• When was River Capital Advisors founded and who owns the firm?
• What characteristics distinguish River Capital Advisors from its peers?
• How have you reduced conflict of interest issues between my financial advisor/broker and me?
• Aren't all brokers fiduciaries?
• How will I know how my accounts managed by River Capital Advisors are performing?
• How do you minimize the tax bills within the management of your clients' taxable accounts?
• Will you advise me on my company retirement plan accounts?
• Can I have you take a look at another advisor's recommendation?
• Who maintains custody of my assets?
• Who is the ideal client for River Capital Advisors?
• What are your minimum account requirements?
• What are your fees?
• What is the next step in working with River Capital Advisors?

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We are not stock brokers or salesmen.  So we won't try to sell you anything.  What we will do is:

• gain an in depth understanding of your financial goals and objectives,
• develop a plan to achieve your goals and objectives with out taking undue investment risk and
• implement the plan with a combination of active and passive investment managers, individual stocks and fixed income securities.

We focus on risk and risk-adjusted returns.  Only after understanding the risks taken to achieve a particular return, can you, the client, evaluate performance.

We actually perform most of the services we offer. Most wealth management firms outsource many areas of wealth management. In most cases, larger firms would take a team of individuals to have the breadth of experience and knowledge that each of our principals and advisors possess.

All of our principals and advisors are Certified Public Accountants (licensed in several states) and many have additional professional certifications such as Certified Financial Planner (CFP) or Certified Financial Analyst (CFA). These licenses and certifications require that we adhere to high ethical standards and meet continuing education requirements.

We act as our clients personal Chief Financial Officer, one team who is familiar with all aspects of our clients financial affairs. 

We believe that our firm has distinguished itself in four significant areas:

• Our Research - Behind our research effort is a commitment to intellectual honesty and to staying within our circle of competency.  We believe our clients' long-term interests are best served by making decisions based on careful research, rather than pursuing what is temporarily popular or superficially appealing.
• Our Innovative Spirit - We strive to be creative in our thinking, and this has allowed us to deliver to our clients what we believe are some uniquely superior investment alternatives.
• Our Quality Relationships - Our clients include wealthy individuals, family groups, foundations and institutions.  We believe strong client relationships are born out of exceptional efforts by all our team members and must be based on an accurate understanding of each client's needs and objectives.  Our team members strive to make the practice of outstanding service a core value of our business.
• Our Values-Based Culture - Our team members exhibit integrity and a commitment to excellence. Our decisions are driven by a loyalty to our clients and an understanding that long-term success will be enhanced by always putting our clients' interests first.

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At River Capital Advisors, we take being a financial fiduciary for our clients seriously. A financial advisor held to a fiduciary standard occupies a position of special trust and confidence when working with a client. As a fiduciary, River Capital Advisors is required to act with undivided loyalty to our clients. This includes disclosure of how we are compensated (by our clients only) and any corresponding conflicts of interest. Federal and state law requires that River Capital Advisors be held to a Fiduciary Standard. This law requires that we act solely in the best interest of our client, even if that interest is in conflict with our financial interest.

We are “fee-only” advisors. This means that we do not accept commissions or other forms of compensation from any investment and financial service providers. Our only source of revenue is from our clients' fees.

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No. Commission-based stock brokers and financial advisors are not generally required to be fiduciaries. They are transaction-based and are not held to a fiduciary standard. Some broker/advisors try to wear two hats, suggesting some activities should be held to a fiduciary standard and some should not.

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You will have three ways to access account information. You will receive a custodian statement monthly detailing your account values and transactions. You will receive a quarterly performance report showing your accounts with performance measures. You will also have the ability to access account information on line with the custodian.

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As CPA’s we wear our tax hats when designing, implementing and managing our client’s portfolio. However, we do not allow the tax tail to wag the economic dog.

During our investment manager research and due diligence process, we assess the ability to predict each equity manager's tax efficiency. Our objective is to identify managers that will deliver superior after-tax returns.

When the markets are volatile on the downside, we look for opportunities to harvest capital losses by selling investments, or specific tax lots that have losses that could be used to offset gains on a client's tax return.

We look at current tax law to assess the tax attributes of individual accounts (brokerage, IRA, etc.) and make investment decisions accordingly. For example, under the current tax law, long term capital gains are taxed at a maximum of 15%. Therefore, all other planning considerations being equal, we would have equity investments in the brokerage account and not the IRA since income from an IRA is considered to be ordinary income which is taxed at a higher rate.

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Yes. We will provide advice and recommendations to align your company plan retirement accounts with your overall investment plan. This service is included in your fee.

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We offer a second opinion service for a non-client to have us evaluate their current investment and financial situation free of charge. .

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Securities are held in a client's brokerage, retirement, trust or custody accounts. RCA does not retain or take possession of a client's securities or funds. The majority of our clients' accounts are held at Charles Schwab & Company and are serviced through our relationship with Schwab Institutional Services..

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Our investment approach is ideal for one who is interested in preserving and growing their investable assets over the long term with a customized investment plan using the best available investment managers, stocks and fixed income securities approved by River Capital Advisors. In addition, our ideal client is one who understands that they are best served by an independent firm who works for the client as a fiduciary and has the experience necessary to assist the client with all aspects of their financial life, functioning as the client’s Chief Financial Officer. Our clients expect exceptional value and a quality professional relationship. Our greatest value is to a client who is concerned about the old model compensation structure (transaction based commissions) and tends to be a delegator.

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Under our managed portfolio arrangement our minimum initial account balance is $250,000. This may be aggregated in several accounts such as a brokerage, retirement and trust accounts. We also, have hourly and flat-fee plan arrangements for those clients who value professional advice and guidance, but are comfortable in implementing and monitoring their plan on their own.

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We are fully transparent with our clients with all aspects of our relationship, including how we are compensated. For our managed portfolio arrangement, our services are provided on a fee-only basis. Fees are billed quarterly and calculated based on the total account value of all assets placed under our management in accordance with the following standard fee schedule:

• 1.25% on the first $250,000
• 1.00% on the next $1,750,000
• 0.70% on the next $2,000,000
• 0.50% on the balance over $2,000,000

Minimum annual fees of $3,125 (based on a $250,000 minimum account) will be applied. As an example, a $1,500,000 account would have an average fee (based on the schedule above) of 1.04%. All client conferences, client meetings, performance reviews, tax reports, ongoing investment manager due diligence and cash flow projections are included in our services and are not subject to additional charges.

As your personal Chief Financial Officer, a review of your estate planning documents and life insurance policies are included in your fee. General financial planning advice and recommendations, including retirement, college and risk planning are included in your fee and performed on an as needed basis. Tax planning and preparation and extensive estate planning are available as well on an as needed basis and billed separately.

Our hourly rates range from $60 - $250 per hour depending on the scope and complexity of the engagement. Flat fees can be agreed upon depending on the nature and scope of the engagement.

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