FAQs
1. Who is your typical client?
Typically the individuals and families who come to us have substantial assets, complex needs and/or high income earnings. Even though they have the education and experience to manage their own investments, they see the value in having professional advisors integrate their planning needs, coordinate their advisors and simplify their finances.
2. Are you accepting new clients?
We do accept new clients. However, we do have certain account minimums. Because of the extensive time, both initially and ongoing, and the level of sophistication necessary to implement and communicate the strategies, there is an investment minimum of $500,000 to accept a new client.
3. How long have you been in business?
Randy Spinosa, as the firm principal, has been working as a financial professional since 1978. Randy holds the series 6, 7, 24, and 63 registrations held with LPL Financial and the CFP and ChFC designations to be qualified to offer a wide variety of investment products in the market.
4. How often will you meet with me?
Since we are selective about the number of clients we represent, we have an open-door policy when it comes to meetings. You may simply drop by our office or schedule an appointment for meetings that may involve preparation or multiple attendees.
There is no minimum or maximum number of meetings although we do recommend face-to-face meetings at least annually or when special circumstances warrant.
And remember you can always pick up the phone and give us a call. For most client relationships, the time clock is not ticking for meetings or phone calls. Your information is always available to you 24/7.
5. What can I expect during our initial consultation?
First, there is no charge for our initial consultation. During this meeting, we get an idea of your major concerns, as well as an overview of your assets and planning strategies currently in place. We follow-up our initial meeting with correspondence outlining the strategies we would recommend and implement with you, along with any costs involved.
6. What services do you offer?
Because of the depth of experience in our firm, we offer:
- Comprehensive estate plans
- Financial plans
- Tax strategies
- Investment management
- Retirement planning
- Trust planning
- Education planning
- Business succession planning
We also can implement insurance strategies or work with your existing agents and/or advisors.
7. How do you manage my investments?
We strongly believe that proper risk management is the foundation of a successful program, and we review daily research to determine the most suitable ways to seek to limit volatility and preserve capital within your risk tolerance. We spend time to completely understand your risk tolerance so that you can feel comfortable with your investments.
We have models that we invest our clients into based on their goals and risk tolerance. We aggressively manage these models in striving to give your investments the best support to exceed the benchmark performance of the risk that you are taking.
Additionally, when appropriate, we will utilize alternative investments that pursue additional performance enhancement.
We have models that we invest our clients into based on their goals and risk tolerance. We aggressively manage these models in striving to give your investments the best support to exceed the benchmark performance of the risk that you are taking.
Additionally, when appropriate, we will utilize alternative investments that pursue additional performance enhancement.
This strategy is broken down into:
- Strategic asset allocation which is a long-term investment strategy that seeks to create an optimal blend of asset classes while placing little emphasis on short-term market fluctuations.
- Tactical asset allocation is the short-term component of asset allocation and attempts to capitalize on market opportunities and inefficiencies in order to seek superior investment returns.
With investing, as with any endeavor, certain risks are inherent. And while no strategy assures success or protects against loss, by constructing a blended portfolio of asset classes whose individual performance through different market cycles does not move in unison, investors are better positioned to weather any potential volatility. A diversified portfolio is therefore positioned to endure fluctuating market cycles while helping to reduce volatility. However, there is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not ensure against market risk.
Once we determine the proper asset allocation for your portfolio, we select and offer access to a combination of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and cash as the investment vehicles within your portfolio.
**Alternative investments may not be suitable for all investors and involve special risks such as leveraging the investment, potential adverse market forces, regulatory changes and potentially illiquidity. The strategies employed in the management of alternative investments may accelerate the velocity of potential losses.
**Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protection against a loss.
**Tactical allocation may involve more frequent buying and selling of assets and will tend to generate higher transaction cost. Investors should consider the tax consequences of moving positions more frequently.
We provide comprehensive planning and become your go-to advisor for your questions in life.
8. How do I stay in touch with my investments?
You receive monthly statements. In addition, for advisory accounts, you receive annual performance reports. For variable annuities, you receive a quarterly statement directly from the annuity company.
As a client, you have internet access to your accounts through AccountView found on our website. Accounts may be viewed individually or as a group. Positions, transaction history, performance and benchmarks, and archived statements are also available in AccountView.
In addition to the statements, quarterly reports and internet access, we can provide you with custom reports generated in our office.
9. How do I know if you’re doing a good job?
Advisory account holders will receive performance reports which compare your portfolio to appropriate benchmarks. Also you meet with us periodically in order for us to specifically map out your progress and our performance in relation to your objectives.
10. How do you stay in touch with market conditions and changes?
Daily
We read fundamental and technical commentary on short, intermediate, and long term analysis on overall stock and bond market conditions, as well as sector and industry analysis and news.
We track market charts in our office to determine the following:
- Relative strength relationship between stocks and bonds
- Relative strength among stock market categories and sectors
- Moving averages of stock market and high yield bond market
We review price changes and news of individual stocks:
- We track for direct use in client portfolios
- That may be a large holding of our recommended investments
- That may be a large holding for one or more of our clients
Weekly
We read industry publications in order to get more in depth analysis of financial markets and economic conditions. We also listen and watch the same financial and business programs you may tune to for information.
Monthly
We perform an in-depth review of our portfolio holdings using Morningstar’s extensive data to determine performance relative to indices and peers.
Quarterly
We make changes to our models based on the tactical direction of the market, performance missteps, or opportunities within our current holdings.
11. How do you review my investment account?
Your account balance is reviewed daily. During this process, we check for changes due to deposits and withdrawals and we also look for notifications for any items that require special attention. We also use this review to get an idea of how the portfolios are moving given the action in the previous day’s markets.
Generally twice a month, we print summary statements on all accounts. We then review each account to determine if any allocation changes are warranted.
On a quarterly basis, we review all summary reports to make sure the portfolios are invested appropriately and to determine if any action is necessary.
12. Will you contact me when making trades?
Generally, no. In most advisory accounts, you give us trading discretion which means we make the decisions of when to re-allocate your account and what funds to use. After all, that is why you hire us. In some circumstances, usually involving inherited positions or individual stocks and bonds, we may contact you if we think it is necessary or if you have asked us to do so.
For traditional brokerage accounts and variable annuities, we do not have discretionary trading authorization, and we will contact you before any trades are made.
13. How do you charge for your services?
For investments under management there is an annual advisory fee assessed quarterly. No commissions are charged for these types of investment accounts. If there are other products implemented into your strategy which pay compensation directly, such as annuities, CDs and certain insurance instruments, there is no management fee associated with these products. A fee schedule will be provided after our initial consultation. It typically runs 1% annually, but it can be slightly higher or lower depending on account size.
14. What does fee-based mean?
We charge a fee to do your financial and/or estate planning. The amount of the fee depends on the time involved to complete your plan. If you decide to use us for your investment management needs, we charge a fee as a percentage of your assets, usually about 1% per year.
Some clients may have a need for a product that is not available without commissions, or they may have an account that is below the minimum for fee-based accounts. In these situations, if we receive a commission, we do not charge an additional fee for these services.
Any additional charges, if any, will be outlined specifically after our initial consultation.
15. Are there any additional costs when you trade my account?
For accounts under one million dollars, the trade costs are absorbed by you, our client. For accounts over one million dollars, our firm absorbs the trade costs. In either circumstance, our firm receives no compensation from these trading costs.
In the very few brokerage accounts that we have, some trades may involve a commission. Our firm does not receive any of the transaction costs that occur in brokerage accounts.
In the very few brokerage accounts that we have, some trades may involve a commission. Our firm does not receive any of the transaction costs that occur in brokerage accounts.
16. Do I have to stay with your firm for any length of time?
No. You are not contracted or obligated to stay with us although we strive to develop long-term relationships in order to do the best job for you.
17. Will you provide a fee estimate and proposal for your services?
Yes. During the initial consultation, a fixed fee or range will be quoted prior to your committing to any obligation.
18. What makes you different from other advisory or brokerage firms?
At Spinosa Wealth Management Group, you work directly with Randy and his staff. We do not outsource strategic advice. The guidance we offer comes from solid experience, credentials, competence and knowledge of what to do to help you pursue your goals. We keep our client roster select, focusing on those who have significant assets and complex financial needs. In so doing, we can offer individualized service that our wealthy clients expect and deserve.
19. Who will be holding my investments?
Our firm does not hold any money. Assets are held with LPL Financial, the largest independent brokerage dealer in the nation.
* As reported by Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2019, based on total revenue.
20. Who is LPL Financial?
LPL Financial is one of the nation's leading financial service companies and a publicly traded company under ticker symbol LPLA, The firm's mission is rooted in the belief that objective financial guidance is a fundamental need for everyone. LPL does not offer proprietary investment products or engage in investment banking activities; this means advisors affiliated with LPL are not pressured or influenced by LPL to sell its products. Thousands of financial advisors nationwide are able to rely on the firm's tooks and resources to help them provide financial guidance and recommendations to help meet their clients' needs. For more information about LPL Financial, visit lpl.com
21. Why would I hire Spinosa Wealth Management Group when I can purchase investments of my own?
There is much more to wealth management than picking investments. We employ a strategy of comprehensive financial planning of which investment management is one component.
As for investment management in particular, we provide you a structured, disciplined asset allocation and continuous research and monitoring to choose appropriate investments and other securities for a wide variety of asset classes and sectors.
We provide comprehensive planning and become your go-to advisor for your questions in life.
22. How do you work with my other advisors?
We encourage communication among your other advisors and us. We view your advisors as a team working for you and we want to discuss strategies and ideas with your other advisors who may have knowledge and expertise in certain areas. Ideally we want good relationships with these professionals so we can accomplish more for you.
23. Are references available?
Yes, please contact us for a current list of clients.
24. If something happens to one of the principals, who will handle my account?
To address this very possibility, we have established a formal business succession plan in our management firm. Should our principle die or become disabled, plans are in place so there is no effect on the management of your portfolio or any planning decisions that must be made. Our staff is dedicated to the financial well being of our clients and our firm now and into the future.