If you have an investment portfolio but are put off by brokers and financial planners, perhaps I can help you.

I am a CPA who manages my family’s personal and business portfolio. My background includes accreditation by the American Institute of CPAs in personal financial planning as well as being a former stock market analyst on Wall Street.

Here’s my approach: Our initial meeting is free. We’ll discuss your objectives. I will make recommendations. If you agree, we’ll make gradual changes to your portfolio. The fee for the next series of meetings will be based on the amount of time I spend with you, not assets under management or the number of transactions.

My focus is Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that track indexes as well as income-oriented investments such as energy Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). I like ETFs because they are a very efficient way to invest in the various segments of the market. In addition, energy MLPs are attractive for a variety of reasons including high dividend income.

Qualifications

• CPA since 1981
• AICPA Accreditation: Personal Financial Specialist (PFS)/Series 65 Examination
• AICPA Accreditation: Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV)
• Treasurer of a family business including management of the stock portfolio.
• Writer, iShares (ETFs) annual report
• Writer, Investor’s Business Daily
• Former writer for Business Week magazine
• Former stock market analyst, Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.
• Former instructor, Portland State U., Lewis & Clark and University of Portland
• Stanford MBA

The Financial Services Industry

For the most part, there are two types of financial advisors. The first is the traditional stock broker who gets paid to sell you securities. Typically, the fee is 1% of the value of the trade. If you’re buying $20,000 in securities, the broker gets $200 for what could be five minutes of work. That’s why discount brokers came into being, but many people still have their accounts at “full service” firms.

The second type of financial advisor is the so-called “fee-only” financial planner who generally gets paid 1% of assets under management. Indeed, “fee-only” doesn’t mean “small fee.” If you have $1 million in assets, you pay $10,000 per year, even if the planner spends no more than 10 hours working on your account. And there’s no guarantee that performance will beat or even match the overall market.

Needless to say, I don’t like either model.

Instead, I enjoy reviewing portfolios, discussing objectives, boosting income and providing education in a low pressure environment – at a much more reasonable fee.

Publications|Email Stuart | Home