How We Price Our Advisory Services

The purpose of this page is to quantify the value of the tangible services we provide in advisory relationships.  Every once in awhile we get a question regarding what is the true value of our advisory services.  It is hard to answer that question because no matter how we answer, we are seen as (and we are) biased. Fortunately, there are third parties that have helped answer these questions.

In 2017 Russell Investments did a study called, "Why Advisors Have Never Been More Valuable" (click the button below to read an article from "Think Advisor" that reviews the study). 

The study put a certain value on some of the tangible services provided by financial advisors and we used the study to itemize and quantify our costs of services.

• Annual Rebalancing                                                             0.20%
• Annual Reviews                                                                    0.15%
• Planning costs, updates and other ancillary services*     0.75%
• Investment Only                                                                    0.33%

*Other ancillary services may include (not an exhaustive list):

• Retirement planning
• Large purchase planning (home, vacation home or car)
• Insurance needs assessment
• Education planning
• Assisting in the estate planning process
• Cash flow planning and budgeting
• Customized performance reports
• Tax season informational assistance
• Required Minimum Distribution calculations and assistance
  
• Holistic planning (analyzing all accounts such as 401-k's held with an employer)

Russell defines Investment Only service as "an advisor who delivers investment-only management and no financial plan, no ongoing service, no guidance, nothing except for an annual statement, online access and a phone number to call in case of questions".  

The following represents our Investment Management Process:

• Establish goals & objectives
• Determine Risk Scores using Riskalyze
• Develop an appropriate asset allocation
• Select the specific investments
• Continuously evaluate investments and monitor relative performance
• Rebalance portfolios at least every 12-18 months
• Monitor market changes that can impact your strategy
• Make adjustments based on changes to a client's goals or lifestyle
• Look for opportunities to be tax efficient (tax loss harvesting etc...)
• Coach each client through market ups and downs (Full Service Clients)
• Annual Reviews (quarterly reviews for full service clients)

Over the years, we have stated that we believe that the greatest value of a good advisor is keeping clients from making emotional decisions.  We have never been able to quantify that, but Russell estimates an advisor's ability to keep an investor on course with their investment plan as being worth 2.00%.  This is achieved through education, experience and consistent communication between the client and the advisor.