How We Serve

Fees - We charge fees based on a straight-forward schedule that is designed to be fully aligned with clients’ best interests on the investments we have been entrusted to manage. If we grow the portfolio value, our revenue increases. Unlike commissioned arrangements, we are also motivated to protect client capital in times of market retraction, as that helps protect our revenue.

Our fee schedule  is based on several considerations, including portfolio value, investment strategy, complexity of financial & estate planning and other negotiable factors. In general, our management fees range between 0.60% to 1.50% annually on equity and blended strategies. With limited exception, our minimum initial funding amount is $250,000, inclusive of all managed accounts in the relationship.

Beware of Hidden Fees

In our years of experience, we have found the vast majority of new client candidates do not fully understand all of the costs associated with their investments. This is especially true when we help potential clients identify the hidden layers of fees in their mutual fund accounts, variable annuities and even fixed indexed annuities.

A 2019 Magnify Money survey reported that 73% of investors don’t know how much they are paying in fees. In a 2018 Harris Poll, 53% of respondents could not find fees on their statements, nearly 40% wrongly thought they were paying no fees at all, and 15% reported paying fees that didn’t even exist!

Unfortunately, many investors are misled to believe that the only fee they pay is to their advisor. The Financial Planning Association’s recent survey of investment professionals finds that nearly 90% of fee-based advisors use fund products in their client portfolios. These add costs over and above the advisor’s management fee and can diminish growth potential.

¹ Any fees paid an the frequency charged will be agreed upon by the client when contracting with Smarte Investments, a Member of Advisory Services Network, LLC. Additional information about fees can be found in the Adviser's Form CRS and Disclosure Brochure. 

According to several independent investment resources^1-9 , the breakdown of costs associated with an active mutual fund portfolio can be staggering:

_{1 Bernicke, Ty A., CFP (2011). The Real Cost of Owning a Mutual Fund in Forbes
2 Edelen, Roger, Evans Richard, Kadlec, Gregory (2010). Shedding Light on “Invisible” Costs: Trading Costs & Mutual Fund Performance
3 Kim, Kenneth (2016). How Much Do Mutual Funds Really Cost? in Forbes
4 Chen, James (2019). Load Fund
5 Bogle, John C. (2014). The Arithmetic of “All-In” Investment Expenses
6 Rushkewicz, Katie (2010). How Tax-Efficient is you Mutual Fund?
7 Advisory HQ (2020). What are the Average Financial Advisor Fees & Investment Fees Being Charged in 2020?
8 Chen, James (2019). Window Dressing
9 Huang, Jennifer, Sialm, Clemens and Hanjiang, Zhang (2009). Risk Shifting and Mutual Fund Performance, National Bureau of Economic Research}

Important Information About The Financial Services Industry

It is important to know the difference between a broker and registered investment adviser, as well as the difference between terms like fee-based advisor and a fee-only adviser.

Since the repeal of the 1933 Glass-Stegall Act via the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) in 1999, the distinction between stockbrokers, investment advisers and insurance agents has become increasingly blurred to the average consumer. The operational deregulation of GLBA allowed for the cross-selling of brokerage, insurance, lending and advisory products, and permitted brokers to use titles such as “financial advisor” or “fee-based advisor” (but not investment adviser or fee-only adviser.) Based on subsequent studies, these changes contributed to investor confusion over the standard of care required of their investment professionals:

• A 2006 RAND study¹ commissioned by SEC cited that “the industry is becoming increasingly complex, firms are becoming more heterogeneous and intertwined, and investors do not have a clear understanding of the different functions and fiduciary responsibilities of financial professionals.”
• In 2010, the “913 Study” of Dodd-Frank² confirmed the RAND findings and concluded “retail investors do not understand the differences between investment advisers and broker-dealers or the standards of care applicable to broker-dealers and investment advisers. Many find the standards of care confusing, and are uncertain about the meaning of the various titles and designations used by investment advisers and broker-dealers.”
• A 2018 SEC Proposal to Limit Use of Advisor Titles³ states: “Specifically, we believe that certain names or titles used by broker-dealers, including ‘financial advisor,’ contribute to retail investor confusion about the distinction among different firms and investment professionals, and thus could mislead retail investors into believing that they are engaging with an investment adviser-and are receiving services commonly provided by an investment adviser and subject to an adviser’s fiduciary duty, which applies to the retail investors’ entire relationship – when they are not.”

_{1 Hung, Angela A., Clancy, Noreen, Dominitz, Jeff, Talley, Erric, Berrebi, Claude, & Suvankulov, Farrukh (2006). Investor and Industry Perspectives on Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers, Rand Corporation.
2 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2011). Study on Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers as Required by Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
3 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2018). SEC Proposes to Enhance Protections and Preserve Choice for Retail Investors in Their Relationships With Investment Professionals}

According to FINRA’s 2020 Industry Report, only 9% of the nearly 700,000 registered individuals are fee-only (fiduciary) adviser representatives.