FAQ
Q: Who do you serve?
A: We provide our services to individuals, families, businesses, trusts, partnerships, not-for-profit organizations and retirement plans who wish to pursue long-term goals based on our strategic approach to managing wealth.
Q: Describe your broad services.
A: We conduct initial and ongoing deep discovery, to determine clients’ financial needs in relation to their unique values; goals; personal, professional and institutional relationships; assets; and interests. We then form a far-reaching plan to achieve those goals. We gather expertise – or we are prepared to work with existing alliances – to ensure that each component within the strategy is carefully executed and seamlessly integrated to serve the overall purpose.
Q: How much does it cost to hold initial planning meetings with your firm?
A: There is no cost for our initial Discovery and Investment Plan meetings. We feel it’s time well spent to first get to know one another – before we seek mutual commitment and before we begin charging a fee.
Q: Do you have a minimum portfolio size?
A: $500,000. If your current asset level does not meet our minimum requirements but you have unique circumstances you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to give us a call.
Q: What happens to my current holdings if I become a client?
A: Before any changes are made, we first analyze your existing portfolio and discuss our recommendations with you. Our overall goal is for your portfolio to make sense for you and your lifetime objectives, in the most cost-effective way possible. Ways we achieve this goal are to capture your unique willingness, ability and need to take on market risk via appropriate (often global) diversification; to minimize the expenses involved in investing; to manage for appropriate asset location between taxable and tax-sheltered accounts; and to eliminate any unnecessary complexity within the collection of accounts within your portfolio. If existing holdings lend themselves to these objectives, we leave them in place. If changes are warranted, we work with you to ensure any transitions occur as smoothly and cost-effectively as possible.
Q: Do you trade and hold my assets for me?
A: While you grant us Limited Power of Attorney (LPOA) to execute transactions on your behalf, you remain in control of your assets. Accounts are held in your name at a quality custodian such as Schwab Investments.
Q: Describe your investment approach.
A: For managing your financial portfolio, we offer a prudent approach based on our fiduciary relationship with you as your trusted investment advisor. Fiduciary duty is generally considered the highest legal duty one party can have to another. As a Registered Investment Advisor firm, we have a legal responsibility to always act in your best interests – and we take that responsibility very seriously.
Many other financial service firms offer an approach based on “active management.” Active management assumes that the markets are generally inefficient, allowing clever individuals to regularly exploit and profit from the anomalies (beyond the costs of consistently seeking and executing such trades). And yet, there is overwhelming academic evidence that the collective wisdom of all market players – especially in today’s electronic era – results in highly efficient markets. Markets reflect fair pricing almost instantaneously upon release of any good or bad price-related news. In offering a “passive management” approach, we heed the academic wisdom. We assume that the opportunities to exploit inefficiencies are too few and far between to effectively and affordably pursue.
Q: What if I need a bond (fixed income) portfolio or other special holdings?
A: Our philosophy is that equity investments are for growth; fixed income investing has a vital mission all its own: to control overall volatility in a portfolio and provide a stable financial base. It should act as the vehicle for steady, reliable income and contingency reserves. We address your fixed income needs as an integral part of your overall portfolio as well as by considering the special needs, characteristics and (often hidden) costs inherent in the bond market. If a custom bond portfolio makes sense for you, we build one for you based on analysis of each bond’s full range of characteristics (sector, maturity, credit rating and more).