We have no minimum portfolio size for financial planning services. Financial planning services may be charged on a per-project basis, or monthly retainer. Such services may include reviewing and selecting investments in your employer’s 401k plan, insurance review, estate planning (wills and trusts), asset protection (maximizing use of creditor exemptions), etc. For Investment Management services, however, there is a $500 per quarter minimum fee per relationship. As such, $200,000 is the minimum client relationship to achieve the $500 fee at 1% per annum. However, the fees set forth above are negotiable, and Cela Advisors, in its sole discretion, may reduce its minimal annual fees or charge a lesser annual fee based upon consideration of various factors such as, account composition, anticipated future additional assets to be managed, etc.

Yes, if our agreement is for Investment Management Services, we will advise you regarding your management of your assets, including advising on corporate stock purchase and stock option plans, 529 college savings plans, variable and fixed annuities, or any type of insurance, as well as your company-sponsored 401(k), pension, profit sharing, 403(b), 457, deferred compensation, and other plans administered by present employers will be incorporated into the overall portfolio design and considered in arriving at your Investment Policy Statement. For plans held with former employers, it is usually more beneficial to roll those assets to an IRA where they can be more fully diversified, managed, and monitored.

Any investment that you currently own and want to keep can be noted and included on your quarterly statement, but it will be listed separately under non-managed assets. You can maintain those assets with their current custodian, or we can help you set up a non-managed account at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; however we will not take responsibility for the account or oversee the assets in the account.

Yes. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. has been selected by Cela Advisors as Cela Advisors’ primary custodian for managed accounts. (Clients are free to select another brokerage firm for assets not managed by Cela Advisors). A custodian holds the securities and cash and facilitates trading activities. Cela Advisors has selected Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. as custodian because of their commitment to client service, low trading cost, and a dedication to operational efficiency. Our management fees are kept low because of the operational efficiency created by having only one custodian for managed accounts.

No. Cela Advisors is not affiliated with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., nor are we compensated by that company in any way through fees, commission, or incentives. In the spirit of full disclosure, our firm is supplied necessary software that allows our in-house portfolio management system to work efficiently and cleanly with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s back-office operations and trading desks. The same software is available to all investment advisors that custody at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

Yes. Free Internet access is available to Clients through a special Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. website 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, which can be accessed separately or through the Cela Advisor’s website. The website also is the source for immediate information on account activity and provides you with many reports including year-end tax information.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. sends monthly statements to all clients for all accounts. These statements show account balances, trades, cash flows, and unrealized gains. Statements are available in paper as well as through email. In addition, Cela Advisors will send a detailed performance report each quarter that compare your portfolio’s performance to a series of relevant market indexes.

No one at Cela Advisors has access to the money in your account. We have limited power of attorney to do three things in a Client account; 1) trade securities with discretion, 2) request that Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. send a check to a Client directly or to a Client's bank, and 3) be paid a quarterly management fee from the account based on the contract rate. We have no other access or authority.

Cela Advisors, LLC is a SEC registered advisory firm. All professional investment management companies are required to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and/or the State(s) in which the firm conducts business activities. That registration is called an ADV, and it is available in two parts. ADV Part I is basic information about the advisory business and ADV Part II explains our services and fees. Both of these documents are available by requesting a copy from us or from the SEC website www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.

RIAs are in the investment management business and we are regulated by the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. In contrast, brokerage firms are primarily in the financial product sales and distribution business and they are regulated by the Securities Act of 1933 as well as other laws. As an RIA under the 1940s Act, we have a higher level of fiduciary responsibility than brokerage firms. We are required by law to work in our client’s best interest, we have a fiduciary duty to our clients. Our fee is based on assets under management (AUM) rather than the brokerage model that is tied to the sale and distribution of financial products.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) is a non-profit organization acting in the public interest by fostering professional standards in personal financial planning through its setting and enforcement of the education, examination, experience, ethics and other requirements for CFP® certification. CFP Board awards individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements the right to use the CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™marks. Attaining CFP® certification is a highly respected professional achievement for those who work within the financial services industry and an achievement with meaningful benefits for a CFP® certificant’s practice and clients. More information is available at www.cfp-board.org.

Clients are not involved in the day-to-day decision making of their accounts. Your input is vital during the investment planning phase and will determine your risk tolerance and investment time horizon. Our recommendations will be based on your preferences and specific needs. Your portfolio will follow an individual asset allocation that is decided by us, jointly, in advance. On a day-to-day basis, however, Cela Advisors has discretion over all accounts and manages the portfolios in accordance with each Client’s Investment Policy Statement, so that the Clients are not involved in the day-to-day decision making.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. will notify you by mail or email each time Cela Advisors makes a trade in your account. All trades are conducted in accordance with your written Investment Policy Statement. You do not need to contact anyone when you see a trade has been made.

Yes. A goal of many clients is to receive consistent income from their investments throughout retirement, while maintaining the growth of their portfolio. Another is to plan for occasional distributions from funds obtained through windfalls or inheritances. These amounts can be transferred from your managed accounts directly to your checking account.

Many mutual funds, index funds and ETFs are used in all portfolios although the percentage allocated to an asset class may differ depending on the needs of each client. In addition, taxes may affect which investments are selected for taxable accounts. If a portfolio is made up of several different accounts, such as multiple trust accounts, then there will likely be different funds allocated to the different accounts. That reduces transaction costs and increases the long-term return.

We analyze the underlying structure of each fund to find the ones that best represent each asset class in a portfolio. We also scrutinize the total expenses of each fund. No two mutual funds are created equal and no two index funds or ETFs are managed in exactly the same way.

Taxes are an investing expense and we use several techniques to help control taxable events. First, the fixed income securities selected for a high tax bracket Client may consist of tax-free bonds rather than taxable bonds. Second, there are no REIT funds in a taxable account because they distribute a large amount of ordinary income each year. Third, we practice tax-loss harvesting through tax-swapping. This practice generates tax losses that can be used to offset gains and other income.

Since every client has different goals and time horizons, we do not have a “typical” client portfolio. Instead, each portfolio reflects the time horizon, return objectives, risk tolerance and personal goals of the owner. Each Client receives a detailed quarterly report outlining their performance. We do not publish that past performance on our website because there are many different strategies used in Client portfolios.