Fee Structure

At IAM, we offer one of the most innovative fee structures in the industry. Most financial advisors charge for investment advisory services on either a commission or fee basis – at IAM, we have a better solution.

Many brokers charge on a commission basis, however this leads to the situation where the broker is being paid to trade rather than to generate a good rate of return for the client.

Most Registered Investment Advisors charge an investment management fee based upon the amount of money managed on behalf of a client. The theory is that with such a remuneration package the advisor is paid more the larger the account, therefore there is an incentive to make the account grow through good investment performance. However, the account could grow simply through average investment performance; investment markets, after all, generally go up over the years. The account could also grow if the client adds more funds. While this form of remuneration better aligns the advisor’s interests with those of the client, it still isn’t ideal.

We believe in earning our keep, and therefore we feel that the ideal fee structure is one based upon performance. For this reason our clients can choose either the regular fee structure based on the size of the account or a discounted fee with a performance based “bonus”.
We believe in earning our keep, and therefore we feel that the ideal fee structure is one based upon performance. For this reason our clients can choose either the regular fee structure based on the size of the account or a discounted fee with a performance based “bonus”. Due to regulatory constraints, we are able to offer the performance based fee structure to US residents only if they have over $1,000,000 under management with us.

Our performance based fee structure is unlike any other that we know of in the industry because we do not accept a performance fee unless it can be paid out of yearly portfolio gains – and should the portfolio underperform one year then we must make up for the underperformance before charging any performance bonus in future years. Our goal is to show our clients a positive return on investment every year; if we cannot accomplish this, then we will not accept a performance incentive even though the portfolio may have outperformed its benchmark.

Click here to read what Worth magazine has to say about our fee structure

Click here to see a sample performance bonus calculation

Our Fees Explained:

 

Portfolio Management Fees

Minimum account size: $200,000

Assets-Under-Management (AUM) fee structure: Yearly fee of 1.5% for AUM under $500,000, 1.25% for AUM between $500,000 and $1,000,000, and 1% for AUM over $1,000,000.

OR

Performance based fee structure: Yearly fee of 1.0% for AUM under $500,000, 0.75% for AUM between $500,000 and $1,000,000, and 0.5% for AUM over $1,000,000 + 20% of the yearly portfolio performance above an agreed upon benchmark. The benchmark is agreed to each year in advance and set out in the Investment Policy Statement

 

Portfolio Advisory Fees

Minimum account size: $200,000

Yearly fees of 1.0% of assets under management.

 

Portfolio Analysis Fees

One-time fee from $1,000 to $2,000 based upon complexity of analysis.

 

Financial Planning Fees

One time fee from $1,500 to $3,000 depending upon complexity of plan. Portfolio Management clients receive either discounted or free financial planning services depending upon the level of assets under management.

 

Financial Consulting Fees

Charged at $250/hr. for short-term projects or negotiated rates for longer term projects.

 

Comprehensive Services

Available to clients with over $2,000,000 under management. Includes portfolio management, ongoing financial planning, financial consulting, and on-call access to portfolio manager and financial planner as well as face-to-face meetings at least once per year no matter where the client lives. Yearly fee of 1.5% for AUM under $500,000, 1.0% for AUM between $500,000 and $1,000,000, and 0.5% for AUM over $1,000,000 + 20% of the yearly portfolio performance above an agreed upon benchmark.