Oakland, CA | Managed Accounts: What Level of Service Should You Receive for the Fee You Pay?

Hi my name is Erik Wolfers. I’m the managing member of First and Main Financial. People have been trusting us with their life savings since 2001. Today I’m going to talk a little bit about money management. We’ve just gotten new clients after going through a financial planning process with them.

When we looked at their Investments they decided to also move their Investments to us for ongoing wealth management and comprehensive services.

The money had been managed by a national brand name firm in an account called a Managed Account which assumes there’s some level of expert management happening inside of the account.

They were paying 1% plus the firm was using some number of in-house, brand name products; so they’re kind of double-dipping on fees.

But in looking at their accounts it was obvious that the accounts were not managed in a customized fashion or in an expert fashion. They were managed more like by formula or what is more commonly known nowadays as robot style investing, and the clients were not getting excellent responsive service.

So, if you’re paying 1% and really more than 1% and not getting great service and the performance in your account isn’t great, it’s obviously not optimal for you, the client.

They moved to us and we’re going to provide an exceptional level of service and use money management products and techniques that have been proven to work well over time.

There are a number of firms like ours out there, that put the client first and charge fair fees. And so, I always encouraged people even if you don’t choose us, to work with somebody that’s an expert, that has experience, and that’s going to put your interest first.

If you are looking for some financial guidance; whether for a one time financial plan or continuing advice on your investments, we invite you to meet with a First & Main Financial planner for a free consultation. We would be more than happy to sit down with you, assess your situation and review our services to help navigate your financial future.