FAQ

What services do you provide?

We provide investors with a variety of global equity investment strategies developed by us, in a separately managed account format.  We do not offer financial planning, accounting or tax advice.

Where is my account custodied?

Presently all accounts are custodied with Interactive Brokers. We do not take custody of your account. Clients maintain complete ownership of all portfolio assets at all times. We have no ability to access funds in your account.

Why Interactive Brokers?

• Low commission rates. With actively traded strategies, one of the most important factors influencing returns will be trading fees and commissions. Interactive Brokers offers some of the most competitive rates in the industry.
• Cutting edge technology platform and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
• Strength and security. In addition to an equity capital base in excess of $5 billion, customer securities accounts at Interactive Brokers are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”).
• Portfolio margin. Many brokers still do not offer their clients access to portfolio margin. Interactive Brokers was one of the first brokers to offer portfolio margin to their clients.
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Statements and Tax Documents.

Upon establishing your account with IB, you will be required to set up your preferences for receiving trade confirmations and statements. Clients can receive confirmations for all trades shortly after they are made and monthly statements from IB. You also have online access at any time to the account for confirms, statements and tax documents.

How are you compensated and when do you get paid?

We are compensated, in arrears, not in advance, based on the average account value during the previous quarter. At the end of each quarter your account will be debited for the fees incurred during the previous quarter. The fees are based on a percentage of assets under management. Our fees are 1% per annum. We do not accrue fees for a percentage of capital gains in your account. Hopefully, if your account grows, our fees will grow too. Our long term interests are aligned with yours.

Am I locked-in? Are there termination penalties?

There are no lock-up periods, termination fees or withdrawal fees. We require 5 days written notice to effectuate liquidation of positions and transfer of funds.

Non-Us investors okay?

Yes. As long as you can open an account with IB in your country, we can manage it for you. IB is available in many countries around the world. The only additional requirement for a foreign account would be the possibility of additional documentation. Sometimes certain documents are not necessary for US accounts depending on the compliance check, but documentation is almost always required for a foreign account.

Why should I consider your solutions over an established brand?

This is a no different a decision we face when evaluating small cap companies against large caps. Small caps have historically offered a higher return than large caps, and this is no surprise, since they are riskier investments and the extra return is simply compensation for taking on additional risk. We offer the following answers to help you put the risk and reward into perspective.

• Is my money safe?   Your money is in a separately managed account, in your name, with Interactive Brokers. We cannot withdraw your money. You can log in to your account and see what’s happening to it at any time.
• Can you provide me with better risk adjusted returns?   Perhaps, but there is no guarantee, and neither can the big guys offer you any promises. We believe that our current suite of solutions is different than anything else out there at the index level. We offer not just independent thinking, but passionate and innovative research that tries to solve the giant puzzle that the markets provide. We only offer solutions that can and have been back-tested over long time periods, with meaningful performance differentiation.
• What is my downside risk?   We are only investing in ETF’s at the country and index level. We are not picking individual stocks. The risk profiles of our models are very moderate. Our investment universe of instruments we will be buying is pre-determined and listed in our literature.
• What is the value proposition?   The products we offer are research intensive, hedge fund type strategies. We offer our strategies for one simple flat annual fee of 1.0% of assets.
• What percentage of my assets am I putting at risk?   We think it is prudent to diversify your portfolio, as well as your advisors. We ask that you give us a small piece of your equity allocation and see what we can do for you.
• What if I am not happy?   You can cancel at any time. There are no lockups.

What if I have more questions?

Please feel free to contact us via our contact form here.