What is Private Research? Why do I need a Portfolio Exam? What information will you provide me? Will my information be kept confidential? What services regarding real estate do you provide? Will we discuss my specific financial needs? What is not included in the exam? How much does a Portfolio Exam cost? How do I safely transmit information about my portfolios? May I speak with you if I have a question?   What is Private Research? Private Research® is a portfolio advisory service for investors who seek the peace of mind that comes with a more complete understanding of their investments, including equity, fixed income and real estate. For some, professional investment management may not be necessary; however, a detailed analysis that provides key insights into their portfolio’s future strengths and weaknesses can be a significant financial benefit. That’s how Private Research can help you. We provide various levels of research on an hourly or project basis, ranging from forward-looking asset performance comparisons, to benchmarking the expected return of a specific stock. Additionally, we help retirement plan participants structure long-term investment strategies and advise them regarding asset performance expectations. Why do I need a Portfolio Exam? There are many services that will provide an analysis of your portfolio in its current state. While this may prove useful to some, a more important tool for personal asset management is what we call “dynamic modeling”. This depicts expected returns over a one- to three- year time frame. What information will you provide me? We will first provide you with a comprehensive analysis of your total portfolio. We then will present you with actionable ideas to consider, supported by thorough research. Will my information be kept confidential? Absolutely. We do not share any information with any outside companies or organizations and have firewall protection on all of our servers. Furthermore, there are steps you can take to protect the specific information you release to us. If requested, we can utilize percentages instead of dollar amounts to analyze the portfolio, thereby keeping account details private. What services regarding real estate do you provide? We can provide an analysis of limited partnerships, foreclosed properties, and suggest how real estate might fit into your total portfolio. We can also provide input on mortgages and reverse mortgages. Will we discuss my specific financial needs? Yes. To the extent that we understand the eventual disposition of the portfolio’s assets, the information we provide will be specific to your interests. What is not included in the exam? We do not recommend specific stocks or bonds but instead, concentrate on the type of stocks and the economic sectors/industries. Our recommendations are based on current prices and long-term fundamentals, and thus there is little in the way of “timing” content in our action items. How much does a Portfolio Exam cost? Each or our advisors has a different expertise, and therefore each has different cost parameters. Consequently it is not possible to provide a cost estimate ahead of knowing the details. Before we begin a project we need to review your holdings, investment experience, tolerance for risk, and the use or eventual disposition of the assets. This initial interview, which takes about an hour, is charged at $250. The interview can occur in person or via telephone. Once we have reviewed the project details, we’ll provide you with an estimate of the cost to complete the assignment. Soon thereafter we’ll send you a letter of engagement with detailed cost estimates. How do I safely transmit information about my portfolios? The safest method of transmittal is by U.S. Mail or Federal Express. You can make copies of your month-end statement of security holdings from your custodian or provide us with a computer generated copy of your portfolio on a disk and send via registered mail. May I speak with you if I have a question? Yes, of course. If our time spent doing the exam is less than 2.5 hours, we apply the credit toward the one-on-one question and answer period. If it exceeds the time credit, you will be charged per 15 minute segment.