BakerAvenue Asset Management - more commonly known as BakerAvenue - is a financial advisor firm located in San Francisco. The firm offers services such as financial planning and portfolio management. It works with a range of individual and institutional clients.
As a fee-only firm, all of BakerAvenue's compensation comes from client-paid fees. A fee-based firm, on the other hand, includes both client-paid fees and third-party commissions in their compensation models.
BakerAvenue Background
BakerAvenue is an SEC-registered investment advisor founded in 2004. The firm's principal owner and CEO is Simon Baker. Jerry Luff serves as chief operating officer (COO) and partner, and Doug Couden serves as chief investment officer (CIO) and partner.
BakerAvenue Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
BakerAvenue advises the following types of clients:
- Non-high-net-worth individuals
- High-net-worth individuals
- Charitable organizations
- Corporations and other businesses
The firm's minimum account size is $1 million, but is technically negotiable.
Services Offered by BakerAvenue
BakerAvenue offers its clients many services, including portfolio management services, third-party managers and financial planning.
For portfolio management services, the firm generally manages monies on a discretionary basis, and on a non-discretionary basis only when clients request it.
In certain cases, clients may be introduced to BakerAvenue from third-party managers through a contract relationship. These accounts are managed on a discretionary basis.
Wealth and financial planning services are available to clients who do not have a relationship with BakerAvenue for portfolio management services or do not meet the minimum asset requirement. These services may include family continuity, estate planning and trustee oversight, integrated tax and financial planning, lifestyle management, family philanthropy and risk management. If a client requests so, the firm may provide financial planning and/or consulting services on a stand-alone (i.e. separate fee) basis.
BakerAvenue Investing Philosophy
The firm uses various methods of analysis and investment strategies when it comes to managing client assets:
- Dynamic Core: a strategy that seeks to provide wide exposure to the market across a number of different investment styles. This allocation approach uses macroeconomic, fundamental and technical factors to manage holdings and risk profile. The strategy focuses on diversification and invests mostly in stocks and ETFs to achieve its long-term approach to capital appreciation and risk.
- Blue Chip: a strategy that seeks long-term capital appreciation (i.e. long-term rise in an investment's market price) by investing in a diversified portfolio of high-quality blue-chip stocks and ETFs in low-risk markets, among other tactics. This strategy actively monitors long-term market trends.
- Global Income: a strategy that seeks to deliver above-average market yields while maintaining below-average market volatility by investing in various asset classes of income-producing securities. This strategy uses a quantitative approach.
- All-Cap Growth: a strategy that looks to build by investing client assets in stocks across many areas of the market, specifically those that are fundamentally and technically strong.
- Impact: a strategy that seeks long-term capital appreciation and adds a socially responsible layer to the investment approach. This strategy seeks both financial return and aims to do social good.
- Fixed-Income: a strategy that seeks to provide current income, capital appreciation and preservation by investing in a widely diversified portfolio of bonds. This strategy uses a quantitative approach.
- Concentrated Stock: a multi-layered approach to managing concentrated stock positions (that is, when a large percentage of the portfolio is focused or concentrated on a particular stock).
- Alternative Investments: financial assets that do not fall into one of the traditional investment categories (i.e. stocks, bonds, cash) and may include venture capital, private equity, private credit, private real estate and hedge funds.
The firm also provides clients with services such as tax planning, estate planning, risk management, retirement planning, philanthropy and impact, tax preparation and family office services.
Fees Under BakerAvenue
The fees that clients pay to BakerAvenue are negotiable and vary depending on the client. In general, however, the minimum fee for portfolio management services is $9,500 per year and the range of fees is tiered along an asset-based fee schedule, as follows:
| BakerAvenue Portfolio Management Fee Schedule | |
| AUM | Annual Fees |
| Minimum fee | $9,500 |
| $1,000,000 up to $2,500,000 | 0.95% |
| Next $2,500,000 up to $5,000,000 | 0.90% |
| More than $5,000,000 | 0.80% |
Regarding advisory fees charged to clients introduced to BakerAvenue by third-party firms, client fees are based on BakerAvenue's standard fee schedule noted above. If the client relationship is introduced in the opposite direction - that is to say, introduced to a third-party manager by BakerAvenue - then while the advisory fees clients incur is also based on the above fee schedule, there may be other fees charged separately by the third-party manager.
For stand-alone wealth and financial planning and consulting services, fees are negotiable, but generally range from $2,000 to $10,000 if on a fixed fee bases, and from $225 to $300 per hour if on an hourly rate basis. Specific amounts depend on the level and scope of services rendered.
What to Watch Out For
BakerAvenue has no legal or regulatory disclosures on its SEC-filed Form ADV.
Opening an Account With BakerAvenue
To open an account with BakerAvenue, you can visit the firm's website or call over the phone.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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