Our goal as a firm is to create a deep and long-lasting relationship with each client. For that reason, we work with the vast majority of our clients on an ongoing, AUM-fee based relationship. We believe that this is the best way for us to create a bond with our clients and help them best reach their goals. As a Wealth Management client of our firm, you will receive comprehensive financial planning services and continuous management of your portfolio. We believe that comprehensive planning is critical to the investment management process, so we do not charge Wealth Management clients extra for our financial planning services.

Occasionally we have the capacity to take on a limited number of planning only client engagements. These engagements do not involve ongoing asset management. We can work with planning-only clients on a specific targeted area of concern or work with them to create a comprehensive plan covering investment strategies and allocation, college planning, retirement planning, tax planning, and a review of insurance policies and estate documents. These standalone planning services are quoted on a fixed price basis and the cost is determined by the complexity of the planning work. 

Our portfolios are specifically designed for each client. Just as no two clients are the same, no two portfolios are exactly the same either. Our goal when designing a portfolio for a client is not to maximize short term returns. Rather, our goal is to design a portfolio that will enable a client to meet their specific, long range goals. We never use portfolio models or try and fit our clients into a one-size-fits-all allocation. Our definition of the optimal portfolio is one that a client can stay with in good times and bad.

We have been an approved provider of Dimensional Fund Advisors’ fund lineup for over twenty years. These funds are only available to advisors and financial institutions because Dimensional aims to limit volatility and attract investors that share their investment philosophy. The core tenants of Dimensional’s fund lineup include: Markets are efficient and securities are fairly priced given all publicly available information, Small Cap stocks and Value stocks outperform the market as a whole over the long-term, and funds can capture value over indexes by implementing patient buying and selling strategies when prices are volatile.

Our investment strategy is closely aligned with Dimensional Fund Advisors. We do not believe that investment managers can pick and choose stocks which will outperform the market over the long-term, so we invest the vast majority of our AUM in index based, well-diversified mutual funds. These funds have the added benefits of being low cost, since we use advisor- or institutional-class funds which have no load fees and lower expense ratios than funds available to the general public. Once our clients’ portfolios are allocated, we rebalance them yearly to account for any price movements which may have occurred and, if appropriate, capture tax losses available to offset taxable gains.

In the first year that we work together, we will meet several times. Once our relationship is firmly established we meet with clients on whatever schedule works best for them. For clients who are busy raising families and juggling multiple commitments, annual meetings are often sufficient. For retirees, we often meet quarterly or semi-annually. The frequency of meetings is entirely dependent on your needs, if something changes in your financial life or you have a question of any kind, come on in and discuss it with us.