Frequently Asked Questions

 “Will I be paying commissions, up-front loads or surrender charges?”

If you are interested in having us manage all or a portion of your assets, we will sign a contract which specifically defines any and all fees that we will charge.* While we manage your money, you allow us to deduct our fees quarterly from your account. Should you choose to no longer use our services, for whatever reason, we will stop charging you and you may withdraw your money.  We charge no additional fees.* 

"Who is the custodian that you use for your clients' accounts?"

Stone House recommends Fidelity Investments for most accounts.  (Please see ADV II for additional disclosure)

“Will I be able to see what is being done to my portfolio on any given day, month, quarter and year?”

All of our clients have the ability to access their accounts directly through their custodian's website.  In addition, we have hired a third party performance reporting company, Black Diamond, which clients also access.  Black Diamond allows clients to examine their performance over various time periods and compare them to benchmarks.

"What does 'active' and 'passive' money management mean?"

Active money management is a somewhat broad term used to describe the daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly efforts put forth by a manager in an effort to increase portfolio returns.  Passive money management would be the opposite approach and would likely include purchasing index funds.   The objective of active management is to produce better returns than those of passively managed index funds.  Stone House has investment platforms which utilize both of these styles to varying degrees.  Please see our Portfolios pages for more details.

"In the past, I've had trouble understanding how much I'm paying.  Will it be any different with your firm?"

The situation is dramatically different with Stone House.  When we sign an Investment Advisory contract with a client, it clearly defines the amount we will be billing each quarter.  In addition, when we mail clients their quarterly performance reports, we also include an invoice for the quarter in which we detail the exact amount charged to your account. 

"Will I be able to take regular payments from my investments?"

The easy answer is yes!  We have great flexibility to establish systematic investment/withdrawal plans for our clients.  You can take lump sums or random withdrawals at any time given the liquidity of most of our portfolios.

"How do fee-based services differ from the traditional commission-based services?"

In fee-based investing, the advisor's compensation is based on a set percentage of the client's assets.  In commission-based investing, the advisor makes money based on the amount of trades made or the amount of investments sold to the client.
 

* Brokerage Fees and Commissions may still apply in some cases.  See ADV II for details.