Fee Structure

Many brokers charge on a commission basis, however this leads to the situation where the broker is being paid to trade rather than to generate a good rate of return for the client.

Most Registered Investment Advisors charge an investment management fee based upon the amount of money managed on behalf of a client. The theory is that with such a remuneration package the advisor is paid more the larger the account, therefore there is an incentive to make the account grow through good investment performance. However, the account could grow simply through average investment performance; the stock market, after all, generally goes up over the years. The account could also grow if the client adds more funds. While this form of remuneration better aligns the advisor's interests with those of the client, it still isn't ideal.

We believe in earning our keep, and therefore we feel that the ideal fee structure is one based upon performance. For this reason our clients can choose either an assets-under-management based fee structure or a discounted fee with a performance based "bonus". Due to regulatory constraints, we are able to offer the performance based fee structure to U.S. residents only if they have over $750,000 under management with us.

Our performance based fee structure is unlike any other that we know of in the industry because we do not accept a performance fee unless it can be paid out of yearly portfolio gains. Our goal is to show you a positive return on investment every year; if we cannot accomplish this, then we will not accept a performance incentive even though your portfolio may have outperformed its benchmark.

Click here to read what Worth magazine has to say about our fee structure

Portfolio Management Fees

• Assets-Under-Management (AUM) fee structure: Yearly fee of 1.5% for AUM under $500,000, 1.25% for AUM between $500,000 and $1,000,000, and 1% for AUM over $1,000,000.

                                                OR

• Performance based fee structure: 0.5% discount on the AUM fees mentioned above + 20% of the yearly portfolio performance above an agreed upon benchmark. The benchmark is agreed to each year in advance and set out in your Investment Policy Statement.

Portfolio Analysis Fees

• Ranges from $300 to $2000 based upon complexity of analysis.

Financial Planning Fees

• One time fee of between $500 and $2000 depending upon complexity of plan.

• Portfolio Management clients receive either discounted or free financial planning services depending upon the level of assets under management.

Financial Consulting Fees

• Charged at $200/hr. for short-term projects or negotiated rates for longer term projects.

Comprehensive Service

• Available to clients with over $2,000,000 under management.

• Includes portfolio management, ongoing financial planning, financial consulting, and on-call access to portfolio manager and financial planner as well as face-to-face meetings at least once per year no matter where the client lives.

• Yearly fee of 1.5% for AUM under $500,000, 1.0% for AUM between $500,000 and $1,000,000, and 0.5% for AUM over $1,000,000 + 20% of the yearly portfolio performance above an agreed upon benchmark.