Question 1

Are you fee-only or fee-based?

Accepted Answer

Basepoint Wealth and its advisors are all fee-only.  This means all revenue to the business and advisors comes 100% from the transparent fees charged to our clients for our services, and that we act as a fiduciary in all advice we give and actions we take.  That means there is no compensation based on products that our advisors may recommend, or the investments that we use.  You don't need to worry about why a recommendation is being made because only your financial wellbeing is in mind.

Question 2

Is my situation a good fit for Basepoint?

Accepted Answer

Basepoint Wealth utilizes a team-based approach to advice and wealth management.  With over 150 years of experience, our team of client-facing advisors and behind-the-scenes professional staff have a wide range of knowledge in working with simple to complex financial situations.  Your advisor will make sure the right people are on your team to address your specific circumstances.

Question 3

What is your investment philosophy?

Accepted Answer

We can best summarize it as:  know what you own, and know why you own it.  Extensive information on our Seven Principles that guide our investment philosophy can be found on the Our Philosophy page.

Question 4

Do you focus solely on investment management, or do you also advise on taxes, estates, retirement, budgeting, debt management, and insurance?"

Accepted Answer

We believe investment management is important, but it is only one piece of wealth management.  Our processes are built to address all of the listed areas with competent, clear, professional advice, in addition to many other specialized areas of wealth creation and preservation.  You can get a sense of the breadth of our services under the Our Services navigation link.

Question 5

How much can I expect to earn on my investments?

Accepted Answer

Without knowing your circumstances, there is no honest way to answer this (and we would argue that you should be leery of anyone who would try).  Liquidity needs, investment constraints, time frame, tax considerations, tolerance for volatility, need or capacity for risk -- these are all critical factors that would influence the results of an individual portfolio.

Question 6

Where is my money held?

Accepted Answer

We utilize a variety of well-known custodians to hold client assets.  Our largest custodian for client assets is Fidelity, however we do utilize others when clients needs dictate.

Question 7

How do your clients work with their advisor?

Accepted Answer

While our philosophy and processes are consistent, our advisors each handle client engagement and relationships in their own way.  In general, each client has unique considerations that an advisor will seek to identify so that the relationship is managed in a way that is comfortable and productive.  We pride ourselves on meeting clients where they are - so while we enjoy face-to-face interaction, we also are not afraid to leverage modern technology to make the client-advisor team relationship more accessible and efficient for our clients.

Question 8

What are your fees?

Accepted Answer

We have two primary methods of engaging with clients and structuring fees:  invoice-based flat-rate fees, and assets under management for those clients that we handle investment management.  Fees are dictated based upon several factors, including complexity of your situation.  In your initial consultation with our advisors, we'll be able to identify what services may be a best fit to address your needs, and provide you with a transparent overview of what fees may apply to your situation.

Question 9

How are fees determined?

Accepted Answer

We believe in fairness to all of our clients, as do our regulators. So, we have published standard "recommended" fee levels based upon asset levels, case complexity, etc. These are identified in our SEC-filed ADV documents. We provide our advisors with limited discretion to deviate from these thresholds in order to ensure that like clients are paying similar fees. We think this is the most fair way to ensure that one client isn't subsidizing another through disparate fee levels. We routinely evaluate local, regional and national samples of similar firms to ensure that our fee structures are competitive and appropriate based on the level of services that we provide.

Question 10

What does your average client look like?

Accepted Answer

This varies widely!  On the average, our clients have net worth's of around $750,000; are around retirement age; and have investable assets of $500,000.  That said, we have clients who are just starting out in their careers to and through clients who are Fortune 100 executives and owners of substantial farm and business operations and everything in between.  Truth be told, we get this question a lot, and we would encourage you to check out the article in our Insights section on "What's Wrong With Average?" - it will give you an idea of why we've built our firm to focus on individual clients' needs, and not try to force them into pre-built "models" designed around "average".

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