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“For investors looking to maximize their net worth, great planning represents the low hanging fruit.”

-Stage Harbor Financial

 Our Firm

We are comprehensive financial planners headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts. We take great pride in getting to know our clients and taking a vested interest in their financial lives. We strongly believe that great financial planning can lead to very positive financial and emotional results. This is what drives our passion for this industry. Therefore, we go to great lengths to stay on the cutting edge of planning strategies. It is also why we have structured our firm with our client’s best interests in mind. Below are a few examples of how we believe we have accomplished this:

Fiduciary Standard

As a registered investment advisor, we are proud to be held to a fiduciary standard. This means that we have a legal requirement to act in your best interest at all times. This seems like a “no brainer” for us. If you are entrusting us with your life’s earnings, then you should have the confidence that we are acting in your best interest. In fact, we believe the fiduciary standard should be the standard that all wealth management professionals are subject to. Unfortunately, most brokers are subject to a far less strict suitability standard. By being held to a fiduciary standard, you can be confident that we always have your best interests in mind. 

Competitive & Transparent Fees

The wealth management and financial planning industries are high profit industries with most firms charging at least 1% of their client assets for their services. This is great for the planning firm, but we do not believe it is typically in the client’s best interest. We believe the days of high fees are short-numbered. We are very proud of our competitive fee structure, which starts at 0.80%. Furthermore, we have a very simple and transparent, single fee structure. Our clients always understand what they are paying us. Please find our fee schedule here.

Independence

We are a privately owned, independent firm. This means that we are not beholden to any shareholders or parent company. This allows us to have one singular focus – acting in your best interest. Unlike public companies that are conflicted between maximizing quarterly profits and reinvesting in their firm, we are free to keep a long-term perspective. Among other things, this independence allows us to hire and retain talented employees and to invest in cutting edge technology. Best of all, this independence allows us to listen to our clients and act upon their feedback, which consistently raises the level of our service.

Aligned Incentives

Our incentives are correlated with your success. In larger firms, advisors often have pressure to sell proprietary products. These products are generally more profitable to the parent organization or create additional revenue streams. We do not offer any proprietary products. Furthermore, our singular fee schedule means that we do not get paid any more or less for recommending certain products. Therefore, our clients can always be confident that we are recommending what we believe to be the best solution available to meet their specific needs.

If you wish to read more on this topic, please read “How We are Different – Part 1 (Our Structure)” and “The Difference Between an Advisor and a Broker“

If you wish to learn more about our firm, please review our Client Relationship Summary (CRS) and our Form ADV Part 2A (“Disclosure Brochure”)

“Unlike stock markets, great planning doesn’t have bear markets, but it sure does take advantage of them.”

-Stage Harbor Financial

How We Plan

We believe that our job as your advisor is to help you most efficiently connect your financial resources to your life – so that you can feel secure and achieve your most meaningful goals. Financial planning, with its many moving parts, can be complex and time consuming. We help you simplify your financial life and give you the confidence that every aspect of your finances is being thoughtfully managed. The following are a few of the ways that we accomplish this:

Relationships

We are firm believers that great planning starts with great listening. Our low client to advisor ratio enables us to better understand you, your family, your passions and your fears so that we can be proactive with our communication and tailor our strategies to your specific needs. By better understanding your unique circumstances, we can build a more meaningful plan, which we believe leads to more thorough execution and better results. 

Depth of Planning

When we say comprehensive planning, we mean it. Only after understanding your entire financial situation do we begin the process of building and implementing a plan, which includes retirement planning, cash-flow strategies, asset allocation, tax strategies, estate planning, risk mitigation strategies, etc. After implementation, we have regular review meetings to keep the plan up-to-date with the changing circumstances of your life. 

Technology

We use best-of-breed technology to enhance our planning and simplify and organize your financial life. These technologies allow us to provide in-depth tax and estate planning, track savings and expenses, organize your financial documents, effectively measure the risks in your portfolio and execute tax-optimized portfolio rebalancing. We place many of these financial tools at your fingertips so that you can co-author your financial plan alongside your Stage Harbor advisor.

If you wish to read more on this topic, please read “How We are Different – Part 2 (Our Advice)” and “The Significant Value of Financial Planning“

“A portfolio without an investment philosophy is like a ship without a rudder.”

-Stage Harbor Financial

How We Invest

We never attempt to time or “out-smart” the markets. Instead, we build portfolios using academically based strategies tailored to your specific goals-based time-frames and risk tolerance. We know markets can be volatile and we believe that investors should never be surprised when markets have powerful rallies or significant drops. Since both scenarios are likely to occur during each market cycle, but the timing is impossible to predict, we prepare client portfolios in anticipation of both. Through consistent rebalancing, we also look to take advantage of both market conditions by harvesting gains when markets rally and buying stocks cheap when markets fall. The following are a few of the ways that we believe we can add value to the management of your portfolio:

Academically Based

We maintain consistent and easily explainable investment and allocation philosophies with both being solidly rooted in academic research. Every investment in our portfolios has a specific purpose, which is tied to your individual goals. We strongly believe that looking at past performance to make investment decisions without solid reasoning for why that performance is likely repeatable is a misguided way to invest money.

Fact Based

We use your unique fact pattern to allocate your portfolios. This creates a consistent approach, which is not influenced by changing investment opinions or an attempt to time the markets. Negative market events are regular occurrences, which should never come as a surprise. We build your portfolios in preparation for these market drops to remove a market-timing mindset and increase the likelihood of achieving your goals. 

Tax Efficient

The only returns that should matter to you are returns that you are able to keep. We believe having tax-optimized portfolios is the most consistent method of improving after-tax returns. Therefore, we invested in rebalancing technology that enables us to allocate portfolios consistent with your goals while being mindful of risk, timeframes, withdrawal strategies and the tax-efficiency of investments and management styles.

If you wish to read more on this topic, please read “Have an Investment Philosophy to Guide your Way“

“Your asset allocation should always be tethered to your individual circumstances. Don’t let fear or greed break that tether.”

-Stage Harbor Financial

Our Thoughts

“Logic and emotion are both critical ingredients to a well-baked financial plan, but too much or too little of either can result in a sticky mess.”

-Stage Harbor Financial

Connect With US

100 Lowder Brook Dr | Suite 2500

Westwood, MA 02090

info@stageharborfinancial.com
781-934-3133

Important Consumer Disclosure

Stage Harbor Financial, LLC (“Stage Harbor”), is an SEC registered investment adviser located in Westwood, Massachusetts. Stage Harbor and its representatives are in compliance with the current registration and notice filing requirements imposed upon SEC registered investment advisers by those states in which Stage Harbor maintains clients.  Stage Harbor may only transact business in those states in which it is registered, notice filed, or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from registration or notice filing requirements.  This Internet site is limited to the dissemination of general information to United States residents residing in states where providing such information is not prohibited by applicable law.  Accordingly, the publication of this web site on the Internet should not be construed by any consumer and/or prospective client as a solicitation to effect, or attempt to effect transactions in securities, or the rendering of personalized investment advice for compensation, over the Internet.  Furthermore, information on this Internet site should not be construed, in any manner whatsoever, as the receipt of, or a substitute for, personalized individual advice from Stage Harbor.  Any subsequent, direct communication by Stage Harbor with a prospective client shall be conducted by a representative that is either registered or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from registration in the state where the prospective client resides.  For information pertaining to the registration status of Stage Harbor, please contact the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on their web site at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.  A copy of Stage Harbor’s current written disclosure statement discussing Stage Harbor’s business operations, services, and fees is available from Stage Harbor upon written request.  Stage Harbor does not make any representations as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to this Internet site or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility therefore.  All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Stage Harbor refers to using academic studies to assist with their portfolio construction. While Stage Harbor believes in the reliability of these studies and also believes that the findings of the studies make intuitive sense, following these academic studies does not guarantee any future performance. Stage Harbor also implements many diversified investment strategies. It is possible that not all of these strategies will be consistent with the academic studies referred to in this presentation. Furthermore, there are many academic studies published and additional studies will continuously be published. Some of these academic studies may contradict the studies that Stage Harbor uses to build its investment strategies. 

ACCESS TO THIS WEB SITE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, TIMELINESS, OR RESULTS OBTAINED FROM ANY INFORMATION POSTED ON THIS WEB SITE OR ANY THIRD PARTY WEB SITE LINKED TO THIS WEB SITE.