Become a Client
Become an RLC Client
We only have clients at RLC – never customers.
- A customer is someone who makes a purchase from a business one or more times.
- A client is under the ongoing care and guidance and protection of an expert.
If you are reading this, you may be looking for a financial advisor and probably considering hiring RLC to work together with you to create growth and income that is safe and predictable. For that reason, we’ve taken time to put into words who benefits most from being a client of RLC. We hope it makes your job easier as you choose a money management firm.
The Key to Choosing a Financial Advisor
There is one key to successfully choosing a financial advisor
After working with clients for more than 30 years, we believe the one key to choosing a financial advisor is to know you are a great fit for each other right from the beginning – not personality, but how they manage money and whether you can believe in and can live with the results.
We work together with a select group of clients (individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations) to make strategic investment decisions about their money. This frees them up to focus their time and energy on those things in life that are most important to them. We only work with clients who we think we can make a significant contribution and impact to their lives. We are here to add value beyond what we are paid.
A client is under the ongoing care and guidance and protection of our firm.
The client who receives the greatest benefit from working together with us has the following qualities:
Once you cross the $250,000 portfolio size, you will benefit from working together with an investment manager. Because of this, our minimum account size it $250,000 (this can represent the value of a single account or a combination of several smaller accounts). Our average client account size is substantially greater. Beyond portfolio size, there are other, more important factors that lead to creating a great working relationship. Here’s a description of the client we’ve found to benefit the most from our approach to investing:
-
You are already financially successful
Frankly, we won’t make you wealthy. You’re already wealthy, by any worldwide standards. We may however, stabilize and extend your wealth and prevent you from giving back everything you’ve accomplished.
Your financial position has given you the freedom of doing what you prefer with your time, without the stress that comes from worrying about the steady growth of your money. No doubt you passed through that phase of your life a long time ago. If that were not so, you wouldn’t be reading this website. We understand your accomplishments and how we can free your time even further by taking the investment burden off your shoulders.
-
You are a financial delegator, but still want to be informed, in the loop, understand what is happening, and in control of the overall “big decisions” about the direction of your money
We like that approach! You realize you don’t have to be in control of the day-to-day decision making about your portfolio, or you wouldn’t be hiring us. This would defeat the opportunity for freedom you now have as a result of your accomplishments – whether this is time spent with grandchildren, hobbies you’re are passionate about, career or business interests, or travel.
In your phone calls, we bring you into the thought process as a colleague, so you understand why decisions are being made.
We keep you in the loop, but take the burden of caring for the development and execution of a strategy off your shoulders. At the end of the day, someone still has to make investment decisions. That’s what we do.
On the other hand, we value your input, feelings and thoughts about where the process is going and how it will affect your lives. In your phone calls, we bring you into the thought process as a colleague, so you understand why decisions are being made.
-
You Want to Limit Risk As Well As Make Money
Our clients are very aware that decades of savings can be lost in the markets without careful risk management. They appreciate the value we add, not only by making investments grow, but by preserving those gains in down markets. They understand this takes time, effort and experience.
You won’t settle for a simplistic “asset allocation” that leaves you exposed to every market decline. In short, you want to “make it, keep it and live well” through the entire process. This is what we do. It’s our passion.
If you are interested in performance without regard to risk management, we are not a good fit for you. There are a great many firms out there that offer that approach.
-
You Value Relationships
Our clients value having a relationship with a trusted group of advisors that they can call any time to have their questions answered or concerns addressed. Many of our client relationships span decades. We cherish these friendships. It makes our contact even more enjoyable.
-
You Want to Hear the Truth
Our clients hear the truth from us about their financial situation – whether good or bad. Life has both. We don’t sugar-coat anything. We simply tell you the truth. You deserve the truth and we don’t know any other way.
-
You Want to Know Your Advisors Represent Your Interests
Our clients prefer to pay professional fees to manage their investments instead of dealing with the conflicts of interest that commissions create. This is exactly how we are paid for our services -by fees only and never by a third party. We place your interests ahead of our own, as true fiduciaries – the highest standard of ethical action in the financial services industry.
The percentage fee we charge for an entire year of management is often less than the percentage the market fluctuates in a single day.
We charge a percentage of assets under management according to our fee schedule, with a minimum account size of $250,000. We believe this best aligns our interests with yours. The percentage fee we charge for an entire year of management is often less than the percentage the market fluctuates in a single day. A bargain by any measure.
-
You Understand the Difference Between Formality and Expertise
The world of investment professionals has its own language that is foreign to most investors, and frankly we realize that most clients don’t want to learn a second language. They want to know where their money is invested, how much they have, what is happening in the markets, how that will affect them and whether they are OK. They want all that delivered in a way that is simple to understand. For that reason, we work hard to always be authentic and to communicate in a way that is direct and easy to understand.
We also work hard to make each part of our business accessible and not formal. If a room full of gray suits and reams of complicated papers are what you are looking for, unfortunately, you won’t find it at our office.
-
You Are Realistic and Patient
Studies show that investors routinely hurt their own investment results by chasing performance based on very short term results. In other words, they are unrealistic and impatient.
Investing is more than a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly result. Success happens over the course of a complete market cycle – meaning a strong rising market as well as a weak falling market. These cycles are the environment in which all investors must make decisions and judge success. Both will affect your results. You understand we can’t control the markets. We can only make wise decisions in response to what happens. You are realistic.
In rising markets, we want to capture consistent and substantial returns. In falling markets, we want to avoid substantial losses. We judge the success of an investment strategy by the total result over a complete market cycle that includes the performance in both conditions. In fact, what you don’t lose often has a greater impact on your total result than what you make. That takes time. You are patient.
-
If this describes you, please fill out the contact form below to schedule a telephone conference to meet and learn how we can best serve you. You can also call us at 888.895.1212
We look forward to talking together with you.