A Second Opinion on Your Statement

What happens

Three steps, and the third one is yours.

Book the call, bring the statement

Twenty minutes, by phone or video, with one of our two founding principals. The most recent statement from wherever your accounts are today is all the preparation there is.

We read it with you

The fee layers, visible and not. What you hold, and why it might be there. What would move as it is if you ever moved, and what would not. Questions, in plain language, as we go.

You leave with the list

A one-page summary of what we found: the costs, the holdings sorted, and the questions worth taking back to your current firm. It is yours to keep, whether or not we ever speak again.

What to bring

Whatever you have. The statement is enough.

The rest helps but is not required, and none of it needs to be organised. A photo of the pages works.

Gathered0 of 5

The most recent statementEvery account you would want looked at. This is the only item that matters.

Your current firm’s relationship summaryForm CRS, a short document every firm must give you. If you cannot find it, we can pull it from the SEC’s public site during the call.

The terms of any lending lineA securities-based line or margin balance changes what a move would involve, so it is worth knowing about early.

Last year’s tax forms from the accountThe 1099 shows what was sold, what was paid out and what it cost, which the statement does not.

The question you actually haveWhatever prompted this. An advisor who left, a merger letter, a sale on the horizon, or a feeling that nobody has explained the fees.

What we look for

Three questions, answered from your own documents.

What am I paying, all in?The advisory or wrap fee is one line. Fund expenses, distribution fees, sweep spreads and bond markups are elsewhere. We show you where each one lives. Our guide to where fees hide is the same method, written down.

What am I holding, and why?Whether the portfolio was built from your situation or from a menu, whether any holding exists mainly because of who sells it, and how concentrated you are in anything.

What would a move actually involve?Position by position: what transfers as it is, what would have to be sold and what that would cost this year. How switching works covers the mechanics.

Is anything about to happen?A vest, a window, a closing, a required distribution. The calendar is often the most useful page of the summary.

Graphic to come The one-page summary you leave with A single sheet, drawn as a clean document: three short sections (costs found, holdings sorted, questions to take back) with sage rules between them and hand-written-looking checkmarks. No numbers legible. Ink on paper.

What the call produces. Yours to keep, and to hand to your current advisor if you like.

What this is not

A review, not a pitch.

There is nothing to sign and nothing to buy. We sell no products, so there is nothing to be sold.
We are paid a fee by our clients and by nobody else, which is what lets us read someone else’s statement without an angle.
You are under no obligation. If the summary says your current arrangement is sound, that is what it says.
We do not take on every family. Our clients typically have investable assets above $1 million, and we limit how many new relationships we begin each year so the attention holds. The review is offered whether or not that describes you.
Nothing you share is stored anywhere but with the principal you speak to, and nothing is shared outside the firm.

Frequently asked questions

Is the second opinion really free of any obligation?

Yes. It is a twenty-minute call with one of our founding principals and a written summary of what we found. We sell no products and receive no payment from anyone but our clients, so the review has no angle. Some people become clients afterward, and many simply take the summary back to their current firm.

Do I need to send my statement before the call?

No. Having it in front of you during the call is enough, and a photo of the pages works. If you would rather send it ahead, the principal you are meeting can give you a way to do that; nothing is uploaded through this website.

Will you tell me to move my accounts?

Only if the summary supports it, and often it does not. The written summary states what we found: the costs, how the holdings are sorted, and any questions worth asking your current advisor. Whether to act on it is a decision you make on your own timeline, with the list in hand.

Meet with us

Twenty minutes, one statement.

Book the intro call and bring whatever you have. You leave with the list either way.

Book the call

Bring us your statement.