Services
Who We Serve
Individuals & Families
Austin | 180 Advisory Group often manages a family’s entire liquid net worth. Our minimum investment size is $1 million. Portfolios combine both liquid assets (mutual funds and ETFs) and illiquid assets (limited partnerships and the like).
Our services for individuals and families:
- Quarterly or semi-annual, in-person meetings with an eye towards articulating your current positioning and tying each thesis to economic and market assessments. We help clients understand risks inherent in domestic and global markets and the current state of the domestic economy. Further, we serve as a sounding board and advisor in assessing the ramifications of such risks on your business interests and other areas of investment.
- Risk assessments and strategic recommendations that help address financial planning and related family goals.
- Portfolio construction that allows for both daily liquidity and where appropriate less liquid complementary positions. This includes asset allocation work and a determination of what is appropriate given your family’s needs and goals.
- Performance reporting that allows for a transparent assessment of your family’s assets under Austin | 180’s purview.
- Identification of novel, opportunistic investments to help meet the needs of your customized asset allocation plan. This includes deep-dive research into less liquid investments, including onsite visits, service-provider checks, reference checks and background checks. We do in-depth analysis of complex investment strategies and the structures that hold them. This includes a multi-step due diligence process that seeks to identify and avoid frauds and bad actors.
- Guidance on financial planning that will help individuals and families meet both short-term and long-term goals.
Small Family Offices & Operating Companies
Austin | 180 Advisory Group often acts as a Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for small family offices and family operating companies. This saves substantial costs helping smaller family offices focus more resources toward business operations. For family offices with less than $100 million in assets outside of operating businesses, this prudent approach offers a number of benefits.
Our Outsourced CIO services:
- We provide quarterly, in-person, economic and market assessments along with portfolio recommendations and positioning to help guide your family fund AND other assets not under Austin | 180’s purview.
- We make regular risk assessments and strategic decisions to help achieve your family’s goals. By creating a pool of liquid (or relatively liquid) assets we help you create new options to move quickly and purchase acquisitions that benefit your core businesses.
- Portfolio construction that allows for both daily liquidity and where appropriate less liquid complementary positions. This includes asset allocation work and a determination of what is appropriate given your family’s needs and goals.
- Performance reporting that allows for a transparent assessment of your family’s assets under Austin | 180’s purview.
- We identify opportunistic investments that are designed to meet the needs of your customized asset allocation plan. For less liquid investments, this involves deep fundamental research including service provider checks, reference checks and background checks.
- Finally, given your family’s needs we can undertake bespoke projects to help your family adjust to changing market environments and prepare for the future.
What to Expect
1. Regular Meetings to Discuss Portfolios, the Current Environment and Client Circumstances
We believe regular and consistent communication is very beneficial for both the success of our portfolio management process and to help ensure that your needs are met. To this end, it is not unusual for us to meet with clients on a quarterly basis and at least semi-annually.
2. Liberal Usage of Limited Partnerships or Other Private Investment Vehicles.
While our minimum relationship size is $1,000,000, we will at times make exceptions to this rule. However, note that we don’t feel we can add a lot of value for clients who are not accredited. While we must, at times, manage a portfolio comprised entirely of liquid mutual funds and ETFs, we can add much more value when a client is accredited, even more value when a client is a qualified client, and even more value still when a client is a qualified purchaser.
3. Liquid Assets Custodied at Schwab Institutional.
While we are agnostic to what custodian holds liquid assets, we do have a relationship with Charles Schwab & Co. that allows for a seamless integration with our operational processes and performance reporting system. We do evaluate alternatives to Schwab on a continued basis but believe they provide a good balance between value, technology, security and investment selection.
4. Transparent Performance Reporting.
We are unequivocally transparent in how we report your portfolio performance. To avoid confusion our performance reports are custom designed to provide relevant, concise information to avoid data overload. Our reports are simple but give a transparent view of how various investments are performing individually, within their broad grouping and as a portfolio. We provide relevant risk metrics and a simplified summary of gains and/or losses.
5. Transparent and Fair Fees.
We do not hide fees, nor do we bill on assets more than once (so-called “double dipping”). We charge one asset-based fee that is aligned with client goals. If we make you money, we earn more money, if you lose money our fees go down. Our asset-based billing is fair and transparent. Moreover, we do not use structures or investment products that provide us with additional revenue. Our quarterly fee is the only way in which we are compensated.
6. Portfolios that Conform to a Slowly Evolving Environment
We are not reactionary. We position your portfolio to follow the trajectory of significant and specific data sets. We never make large sweeping changes without significant evidence to back it up and until those changes have been explained to you and approved in advance. We believe investment decisions are most successful when three exogenous factors are considered:
- Market Valuations
- Economic Environment
- Behavioral Excesses
Our client-investors are continually kept apprised of our latest research and due diligence investigations and investments are typically discussed months in advance of any action.
Our Service Partners
- Custodial Relationship: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
- Back Office: SS&C Global – Black Diamond
- Email Security: Citrix
- Technology: Terminal B
- Cloud Storage: Microsoft SharePoint
- Regulatory Compliance: Red Oak Compliance Solutions