What to Expect

The first step would be to hold a confidential, no-cost consultation. We are willing to meet with qualified prospects for our Private Client Group. You are a qualified prospect if you:

Have the desire and ability to delegate your investment management and wealth planning needs.
Have reasonable expectations of the financial market’s ability to meet your goals.
Have a minimum portfolio value of $250,000.

A preliminary phone conversation would be helpful to discuss an agenda for the consultation. You would then receive a brief, 3-page preliminary financial profile. Once the completed profile is received back at our office we will be prepared to consult with you more specifically for your situation, rather than in generalizations.

The initial consultation is an informational meeting. You would meet with an advisor from our Investment Management Team or our Wealth Planning Group. In certain cases, you may meet with an advisor from each group. It is not appropriate for you or us to make any “on the spot” decisions. You will want to gather information about us to evaluate if we can help you. We will want to learn more about your financial concerns, goals, dreams, values, etc.

Following the initial consultation, both parties should spend some time considering if it is appropriate to proceed to the next step. The advisors you met with will send you a letter summarizing the main points discussed during your consultation. If we strongly believe our wealth management services can help you minimize your financial concerns and accomplish your important goals and values, we will send you a proposal detailing how we may begin working together. At that point, we would like to get your assessment of the situation and discuss the possibility of proceeding to the next step.

When we first begin working together, we will prepare an initial investment plan for you. During this process, we will collaborate and establish an appropriate asset allocation model (from aggressive to conservative, or somewhere in between) based on your personal situation. We then provide an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that will include this asset allocation, giving you a general understanding of the guidelines we will follow when managing your portfolio. You will understand and agree with the general asset allocation model used to manage your portfolio.

At the investment-planning meeting, we will also have prepared for you any account documents necessary for us to begin managing your investment portfolio. Although we will consider managing your assets at the current custodians holding them, we have a few preferred custodians (e.g., TD Waterhouse, Charles Schwab, etc.) . In most cases, it will be necessary to transfer your assets to one of those custodians. We would prepare any necessary brokerage account and asset transfer documents for you.

As we begin the day-to-day management of your assets, we will evaluate your current holdings and begin to transition your portfolio into your asset allocation model. Your Portfolio Manager and Wealth Planner (your advisory team) will be in communication with you periodically.

We would like to hold a meeting with you at the 45-day mark into our relationship. At this meeting we will review the current market conditions, discuss appropriate investment strategies and review the initial investments we made on your behalf. We will also show you our reporting capability so you can select which reports you would like to receive as part of your quarterly customized investment report. The intention of this meeting is to ensure our relationship gets off on the right foot.

Following the 45-Day meeting, we will set into a regular quarterly or semi-annual face-to-face meeting schedule. During the review meetings, you will meet with your advisory team. Your Portfolio Manager will provide you an in depth analysis of current capital market conditions, discuss our investment strategies and review your portfolio allocation in accordance with the prevailing conditions. Your Wealth Planner will meet with you to address your wealth planning needs. They will help you develop investment, retirement, estate, and tax plans, college funding strategies and an insurance needs analysis. Each module of your plan will be updated at least every two years or more often, in the case of a life-changing event.

When a transaction is made in your account, the custodian holding your account will immediately provide trade confirmations to you. When making important changes to your portfolio allocation, we will send you a Flash Report via your preferred means of communication. The report will brief you and provide a rationale for the transactions made. The transactions can be further discussed with your personal portfolio manager on the phone or during your next review meeting. Of course, you also receive our insightful market newsletter, Arlington Capital MarketWatch, which summarizes our thoughts on market and economic conditions.

Each month you will receive a statement mailed to you by the custodian holding your assets. The statements will summarize all activity for each account you have with the custodian. You will receive a comprehensive quarterly report from our office summarizing the quarter’s activity for all your assets we are managing. The quarterly statement will include your current asset allocation, a list of positions held, performance for the period and other valuable information. We can also create these statements ‘on demand’, whenever you would like to see one.

In the end, you could expect that:

…you are making more informed and disciplined investments that will lead better you to security in retirement.

…your investments are more focused based on current market conditions and your goals and values that will help you to accomplish all that is important in your life.

…you have more clarity with your financial position.

…you sleep better, are getting more enjoyment out of life, have less stress and are receiving an enriching service.