Question 1. How long have you managing other people's money? What are your credentials?
Donald E Simmons, a Certified Financial Planner, has been offering honest, objective financial advice since 1988. The Simmons Capital Group Team represents more than 75 years of combined experience working with investors. The members of our team have navigated the treacherous and tumultuous environment of the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. We are one of the few investment advisor teams in the Capital District with a CFP®, a Chartered Financial Analyst®, and a General Securities Principal in our office.
Question 2. What is your investment discipline?
Question 3. Is your compensation commission-based or fee-based?
Our primary expertise is investment portfolio design and management. No one can predict the future, but it is proven that different investment asset classes will perform well at different times. Therefore, in order to minimize risk and provide potentially more consistent returns, we design our portfolios to be diversified across numerous asset classes.
We have a thorough investment process designed to sift through the universe of no-load and load waived investments to find the managers that have strong patterns of outperforming their peers and their benchmark indexes. By investing in a combination of ultralow-cost index funds, ETF’s and actively managed funds, we design low cost portfolios that have attractive risk adjusted returns. We design a core strategic asset allocation strategy comprised of non-correlated asset classes based upon each client’s risk tolerance, investment goal and investment time. Then we overlay tactical allocation shifts based on market conditions to add value compared to pure indexing or third-party platforms.
Simmons Capital Group operates as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) under the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. As such, our investment advisory services are FEE-Based.
Transaction Based versus Performance Based? Have you ever hired a contractor to do work at your house? If you pay the contractor for the entire project at the beginning, what is the likelihood that he will come every day until the job is completed? Why would you consider paying an investment advisor in advance for an investment that they are selling you in the hopes that he/she continue to provide excellent management for many years in the future? Doesn’t it make more sense to have your advisor’s compensation be tied to the growth of your accounts so that if you make money their income grows, if you lose your money their income declines?
Question 4. Do you operate under a Suitability Standard or Fiduciary Standard?
Question 5. What will be total costs to work with you be? (Disclosed and embedded)
Under the suitability standard the broker/agent is not required to disclose or minimize his/her conflicts of interest. This often means that the products that are best for the broker also have higher costs for the investor. On the other hand, we act under the fiduciary standard, which LEGALLY requires advisers to act in the BEST INTEREST of their clients. For instance, faced with two identical products but with different fees, an adviser under the fiduciary standard must be compelled to recommend the one with the lowest cost to the client, even if it means fewer dollars in compensation. As a Registered Investment Advisor, Simmons Capital Group and its members as Investment Advisor Representatives, are held to the same fiduciary standard for their clients as are Trustees of a trust, Trustees of a not-for-profit organization, or board members of an organization. Each can be held legally accountable for failing to actin the BEST INTEREST of the organization/client for which they are acting as a fiduciary. Is your advisor a FIDUCIARY? If so, ask for their Form ADV Part 2, which is filed with the SEC.
All annual advisory fees are based on the total assets under management and are offered to clients on a sliding scale as asset levels increase.
The quarterly calculation of advisory fees is based on an average daily balance over the quarter and billed in arrears.
Sample Fees: Management Fee, Embedded Fees of Fund Companies, ETF’s, Etc. 1.15-1.65% annually (Billed Quarterly) 0.50% - 0.70% annually (embedded by Fund Company) TOTAL FEES: 1.65% - 2.35% annually
DISCLOSURES
This presentation is not an offer or a solicitation to buy or sell securities. The information contained in this presentation has been compiled from third party sources and is believed to be reliable; however, its accuracy is not guaranteed and should not be relied upon in any way, whatsoever. This presentation may not be construed as investment advice and does not give investment recommendations. Any opinion included in this report constitutes the judgment of Simmons Capital Group as of the date of this report, and are subject to change without notice. Additional information, including management fees and expenses, is provided on Simmons Capital Group’s Form ADV Part 2. As with any investment strategy, there is potential for profit as well as the possibility of loss. Simmons Capital Group does not guarantee any minimum level of investment performance or the success of any portfolio or investment strategy. All investments involve risk (the amount of which may vary significantly) and investment recommendations will not always be profitable. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s portfolio may be worth more or less than its original cost at any given time. The underlying holdings of any presented portfolio are not federally or FDIC-insured and are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed by, any financial institution. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.