Safe Harbor Fiduciary celebrates 20 years, honoring founder Don Moore’s legacy with trusted client relationships, significant growth milestones, and continued national expansion under new leadership.
Pensacola, Florida, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Safe Harbor Fiduciary, a prominent financial advisory and asset management firm, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Established in 2004 by the late Don Moore, the firm marks two decades of growth guided by unwavering fiduciary responsibility and deep, client-centered relationships.
Image Credit: Safe Harbour
Don Moore was no ordinary financial advisor. He was a self-made businessman whose sincere desire to help others led him to create Safe Harbor. His relatable personality and uncompromising integrity quickly earned the trust of clients throughout Pensacola, Florida, and beyond.
In 2015, recognizing the need for specialized asset management expertise, Don persuaded Scott McCaghren, who was then a competitor, to join him at Safe Harbor. It was a pivotal move. Together, they significantly expanded the business, blending Don’s traditional financial planning with Scott’s asset management acumen.
Scott McCaghren, President and CEO of Safe Harbor Fiduciary
Their partnership, rooted in mutual respect and shared vision, became more than professional. It grew into a deep friendship. Scott describes Don as a mentor who demanded excellence yet remained profoundly genuine, a man who cared intensely about the people around him. “Don touched so many families,” recalls Scott. “He guided clients through every imaginable situation. He made it clear Safe Harbor wasn’t just a business, it was his legacy.”
Tragedy struck in early 2020 when Don was diagnosed with cancer. Amid the unfolding pandemic, Scott found himself leading the firm through one of its most challenging periods. Don passed away later that year, leaving behind a grieving team and client community who had grown to see him as family.
In his final weeks, Don’s one wish was to see Safe Harbor surpass $100 million in assets under management and achieve SEC registration. Sadly, he passed before seeing that dream realized. Scott made a solemn promise to his friend and mentor: Safe Harbor would achieve that milestone. By the end of 2020, Scott delivered, honoring Don’s vision.
Since assuming leadership, McCaghren has maintained Moore’s foundational focus on client relationships, resulting in an exceptional client retention rate of 98%. “We’ve never operated as a sales-driven firm,” McCaghren stated. “Our priority is always what’s best for our clients, not short-term gains. It’s easy to claim fiduciary status, but it’s harder to embody it.”
Among notable recent achievements, Safe Harbor launched its successful weekly Retirement Peace Road Map Podcast in 2020, initially as a means of client communication during the COVID pandemic. Now in its fifth year, the podcast has surpassed 260 episodes, offering financial insights and further cementing the firm’s commitment to transparent communication and education.
Further expanding its leadership team, Safe Harbor welcomed advisor Karl Hanna in January 2024. Hanna joined under remarkable circumstances after a chance meeting with a Safe Harbor client on a flight. Karl found himself reconnecting with the company months later through a recruiter. He quickly became instrumental in launching an associated Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), now traded on the New York Stock Exchange. This ETF, strategically developed to protect client investments against rising capital gains taxes, exemplifies Safe Harbor’s proactive fiduciary approach.
Karl Hanna, Advisor at Safe Harbor Fiduciary
“I couldn’t have predicted my path to Safe Harbor,” Hanna said, “but joining the firm felt immediately right. The atmosphere here is uniquely genuine, with relationships and trust at the center of everything we do,” states Hanna.
Now, looking forward, Scott sees a bright future at Safe Harbor. Already serving clients across 15 states, he envisions careful, thoughtful expansion nationwide, always mindful of the core promise he and Don made to each other, that Safe Harbor would never jeopardize their capacity to maintain deep, personal relationships.
Reflecting on two decades, Safe Harbor Fiduciary’s growth is a testament not only to its financial expertise but to the human values that Don Moore instilled from the start.
“Don built this company with his heart as much as his head,” Scott says. “His legacy isn’t measured only by assets and milestones. It is measured in the lives he touched, the relationships he forged, and the friends he made. Every day, when I walk through our doors, I remember his voice, reminding me why we’re here. And that’s a legacy I’ll spend my life upholding.”
Media Contact
Name: Scott McCaghren
Email: info@safeharborfiduciary.com
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