Our goal is to continue to build a successful “boutique” investment advisory firm with a manageable, select number of account relationships. Thus, the bulk of our time is focused on the investment management process and providing outstanding client service. We want to develop close, personal and long-term relationships with our clients. These include small-to-medium sized pension and profit-sharing plans, high net-worth individuals, individual retirement accounts, foundations and trusts. Our business has grown almost exclusively through referrals from clients and long-standing professional relationships with accountants, trust and estate planning attorneys, bankers and stockbrokers.

We are registered “fee-based” investment advisors with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As such, our interests are perfectly aligned with those of the client. We require them to sign a discretionary (without prior approval) or non-discretionary (with prior approval) limited power of attorney (called the Investment Management Agreement) granting us authority to buy and sell securities in their account.

The annual fee is 1.00% of total assets up to $1 million and 0.85% of total assets above $1 million for discretionary “all-equity” (stocks) and “balanced” (stocks and bonds) accounts. The annual fee is 1.15% of total assets up to $1 million and 1.00% of total assets above $1 million for non-discretionary “all-equity” and “balanced” accounts. The annual fee is 0.25% of total assets for discretionary and non-discretionary “fixed-income” (bonds) accounts. “Related party” accounts can be combined for fee purposes to obtain a more favorable effective rate.

Fees are prorated and payable quarterly. Our suggested account minimum is $250,000. This implies a minimum annual fee of $2,500.

The assets are held at a bank or brokerage firm of the clients’ choice. In instances where we have been granted discretionary authority with respect to brokerage commissions, the firm will seek to achieve best cost and execution on the clients’ behalf at rates usually more favorable than they could otherwise receive on their own. The firm receives a wide variety of research and other inputs from these commission dollars that are valuable to the task of managing client assets.

We take a great deal of time and care to understand our clients’ specific goals, objectives and risk tolerance. This exercise culminates in the adoption of an Investment Policy Statement for each account. This document is designed to be flexible, yet specific and can address such issues as portfolio turnover, asset allocation, performance objectives, review procedures, frequency of communication and any other considerations germane to that particular account. This is beneficial to both the client and the firm as it provides an objective basis for the professional relationship. Part of our mission is to educate and inform clients about the complexities of successful investing through active dialogue and periodic written communications tailored to each specific account. We do not take a “cookie cutter” approach to portfolio management, but rather customize individual portfolios within the parameters of our investment discipline and the clients’ needs. We will usually make minimal initial adjustments to client portfolios at the outset of the professional relationship, preferring to gradually work clients into stocks or bonds on our “approved list” over time.