Unlike other financial advisors, we are unencumbered by ties to specific products or institutional requirements. Our investment recommendations are fair, objective, and focused exclusively on meeting the objectives of those we serve.
 

We provide many services no other type of advisor will provide, including detailed financial planning. We are your advocate and as such also seek to help you in many different ways including reviewing employment contracts, analyzing a prospective employers benefits, helping you negotiate and obtain mortgages and other financing, providing you with draft outlines of legal documents you can take to your attorney (reducing legal costs), devising a strategy to exercise stock options, helping with home purchase decisions, car financing decisions, etc.

 

 We are the one place you come knowing that we are familiar with all aspects of your situation.  We understand your entire financial situation and are able to share our expertise to ensure that you reach your goals.

 

 The combination of fiduciary responsibility and independence sets us apart from other financial advisors. It gives our clients confidence that they have made the best choice in selecting Stonegate Wealth Management, LLC for their Wealth Management. As a firm we are devoted to earning your trust and providing a high level of client satisfaction.

 

 

Why is Stonegate Wealth Management, LLC fee-only?

You will know that our recommendations are made in your interest only. Since we do not accept commissions or payments from third parties you can be assured that our advice will not be tainted or affected by other parties. We act as fiduciary’s, holding your interests above our own.

Back to Top

 

How long has Stonegate Wealth Management, LLC been in business?

Since 1993. (We were formerly known as The Baron Financial Group).

Back to Top

 

What are some of the benefits of your investment management?

The benefits are many:

• Development of an investment policy matched to your goals.
• Continual monitoring of your assets.
• Rebalancing as needed so your portfolio does not become riskier or too heavily weighted to one asset class.
• Selection of the best investment vehicles.
• Quarterly reporting of your investment return.
• Complete tracking of tax basis so taxation may be minimized and deferred.
• You are provided updates to your financial plan, progress towards goals, and investment policy.

 

 

What types of investment vehicles do you use?

Investment vehicles may include mutual funds, individual securities, exchange traded funds, managed accounts etc. We do not limit ourselves to any specific type of investment vehicle since we believe the quality of the investment is the area over which we have the most control.

Back to Top

 

How does Stonegate Wealth Management, LLC select outside portfolio managers?

We start by employing computer filters and screens that enable us to wade through many of the thousands of portfolio managers that exist. We screen on many factors that academic studies have shown affect or indicate the potential for a manager’s performance to be better than average. Those screens include such parameters as expense ratio, manager tenure, turnover, tax efficiency, etc. Generally only 10-15 managers may pass our screens in each asset category. Then we begin the process of analyzing those 10-15 managers more thoroughly for issues that a computer cannot examine. We also attempt to determine if the manager plays (times) the market or is good at securities selection. We have developed proprietary techniques to aid in the analysis. Generally we do not want managers who actively time markets since timing tends to be more a matter of luck than skill; and we do not believe luck is repeatable. Managers who are adept at choosing quality securities also tend to have better track records during market downturns. We also prefer to use funds that are smaller and may not be as well known since they do not waste shareholders money on advertising. We also generally prefer investments that offer investment managers institutional class pricing. Management fees for mutual funds for example are typically .5% lower than the same fund available to the public.

We are paying for a manager’s expertise, therefore we may consider leaving a investment if and when that manager leaves.

 

We lean toward value rather than growth, a strategy that many academic studies reinforce as the most appropriate strategy for long term investors.

Generally only 30-40 managers in all asset classes pass through our extensive review process. Each month we re-test every investment vehicle to verify it still passes our screens and no concerns have arisen which may make us consider a change.

Our philosophy is the same whether it is a publicly available mutual fund, or a separately managed account with limited availability. We cannot control or time markets but can control investment policy and the quality of the investments we choose. We do an excellent job of controlling those.

Back to Top

 

How often is my account traded?

We will rebalance an account to bring it back to investment policy if the your portfolio becomes over weighted in an asset class. That rebalancing may occur anytime during the year and is more market dependent than time dependent.

We will make trades to capture or harvest tax losses so we can help reduce taxation for our clients. Typically the proceeds are reinvested in another investment vehicle whose characteristics closely match the one we sold.

We will trade you out of an investment vehicle if we believe its quality has deteriorated and better choices are available. We may also leave a vehicle if the manager (whose expertise) we are really buying has left.

We do not generally trade based on market events since we do not believe in market timing. Occasionally we may find that tactical changes within an asset class are useful, for example if interest rates may increase in the near future, or the dollar may weaken or gain strength. Individual securities may be traded more often that mutual funds or separate accounts.

Back to Top

 

How often will you review my account?

We review each account at least monthly. We will also review it more frequently if a need appears that requires it.

Back to Top

 

If I am one of your wealth management clients, how often will you meet with me?

Usually, during the first year you become a client we may meet with you 6-8 times.  Two to three meetings just to help establish the goals for your portfolio, review your financial plan etc, and one or two additional meetings to discuss our recommendations and agree on the investment policy. If you prefer not to meet that often we can mail you reports and recommendations and either discuss them in a conference call or by e-mail.

Back to Top

 

How often will I be updated on my portfolio?

First you will receive monthly statements from our custodian, for each account you have with them.

Secondly you will receive a quarterly performance report from us that will indicate the starting values and ending values for your portfolio for the quarter. The report will also include a complete summary of all transactions for the quarter and the actual and annualized return for your portfolio and each individual component of it since account inception.

You will also receive confirmation statements from our custodian for all trades as they are made.

You may also access your account for current values using our custodian’s web site.

Additionally you may contact us for a current statement at any time you choose.

Back to Top

 

With regard to tax reporting, what do you provide me with at year-end to prepare my taxes?

We send you a complete analysis of all transactions with tax implications for your taxable accounts by the end of January. Our accounting system allows us to track the cost basis of every share for every investment held by us. This facilitates deferral of taxation since the IRS allows you to use different methods to identify which shares of a position (if sold partially) have been sold.

Our custodian will also send you a 1099 which provides additional comprehensive information regarding your account.

Please note that we can not accurately track cost basis for investments you transferred over to our management if you did not provide us with such information initially.

Back to Top

 

Do you charge separately for financial planning services?

We do not charge separately for financial planning. We provide wealth management services which include management of your portfolio and financial planning as a seamless whole.