Our Low Fees
Invest using a historically “fee optimized” system that can reduce the opportunity costs of paying fees in recessions and may provide lower fees per dollar earned (and higher gains net of costs) than the other alternatives available to you. Historically, D.R. Harris & Co. has not charged fees every year and often foregoes fees for nondiscretionary investment advice during or immediately after recessions when the opportunity cost of paying fees versus investing is very high. While other advisors are draining your portfolio of assets at the most important time to buy long term investments, we are often giving you advice free of charge since that will maximize your long term outcomes – which, after all, is our top priority.
1. Nondiscretionatory Financial Planning and Investment Advice
Nondiscretionary advice means that you place your own trades in your account and we do provide advice but do not act as your agent in your account.
Nondiscretionary financial planning and advice is designed for clients who have the time and want to place their own trades with their brokerage firm. We will recommend exactly what to do and you can go ahead and make the transactions directly with your brokerage firm. We provide nondiscretionary advice on all financial assets.
We generally begin the first year with a flat fee and then in future years use a negotiated fee based off of our assesment of the amount of work involved.
Our fees are always disclosed in advance and are transparent.
2. Asset Minimums
While many of our clients have at least $150,000 invested with us and some have many millions of dollars invested with us, we do not have a minimum level of assets required to be a client and clients can join our firm at any level of savings. We work with a quite a few clients who hired us just a few years after finishing their education and starting their full time jobs. We meet clients wherever they are in their journey to financial security and financial freedom.
3. Financial Planning for Clients
Comprehensive financial planning services are available free of charge to clients who have an investment advisory contract with our firm. The financial plan includings: budgeting, savings rate, tax minimization and tax efficient investing, investment class and asset allocation, insurance planning, catastrophic risk management, estate planning, and tax efficient charitable giving.
4. Discretionary Asset Management Services
If you don't want to go through the hassle of placing your own trades, we can provide discretionary asset management services. A discretionary relationship means that you have asked us to act as your agent in your brokerage account. To do so, you'll have to sign your broker's limited power of attorney form and we will require you to sign an investment policy statement laying out what we are authorized to do on your behalf.
This will typically give us the authority and discretion to make changes in the positions in your portfolio, to help you tax loss harvest, and to make sure that you can respond in a timely manner to market changes even if you are too busy to deal with it yourself. Our advisory fee is tax deductible under these services. For clients looking for convenience and peace of mind, these services can be provided by us.
5. A La Carte Services
For those who do not have an ongoing investment advisory relationship with D.R. Harris & Co. we may provide other services on a contract basis.
6. Refund Policy
All clients are entitled to a refund on the unearned portion of their fees. Some clients may be entitled to a refund on the earned portion of their fees if they are not happy with our work product.
A la Carte services are not refundable. The method to procedure to request a refund will be laid out in your investment advisory contract.