Unlike other financial advisors, we Stonegate Wealth Management is unencumbered by ties to specific products or institutional requirements. Our investment recommendations are fair, objective, and focused exclusively on meeting the objectives of the clients we serve.
 

We provide many services no other type of advisor will provide, including detailed financial planning. We are your advocate and as such also seek to help you make informed choices, in situations such as reviewing employment contracts, analyzing a prospective employer's benefits, helping you negotiate and obtain mortgages and other financing, providing you with draft outlines of legal documents you can take to your attorney (reducing legal costs), devising a strategy to exercise stock options, helping with home purchase and sale decisions, car financing decisions, etc.

 

Stonegate Wealth Management is the one place you come knowing that we are familiar with all aspects of your situation.  We understand your entire financial situation and are able to share our expertise to ensure that you reach your goals.

 

Stonegate Wealth Management's unique combination of fiduciary responsibility and independence sets us apart from other financial advisors. It gives our clients confidence that, in choosing Stonegate Wealth Management, they have made the best choice for their Wealth Management needs.

Stonegate Wealth's people are dedicated to earning your trust and providing a high level of client satisfaction.

 

 

Why is Stonegate Wealth Management, LLC fee-only?
Our fee-only arrangement ensures that we make our recommendations in your interest only. We do not accept commissions or payments from third parties. Therefore, you can be assured that our advice will not be influenced by other parties. We act as your fiduciaries, holding your interests above our own.

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How long has Stonegate Wealth Management, LLC been in business?

Since 1993, (Stonegate Wealth Management was formerly known as The Baron Financial Group).

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What are some of the benefits of Stonegate's investment management and client information process?

The benefits are tailored to help you understand the progress of your investment portfolio from several points of view::

• We develop an investment policy matched to your goals.
• We continually monitor your assets.
• We rebalance your portfolio as needed to mitigate risks and to avoid weighting the portfolio too heavily with one asset class.
• We select the most appropriate investment vehicles for your goals and your level of risk tolerance.
• We provide quarterly reporting of your investment return.
• We provide you with complete tracking of your tax basis so that taxation of gains may be minimized and deferred.
• We provide you with regular updates to your financial plan and overviews of your progress towards goals.

 

 

What types of investment vehicles do you use?

Investment vehicles may include mutual funds, individual securities, exchange traded funds, and managed accounts. We do not limit ourselves to a specific type of investment vehicle because we believe the quality of the investment is the area over which we have the most control.

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How does Stonegate Wealth Management, LLC select outside portfolio managers?

We start with automated computer filters and screens that enable us to assess thousands of portfolio managers. We focus on the key factors that, according to proven, reliable academic studies, indicate the potential for a manager’s performance to be better than average.

Those automated filters include such parameters as expense ratio, manager tenure, turnover, and tax efficiency. Generally only 10-15 managers pass the test of our filters in each asset category. Then we assess those 10-15 managers more thoroughly for issues that a computer cannot examine. We also attempt to determine if the manager plays (times) the market or is good at securities selection. We have developed proprietary tools to aid in the analysis. Generally, we reject managers who actively time markets since timing tends to be more a matter of luck than skill - and we do not believe that luck is repeatable or dependable. we gravitate to managers who are adept at choosing quality securities because they also tend to have better track records during market downturns. We prefer to use funds that are smaller and may not be well known because they do not waste shareholders' money on advertising. We also generally prefer investments that offer investment managers institutional class pricing. Management fees for mutual funds for example are typically .5% lower than the same fund available to the public.

We believe that we are paying for a manager’s expertise. Therefore, we may consider leaving an investment if and when that manager leaves.

 

We lean toward value rather than growth, a strategy that many academic studies reinforce as the most appropriate strategy for long term investors.

Generally, only 30-40 managers in all asset classes pass through our extensive review process. Each month we re-test every investment vehicle to verify it still passes our filters and to ascertain that no concerns have surfaced which may make us consider a change.

Our philosophy is the same for a publicly available mutual fund, or a separately managed account with limited availability: We cannot control or time markets, but we can control investment policy and the quality of the investments we choose. We do an excellent job of controlling those factors.

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How often is my account traded?

We will rebalance an account to bring it back to investment policy guidelines if the portfolio becomes over-weighted in any asset class. That rebalancing will occur anytime during the year. It is more market dependent rather than time dependent.

We will make trades to capture or harvest tax losses so we can help reduce tax consequences for our clients. Typically the proceeds are reinvested in another investment vehicle whose characteristics closely match the one we sold.

We will trade an investment vehicle out of an account if we believe the investment's quality has deteriorated and better choices are available. We may also trade out a vehicle if the manager whose expertise we are buying has left.

We do not generally trade based on market events since we do not believe in market timing. Occasionally we find that tactical changes within an asset class are useful, for example if interest rates may increase in the near future, or the dollar may weaken or gain strength. Individual securities may be traded more often that mutual funds or separate accounts.

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How often will you review my account?

We review each account at least monthly. We will also review it more frequently if the situation requires it.

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If I am one of your wealth management clients, how often will you meet with me?

Usually, during your first year as a client, we may meet with you 6-8 times.  The first two or three meetings help establish the goals for your portfolio and review the financial plan we establish for you. There will be one or two additional meetings to discuss our recommendations and agree on the investment policy for your account. If you prefer to meet less often, we can mail you reports and recommendations and discuss them in a conference call or by e-mail.

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How often will you update me on my portfolio?

You will receive monthly statements from Stonegate wealth Management's custodian, for each account you have with them. You will also receive confirmation statements from our custodian for all trades as they are made.

You will receive a quarterly performance report from Stonegate Wealth Management that shows the starting values and ending values for your portfolio for the quarter in question. The report includes a complete summary of all transactions for the quarter and the actual and annualized return for your portfolio and for each individual component of the portfolio since account inception.

You may also, at any time, access your account for current values using our custodian’s web site.

Additionally, you may contact Stonegate Wealth Management to receive a current statement at any time you choose.

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With regard to tax reporting, what do you provide me with at year-end to prepare my taxes?

We send you a complete analysis of all transactions with tax implications for your taxable accounts by the end of January. Our accounting system allows us to track the cost basis of every share for every investment held by us. This facilitates deferral of taxation since the IRS allows you to use different methods to identify which shares of a position (if sold partially) have been sold.

Our custodian will also send you a 1099 form that provides additional comprehensive information regarding your account.

Please note that if you wish Stonegate Wealth Management to track the cost basis for investments that you have transferred to us, you must provide us with the original cost basis information.

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Do you charge separately for financial planning services?

We do not charge separately for financial planning. Stonegate's wealth management services include management of your portfolio and financial planning as a seamless whole.