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Frequently Asked Questions
Please click on the question to find the answer
• Am I qualified to be a client of Mosaic Financial Partners, Inc.?
• What does it cost to work with Mosaic Financial Partners, Inc?
• Do you sell any product, receive commissions or get referral fees?
• What should I expect in the financial planning process? What kind of experience will it be?
• How do you conduct investment management?
• What information will I need to provide?
• What do I need to bring to the first meeting?
• Is there a cost for the first meeting?
• How many clients do you have?
• What is the average size account?
• Describe the typical client of Mosaic Financial Partners, Inc.
• What does Mosaic Financial Partners, Inc. really do for me?
• What education, training and credentials do your advisors have?
• Whom will I work with?
• What other services do you provide?
Am I qualified to be a client of Mosaic Financial Partners, Inc.?
Our clients typically enjoy household incomes above $200,000 and have investment portfolios of $2 million or more. Under some circumstances, we work with clients who do not yet meet these thresholds but who are on the path to reach them in the near future.
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What does it cost to work with Mosaic Financial Partners, Inc.?
A plan that addresses the multiple aspects of a family's personal finances typically costs $8,000 to $15,000 and takes approximately six to 12 months to complete, generally involving six to 10 meetings.
In limited instances, where a less extensive analysis may be involved - such as a stock option analysis or portfolio reveiw, we may employ project fees. The minimum fee for project-related planning is $2,000.
Investment management fees are calculated as an annual percentage of the assets we manage on your behalf. Fees, paid quarterly, are set at an annualized rate:
- 1.00% on the first $2,000,000 of assets under management
- 0.70% on the next $3 million
- 0.50% on the next $5 million
- 0.30% for amounts exceeding $10 million
Our minimum annual fee is $15,000
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Do you sell any products, receive commissions or get referral fees?
No. We work exclusively on a fee-compensated basis. There are never any third-party agendas at work.
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What should I expect in the financial planning process? What kind of experience will it be?
The process begins with a “get acquainted” meeting. We'll review information you provide about your financial circumstances (such as taxes, insurance, investments, estate planning and employee benefits) and confirm that we understand your concerns, goals and priorities.
We will then work together to establish and prioritize objectives. We'll meet with you over several months to analyze and discuss each of them. We'll review the problems and opportunities facing you, examine the alternatives and recommend strategies and action steps. We will also help you implement the recommendations.
Once your initial plan is complete, we meet with you once or twice a year to review and update your plan, assess progress, and consider further actions that may be appropriate for you.
You can learn more about the step-by-step process on the Financial Planning page.
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What is your approach to investment management?
Our goal is to manage your assets in ways that work best for you, which is why we employ a number of different approaches (see Investment Management for details).We ensure that your portfolio is designed to achieve its targeted return without taking on more risk than necessary. Your portfolio will have its own Investment Policy Statement that details its management and establishes key goals, policies and procedures.
In your personalized portfolio design, we may use:
- Only mutual funds
- A combination of individual stocks, bonds and mutual funds
- Separate account managers (money managers who choose individual stocks or bonds with your specific needs in mind)
- Some combination of the above
Although we provide individualized asset management, we believe that some consistency in approach is important. In almost all cases, we:
- Assist you in establishing investment accounts at Charles Schwab, Fidelity or a similar custodian
- Recommend a diversified portfolio and employ multiple managers and investment styles
- Strive to make your investments as tax-efficient as possible
- Monitor your portfolio and rebalance it as necessary to ensure a consistent level of investment risk
- Avoid unnecessary trading to keep your expenses as low as possible
- Avoid chasing the latest "hot" sector or trying to outsmart the market by picking individual securities that a few believe are "certain" to outperform the market
- Provide thorough, quarterly reports that offer perspective and performance information
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What information will I need to provide?
This depends on the questions you want us to address and how you want us to help you. You can't give us too much information. We particularly want to know about your personal goals, values, concerns, and past experiences. In most cases, we’ll want to see tax returns, wills and estate plans, business agreements, insurance documents, investment and bank statements, employee benefit statements, pay stubs and other documents you think might be relevant.
To simplify this process, we give you an extensive questionnaire that includes a list of documents we’d like to see.
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What do I need to bring to the first meeting?
We ask you to complete a short, “getting to know you” questionnaire before our first meeting. This gives us an overview of your financial circumstances and a preliminary idea of what you want us to help with.
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Is there a cost for the first meeting?
The first meeting is a “get acquainted” session at no charge. You have an opportunity to evaluate us and we have a chance to determine whether or not we can be of service to you. If, however, the purpose of the meeting is to render advice on a specific issue, we charge for our time at our normal hourly rate.
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How many clients do you have?
We serve approximately 200 investment management clients, most of whom use our financial planning services. We also work with a number of clients on a planning-only basis. Clients include individuals, couples, trusts, and business retirement plans.
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What is the average account size?
For new clients, our minimum investment portfolio is $1 million (which, for a couple, might include multiple IRAs, a joint account and / or trust accounts).
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Describe the typical client of Mosaic Financial Partners, Inc.
While we work with people of all ages and descriptions, most of our clients are in the "accumulation" stage of life— generally 35-55 years old. We work with single people and married couples (we expect to meet with both spouses). Most of our clients are corporate executives, professionals or owners of their own businesses. Approximately one quarter are retired. For the most part, our clients are successful people who either don’t have enough time to devote to their financial lives or who recognize the benefit of professional guidance in this area. Read about Our Services now.
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What can Mosaic Financial Partners, Inc. really do for me?
We will help you accumulate, grow, protect, enjoy, and transfer your wealth. We help you gain clarity about what you want and how to get it. We work with you to set goals, develop strategies to achieve them and implement the strategies, monitoring your progress and making adjustments when necessary. In essence, we are your partner and coach, advising you so that you can achieve your financial and life goals.
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What are your education, training and background credentials?
The professional advisory staff stands on more than 100 years of cumulative financial services experience. Each member of our advisory staff is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. Since credentials vary by team member, we invite you to review individual résumés (see Our Team).
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Whom will I work with?
We do not establish a lead advisor until we get to know you and have a feel for your personality and financial needs. Since we work as a team, you can be sure that whenever you need to talk, you’ll have access to someone familiar with you and your situation.
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What other services do you provide?
Financial planning and investment management are our two primary services (see Services), but we also offer advice about stock options, 401(k) investment options, and employee benefit decisions. In addition, we refer clients to other professionals who can help with tax preparation, wills and estate planning, banking, mortgage financing and insurance.
In our work with business owners, we may help with strategy development, executive compensation design, employee benefit programs, and financing needs.
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