We are not a business of separate advisors managing their own “books of business.” Many sales-based financial organizations organize that way. It’s referred to as “eat what you kill.” Although one of us will be your main point of contact, our three advisors – Doug, Anthony, and John – and our administrative and tax personnel collaborate as a team on engagements. This structure allows each of us to develop different specializations so that we can deliver highly customized and nuanced advice to you. Also, our team approach builds in a stabilizing redundancy such that your relationship with our firm will progress effectively in the event that something adverse happens to one of us. This is more than a protocol; it’s a core value that pervades all our actions. For example, none of the actively-managed strategies in our portfolios are headed by a single, star manager. All of them are overseen by a stable core team of individuals with complementary skills that taken together generate a whole greater than the sum of the parts. You too have access to this unique advantage with our team.

We don’t sell any products – mutual fund shares, stocks, insurance policies, etc. – for commission. When a trade occurs in your investment account, we don’t receive any transaction fee. If Charles Schwab credits us with soft dollars, we directly apply the funds to our Morningstar subscription, which enhances our ability to conduct research that benefits you. We don’t receive referral fees nor do we pay any to third parties. We make money when you pay us directly, after we have presented you with a simple invoice. You sign an engagement agreement which plainly lays out your payment terms. We believe this transparency is integral to a trusting and successful relationship. Our goal is to structure the compensation such that we benefit only when you benefit, and in similar proportion.

Unlike brokers who only need to recommend products that are "suitable" for their clients, we are bound by the fiduciary standard to provide in utmost good faith and to the best of our ability advice that is in your best interest. This isn’t just a goal; it’s legally mandated by the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. We must do our best to ensure our advice is made using accurate and complete information. We must avoid conflicts to the best of our ability, and disclose them when they can’t be avoided. Unlike some “fee-based” dual-registered brokers, who may provide advice as a fiduciary but then sell you commission-based products to implement it, we are a “fee-only” adviser who never earns a commission and is always a fiduciary. We believe our own internal ethics are even more rigorous than the fiduciary standard, but you can rest assured that we are legally bound by the standard.

Yes. We are registered with the SEC as a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. You can find our publicly-available Form ADV (parts 1 and 2) filed with the SEC at https://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov/

No. We have found that our engagements do not lose their effectiveness if most personal contact occurs by phone, video conference, and email. Trust is foundational to our relationships, and we do think in-person visits enhance it. As such, if you live far away, we do our best to arrange face-to-face meetings when you travel to the Midwest, or we travel to your location. Our ultimate goal is to enhance trust and understanding through transparency, clear communication, and frequent interaction.

No. Gryphon offers two types of investment management engagement agreements. In a discretionary engagement, Gryphon has discretion to affect portfolio transactions (e.g., sell one mutual fund and invest the proceeds into another fund) in a time and manner we believe to be in your best interest. However, even in a discretionary engagement, we work very closely with you to craft an approved investment plan and keep you apprised of the plan’s evolution. In a non-discretionary engagement, we affect transactions only after receiving your explicit approval. In either engagement, you have complete access to your account at all times. At any moment, you could move money into or take it out of your account; you could buy or sell any security in your account; and you could remove our ability to affect any transactions in your account. Our goal is to empower you.

In general, we manage a portfolio of open-end mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that is mostly allocated to traditional asset classes – global stocks and bonds – along with a few alternative strategies, such as managed futures. We balance investments in low-cost, value-oriented funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors with Vanguard index funds and a small handful of unique and rigorously researched actively-managed funds which we reasonably expect will add significant alpha over the long-term. Some of our clients’ portfolios include unusual characteristics, such as vested restricted stock, stock options, or a smattering of private REITs inherited from a deceased relative. We build these idiosyncrasies into the portfolio so that the resulting mix targets a reasonable return while addressing the incumbent risks (e.g., the potential for liquidity-drive fire sales to temporarily affect the price of private REITs). When you engage us, we’ll propose a plan to methodically and tax-efficiently transition your current investments to our proposed portfolio. Changes will be made only after your explicit approval, and there will be ample opportunity for you to make adjustments to our recommendations.

We don’t believe there is necessarily a “right” way to invest, nor do we think that our value-oriented, long-term focused, low-turnover, dispassionate and deliberate approach will always outperform. However, our competence lies squarely within this methodology. We don’t have the ability to profitably day-trade and time financial markets. (We’re skeptical anyone does.) Regardless, we would be doing you a disservice by managing your portfolio with a protocol that was inscrutable to us. As such, we’ll establish a relationship with you only if we reasonably believe we can provide you with investment management services that meet or exceed your next best alternative, such as a low-cost, passively-managed index fund.

No. Our goal is not to replace trusted advisers, but rather to build collaborative relationships with them. We make sure that all your professional advisers have the information needed to craft the best recommendations. (If you come to us without other advisers, or if we believe that your current advisers are inferior, we have a network of professionals we can refer to you). We view ourselves as the quarterback of your advisory team. For example, if you establish an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) and then make gifts in excess of the annual exclusion amount, we need to involve your insurance broker (to purchase the insurance), your attorney (to draft the ILIT), and your accountant (to file 1041 and gift tax returns). A lack of communication between them could result in subpar execution. If your accountant is not aware of the excess gifting, they wouldn’t know to file a gift tax return. If your attorney doesn’t realize you purchased the policy, they wouldn’t know to draft an ILIT and prepare Crummey Letters. If the insurance broker is not aware that the policy will be placed in an ILIT, they may incorrectly title the policy. Any of these errors could result in the inclusion of the death benefit in your gross estate, which could lead to a large estate tax bill. As the quarterback, we lead the team to make sure such problems don’t occur.

No. In almost all cases, your fee covers all of our work for you, from periodic questions to official meetings. If the work is beyond the scope of your fee, we will inform you of potential expenses before they are incurred. In fact, you may be able to reduce your accountant and attorney fees by first bringing your questions to us. (If we are not in position to fully address the issue, then we will inform you that it’s necessary to involve your other professional advisors). When we take on complex independent projects that are billed hourly, such as estate settlements, no charges will be incurred until you explicitly agree via an engagement agreement. It’s not in our interest to present you with unexpected bills, so we don’t.

We are completely independent of all brokers, dealers, and custodians. That a majority of our assets are custodied at Charles Schwab is entirely a result of our objective evaluation of the market landscape. We are free to engage with any broker-dealer and custodian at any time. We could (and would) leave Charles Schwab if we thought they were offering an inferior service. Our decision is based soley on what we consider to be in your best interest. We have (and had) custodial relationships with similar firms, such as Fidelity and Northern Trust, and we will rigorously evaluate any alternative firm you may prefer.

We are not affiliated with any fund company. We select funds in our portfolio based soley on what we think will be in your best interest. We are free to sell any of our current funds if we come to believe that it is no longer the best option to serve your goals. (Historically, we’ve had very little turnover in our fund of funds portfolio because we establish a very high bar for purchase, own very few strategies, and are patiently focused on the long-term).

Technically speaking, Gryphon Advisors is a Registered Investment Adviser that provides financial planning advice, while Close & Associates is a CPA firm that prepares the tax returns and provides tax advice. In practice, both firms are closely connected in that taxes are an integral part of the overall financial planning process. Many of our financial planning clients engage C&A for tax return preparation because it embodies the same rigor as Gryphon, but we are comfortable working with any accountant you choose.