PARTNERING TO MEET YOUR
INVESTMENT AND STEWARDSHIP GOALS
SMI Private Client helps investors manage their portfolios prudently, so they can provide for their families and give more generously to fulfill God’s purposes. We believe Christians are stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them. Our job is to help clients manage money in ways that honor Him.
17
Years of Experience
$760M+
in Managed Assets
$8M+
in Donations Processed
900+
Private Client Households
as of 7/31/2023
Private Client Benefits
creating value for you
Professional
Management
Management
SMISound Mind Investing
Strategies
Strategies
Stewardship
Focus
Focus
Personalized
Portfolios
Portfolios
Transparent
Cost
Cost
Client
Dashboard
Dashboard
Private Client Tiers
invest with us
Classic
$50,000
minimum investment
minimum investment
- Email and Chat Support
1.00%
Annual Management Fee
Select
$250,000
minimum investment
minimum investment
- Dedicated Stewardship Advisor
- Live Phone Support
- MoneyGuide Access & Assistance
0.95%
Annual Management Fee
Premier
$1,000,000
minimum investment
minimum investment
- Dedicated Stewardship Advisor
- Live Phone Support
- MoneyGuide Access & Assistance
- Reimbursement of Transfer Fees from Prior Custodians*
- Tax Return Analysis & Strategies
*reimbursed via billing credits, up to $750 per household
0.85%
Annual Management Fee
Portfolios below $50,000 are encouraged to consider the
SMI Funds
, which are run by the same SMI Private Client management team.
Choose SMI Private Client
- Diversified portfolio of Sound Mind Investing (SMI) strategies
- Custom allocations to fit your personal circumstances and risk tolerance
- Advanced SMI-focused online reporting tools
- Support in achieving your financial and stewardship goals
- Select & Premier clients work directly with a dedicated Stewardship Advisor
Contact:
If you have questions or would like to speak to someone about SMI Private Client, reach out to us by phone or email.
800-796-4975
Mark Biller
Mark Biller is co-founder of SMI Advisory Services and serves as Senior Portfolio Manager of SMI Private Client and the SMI Funds. As Senior Portfolio Manager, Mark has ultimate decision-making authority regarding all portfolio decisions and trading practices. In addition to his duties at the Advisor, Mark has been the Executive Editor of the Sound Mind Investing newsletter for over 20 years. Mark’s financial writings have been featured in a variety of national print and electronic media, and he also appears as a financial commentator for various national and local radio programs. Mark has a B.S. in Finance from Oral Roberts University.
Professional Management
- Accounts proactively managed by a team of Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs).
- Portfolios implement the Sound Mind Investing strategies.
- Regular rebalancing across all managed accounts.
- Asset Location — Strategies allocated across different account types to improve tax efficiency.
- Tax Loss Harvesting — In taxable accounts, the intentional realization of losses in some positions to offset gains in others, deferring your tax liability and enabling gains to compound longer.
- Wash Sale Monitoring — Track and monitor trades across managed accounts to help mitigate costly wash sale issues.
- Asset Protection Guarantee — If you lose cash or securities from your account due to unauthorized activity, Charles Schwab will reimburse you for the amount lost.
Stewardship Focus
- A focus on SMI stewardship principles.
- SMI Private Client is a fiduciary, meaning we are obligated to put client interests ahead of our own.
- Extensive experience with QCDs, donating appreciated assets, and utilizing donor advised funds to help your giving go further.
- Continuity of portfolio management in the event of Death, Disability, or Impairment, including helping surviving spouse:
- Reregister account titles
- Claim step-up basis on taxable accounts
- Update beneficiaries
- Invest based on new risk tolerance
- Privacy and security policies safeguard your personal and financial information.
- Our team monitors your accounts and assists with contribution and distribution requests.
- Asset Protection Guarantee — If you lose cash or securities from your account due to unauthorized activity, Charles Schwab will reimburse you for the amount lost.
Personalized Portfolios
- Assessment of your risk capacity and risk tolerance.
- Proposed portfolio based on your risk assessment.
- A customized portfolio to fit your specific preferences.
- Clients investing at least $250,000 work one-on-one with a dedicated Stewardship Advisor.
Client Portal
- View your investment holdings, returns, and financial plan all in one place.
- Monitor portfolio performance by SMI strategy, by account, and by security.
- Access Charles Schwab statements and tax documents.
- Track account activity, including contributions and distributions.
- Schedule services, including contributions and distributions, personal information and beneficiary updates, and opening of new accounts.
Transparent Cost
- Straightforward Annual Management Cost of 0.85% for Premier, 0.95% for Select, and 1.00% for Classic clients.
- Advisory and fund costs below industry averages.
- Clients are billed monthly based on their average daily balances.
- Utilizes institutional funds with lower management costs when available.
- SMI Private Client covers all trading commissions.*
* Although SMI Private Client covers all Charles Schwab commissions, SEC Fees will still apply, as will short-term redemption fees, if applicable. Health Savings Accounts may not receive free trades, since they are opened by third party administrators.
Tax Return Analysis & Strategies
- We use a powerful analytical tool to review your tax return and suggest strategies to improve tax efficiency. We look at ordinary income and capital gain tax brackets, deductions, Medicare premium brackets, and credit phase-out ranges. To view a sample, click here .
- We can model multi-year tax scenarios to view the effects of advanced tax strategies, including:
- Roth Conversions - Converting money from tax-deferred IRAs to Roth IRAs during lower earning years can reduce the total tax liability over an investor’s lifetime.
- Tax Gain Harvesting – Selling securities with long-term capital gains to fill up the 0% tax bracket.
- Donation of Appreciated Securities – Identifying appreciated long-term securities that may be donated directly to charities or to Donor Advised Funds, allowing a tax deduction of the full market value and avoiding taxes on the capital gains.
- Aggregating Charitable Deductions – Consolidating multiple years worth of charitable giving into a single year, and claiming the standard deduction in other years, can increase total tax deductions over time. Donor Advised Funds and donations of appreciated securities may be used in this aggregation process.
Client Dashboard
- View your investment holdings, returns, and financial plan all in one place.
- Monitor portfolio performance by SMI strategy, by account, and by security.
- Access Charles Schwab statements and tax documents.
- Track account activity, including contributions and distributions.
- Schedule services, including contributions and distributions, personal information and beneficiary updates, and opening of new accounts.
- Using the SMI Private Client Mobile App, clients can check balances and transactions, track performance, monitor financial plans, view statements and tax forms, and contact us.
SMI Strategies
STOCK UPGRADING: The Power of Stock Momentum
Stock Upgrading is a momentum strategy based on the observable phenomenon that recent performance tends to persist. In this strategy we diversify your portfolio across US Large-Cap Funds / ETFs, US Small-Cap Funds / ETFs, and a portion may also be invested in International Funds / ETFs and/or commodities, depending on the recent momentum of these groups. Within each category, we buy the funds demonstrating the strongest current momentum, replacing lagging funds with those showing greater momentum each month. The situational risk category will include exposure to commodities funds when momentum indicates it is appropriate.
DYNAMIC ASSET ALLOCATION: Winning By Not Losing
DAA is a strategy designed to help you share in some of a bull market’s gains, while minimizing (or even preventing) losses during bear markets. The strategy rotates among six exchange-traded funds representing six asset classes, at any one time holding the three with the strongest recent momentum. DAA is a defensive, low-volatility strategy that has generated impressive back-tested results, showing the power of “winning by not losing.”
SECTOR ROTATION: High Risk, High Reward
This strategy invests in a small number (normally 5, but up to 10) of stock funds and ETFs focused on specific sectors, like technology or financial services, demonstrating strong recent momentum. It’s a high-risk/high volatility strategy. While its peaks have been higher and its valleys lower than SMI’s other strategies, Sector Rotation has generated impressive long-term returns. The strategy is intended to comprise only a modest portion of your stock allocation.
JUST-THE-BASICS: Simple Excellence
Using index funds, we spread your allocation across the global stock market. Just-the-Basics is designed to match the performance of the market in a tax-efficient manner, so it is well-suited for use in taxable accounts.
BOND UPGRADING: The Power of Bond Momentum
We include bonds to provide safety and stability. This strategy combines a bond index fund base with rotating bond funds that vary in duration, credit rating, and type. Bond Upgrading evaluates its holdings each month and replaces lagging bond funds with those showing greater momentum.