By: Brady Gingrich
We recognize that our clients have many options available when it comes to selecting a wealth manager to provide financial advice and planning solutions to protect and grow their hard-earned assets. Many prospective wealth managers and private banking groups tout their “comprehensive” offerings but fall short in one important respect: they do not specialize in managing clients’ investments. As a dedicated asset manager, we view investment management as a core pillar of the wealth planning continuum and provide customized financial planning solutions alongside asset management for our clients. Importantly, as a fiduciary, we offer these services for a single transparent fee. In contrast, many dedicated wealth managers charge a fee for financial planning services and outsource investment management to asset managers like Altrius for additional fees.
In short, Altrius is a dedicated asset manager with integrated wealth management capabilities, whereas many independent Registered Investment Advisory firms, brokers and bank-affiliated wealth managers are dedicated wealth managers that offer outsourced asset management capabilities.
If your bank or a financial firm has contacted you with an offer to provide wealth management services, below we’ve outlined a list of questions that may be helpful to ask to understand their offerings and the value they provide. If you can’t get a straight answer, or one that you’re satisfied with, you should keep looking (or give us a call). In addition, if a friend or family member isn’t satisfied with their current financial professional, we would be happy to provide a second opinion and offer the same level of consideration we extend to you.
Investment Management
Will the manager be investing in individual stocks and bonds or mutual funds and ETFs? If the latter, why and what additional expenses are charged?
Many wealth managers generally outsource asset management to dedicated firms such as Altrius by buying ETFs and mutual funds, rather than individual stocks and bonds. Our clients instead own individual securities within their portfolios, saving additional fees and ensuring full transparency into their holdings. As a professional asset management firm, we offer our ETF, Altrius Global Dividend (NASDAQ:DIVD), to wealth management firms including banks, brokers and Registered Investment Advisors across the country.
Who is the fixed income bond manager and what is his/her expertise and performance track record – particularly in managing high yield bonds? How will your existing bond holdings be treated?
Altrius invests a portion of your life savings into individual bonds, including high yield bonds, providing interest income to fund your current or future retirement goals. We carefully select individual bonds for our clients’ portfolios managing both credit and interest rate risk. We publish our track record dating back to strategy inception in 2003, while many wealth managers lack expertise in managing high yield fixed income entirely, instead outsourcing to third-party asset managers for an additional fee to firms such as Altrius.
What is the performance track record of the manager? Are they GIPS® (Global Investment Performance Standards) verified and who is their auditor?
While our clients can view portfolio performance in real-time and receive regular quarterly statements detailing their individual performance, we also proudly display our composite performance publicly and are independently verified by ACA Global, an NYC-based verification firm. In contrast, most wealth managers do not publicize a GIPS® compliant track record, nor do they publish performance fact sheets, which we make publicly available on our website.
What is the portfolio yield for the portfolio that the manager is recommending?
At Altrius, we have previously written about the merits of our disciplined income-focused, value-driven investment process to fund our clients’ retirement goals. Our flagship Global Income strategy (in which we are invested alongside the majority of our clients) yielded 4.4% in dividends and interest as of December 31, 2024, while many competing wealth managers offer portfolios yielding less than half of this amount. Portfolio values fluctuate alongside the market, particularly during periods of high uncertainty, though our clients have enjoyed a steady and growing stream of dividend and interest income, even through the Great Financial Crisis and the more recent COVID-19 recession. While other wealth managers rely on the hope that portfolio values will appreciate, even if our clients’ portfolios were down this year, they would continue to receive dividends and interest from quality companies such as Pepsi, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble to fund their current or future retirement goals.
If the manager is bank-affiliated, what yield do they offer on a cash account?
Many banks offer “competitive” high-yield savings or certificate of deposit (CD) rates that approach 4% as of the time of writing. However, in order to earn these rates, clients are often required to maintain minimum savings deposits or lock their savings up for a defined period (in the case of CDs). In comparison, Altrius offers clients cash management accounts, which invest in short-term (i.e., 3-month) Treasury bills currently yielding 4.3%. In addition to the yield advantage, your money is immediately liquid and can be moved into a personal checking account within a day.
Financial Planning
Who will be responsible for monitoring your portfolio and managing your wealth management needs? What level of client service will you receive?
Other wealth managers may assign one point of contact with whom you meet once a year; with Altrius, you will have a dedicated and experienced financial advisor and will be backed by the support of our full team. We have a dedicated team of CFAs, financial associates, analysts, and an in-house CFP® responsible for your portfolio management and financial planning needs, and are available to meet as often as you need. Additionally, we utilize eMoney as our preferred financial planning software with all clients, allowing us to design tailored planning solutions with real-time goal tracking and scenario analysis.
Will the wealth manager provide tax preparation services? Will they provide legal counsel and will/trust preparation in-house and included with their fee?
Some wealth managers offer these services, though a great majority that provide these services for clients are not asset managers like Altrius. While Altrius does not offer these services in-house, we offer a comprehensive suite of tax and estate planning services to achieve your unique goals, working with your chosen trusted tax and legal experts.
Will the wealth manager sell you additional products (e.g., insurance products) for a fee?
If so, the manager is not acting in a fiduciary capacity and is dually registered as a registered investment advisor (RIA) and a broker-dealer. Altrius is solely registered as an RIA and is always a fiduciary, never selling commission-based products to our clients.
We are tremendously grateful for the trust our clients have bestowed upon us and will continue to work hard to earn your trust every day. At Altrius, our benchmark has always been the long-term success of our clients and as we indicate through our Core Values and Promises, everything we do is in service to this goal.
Disclosures
Investments involve risk. Principal loss is possible. Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, nor should it be relied upon for, investment, tax or legal advice. The firm does not offer tax or legal advice as part of its services.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
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