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Wealth Management Services |
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Our primary objective in providing wealth
management services is to assist our clients in managing all aspects
of their financial affairs. Among the specific tasks involved are
investment management, income tax and estate planning, retirement
planning and personal risk management. All of our wealth management
professionals have more than a decade of experience with an average
of 17 years of experience in the financial services industry. In
addition, more than 75% of our wealth management staff holds either
a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA)®, Certified Public Accountant®
(CPA)® or Certified Financial Planner® (CFP)® designation as well as
either an MBA or an MS degree in business or finance.
In providing wealth management services, we strive to offer our clients the personalized
service inherent in having a single trusted advisor, with the comprehensiveness
and diversity of expertise common of large organizations. Each of our clients has a dedicated personal
financial advisor on whom they rely to address most of their financial needs.
Since Alexander Randolph is comprised of professionals with diverse backgrounds,
both our financial advisors and our clients have the ability to draw on a substantial
body of knowledge and expertise. As a result, we are uniquely qualified to offer services
of exceptional quality and comprehensiveness.
Many of our clients have an attorney, accountant and/or insurance professional with
whom they have an established relationship. As personal financial advisors, part of
our responsibility is to complement and coordinate these established relationships so
that each aspect of a client's personal financial affairs is managed in view of the
client's overall financial objectives. In addition, awareness of every aspect of a
client's financial affairs is often essential to effective decision-making.
For example, having thorough knowledge and awareness of an individual's income
tax situation is necessary in structuring an appropriate investment portfolio.
Likewise, a complete understanding of an individual's or family's estate plan is
important to ensure that assets and investment accounts are titled appropriately.
In providing wealth management services, we work to coordinate every facet of our
clients' financial affairs in a manner which is consistent with each client's personal
financial objectives. The end result of such coordination is the attainment of client
goals in the most cost effective and efficient manner possible. Services Provided for Wealth Management ClientsInvestment Management
Investment management plays a central role in the services we provide for most of our
wealth management clients because we believe effective wealth management requires
investment success. As a result, one of our primary organizational objectives is to
provide superior investment management services. Please click on the "Investment
Management" tab at the top of this page for a more detailed summary of our
investment management services. Income Tax PlanningIn providing income tax planning services, our primary objective is to minimize the personal income tax liabilities of our clients. Thus, we continually strive to identify available income tax reduction strategies. Such strategies often involve investing in tax advantaged investment vehicles or taking advantage of tax saving opportunities identified by our staff. In addition, we constantly monitor each wealth management client's individual income tax situation to ensure that the appropriate amount of income tax payments are made through payroll deduction, quarterly estimated payments, or a combination of the two. Personal income tax analysis and planning often involves calculating alternative minimum tax as well as regular income tax liabilities to ensure that recommended income tax reduction strategies are not mitigated by the alternative minimum tax. Our tax professionals prepare personal and business income tax returns for many of our wealth management clients. Please click on the Tax and Accounting Services tab at the top of this page for a more detailed summary of these services.
Although our tax professionals are quite capable of preparing all of our clients'
income tax returns, some of our wealth management clients have an established
relationship with a CPA outside of Alexander Randolph who prepares their personal
income tax returns. Recognizing that such relationships are often important to
clients, we are happy to maintain and work to strengthen these relationships.
Our wealth management professionals provide assistance to outside CPAs in collecting
data and reviewing tax returns to ensure that each client's personal income tax return
is complete and accurate as well as to keep CPA fees from elevating as a result of having
to collect and construct data which we at Alexander Randolph are easily able to provide. Retirement PlanningThe most important financial objective for many of our clients is retirement. As a result, we are adept at determining the financial resources which will be required to provide for a client's retirement needs as well as how to best accumulate such resources. Our wealth management professionals have substantial experience in implementing a variety of tax advantaged and cost effective programs available to accumulate assets for retirement. The first step in planning for a client's retirement is to determine the benefits that will be provided by the various employer sponsored retirement plans in which the client participates. Given the client's desired standard of living at retirement and propensity to save, the feasibility of retiring at different ages with an acceptable standard of living can then be determined. In planning for an individual’s retirement, it is essential that a realistic retirement objective be established and that the client is fully aware of and prepared to follow the course(s) of action necessary to achieve the retirement objective. With the experience we have in planning for our clients’ retirement needs, we are able to formulate a retirement plan which is uniquely suited to each client’s personal financial needs and resources.
Finally, in planning for the retirement needs of self employed individuals and
business owners, we are able to establish and maintain a tax advantaged retirement
plan or combination of plans which is tailored to the individual needs of their
business. Estate PlanningIn many respects, providing estate planning services is the most difficult of all tasks involved in servicing our clients because by definition we are planning for one's inevitable demise. With a top federal estate tax rate in excess of 45%, however, developing and implementing a comprehensive estate plan can also be one of the most value added services we provide. Our wealth management professionals are aware of both the sensitive nature and the importance of addressing our clients' estate planning needs. The primary objectives of estate planning for most clients are twofold: first, to ensure that an individual's estate is administered and ultimately distributed to his or her heirs in a manner which is consistent with that individual's personal wishes and, second, to minimize "estate shrinkage" by reducing federal estate and state inheritance taxes as well as probate and administration costs. Our wealth management professionals are experienced with a variety of different trust arrangements and often coordinate family gifting programs in a manner designed to accomplish each individual client's estate planning objectives.
In addition, our professional staff has the expertise to address a family's
multi-generational estate planning needs through the use of various generation
skipping measures. The senior members of a family can often provide for the
establishment of certain trust arrangements which will reduce "estate shrinkage"
at their children's demise and provide for the maximum transfer of family wealth
to future generations. Personal Risk ManagementPlanning for life's tragedies is an essential component of financially securing one's future. We, therefore, feel it is important to ensure that our clients have adequate life and disability insurance coverages. Our professional staff is equipped to first determine the amount of insurance coverage needed in the event of each client's death or disability. We then evaluate current insurance coverages to determine if the client is over or under insured as well as to assess the appropriateness of each type of coverage. The primary objective in evaluating our client's insurance needs is to determine the amount and type of insurance coverages that are most appropriate for each individual client. |