The short answer
The meeting count belongs in the agreement. Some firms name a number. Some say "as needed." Those are different products, even when the percent is the same. You pay the annual fee whether you use the meetings or not, if the fee is a percent of assets or a retainer. Ask what happens to a meeting you skip.
Do not treat a folklore number as your contract. If a firm will not name the count, write that down as part of the fee question, not as a detail for later.
| What they might mean | What you write in the email | Why it matters |
|---|
| One scheduled review a year | "One review is included. What is the agenda?" | You know the floor |
| A review each quarter | "Four reviews. Is a quarter I miss lost?" | Unused time may not roll |
| "Call anytime" | "Is a call a meeting? Is email?" | The word meeting is doing too much work |
| A call when life changes | "Marriage, a death, a job change, a home. What else counts?" | This is the useful extra, if it is real |
| Reviews plus a portfolio report | "Who writes the report, and is it the custodian statement?" | A PDF is not a meeting |
What to do
- Email this before you sign: "How many scheduled meetings are in the annual fee? How long is each one? What happens to a meeting I do not use? What counts as a meeting: a review, a phone call, an email? If my job or my family changes, is that an extra meeting or one of the scheduled ones?"
- Open the firm on Search and read the brochure's description of reviews and reports. If the brochure is silent and the email is silent, you are buying a fee without a calendar.
- Ask who attends. A meeting with the person who signed your plan is different from a meeting with a rotating associate. What happens if my advisor retires? if the person is the whole relationship.
- Put the custodian's statement on a separate line. You should get that whether or not you meet. Does my advisor have my money? A meeting does not replace it.
- Compare the calendar with the dollars. Four meetings on a $10,000 fee is a different hour than one meeting on the same fee. A 1% quote on $1,000,000 is $10,000 this year, as arithmetic, not as a standard price. The 1% page is how to judge the bill. The cost page is the fee method.
- After the first year, look at how many meetings happened. If the number was zero, ask for the fee back only if the contract says unused service is refundable. Most percent fees are not refundable because you skipped a review. Know that before you skip it.
What to look for on Best Investors
- The brochure, not Item 5G alone. Item 5G says the firm offers planning or portfolio management. It does not print "four meetings." The service calendar is a sentence in the brochure or the agreement.
- Item 5E(1) vs Item 5E(2). A percent bills for the year. An hourly bill stops when the hours stop, so the meeting count is the invoice. Hourly vs AUM.
- Item 5E(4). A fixed annual fee can include a stated number of meetings. Read whether extra meetings are extra dollars.
- Form CRS. It may describe monitoring and reviews in a few lines. It is the summary. The agreement is the count.
Common mistakes
- Hearing "we meet as often as you need" and never writing a number. You need a floor, plus the life-changes call.
- Counting a mass webinar as your meeting. Ask if the review is yours, with your accounts on the screen.
- Assuming unused meetings become a credit. Ask. The usual percent contract does not work like a punch card unless it says so.
- Skipping the review and then blaming the firm for a drift you would have seen. The calendar cuts both ways. Show up, or renegotiate the fee.
- Treating the meeting as proof the fee is fair. A pleasant hour does not price the other 11 months. Price the list of work on what does a financial advisor do?
Related questions
Is a video call a real meeting?
Yes, if your accounts are the subject and the person on the agreement is there. A newsletter is not a meeting. Say which one the contract is counting.
What if I only want a meeting when something happens?
Say that, and ask for a fee that matches. An hourly or project fee fits a life that does not need a quarterly ritual. A percent can still fit if you want them watching between the calls. Those are different prices. Get both.
Can I add meetings later?
Ask for the price of an extra meeting before you need it. If the answer is "sure, no charge," write that down. If the answer is an hourly rate, that rate is part of the offer.
What should the agenda be?
Your goals, the cash you will add or withdraw, the fee in dollars, and anything in Item 11 or the custodian statement that confused you. A meeting that is only a market recap is a thin use of the hour. Send the agenda the week before.
Limits
This page does not set a correct number of meetings. It says the number belongs in your agreement. It is not investment advice, and Best Investors is not the SEC.
Firms differ. We do not publish a usual meeting count, because that would be a fake statistic. The $10,000 figure is 1% of $1,000,000. It is not a typical fee.
The firm wrote the brochure. If our filing copy and IAPD disagree, use IAPD.
Sources
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