How is BLW Different from Stockbrokers and Financial Planners?

While stockbrokers and financial planners may be great people, they are salespersons. And, salespersons are compensated for activity, not performance. Their compensation structure is only tangentially related to your success as an investor. Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), however, may charge a fee based on the amount of money they manage for you. If your investments go down in value, so does their fee. If your investments go up in value, so does their fee. The amount of fee they charge is directly correlated to the success you have as an investor. Therefore, fee-based advisors have more of a monetary incentive to help you achieve success in accumulating wealth than does a financial salesperson like a broker or planner. We obviously feel that employing an advisor who charges a fee is more beneficial than buying a product from a salesperson. Even if that salesperson is a great person, the monetary incentive is much stronger for fee-based advisors to execute trades profitably for their clients. This is why fee-based money managers make it their business to understand how markets behave and why. Salespersons make it their business to get better at selling. There is a discernable difference.

Butler, Lanz & Wagler charges a percentage fee for the assets that they manage. The firm gets a raise when you do (if your account increases in value), and gets penalized when you do (if your account loses value). In this type of compensation structure, the monetary incentives of both client and advisor are in agreement.

How is BLW Qualified to Manage My Investments?

While Butler, Lanz & Wagler, L.C. is a Registered Investment Advisor with the states of Kansas and Missouri, this does not imply that any state has passed judgment on the firm's ability to manage money. No state approves or disapproves of our money management practice, style, abilities or investment philosophy.

All three principal partners have a minimum of ten years experience managing money. Chris Butler has 17 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has been a stockbroker, managed a stockbrokerage branch office and has worked for a no-load mutual fund family. He has an MBA, and MA in Economics and is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Economics.

How are Clients Protected Against Bankruptcy and Fraud?

Client accounts would not be impacted at all by the possible bankruptcy of BLW. Client funds are held at a brokerage firm - not BLW. Checks written by clients will be made out to the brokerage firm. Checks coming to the client will be from the broker that holds their assets. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) covers up to $500,000 of securities and cash in the event that a member firm - the broker holding the client assets - becomes insolvent.

If BLW becomes insolvent, however, the client will simply be forced to find a new money manager. The bankruptcy will not impact client funds in the least.

Unfortunately, our industry has been marred by fraudulent behavior throughout the history of the industry. Every reasonable step has been taken by BLW to protect clients from fraud. First and foremost, the firm does not take constructive receipt of client funds or securities, as explained above. Further, clients do not give BLW authorization to withdraw or deposit cash or securities from/to the broker. BLW is only authorized to make investment decisions on behalf of the client.

How Can I Keep Track of My Investments If I Hire BLW?

Currently, the brokerage firms we utilize offer clients on-line access to their accounts. Clients are issued log-in usernames and passwords. Additionally, these brokerage firms issue monthly statements and BLW sends an annual statement.

What Are Your Fees For Managing My Account?

We charge 2.0% annually for managing assets for growth and 1.0% for managing for income.

Does BLW Have a Minimum Amount They Will Manage?

We do not currently have a minimum. However, we are restricted in what we can do by the amount we have been given to manage. Certain strategies can only be fully implemented at certain dollar-level commitments by the client.