Cooperative Professional Alliance is a partnering alliance between Advanced Financial Strategists, Inc. and CPAs to provide investment advisory services and financial planning to CPA clients.
This program was developed by Advanced Financial Strategists, Inc. to facilitate a CPAs desire to provide these services to their clients. You may be a candidate to affiliate with AFS if you have a keen interest in this area and have already been investigating the prospects of entering into this very lucrative area of practice. You also may have been considering obtaining a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation accredited by the AICPA to demonstrate expertise in this area to your clients.
AFS will help you clear these hurdles and help you establish yourself as an Investment Advisor as expeditiously as possible. Find out more by calling (800) 801-7382 to schedule an appointment .
Expectations From AFS
Upon partnering with AFS, you should expect all the necessary material that makes your first presentation a success. We supply all the necessary marketing material, compliance folders, investment selection lists (stocks, mutual funds and ETFs) and sophisticated models that provide you with piece-of- mind that your clients are appropriately diversified and scheduled to be rebalanced on a periodic basis.
Here is a summary of the material that you can expect to receive from AFS:
Investment research & investment selection
Portfolio monitoring using Performance Technologies, Inc. "Portfolio
Center" portfolio accounting system (includes tracking and reporting
investment results, tax basis tracking, realized and unrealized gain /
loss reporting and up to 23 other reports to assist you in discussing
results with your client)
Assistance in setting up client accounts through Charles Schwab® (our custodian)
Provide tools to help you educate clients concerning investment risk, expectations, etcetera
Questionnaires to help determine the clients investment risk profile
Marketing brochure that describes our investment research and portfolio
process and four other marketing pieces that comprise our "new client
kit"
Quarterly newsletters on the market and economic events
Quarterly graphs that help your clients keep their individual
performance in perspective against how the rest of the major indices
performed
Investment advisory agreements
Continued support with client's investments and other financial
planning needs including estate, retirement, insurance and education
Train you to become independent of Advanced Financial Strategists, Inc. if you so choose
Assistance in becoming registered as Investment Advisor, we will help you complete your ADV
Like you we believe in a "fee for service" model and hold ourselves to the highest standards in the investment advisory business.
AFS Expectations From The CPA
We know you are busy and for that reason try and limit your responsibilities to those that directly impact the client. This is your relationship and we do not intend for that to change. Your responsibilities can be limited to the following items:
Meet with clients to set up new accounts, complete account application (we support), investment advisory agreements, risk profile questionnaires, make sure the client receives SEC form ADV-Part II and other necessary paperwork to begin the relationship
At your regularly scheduled meeting with the client explain investment
strategies and portfolio performance (we recommend you meet at least
annually or as circumstances dictate)
Take care of other financial planning needs with your clients, i. e. estate, retirement, insurance, etcetera
Your responsibility is directly with the client - Advanced Financial
Strategists, Inc.'s responsibility is supporting you in that effort
We will show you how
Hold yourself to the highest standards as an Investment Advisor to your client