Frequently Asked Questions
RWM Asset Managment FAQS
- Why is RWM fee-only?
- What types of investment strategies do you offer?
- What are your fees for these investment strategies?
- How does RWM select Mutual Funds and/or outside (private) portfolio managers?
- Does RWM utilize separate account managers?
- Can I keep my assets where they are and make the changes myself?
- Who is Pershing, LLC?
- What are the costs to trade at Pershing?
- How often is my account traded?
- How often will you review my account?
- Why do you review investment accounts so often?
- If I am one of your investment management clients, how often will you meet with me?
- How often will I be updated on my portfolio?
- Will you consult me when making trades?
- What does “Discretion” mean?
- Do I have to stay with your service for any length of time?
- With regard to tax reporting, what do you provide me with at year-end to prepare my taxes?
- How often will you meet with me for your financial planning services?
- How do you charge for your financial planning services?
- If I sign up for RWM’s Financial Planning services what will occur?
- What if I have a large position in one stock How will RWM assist me in this situation?
- What makes RWM Financial Advisors, Inc. different from other financial advisory or brokerage firms?
We want our clients to be assured that our recommendations are always made in their best interest. We believe that if we accept commissions, our clients could view us as having a bias.
2. What types of investment strategies do you offer?
We offer several types of investment strategies. New strategies are being added as client needs develop.
3. What are your fees for these investment strategies?
The fees are dependent upon the amount of assets that are allocated to each strategy, as well as the amount of assets that you are asking RWM to manage. Generally, depending upon the fee schedule, fees range from one-half percent for large amounts of monies up to a maximum fee of one percent for accounts with assets that do not exceed $500,000. However, to get a better idea of what your actual costs will be, it is best to discuss this in a meeting with one of the firm’s Advisors.
4. How does RWM select Mutual Funds and/or outside (private) portfolio managers?
We look for portfolio managers with consistent, long-term, excellent track records in a particular investment style. Typically, we like managers who are owners of a management company and who are not very good at marketing. What we mean by this is, generally we like to look for portfolio managers that do not have hundreds of millions or billions of assets annually being placed under their management. Portfolio managers, especially mutual fund managers, that are well marketed, attract too many assets that tend to hold down performance over time. For example, many of the Fidelity and Vanguard funds are large, bloated with assets, and invest in large stocks. Consistently, most of their funds underperform the S&P 500 which also invests in large stocks, especially over longer periods of time. It is very difficult for most managers to handle large amounts of assets. This is especially true of small stock strategies.
5. Does RWM utilize separate account managers?
Yes. RWM has formed relationships with some of the premier investment management firms in the world. These relationships were formed so that we can offer a service tailored to each specific client’s need. Our separate account managers design and manage individual equity or fixed income portfolios in a tax-efficient manner to meet the specific goals of each client.
6. Can I keep my assets where they are and make the changes myself?
No. Typically, clients do not facilitate changes to the portfolio quickly enough. Furthermore, it is impossible for us to report on your portfolio without direct downloads from each custodian. Instead, we currently house all of our securities accounts at Pershing, LLC.
Pershing is one of the largest discount brokers in the United States.
8. What are the costs to trade at Pershing?
All domestic stocks and closed-end mutual funds under 3,500 shares are traded at under $25.00. Pershing has over 11,000 Mutual Funds available on its Mutual Fund network, and over 3,000 in its No-Trading Fee (NTF) program. In our various Mutual Fund portfolios, the majority of the funds do not have any trading fees. For mutual funds where trading fees are applicable, fund purchases are traded at a flat $25.00.
9. How often is my account traded?
Typically, for accounts that are managed utilizing mutual funds, we have one major rebalancing a year, usually in January or at the end of December (mostly because dividend and capital gain payouts occur in December). During the rest of the year, we may change the portfolios because of market circumstances. For example, if there are large declines in certain funds and even in various share lots, we may sell part or all of a fund to take a tax loss and invest the proceeds in a similar fund. This helps us better tax-manage your portfolio. We may also adjust to a changing investment environment; however, over time the asset allocation tends to take care of this problem itself. In addition, periodically, we will add a new fund to a portfolio if we believe it will benefit the client. The other major reason we would make changes is because a portfolio manager leaves a fund. This is rare because the large majority of our portfolio managers are owner/managers of the management company that manages the fund, and therefore, are less likely to leave their own funds.
With regard to stock accounts, there are changes throughout the year. These changes are predicated upon company specific news, such as earnings reports, general market conditions, and industry trends, to name a few.
10. How often will you review my account?
Generally, we review each account on a monthly basis at a minimum. If circumstances warrant, such as market irregularities or a specific client need surfaces, we will review accounts immediately.
11. Why do you review investment accounts so often?
Simply because that is what our system is designed to do. For example, we are always watching for news on our mutual funds and/or stocks and ones we would like to invest in. If there are major economic (interest rate changes) or political changes (wars), we will review your portfolio. When we are rebalancing accounts, we are always looking at the portfolio as well. When we provide a performance report to you we are also looking at the portfolios.
12. If I am one of your investment management clients, how often will you meet with me?
During the first year for investment management clients, we will probably want to meet with you one or two times to explain and to review your first one or two quarterly asset management reports. After that we will generally give you the option to meet with us a minimum of every time that an asset management report is available to you. If you choose not to have a meeting, we will mail you the report.
13. How often will I be updated on my portfolio?
We provide, at a minimum, an annual performance report that specifically states beginning balance, the ending balance, and the percentage and dollar return during that timeframe. We also compare these returns to various indexes, depending upon the type of investment strategy. Additionally, we will provide comprehensive reports upon request or when certain situations dictate. You will also receive from Pershing a monthly statement, which will list your securities and their current values as of month-end. Furthermore, as securities trades are executed, you will receive a confirmation statement with full details of each buy or sell. You may also view all of your accounts through the client area of RWM’s secure website. The client area provides you with information regarding your investment positions, stock and mutual fund quotes, and account balances to name a few.
14. Will you consult me when making trades?
Our practice is to consult the client prior to any initial investments being made. We discuss our different investment strategies and what our client can expect from those strategies. This is also provided in writing to the client in their investment management contract. How we plan to invest from a strategic standpoint will be discussed with you as we report to you throughout the year. However, we will not discuss each and every trade with you. All of our accounts are discretionary. You may, of course, call us to discuss any moves we are anticipating or have made.
15. What does “Discretion” mean?
Discretion means having the ability to trade on your account without your permission. This does not mean that RWM has custody. Custody means that we have possession of your funds. Pershing maintains custody. Discretion simply means that we are able to make trades on your behalf.
16. Do I have to stay with your service for any length of time?
Obviously, we would like you to stay with our service forever. However, there is no obligation to do that. We disclose, in our contracts that clients are allowed to terminate service with us at any time. Many advisors will make you wait until the end of the month, quarter, or even the end of the year. However, in our case, you can terminate your contract at the end of any day. Of course, we will require payment of any fees owed through the date of termination. In addition, a few exceptions to that mostly have to do with illiquid types of investments like Hedge Funds and Venture Capital. In these cases, there is very little liquidity, if any.
17. With regard to tax reporting, what do you provide me with at year-end to prepare my taxes?
We mail to every client, generally not later than mid-February, information with regard to all securities trades that have been made, provided the information has been submitted to us. This is contingent on the client, providing us with the cost basis information, if they transferred a fund and/or stock that RWM did not purchase for them. With regard to any distribution from Mutual Funds, Pershing provides this information via a comprehensive form 1099 at year-end. This is generally provided to the clients on January 31st of each year.
18. How often will you meet with me for your financial planning services?
For financial planning during the first year, we generally meet with a new client four to eight times. The reason that we meet so many times is because during this first year, there is a great deal of work that needs to be completed, and discussion that needs to go back and forth about various issues. We must have an excellent handle on your financial situation in order to provide you with the best advice possible. In year two, we generally meet a minimum of once or twice a year. Beyond that, wherever possible, we try to discuss specific changes over the phone versus a meeting so that we can respond to your needs more quickly. We will also provide comprehensive updates on your financial situation. These updates will include a balance sheet, tax projections, cash flow analysis, and reviews of anything else that needs to be addressed.
A good example of this would be if you were near retirement or in retirement, a minimum of once every other year, we would want to create a comprehensive retirement projection to make sure that you are on track. Also, if you are in retirement we will be discussing with you any minimum distributions from IRAs or retirement plans that you need to be taking on an annual basis.
19. How do you charge for your financial planning services?
Again, we are fee-only. We do not receive any commissions whatsoever. The financial planning fee that we charge is for 365 days of service. The fee is based on your assets under management.
20. If I sign up for RWM’s Financial Planning services what will occur?
The process for financial planning involves extensive data gathering of all your financial information. First, we will request that you complete one or more of our comprehensive data gathering questionnaires, as well as provide us with all of your financial information. From there we will develop projections, such as college funding, estate death tax, and retirement calculations, IRA distribution analysis, and survivor projections. When this is complete, we will then begin reviewing your overall situation as well as what issues that you need to have addressed in each area. The areas that we will cover will include basic finance issues such as refinancing your mortgage or other debt, analyzing your liquidity, and discussing any cash flow and/or savings issues that you may have. We will spend time discussing how to reduce your income taxes, and funding your children’s education in a tax efficient manner, if applicable. We will also analyze exactly how much life insurance, if any, is needed and review all your different insurance coverage in-depth. We will also discuss with you an overall investment strategy to meet your goals. If you are near or in retirement, we will spend a great deal of time discussing those issues including distribution strategies from your retirement plans. Once we provide you with your financial recommendations, we will then assist you with the implementation of those recommendations.
21. What if I have a large position in one stock? How will RWM assist me in this situation?
This is not an unusual occurrence since a number of our clients have large stock option awards from their employer.
There are different strategies that we can utilize to defer your taxes and diversify your investments. Some of these strategies include:
1. Utilizing what are called “Exchange Funds,” also known as “Completion Funds.” This is a partnership when you, together with a number of other individuals in a similar situation, combine your large ownership positions of a single stock into a mixed portfolio so that each partner would own a portion of that portfolio without having to liquidate their existing stock position. Obviously, this strategy substantially reduces the risk compared to owning a single stock.
2. Utilizing what is called “Tax Loss Selling.” This strategy can, over time, nip away at a large stock position if you have some losses at present and in the future.
3. Utilizing “Charitable Trusts” to avoid any large capital gains taxes. This involves contributing highly appreciated stock to a Charitable Trust and taking an annual income from the trust for the rest of your life.
Depending upon which of these suit your situation best, we will assist you in every aspect.
22. What makes RWM Financial Advisors, Inc. different from other financial advisory or brokerage firms?
RWM is different from other financial advisory and brokerage firms in a number of ways. First, RWM provides advice on all aspects of a client’s finances while at the same time, assisting them with the implementation of their recommendations. RWM’s service initiatives are designed to be unparalleled. No detail of a client’s finances is overlooked. Reviews of employment contracts, real estate leases, wills, trust agreements, stock option agreements, auto insurance, non-qualified deferred compensation agreements, private investments, hedge funds, corporate minutes, buy-sell agreements, retirement plan documents, business tax returns, U.S. savings bonds, and even the evaluation of retirement village contracts are routine at RWM. Interaction with the clients other advisors, such as actuaries, accountants, attorneys, bankers, insurance agents, and employee benefits specialists to ensure that everyone is working on behalf of the client is an everyday occurrence. Brokerage firms don’t supply this type of service while other financial advisory firms only offer a few generic services, such as college funding, retirement, retirement calculations, insurance reviews, estate tax calculations, and perhaps income tax planning. RWM offers these services in a very detailed manner in addition to all of the services mentioned above.
From an investment standpoint, most advisory firms offer one service: asset allocation with mutual funds. Some of these advisory firms are compensated by commissions in addition to fees. Other firms sell clients Class C shares and receive a constant 1.0% of assets regardless of asset size. This is a very expensive option for clients with more than $500,000 in assets.
Brokerage firms offer many of the same investment offerings as RWM. However, the investment trading costs are frequently at twice the price and without an understanding of their client’s overall objectives.
The bottom line is RWM’s staff pulls together the client’s entire financial situation, assists their clients in achieving their goals, attempts to provide unequalled service, and does it without a bias on a fee-only basis.