Investment Philosophy

Investment Advisory Services

Since 1984 Lakeside Advisors, Inc. has focused on financial planning, however, our primary business is portfolio management for clients.  

Discretionary Portfolio Management

We manage each client’s investment portfolio based on your specific needs.   Our initial meeting with you starts by understanding who you are in a financial sense.  Our service includes one face-to-face meeting per year.  Topics addressed, among others, may include:

• A review of your  investment accounts
• Retirement plans (401k plan accounts or IRAs, etc.)
• Insurance contracts
• Tax related matters
• Estate documents
• Personal and family obligations

• Family and college plans

The result of this fact finding is to determine:

Your financial position

• Financial goals and objectives for today and tomorrow
• Liquidity needs including cash flow demands
• Risk tolerance
• Investment constraints / restrictions

This information is used to construct a portfolio(s) that represent a blend of asset classes (stocks, bonds, alternatives, cash) for your risk and return characteristics.

Although each client’s account is managed based on your unique needs, we have three main strategies:

1) Fixed Income Strategy

Preservation of capital and low volatility is the goal for this strategy.  Portfolios consist of laddered taxable bonds, non-taxable bonds, and certificates of deposit.   We employ this strategy as a conservative approach for preservation of capital and income generation.

2) Balanced Strategy

Fixed Income and Equity Strategies are blended for your specific needs as appropriate.  Balanced account allocations are never static, they move with the markets.  Some clients may be 50-50 (equity to fixed income) but others may be 30-70 (equity to fixed income). 

The percentage allocated to either strategy is based upon your income needs, safety of principal and risk tolerances.

• For the fixed income allocation we follow our fixed income strategy above.
• For the equity allocation we follow our equity strategy described below. 

3) Equity Strategy

This strategy aims for capital appreciation primarily through the following equity based securities:

• Mutual Funds
• Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
• Individual equities listed on an exchange or over-the-counter (OTC) market.

The equities used include small and large capitalization securities and growth, value or turnaround situations.  Positions are initiated with strict buy and sell targets.   

Financial Planning Services

Financial planning services involves our review and recommendations, including consultations related to your:

• Federal income tax
• Retirement planning / pension plans
• Estate planning
• Risk management, i.e., insurance policies (life, medical, disability, and casualty)
• College education
• Savings

If you purchase Financial Planning Services, you will receive a written report.  This report would provide an analysis of your current financial position and personal facts with the recommendations designed to assist you in achieving your stated financial goals and objectives.  

Financial Consulting Services

Consulting services are “limited financial planning” services which are topical in nature.  Clients may hire us to provide consulting services on some or all of the following topics over time:

• Financial goals and objectives
• Current financial position
• Retirement planning
• Real estate investments
• Insurance policies (life, medical, disability, and casualty coverage) 
• Federal income tax planning
• Estate plans
• Annual updates of your balance sheet
• Updates of capital accumulation programs (as recommended in your “financial plan”)

Consulting services are oriented towards your long-term goals and objectives.

Fee Schedule & Description

Discretionary Management of Accounts 

Our advisory fee for portfolio management services is a maximum of 0.6% (0.6 percent) per year of the assets we manage for you.  The management fee is billed quarterly in advance.   Although we do not impose a minimum account size to open or maintain our account, we impose minimum annual fee.   This “annual” fee is $600 per year.  The minimum annual fee is non-negotiable.

Financial Planning and Consulting Services

Fees for financial planning or consulting services are offered in two ways:

1) Hourly: at $250 per hour 
2) Fixed Fee: based on an estimate of the hours at $250.00 per hour or as agreed to by the specific client and us.

We estimate the number of hours and fee to meet with, work on and present your financial plan.  One half of the estimated fee is paid in advance of our service with the execution of the Planning Agreement.  We consider the “Plan” completed when the Planning Report is delivered to you.  At this time, we will present the “final” invoice to you and request payment within 15 days.

If you choose the Fixed Fee, we will bill one quarter of the fee with the signing of the Agreement.  We then bill you each quarter for the balance of the annual service.  Each fixed fee agreement is subject to re-negotiation.   It does not automatically renew.

Reports & Correspondence

Each financial planning client receives an updated balance sheet and a summary of the progress of your investments at least once per year.    We may provide other reports such as retirement funding progress and real estate investment performance depending on the client needs.

Each discretionary client receives separate quarterly report from us.   The report includes a portfolio appraisal, performance of your account at the end of each quarter for the calendar year to date, and the statement of management fees.   We may provide more frequent reporting upon a client’s request.

One Final Word

All investments carry the risk of loss of your invested assets (or un-realized gains in your account).  There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will meet its objective or be profitable.  

Additional information about Lakeside Advisors, Inc. is available on the SEC’s web site at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.  You can search this site by a firm’s name or a unique identification number, known as CRD number.  Our firm’s CRD number is 104540.  You can also contact us at 206-285-1730 or by email at bob@lakesideadvisors.com.

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