Portfolio Review: What to Expect from the Process
As we’ve discussed, it’s often worth considering a portfolio review as a second opinion to ensure you’re getting the most out of your money. But what does a portfolio review really entail?
What to Expect
At a high level, a thoughtful portfolio review requires sharing a bit about yourself, your current portfolio, and your financial goals so that we have the proper context to provide insights back to you. As we review your current portfolio, we’ll be looking at:
How is your current portfolio structured? Do you have a mix of holdings, including stocks, mutual funds, etc.?
Do you have an appropriate level of diversification within your portfolio or are you exposed by being too heavily invested in one particular area or company?
What is your investment style, and is your portfolio well-matched to the level of risk you’re comfortable with?
Are your investments the choices that are best-suited to help you achieve your financial goals?
Getting Started
First you’ll answer a brief (10 minute) survey about your investment style. This survey is multiple choice and is intended to provide insight into your financial objectives, time horizon, and risk appetite. It’s important to remember that there are no right or wrong answers to any questions. It’s all about identifying your objectives and ensuring that you have an investment strategy that’s well-aligned with your goals.
Please don’t feel like how you answer these questions will be set in stone, either. How you answer these questions will naturally evolve over time as your financial goals change. For example, when you’re in your 30s and in “wealth accumulation mode”, you’ll naturally have different objectives than when you’re approaching retirement. So just answer the questionnaire as you think is most appropriate for where you are right now.
Evaluating Your Current Portfolio
In order to get a comprehensive view of your portfolio, we’ll evaluate all of your current investment positions and current holdings. In order to do this, you can share your latest statements from your various investment accounts. These will be used, along with your survey responses, to identify how well your current portfolio is matched to your financial goals and risk tolerance level. In addition, we’ll also be evaluating:
How well are your assets allocated? Do you have an appropriate mix of stocks vs. bonds?
Are you currently in high- or low-cost investment vehicles?
Are your investment vehicles performing well within their category?
Do you have an appropriate mix of actively managed mutual funds vs. passive investments (like ETFs, index funds, etc.)?
What else is working well or underperforming?
We Take Your Privacy Seriously
We know it can sometimes feel a little odd to provide a new advisor with information about your portfolio. Rest assured that we take your privacy extremely seriously, and that the nature of our work is completely confidential. Any information you share with us, whether as a current customer, a prospective customer, or just someone looking for a second opinion, is privileged information and will be treated with the utmost security. That’s why all documents shared between us will be shared via a secure file drop through ShareFile, and only you and your advisor will have access to them. If it makes you more comfortable, you may redact your account numbers from statements.
Review and Discussion
Once we’ve received and analyzed all this information (typically 1-2 weeks depending upon schedule availability), we’ll have a discussion reviewing our findings together. We’ll discuss how well your current investments compare to your investment objectives, as well as how we can help you implement an investment strategy that fits your needs. This discussion is intended to be collaborative, and we encourage you to come with questions so we can review them together.
You’ll be able to take your view of your full assessment report directly via our secure file drop so you can keep it for your records.
Transparency and Communication Throughout the Process
Throughout the entire process of your portfolio review, you’ll have access to your financial advisor for any questions you may have. We know that dealing with your finances can be stressful, which is why our goal is to make this a transparent, stress-free process for you from start to finish.
To see how you may benefit from a second opinion please read our blog post “10 Signs You Need a Second Opinion”, or to get started today, request a Portfolio Review.