Ethics & Independence · Cordis Group
Independence at Cordis is not a policy claim. It is the architecture of the firm. Every structural decision was made to ensure the only agenda in the room is the principal's.
The Structure
Cordis does not sell financial products. It does not earn commissions. It does not receive referral fees from the buyers, lenders, or advisors it recommends. The firm has no institutional relationships that create pressure to close a transaction or recommend a particular counterparty.
This is not a policy statement. It is the structure of the firm. The business model was built specifically to eliminate the conflicts that compromise principal-side advice at most advisory firms. The only revenue the firm generates comes directly from the principals it serves.
Why the structure matters
Most advisory conflicts are not visible to the principal. They are structural — built into how the firm earns money. The only way to eliminate them is to change the structure, not the policy. Cordis changed the structure.
The Conflicts Policy
No sell-side and buy-side simultaneously
Cordis does not represent both sides of any transaction. On any engagement, the firm has one principal and one agenda. The buyer is never a client. The buyer's advisor is never a counterpart Cordis needs to protect a relationship with.
No product incentives
Cordis does not earn fees, commissions, or compensation from any financial product recommended to a principal. When Cordis recommends a lender, an estate structure, a legal counsel, or any other third party, no compensation changes hands as a result of that recommendation.
No undisclosed interests
If Cordis has any relationship with any party to a transaction or recommendation, it discloses it before the recommendation is made. The principal has the right to know every interest that could influence the advice they receive. That disclosure is not optional and not subject to Cordis's assessment of materiality.
No volume pressure
Cordis does not operate on a model that requires transaction volume to sustain the firm. The firm takes the engagements that meet its threshold — not the engagements it needs to make its numbers. That means the firm is never in a position of needing a principal to transact when the timing is wrong for the principal.
Discretion
Every engagement is treated as confidential from the first conversation. What a principal shares with Cordis — their financial situation, their family dynamics, their concerns about the transaction, their personal timeline — does not leave the firm.
Cordis does not publish case studies that identify its principals. The engagement stories on this site are illustrative and presented in a way that protects identity. No principal is named without explicit permission, and no permission is sought for marketing purposes.
The information a principal shares with Cordis is used to serve that principal. It is not used to inform other engagements, train systems, or build institutional knowledge at the principal's expense.
The discretion commitment
A principal who reaches out to Cordis has extended trust before any formal engagement begins. That trust is treated as binding from the first message. No engagement letter required. No NDA required. The commitment is the commitment.