Growth is an important theme at Brown and Company. We place a tremendous emphasis on hiring great people, utilizing the latest technology to improve efficiency and re-investing back into the client experience. It is through growth that we are able to deliver our best work to our clients. As part of our growth trajectory, we welcome the opportunity to work with new families each year. Many new families come to us by way of referral, either through existing clients or through our business partners in the community like CPAs, attorneys and bankers. When meeting new families in the initial stages, it is important that we get to know them very well and for them to get to know us very well. With detailed information from a new family, we can provide the right advice and recommendations for their unique situation. Concurrently, families will want to know all about our firm before deciding to work with us. It is our job to get them comfortable and excited about the prospect of working with our team, demonstrating our value in a variety of ways. We are confident that we add value for our clients. Indeed, Vanguard estimates that a financial advisor has the ability to add up to 3% of extra value over the course of a given year in working with clients.[1] Russell Investments estimates that a financial advisor can add up to 4% of extra value over the course of a year.[2] In addition to the quantification of an advisor’s value, the “sleep well at night” component that comes from solid financial planning adds a qualitative benefit to a family’s retirement. By way of example, The Retirement Shock Absorber® has been a centerpiece of our financial planning—an effective way of surviving—and giving confidence—during the inevitable ups and downs of the financial markets. But even after our initial meetings and planning on behalf of new families, it will always require some element of faith for a new client to hire us. There is only so much we can prove to a family up front, before they decide whether to work with us. To that end, we want this “leap of faith” to be as comfortable and riskless as possible. We have created a checklist of ideas that we think will help facilitate the decision to hire our firm.
- There are no long-term contracts involved in working with us. You can fire us at any time, for any reason.
- We have a 99% client retention rate over the past five years.
- We are very tax sensitive. When working with a new family, we will create a detailed plan to examine existing investments in the portfolio and understand the tax implications of selling or rebalancing. Our goal is to minimize the tax consequences of hiring us to manage your assets.
- We have a thoughtful process for onboarding new families. An important theme in working with us is consistent and helpful communication between a new client and our team.
- Client references are available upon request.