A Comprehensive Approach to Your Financial Success

There is great satisfaction in financial success. Unfortunately, many people do not know where to begin, or where and how to invest. As a wealth management firm serving San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Jose, we cultivate a broad expertise that allows us to offer a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to managing your complete personal financial environment.

 

Financial Strategy

We take a high-level, comprehensive view of your entire net worth and explore your goals and objectives. We then craft a realistic and detailed financial plan, cash flow projections, a spending and savings plan, and account structure recommendations. Throughout the year, we provide ongoing net worth statement and financial plan tracking.


Investment Management

Your custom investment plan is integrated with your overall financial plan and matched to your time horizon and your comfort level with investment risk. We then create an Investment Policy Statement to help us manage your investments and guide you in evaluating our performance.


Tax Planning

Our year-round tax planning services take advantage of all legal and widely used methods to minimize taxes. We prepare withholding adjustments or estimated tax payments during the year and conduct year-end tax savings checkups. We provide information to your tax accountant, tax attorney, and other tax professionals in preparation of your tax returns.


Estate Planning

We help you avoid probate costs and minimize taxes. We help ensure that the needs of your family and other beneficiaries will be met when you’re no longer able to do so yourself. Working with our estate attorney partners, we help you create an estate plan using instruments ranging from a basic revocable living trust to more complex irrevocable trust structures. In all cases, we provide assistance with estate plan execution and funding.


Asset Protection and Risk Management

We provide insurance review and recommendations for liability, property, health, life, and disability insurance. We offer broker referrals and introductions to insurance providers. We look at risk both from an insurance perspective and in the sense of protecting your overall asset base, considering worst-case scenarios to make sure you’re not exposed.


Retirement, Education, and Benefits

Our services include reviews and investment recommendations for 401(k), 403(b), deferred compensation, IRA, Roth, and other retirement accounts, as well as health savings accounts, 529 college savings plans and charitable accounts.

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Our Process

We’ve spent the last decade making a name for ourselves in the customer satisfaction department in San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, and points in between. In short, we care more. What do our standards look like on the inside? The answer is threefold: We place a priority on earning your trust. We provide conflict-free wealth management advice so there’s a refreshing absence of pressure. And we begin each relationship with a set of objectives that reflect your own. Fact is, we long ago discovered a direct correlation between clear and concise goals and long-term success.

The process for getting started begins with a snapshot of your goals and current financial state. After this initial phase, we present you with a final net worth statement and an in-depth strategic financial and investment plan. Our ongoing service promise ensures continual reviewing, tracking, and planning. We schedule regular meetings to review goals and objectives, and we welcome emails, phone calls or additional in-person consultations at any time throughout the year.

Investment Philosophy

Our approach to investing has a basis in over 50 years of research, several Nobel prizes, and decades of successful use among institutional investors. The key ideas behind our investment process are:

  • Asset allocation is the primary determinant of a broadly diversified portfolio’s performance.

  • Market timing and individual security selection are far less important in determining performance.

  • Portfolio return is related to risk. Generally, the more risk, the greater the return.

  • Diversification is essential. Investors are not compensated for the additional risk of concentrated investments.

  • Passive, not active, management is preferred.

  • Reducing expenses and minimizing taxes increases net return.

  • Rebalancing maintains portfolio structure and risk level.

  • Asset location is powerful in reducing taxes.

  • Alternative investments can increase return while reducing risk.

Fees and Minimums

In many ways, wealth management firms are similar. But in at least one area, independent advisors such as us are remarkably different: Our only compensation is the fees paid by clients for the service and advice we provide. We do not sell products or receive commissions on product sales.

Why does this matter? It ensures you receive impartial advice. And it helps to build things like trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships.

Our annual fees are calculated based on a percentage of the market value of the investment portfolio we directly manage for you. All of our services are included for this amount. Fees are calculated annually and paid quarterly.

Market Value of Plan Assets      Annual Fee

First $1 million                               1.00%
$1 million to $3 million                   0.75%
$3 million to $5 million                   0.60%
Amounts over $5 million                0.45%

In most cases, the initial financial planning and setup fee ranges from $3,000 to $5,000; however, it can vary based on complexity. Our minimum annual fee is $10,000.

For additional information on our qualifications, services and fees, please review our Form ADV Part 2A&B disclosure document.
 

Estimate Your Fees

For all new clients, we charge an initial financial planning fee starting at $3,000. We then charge a fee calculated as a percentage of your assets under our management to provide ongoing investment management and financial planning services. Use the calculator below to estimate your quarterly fee. A final quote will be provided in our contract.