
