Our custodial partner, RBC, produces account statements monthly. You may access these and your account information at any time on RBC’s website.

We prefer to meet with you at least semi-annually in order to discuss your portfolio’s positions and overall progress. However, our process is catered to you, and you are welcome to communicate with us at any time. In the meantime, you can hear some of our investment ideas and our latest thoughts on market trends in our monthly newsletter, Tradewinds. (To subscribe, use the pop up on this site, or email a.steinhagen@ballast-advisors.com).

Unfortunately, guarantees are hard to come by and even harder to deliver on. Ballast does not guarantee a rate of return, but we feel confident that you will find our institutional approach to investment management, as well as our investment philosophy, to be the next best thing. We can guarantee a thoughtful selection of investments that are suited to meet your investment objectives.

It takes 1-3 years for us to build a portfolio to the point where you can expect to see a consistent, reliable stream of cash returns building up in your account. Cash flows will happen throughout the year, and you will receive monthly reports through our custodian, RBC. These reports will provide investment summaries and detailed information, including periodic returns. We must note that these monthly statements use current performance measures to summarize performance, and, in our institutional approach, this can be misleading in regards to the portfolio’s progress. Without getting too technical, we think in terms of book yield* and cash flow yield**, which change little between reporting periods. Therefore, a gain or loss reported on your monthly statement for a position does not provide an accurate picture of where you are on your financial journey. Although this makes return reporting less important between periods, Ballast aims to provide clients ‘Ballast View’ at your portfolio update meetings with Ballast.

*Book yield – the market yield at time of purchase, or the yield implied using the purchase price and purchase date. Investment account reports often provide the current market yield and fail to report the book yield. Yield is realized over a longer period of time. We think in terms of book yield when looking at fixed income.

**Cash flow yield – here we mean dividend yield, cash-on-cash yield, or current yield and generally we are referring to the yield known and assumed at time the investment was purchased, consistent with ‘book yield’. We think in terms of cash flow yield when looking at stocks, deeply discounted bonds, and alternatives.

Our process with you begins with understanding your objectives and investing needs in achieving those objectives. The Ballast process involves sourcing and vetting, and it is pretty conservative in its approach to selection. That is, we source ideas from the news, company filings, our professional network, brokers, and more. The vetting draws upon our extensive experience in investing for institutions, as well as much critical thought and evaluation. Our focus in this process is on the fundamentals. What are the assets and means that will provide the return and fulfill our investment objective? We always want to emphasize safe return of principal and cash flow generation, especially since we view cash flow as a mechanism for de-risking investments (it is money returned that is no longer at risk). In order to grasp likely and adverse scenarios, we will stress test projections. When we receive your portfolio, this is the process we follow.  Initially, we invest the cash in short-term securities to keep your account productive and to keep it advancing toward your goal. As longer-term investment opportunities and opportunistic deals become available, your portfolio develops into a coupon-clipping and dividend-paying machine.

Yes, some clients have started with us in this manner. However, we do like to see clients’ entire portfolio so we can size positions appropriately, along with aligning risks and objectives.

Of course! In fact, many of our clients are individuals that don’t live in or near the Midwest.

Initially, we would like to have a meeting to discuss where you are at today and where you want to get to, as well as an idea of time frame. Prior to the meeting, we will ask you to fill out a short questionnaire so we can get a better idea of all this. We would hope to review your current portfolio and go over why you have the line items (positions) you have today, as well as discuss how much you are adding to your portfolio on an annual basis. Once you decide to move your portfolio to Ballast, we can start the administrative process of getting your funds transferred to our custodian, RBC.

Ballast is a fiduciary and is independent, which means that you can expect us to work for you and in your best interest. In comparison, many may not be independent, which means that they may be compensated for the products they are recommending.  Such a structure can create conflicted interest. It can mean that they (the advisor) have two masters – 1) you, the client (fee income) and 2) the products they are distributing (commission income). In this case, their personal best interest may come before yours. At Ballast, we can focus on you and your needs, while finding the right strategy and investments to achieve your investment objectives. Conflicted interest is minimized. It’s all about you.

It is always good to know how your advisor is being paid to invest your money. Ballast is a fee only firm, and our flat rate fee structure is pretty unique to the industry. “Fee only” can be defined as “one who is compensated solely by the client, with neither the advisor nor any related party receiving compensation that is contingent on the purchase or sale of a financial product”. In other words, our compensation is the same no matter what investment we make on your behalf. This keeps us on the same side of the table as you (the buy side). It also takes away any doubt surrounding whether the investment recommendations we make are for your sole benefit or not. If we recommend an idea or product, it does not change how we are compensated, and it gives you the comfort of knowing that we believe in the idea or product we are recommending for you.

Having a flat rate structure allows you to keep more money as your portfolio grows. Our job is to continue this growth, but that does not mean that we need a cut of every dollar earned. We believe that charging you for purely having more money with us is an idea that is flawed. Therefore, we created the tiered flat rate structure you see below. Yes, as your assets grow, you will move up a tier, but that is based on the amount of time our team will spend on your portfolio. As your portfolio steps up a level, more time is spent on it, and more line items are available.