Bulldog Financial Planning (BFP) is a fee only financial planning company located in Cumberland, RI. My name is Patrick Randall and I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERâ„¢ professional with an MBA in Finance. I am the owner of Bulldog Financial Planning.
My independent practice offers hourly financial planning, managed accounts and wealth management accounts to individuals and their families with full disclosure of compensation received by me and the company. Revenues include hourly fees, some flat fees, and managed account expenses based on assets under management.
BFP does not own a broker dealer or custodian and assets under management or transfers of assets are not required to receive advice. Clients have accessibility to occasional or periodic advice. They may simply want a second opinion on something they have been working on or are considering.
There are less conflicts of interest at BFP, but the advice is not fee free. Clients will receive advice that does not include sales presentations on products offered by Bulldog Financial Planning or its affiliates. Each planning engagement will focus on the client's request and what is best for them and their family. Bulldog Financial Planning does not receive sales commissions or bonus incentives for selling managed account products, insurance policies, mutual funds, or etf’s. The company does not share in the underlying expenses from mutual funds or etf investments such as 12b-1 revenue.
But what about the conflict of offering discretionary Managed Accounts and the Wealth Management programs?
BFP does have a financial incentive to recommend that you make financial decisions that would result in more assets under management at BFP. (see the breakpoint schedule) The more assets under management will generally mean more fees. This is a conflict.
Hourly financial planning recommendations are not limited to ones that would create more assets under management or to generate more transferred assets to BFP. These hourly arrangements do not require an enrollment into a Managed Account or Wealth Management.
Clients can decide to enroll into either of these discretionary programs detailed in the Firm Brochure appendices. These clients will go through the planning process to ensure it is the right fit for them.
A Detailed Risk Profile -
Interested clients go through the BFP Fiduciary process which considers the client's alternatives, overall expenses, portability of assets, along with the customer's risk profile and other suitability details. As appropriate, recommendations will be made to invest outside of a Managed Account or Wealth Management Accounts
Clients will receive a prorated credit, for any related planning fee's collected for the planning described above, towards the fees owed by entering into a managed account or wealth management arrangement.
Direct Contact with the Portfolio Manager -
Part of the services provided include day to day discretionary trading by me, the portfolio manager, through a selected broker dealer and custodian. Clients will have direct access to their portfolio manager for conversations about the strategy, the market and how it pertains to their Investment Policy Statement and Wealth management strategies.
There is a base managed account expense for having a BFP Managed Account, and there is a minimum balance to enter the BFP Wealth Management program which means it may be better for clients to receive BFP's unconflicted hourly financial planning or wealth management advice instead.
Investor's May Prefer a Portfolio of Individual Securities -
The investment and wealth management strategies in BFP accounts will primarily use stocks, bonds, cash, possibly options or precious metals and may use some mutual funds or etfs. Clients seeking a managed account full of mutual funds or etfs would not fit with these programs.
As a result, these accounts have low underlying investment costs and still offer competitive rates. The portfolios are each managed towards your BFP Individual Investment Policy Statement rather than a fund or etf prospectus, or a model portfolio.
Any mutual fund or etf for added diversification in a strategy will have expense ratios taken into consideration along with other things like investment objective, volatility, management style, sector positioning, bond or equity characteristics, and historical performance.