Investment Advisory billing

PFS works with our clients in two different ways. Some clients use one form of engagement and others use both. Each of these Investment Advisory processes has its Pros and Cons. As a policy PFS does not include the value of cash balances or money market positions as part of its billing calculation — these positions can be significant for conservative investors or those with short term investment needs.

First, the PFS trading platforms where we directly manage the assets. Depending on your risk tolerance and other factors, we utilize various investment portfolios that include but are not limited too stocks, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds. The portfolios range from only having individual stocks to just ETFs and mutual funds, in various combinations. Our philosophy is straightforward, identify and screen for using Morningstar research, well managed profitable with strong balance sheets relative to their publicly traded peers. Our ETF and mutual fund selection undergoes a similar process by screening for high quality fund managers that add value to their portfolios and demonstrate a consistent investment philosophy that benefits shareholders.  In short, an emphasis on profitability, balance sheet and market position drive the underlying security selection philosophy. 

Second, PFS works with clients to provide advice on the assets that are held directly (not on a trading platform utilized by PFS). This can also include helping clients to implement a PFS designed portfolio or giving recommendations and advice related to funds available within their account. This type of engagement sometimes includes using our model portfolios or designing custom portfolios based on client needs or limitations inside of an account. For this process we bill a year in advance based on the statement provided at the time of the agreement. We then meet quarterly or every other month (depending on market movement and size of the portfolio). During those meetings we review your portfolio’s security selection, rebalancing and complete the various activities related to portfolio management.