Choosing someone to manage your financial assets is a very difficult and important job. Whether you are just beginning retirement or are a “retiree in training”, a mistake at this stage can be a disaster.

To help you with this critical task, we have provided a list of questions to ask and points to consider when deciding whom to trust. We hope you will find this information useful.

Provider Relationship and Qualifications

Do you accept fiduciary responsibility for your involvement in the management of my investment assets?

Do you have industry recognized credentials such as CFP®?

Are your regulatory and disciplinary records clean? How can I check them?

Are you an independent provider with no conflicts of interest or other obstacles to unbiased, objective advice?

If you are associated with a broker/dealer, is that broker/dealer also independent?

Will you provide references of existing clients?

What happens to me if the person or persons who manage my account leave the firm?

Do you have a large staff that works exclusively for your clients? Who are they and how will they be involved with the management of my account?

Investment Philosophy and Management System

What is your investment philosophy?

Is the investment philosophy based on the ability of someone to guess the direction of the market (market timers, gurus)?

Describe in detail the work or tasks that you will be doing after the initial investment of my money.

Is investment management a specialty or just one of many services provided (insurance, financial plans, estate planning, etc.)?

How do I access the portfolio managers to talk to them about my account?

Are asset management services performed in-house or are they outsourced?

Is the portfolio design flexible or is the design part of a “canned” approach?

Does the portfolio design include low correlated asset classes (US small value, international small value, commodities, REITs, gold, unhedged international bonds) to potentially increase efficiency (lower volatility, increased compound annual return)?

Will the portfolio be periodically rebalanced? If so, how will this be accomplished (automatically or individually)?

Will the portfolio be dynamically reallocated (adjusted from its standard design to account for broad asset class changes)?

Does the portfolio design take into account the effect of possible terrorist attacks or other catastrophic events in the future? If so, how?

Has the portfolio design been engineered to potentially perform well in good and bad markets? If so, how?

Explain and justify your portfolio recommendations.

Do you manage assets at the asset class level or at the securities level?

Do you provide cash flow management? If yes, how does that management reduce the inefficiency inherent in taking income from a portfolio?

How many asset classes will be used in the portfolio design? What are they?

Do you continuously improve the portfolio design? If so, based on what?

Do you have thousands of investment options available to ensure the asset classes are represented by the best options available?

How will you minimize the effect of income tax on my account?


Client Services

Do you provide periodic meetings to review the portfolio design and to ensure that goals are understood and being met?

Will you tailor reports and presentations to meet my special needs?

How do you support, educate and guide your clients during the investment process to avoid the behavioral mistakes common to most investors (chasing hot returns, short term focus, following the herd, decisions based on greed or fear, etc)?

Tell me about the different ways you will communicate with me.


Cost and Value

What method of compensation do you use, fee based or commissions? Why?

What are all the costs involved with your recommendations?

What value do you provide for each compensation method that you use?

Is the portfolio capable of moving between investments without incurring additional cost?

What are the terms of the investment such as surrender periods and penalties?

To get our answers to these questions, call and make an initial appointment. During this meeting (typically 2 hours), we will explore your needs and your goals. You will have the opportunity to learn about us as individuals and about our investment philosophy and management system. If at the end of the meeting, we both feel we are a good match, a second meeting will be set. During the second meeting, we will answer any questions that may have come up and review specific investment recommendations to meet your financial goals. After these meetings, if you decide you want to work with us, just give us a call. All meetings are complimentary and do not obligate you in any way.

Gilbert Advanced Asset Management has offices in Johnson City, Bristol and Abingdon. When you schedule an appointment, the address, a map and driving directions will be provided. To learn more, contact us by phone at 423.282.8840 (toll-free at 800.677.4445) or by email at info@gilbert-aam.com.