Investment management, fee-only
Built from the plan, not beside it.
Fee-only investment management means we build and run your portfolio for a single advisory fee, with no commissions and no products to sell, and every decision starts from the plan the portfolio has to fund. Your assets stay in your name at an independent qualified custodian, which must send you its own statements at least quarterly under SEC Rule 206(4)-2. We hold trading authority; we never hold the money.
The situation
A portfolio should have a job.
Most portfolios arrive here as an accumulation: a 401(k) rolled into an IRA, a brokerage account opened in a good year, company stock that vested and stayed, a few funds a previous adviser chose. Each piece made sense at the time. Together they have an allocation nobody decided on, a tax profile nobody planned, and a risk level that is discovered only when markets fall.
We work in the other direction. The financial plan comes first and sets the target: what the portfolio must pay for, when, and how much can be lost along the way without the plan failing. The investment policy statement turns that into written rules. Only then do we choose holdings, place them in the right accounts, and set the schedule for moving in. The portfolio is the instrument; the plan is the score.
This page describes the service itself: what it includes, how it is delivered, where your money is held, and how it connects to the planning, tax, and estate work around it. The methods behind two of its largest pieces have their own pages: how we manage risk in retirement and how we lower what a portfolio pays in tax.
Why it’s complex
Five decisions that shape the portfolio
What it has to pay for
A portfolio that funds retirement withdrawals in three years is built differently from one that funds nothing for twenty. We start with the spending gap, the horizon, and the loss the plan can absorb, in dollars rather than percentages.
Read the guideWhich account holds what
The same allocation can pay very different tax depending on which assets sit in taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth accounts. Location is set once, before the allocation moves, and revisited when accounts are added.
Read the guideWhen the rebalance fires
Rebalancing rules are written into the policy statement before the first trade: the bands, the refill order for cash, and which account bears the sale. A rule decided in advance does not depend on how anyone feels that week.
Read the guideThe position you already own
Low-basis stock, employer shares, or an inherited holding cannot simply be sold on day one. We build a schedule that reduces the concentration at a pace the tax bill and the plan can bear.
Read the guideHow much complexity is enough
More holdings do not mean more diversification. We look through every fund to what it owns, remove the overlaps, and keep the number of positions to what the plan needs and you can understand.
Read the guideSources: SIPC, What SIPC Protects; 17 CFR §275.206(4)-2(a)(3); The Financial Sciences Company Form ADV Part 2A, Items 4, 13 and 15, on adviserinfo.sec.gov; 17 CFR §230.501(a)(5)–(6).
Our approach
How the portfolio is built and run
Ongoing financial planning is included with investment management at no additional charge, so the plan and the portfolio are always the same conversation. Most clients grant us discretion through a limited power of attorney at the custodian, which lets us carry out the written policy without a call before each trade; clients who prefer to approve each transaction can work with us on a non-discretionary basis instead.
Let the plan set the target
The initial planning analysis, delivered within sixty days of complete information, establishes what the portfolio must fund and when. From it we derive the return the plan actually needs, the drawdown it can survive, and the cash that should sit outside markets. Risk is stated in dollars a household can picture, not in a questionnaire score.
Write the investment policy statement
The policy statement records the target allocation and its ranges, the rebalancing bands, the cash reserve, the accounts covered, any restrictions you set in writing, and what we will not own. It is the document every later decision is checked against, and it is yours to keep.
Move in on a schedule, lot by lot
We inventory every existing holding with its cost basis and holding period. What fits the policy stays. What does not is sold in a sequence that respects the capital gains budget, the 3.8% surtax line, and any position that should be reduced gradually. Asset location is set here, before dollars move between accounts.
Choose the vehicles for the job
The core is built from low-cost, diversified funds and ETFs, with individual bonds or direct indexing where account size and tax profile justify them. An unaffiliated third-party manager or private fund enters only where it adds something we cannot build ourselves, after the diligence in our alternatives framework, and sized so that the plan does not depend on it.
Monitor, rebalance, report
Our Quarterly Rounds keep cash flow, risk, estate, and tax in sequence, and the portfolio work follows the same rhythm: rebalance when a band is breached, harvest losses when they are real, refill the reserve, and review the whole policy at least annually and whenever your circumstances change. Our reports reconcile to the custodian's statements, which arrive separately from us.
The work
What you’ll work through with us
- A written investment policy statement with target allocation, ranges, rebalancing bands, and restrictions
- A lot-by-lot transition plan for existing holdings, sequenced against the capital gains budget
- An asset location map across taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth accounts
- A cash and bond reserve sized to the spending the portfolio must cover
- Ongoing rebalancing, loss harvesting, and cash management under the written rules
- Diligence and sizing for any third-party manager or private investment before it enters the portfolio
- Quarterly reporting that reconciles to your custodian's statements, with a plan review at least annually
- Coordination with your CPA at year end, so the last trade of the year is made with the return in view
Investment management at the firm is led by Theo Halbardier, CFP®, CIMA®, CAIA®, the firm’s founder. The CIMA® curriculum is portfolio construction, asset allocation and manager evaluation; the CFP® work is the plan the portfolio serves; the CAIA® designation covers the diligence behind any alternative we consider. We are fee-only: no commissions, no product sales. About Theo
Questions
Common questions about investment management
What does discretionary investment management mean, and do I give up control?
Discretion means you authorize us in writing, through a limited power of attorney at the custodian, to carry out the investment policy without approving each trade. You keep control of the policy itself: the allocation, the restrictions, the accounts included, and the authority, which you can narrow or revoke at any time. We can also work on a non-discretionary basis, where we recommend and you approve before anything is executed.
How does a wealth manager build a portfolio?
In this order: the financial plan sets what the portfolio must fund and how much loss it can absorb; the investment policy statement turns that into a target allocation, ranges, and rebalancing rules; existing holdings are reviewed lot by lot and moved in on a tax-aware schedule; assets are placed in the accounts where they are taxed best; then the portfolio is monitored, rebalanced, and reported on every quarter.
Where is my money held?
In accounts in your own name at an independent qualified custodian, such as Charles Schwab, which sends statements directly to you at least quarterly. We never take possession of your funds or securities. Our only form of custody is the authority you give us to have our fee deducted from the account, which appears on every custodian statement.
How often do you rebalance?
When the written rules say so, not on a calendar. The policy statement sets a band around each allocation target; when drift breaches the band, we rebalance, using new cash, withdrawals, and tax-deferred accounts first so that taxable gains are realized only when they must be. We check the bands every quarter and after large market moves.
Do you use index funds or active managers?
Mostly low-cost, diversified index funds and ETFs, because cost and tax drag are the two things we can control. An active or third-party manager earns a place only where it does something the core cannot, and we receive nothing from any manager, fund, or platform for using it. We recommend only managers that are properly registered, and you can accept or decline any of them.
Can you manage my 401(k) or accounts you cannot trade?
Yes, on an advice basis. Workplace plans and some other accounts stay where they are, so we include them in the household allocation, recommend the specific funds and percentages from the plan's menu, and tell you when to rebalance. The accounts we manage directly are built around them, so the household is one portfolio rather than several.
How are you paid?
We are a fee-only firm: our only compensation is a simple advisory fee based on the assets we manage for you. No commissions, no product sales, no hidden or layered fees. This structure keeps our interests aligned with yours. In other words, we do better when you do better.
Reviewed by Theo Halbardier, CFP® · Updated September 2026 · Figures current for 2026
Bring the statements. We will bring the plan.
The first conversation is 30 minutes. A recent statement from each account is enough to start; no preparation needed.
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