Question: What do I get out of working with you?
Your relationship with us, is a retainer relationship.  You get peace of mind, knowing that we really have no other agenda, besides helping you achieve your goals and protect your accumulated wealth.

Question: Do you invest more aggressively for younger clients?
We build a custom portfolio to suit the exact needs of every client.  If you are younger, particularly in your retirement accounts (which you will in all likelihood not be withdrawing from for several decades, we may increase your exposure to risk assets in order to achieve higher compounded returns.  However, we do not invest aggressively.  We feel much more comfortable pursuing “safe” returns, in the form of higher yielding fixed income, and some dividend paying stocks which are growing their dividends aggressively.  If you are looking for returns greater than 10-15% per annum, then you are not the right fit for us.

Question: Why Should I choose Barnes Capital?
Maybe you shouldn’t.  We’re not a fit for everyone.  We offer the advantages that only a boutique can offer: namely, great service.  You can expect that your email or phone call will be responded to on the same day, 90% of the time, and always within 24 hours.  We keep the investment costs down, by custom tailoring the portfolio using almost exclusively individual stocks and bonds.  Individual stocks and bonds carry no additional management fees, unlike bond funds and other mutual funds or ETF’s.  This difference alone tends to cover the majority of our management fee.  So bottomline, Barnes Capital offers a custom tailored portfolio and exemplary service.  If either of these are of value to you, you should consider interviewing us further.

Questions: You are small, how can you provide all the services and meet my extensive financial needs compared to Firms much larger than yours?
Maybe we can’t.  Perhaps, like many affluent people, you will choose to have more than one investment manager/advisor.  We offer extensive investment management including custom equities, bond and commodities selection.  For your potential insurance needs and estate planning needs, we can help you search for the best partner, or refer you to highly skilled people that we work with.  Most people will find that we have the resources to meet most, if not all of their wealth management needs.  We are problem solvers.  If we can’t develop an adequate solution, we will know it and advise you to that affect.

Question: How do you customize Client accounts?
Some of clients are older, some younger.  Some were burned by technology stocks during the internet bubble; other’s have invested in stocks since the 1970s and know well, volatility of a variety of economic cycles.  We choose different securities for our clients according to their objectives, past experiences, and preferences.

Question: Who is responsible for my account?
The Chief Investment Officer manages every client account.

Question: Does the manager invest in the same companies that he invests in for clients?
Yes.  We believe in the investments we make for our clients and invest our own money in many of the same securities.

Question: What is your minimum size account requirement?
Our minimum account size is $300,000.

Question: What is the management fee?
The normal account fee is between .5% and 1.5% percent per annum of Assets under Management. It is billed quarterly in advance.

Question: Does Barnes Capital LLC hold clients’ cash and securities?
No.  The client shall appoint Pershing LLC as “Custodian” to hold the securities and other assets in the portfolio.  Pershing is an affiliate of the Bank of New York and they support the operations of more than 1100 financial organizations worldwide.  Pershing is the largest custodial bank in the world, with more than $25 Trillion in client assets.  Each account has SIPC insurance, which ensures each account up to $500,000.

Question: Do you charge any other fees to your clients?
No.  Clients transaction fees are paid by Barnes Capital.  The management fee is a net fee.  With the exception of mutual fund expenses which are hidden and typically paid out of a funds’ dividend income.  For most transactions Pershing charges Barnes Capital $13.

Question: If I wish to maintain a relationship with my broker while delegating the management to you, would you be willing to place the trades through her or him?
Unfortunately not.  We have found that we are not able to deliver the same level of service when assets are custodied with another broker.  In exceptional circumstances we will work with outside custodians if our custodian is unable to custody a specific investment asset.

Question: Will you work with my accountant, attorney, investment consultant and financial planner?
Yes, we welcome the opportunity.  We currently work with clients’ advisors and coordinate our management with their tax, estate and financial planning needs.

Question: Why aren’t you a hedge fund?
Separate accounts are better for our clients than a commingled “hedge fund” because the flows created by client contributions and redemptions have no effect on the performance of other clients.  Furthermore, our fee structure is cheaper for our clients compared to hedge funds.

Question: Do you develop other retirement strategies for business owners?
Yes, we work with outside consultants to develop defined benefit plans for business owners and other strategies such as lump payout distributions.

Question: How fast can I get money out for emergency purposes?
1-2 business days for taxable accounts.  Withdrawing funds from retirement assets are trickier; they may take 2-20 business days and carry a redemption fee to the federal government in some cases.

Question: How do I cancel my account with Barnes Capital?
You may cancel at any time during the quarter with 30 days written notice.  Billings are done on the first day of the quarter and each quarter and calculated on the basis of the value of the account at each quarter’s end.

Question: How do you get my Accountant the tax information he needs regarding my income and capital gains and losses?
We can generate this information in 1-2 business days upon your or your accountant’s request.