Frequently Asked Questions

We help individuals and families with concentrated company stock, liquidity events, and the transition to retirement, as part of managing their overall wealth. Our decisions are measured against an agreed rubric: tax, implementation costs, risk, and your goals.

We're fee-only, with published fees. If you'd like to talk it through, book a complimentary 30-minute call, or see where to start.

Rubric is fee-only. We are compensated by the advisory fees our clients pay: no commissions, no proprietary products, and no compensation for selling securities. We do not charge performance-based or incentive fees.

Our Personal Advisor service is billed as an annual percentage of assets under management, set by your portfolio size and applied to your whole portfolio: 0.80% up to $3 million, 0.70% from $3–5 million, and 0.60% above $5 million. Our Digital Advisor service (launching soon) will be a flat 0.45% per year. Each is subject to a quarterly minimum fee, $279 for Personal Advisor and $99 for Digital Advisor, so the effective rate on a smaller account can be higher than the percentage above. Standalone financial planning is billed at $250 per hour.

Asset-management fees are billed quarterly and, with your prior written authorization, are typically deducted directly from your account. See our full fee schedule. Full details are in our Form ADV Part 2A & 2B, and you can model the long-term impact of fees with our fee calculator.

We generally require a minimum of $50,000 to open and maintain an advisory account, though this minimum may be lowered or waived at our discretion. Our institutional OCIO mandates generally require a minimum of $1 million.

What does not change:

• You continue to own your accounts and assets.
• Your accounts are held in your name at a qualified custodian, such as Charles Schwab, Interactive Brokers, or Altruist.
• We don’t use proprietary products, and you can move your accounts at any time. Some investments, such as private funds, have lock-ups or transfer restrictions.
• You can view your accounts and custodian statements at any time.

What changes:

Centralized access to your finances
You’ll have a single, secure place to view your accounts, investments, and reports, rather than juggling multiple statements or logins.

Clearer portfolio visibility
You can see how your accounts fit together as a whole, including asset allocation and progress toward your goals, instead of viewing investments in isolation.

Easier access to information
Balances, holdings, and reports are available on demand, so you don’t need to wait for paper statements or reach out for routine updates.

More transparent reporting
You’ll receive clear, easy-to-understand summaries of your portfolio and its performance, designed to support informed decisions rather than overwhelm you with data.

Dedicated advisor guidance
You work with a dedicated financial advisor who provides ongoing, fiduciary-based guidance as your portfolio is managed and reviewed over time.

Secure communication and document sharing
Important documents, reports, and messages are shared through a secure platform, reducing reliance on email and improving privacy.

We typically recommend Charles Schwab, Interactive Brokers, or Altruist, and can work with other qualified custodians. Learn more about our custodians and technology partners.

Usually not. Most holdings can move in kind via ACATS to your account at our supported custodians, typically within a few days. Some, such as proprietary mutual funds or certain annuities, may need to be sold first; we review this with you before any transfer. It can take up to a week for tax lots and cost basis information to get delivered by the sending broker. Therefore, we wait until all the information on the transferred account is available with the new custodian before taking any action.

We offer you access to your data from any device, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Here is an overview of what we provide:

Personalized Dashboards
Access a customized dashboard that gives you a clear snapshot of your wealth, anywhere, anytime. Track all your financial accounts in one easy-to-understand interface to track your wealth.

Investment Monitoring
Track your asset allocation, monitor your investment performance, and understand your portfolio risks.

Security You Can Trust
Your information is accessed through a secure, login-protected portal.

Goal-setting and risk assessment are part of every advisory relationship: we manage your portfolio around your goals, time horizon, cash needs, and tax picture, and revisit them as your circumstances change.

Read more about our investment approach.

We seek long-term growth consistent with your objectives and risk tolerance. We rely on rigor, discipline, and process, and we form our own opinions based on quantitative and qualitative analysis.

We focus on long-term investment strategies intended to grow your wealth, and we seek to construct portfolios with attractive risk-and-return characteristics for your objectives.

We believe in prudent diversification. We seek to optimize risk-adjusted returns while incorporating the effects of fees, taxes, and other real-world considerations.

We believe private market strategies, when appropriate for qualified clients (typically $3M+ invested), can play an important role in complementing public equity investments. They are illiquid, higher risk, and can result in the loss of the entire investment.

Our methods combine fundamental analysis with quantitative modeling grounded in Modern Portfolio Theory to research investments and diversify across asset classes appropriate for your circumstance. We monitor our recommendations closely, and we adjust as circumstances change.

Our client portal shows your accounts, allocation, and performance, and we provide written performance reports at least quarterly. Your custodian also sends you account statements directly.

If you don't understand something, call us or set up a time and we'll go through it with you.

By data-driven, we mean that our investment decisions are guided by data and disciplined analysis rather than narratives or stories. A data-driven approach allows us to evaluate risk and opportunity systematically and remain consistent through changing market conditions.

Our data-driven process emphasizes:

• Systematic evaluation. We use scenario analysis to help evaluate options for your situation. We use our own quantitative investment models, grounded in Modern Portfolio Theory, to evaluate stocks and ETFs and inform portfolio construction by thoughtfully balancing risk and return.
• Asset class interaction. We assess how asset class exposures interact, how correlations evolve over time, and how risk is expressed at the stock, ETF, and portfolio level.
• Disciplined decision-making. We establish clear analytical guardrails around portfolio design, monitor portfolios on an ongoing basis, and rebalance when allocations drift meaningfully from targets.
• Reducing behavioral bias. We rely on data to support unemotional, consistent decision-making, particularly during periods of market volatility or uncertainty.

Ultimately, a data-driven approach prioritizes rigor over guesswork, helping clients remain aligned with their long-term objectives even when market noise or emotion might otherwise lead you to make costly mistakes.

Diversification is a foundational principle of prudent wealth management. We view diversification not as a guarantee against loss, but as a risk management tool designed to reduce reliance on any single investment, asset class, or market outcome to build your long-term wealth.

Our approach to diversification focuses on:

• Multiple sources of return. We balance your exposure across public markets (and, for qualified clients, private markets), asset classes, and investment styles to reduce dependence on any single driver of performance.
• Managing uncertainty across market environments. We construct portfolios with a range of economic conditions in mind, recognizing that markets are influenced by many unpredictable forces.
• Understanding interaction effects. We evaluate how different assets behave together, particularly during periods of market stress when correlations can change and diversification benefits may narrow.
• Ongoing monitoring and rebalancing. We review portfolios and rebalance as needed to keep diversification aligned with portfolio goals and risk parameters.

Diversification does not eliminate risk or prevent losses. However, by thoughtfully diversifying exposure across asset classes, we can reduce concentration risk. Explore how different asset classes compare across risk and return.

We believe taxes are an important and often overlooked component of long-term investment outcomes. A tax-efficient approach focuses on helping you retain more of what you earn, while remaining aligned with overall investment objectives, risk tolerance, and liquidity needs. We coordinate with your CPA and estate attorney.

Our tax-aware approach focuses on:

• After-tax outcomes. We consider the impact of taxes as part of the investment process, without prioritizing tax minimization at the expense of sound portfolio construction.
• Thoughtful portfolio design. We evaluate how investment selection, turnover, and rebalancing decisions may affect after-tax results over time.
• Tax-aware asset selection. We assess which types of investments may be more appropriate for taxable versus tax-advantaged accounts, within a disciplined portfolio framework.
• Ongoing attention and coordination. We recognize that tax laws and individual circumstances evolve, and we monitor portfolios over time to remain aligned as conditions change.

Tax-efficient investing is ultimately about balance and perspective. By thoughtfully incorporating tax considerations into the investment process, we aim to help clients pursue their long-term goals in a more informed and holistic manner. Learn more about our tax-loss harvesting and direct indexing strategies.

Risk is an inherent part of investing. Being risk-aware means recognizing and understanding risk, rather than attempting to avoid it entirely. While risk cannot be eliminated, it can be evaluated and managed in ways that align with each client’s objectives, time horizon, and capacity for loss.

Our risk-aware approach focuses on:

• Understanding risk in multiple dimensions. We evaluate risk beyond short-term market volatility, including concentration risk, liquidity risk, inflation risk, and the risk of not meeting long-term financial goals. We use scenario and stress-test analysis to see how a range of market outcomes could affect your goals.
• Aligning risk with client circumstances. We incorporate each client’s risk tolerance, time horizon, and financial situation to determine how much risk is appropriate and how portfolios should be structured.
• Designing portfolios for varied market environments. We recognize that different economic and market conditions produce different outcomes, and we construct portfolios with a range of scenarios in mind.
• Disciplined risk management and oversight. We manage risk through purposeful portfolio construction, diversification, and ongoing monitoring to keep exposures aligned with intended targets.
• Setting realistic expectations. We help clients understand that market volatility, drawdowns, and periods of uncertainty are unavoidable, and we emphasize long-term perspective over short-term reaction to events.

A risk-aware approach is ultimately about balance and preparedness. Take our free investment risk assessment to discover your risk profile.

No. We coordinate tax and legal decisions with your CPA and attorney.