Mark's Takes

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How Advisors Are Paid

Commission-Based Compensation
Traditional financial advisors and insurance agents are often compensated through commissions on the products they sell. Because payment comes from the product provider rather than the client, there’s often no direct cost to the investor. However, this structure can create potential conflicts of interest, since recommendations may be influenced by compensation incentives.

Fee-Only Compensation
At the other end of the spectrum, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) operating under a fee-only model do not accept commissions and are paid solely by their clients. Compensation may take the form of hourly rates, fixed retainers, or—most often—a percentage of assets under management (AUM). Industry averages are around 1% annually for portfolios up to $1 million. For example, a $1 million portfolio would typically generate an annual advisory fee of about $10,000 under this model.

Fee-Based Compensation
A fee-based model blends the two approaches: charging fees for financial planning or asset management while also receiving commissions for certain product sales. This reduces—but does not remove—the potential for conflicts of interest
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Mark’s Take:
I’ve always believed my clients deserve advice that’s 100% in their best interest—no strings, no hidden incentives. That’s why I chose the fee-only RIA model. My clients pay me directly, and I don’t accept commissions from third parties. It keeps things simple, transparent, and focused entirely on helping you reach your goals.

Fiduciary Standard vs. Suitability Standards in Financial Advice

Not all financial professionals are held to the same legal and ethical standards. Advisors who operate under a fiduciary standard are legally required to act in their clients’ best interests at all times. This duty creates a relationship built on trust and accountability, ensuring that the client’s needs always come first.

By contrast, traditional stockbrokers and many other financial professionals operate under a suitability standard. Their recommendations must be “suitable” for a client’s general profile, but they are not required to recommend the most cost-effective or strategically beneficial option.

In many cases, these advisors are compensated through commissions on the products they sell—creating a potential conflict of interest. It can be difficult to know whether a recommendation is truly best for the client or simply the most profitable for the advisor.

Mark’s Take:
I work under the fiduciary standard, which means my advice must always put your interests first—no exceptions. I’m paid only by my clients, not by third parties, so there’s never a hidden incentive behind my recommendations. While I know there are many honest and capable commission-based advisors, I believe the clearest path to trust is when the only person paying for the advice is the person receiving it.

The CFP® Designation

The CFP® designation — short for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ — is one of the most respected credentials in the financial planning world. It’s granted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., and currently held by fewer than one-third of all financial advisors.

Earning it isn’t just about passing a test. Candidates must complete a broad curriculum of college-level coursework covering the core areas of personal finance, then pass a challenging, full-day exam with a historical pass rate of around 60%. This process ensures CFP® professionals have deep knowledge in areas like:

• Investment management
• Retirement planning
• Tax strategy
• Estate planning
• Insurance planning
• Education funding

But knowledge alone isn’t enough. CFP® professionals also commit to a strict code of ethics and a fiduciary duty — meaning they’re required to put their clients’ best interests first.

Mark’s Take:
I decided to pursue the CFP® certification after years of real-world experience. Even with that background, the coursework and exam were eye-opening — they deepened my expertise and sharpened my thinking in ways I didn’t expect. While I wouldn’t automatically rule out an advisor who isn’t a CFP®, I do view it as a strong indicator of a professional’s dedication, technical capability, and perseverance. It shows someone is serious about both their craft and the people they serve.

Where I Keep Client Accounts

As a fee-only advisor, I have the flexibility to work with any brokerage firm that best serves my clients. While it’s possible to use multiple firms, doing so can lead to unnecessary complexity and confusion. For this reason, most advisors—myself included—partner with one firm to hold the majority of client assets, a practice known as “custody” in the financial industry.

I use Charles Schwab as the primary custodian for my clients' assets. Schwab offers a broad range of investment products and is widely respected for its outstanding support for both advisors and investors.

Mark's Take:
While most custodians offer similar products, what sets Schwab apart is its deep operational expertise and reliable service. That back-end support is critical—and it’s where Schwab consistently delivers.

Location

My practice is based in El Cerrito, California, just across the Bay from San Francisco. I’m registered with the State of California, and most of my clients live here. Like many in the financial advisory industry, I’ve embraced virtual tools such as video conferencing, which give clients greater flexibility and convenience.

Because of this, I’m able to work with clients in all 50 states, delivering service that matches—or often exceeds—what’s possible in person.

Mark’s Take:
I still enjoy meeting clients face-to-face, but video meetings have been a game changer. No traffic, no parking, no rushing across town—just productive conversations from anywhere. That flexibility means we can focus on what really matters: making progress toward your goals.

Modernizing the Client Experience

For years, I kept a traditional office in San Francisco’s Financial District and followed the daily routine of commuting in. Over time, I realized most clients didn’t want to navigate downtown traffic and parking—and, truth be told, neither did I. In-person office meetings became less frequent and, in many cases, unnecessary.

Today, technology allows me to handle almost every administrative and compliance task securely and efficiently online. Physical paperwork is a thing of the past, and there’s no need to travel just to sign documents. This shift frees our in-person time to focus on what truly matters: meaningful conversations about your goals, values, and long-term vision—conversations that don’t have to happen in a conference room.

Mark’s Take:
The way financial advice is delivered has evolved—and so has my practice. Virtual meetings, encrypted file transfers, and digital signatures are now part of everyday service. We’ll connect in whatever way works best for you, so our time together can focus on the one thing that matters most: moving you closer to your goals.

Active vs. Passive Investing

When most people picture “investment management,” they’re often thinking about active investing—where a portfolio manager makes ongoing decisions based on forecasts, market trends, and insights about specific companies or sectors. The goal? To beat a certain benchmark, like the S&P 500, by spotting and acting on opportunities the market might be mispricing.

Passive investing takes a different approach. Instead of trying to outguess the market, it aims to match it—replicating an index’s performance by holding all (or most) of its component securities. This is typically done through index mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are designed to deliver returns that closely track a benchmark’s results. These funds often come with very low costs and require little day-to-day decision-making.

Active strategies can sometimes deliver higher returns—but they come with higher costs. Research, trading, and management all add up, and those costs get passed along to investors in the form of higher expense ratios. Over time, those fees can quietly chip away at returns, making it tough for active managers to consistently outperform their benchmarks.

Mark’s Take
In my experience, low-cost index funds are one of the most effective tools for building long-term wealth. They’re simple, transparent, and backed by decades of research. While there are talented active managers out there, the reality is that most active funds lag their benchmarks after fees. That’s why I often recommend index-based strategies as a core building block for a diversified portfolio—letting the market work for you, instead of trying to outsmart it.

The Importance of Strategic Asset Allocation

Investing isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. Each person comes to the table with unique goals, timelines, and comfort levels with risk. Sometimes, one person will have multiple objectives that call for very different approaches. For example, someone in their 20s might feel perfectly comfortable putting retirement savings into the stock market for decades of growth—while also keeping money for a wedding just months away in a safe savings account.

Asset allocation is simply the process of figuring out the right mix of investments to match your goals, your risk tolerance, and your time horizon. It’s one of the core building blocks of a solid investment plan.
For most people, the main asset classes include:

• Equities (stocks) – which can be further broken down into domestic vs. international, or large-cap vs. small-cap
• Fixed income (bonds)
• Cash equivalents – such as savings accounts or money market funds

A good asset allocation strategy means deciding how much of each type of investment makes sense for you, and adjusting that mix over time as your needs change. Factors to consider include:

• Risk tolerance: Are you comfortable riding out market swings, or are you more likely to sell when markets drop?
• Time horizon: Short-term goals generally call for safer investments that focus on protecting your money rather than maximizing returns.

There’s no single “right” allocation. What works for your neighbor or friend might not work for you. Your investment strategy should be tailored to your entire financial picture—not just your current goals, but how those goals will evolve over time.

Mark’s Take:
Asset allocation has been shown to be one of the most critical determinants of long-term investment success, and it generally has a greater impact on performance than individual security selection. This is where a financial advisor adds significant value—by developing a strategy that not only reflects your goals and tolerance for risk but also adapts over time as your life circumstances evolve.

Portfolio Rebalancing

A well-chosen asset allocation is not a “set it and forget it” decision. Over time, individual investments will rise and fall in value at different rates, causing your portfolio’s mix of assets to drift away from its original target.

Rebalancing is the process of periodically selling certain investments and buying others to restore the portfolio to its intended allocation. While this may sound like routine maintenance, it is often misunderstood—and too often ignored.

Why does rebalancing matter? It enforces the timeless principle of buying low and selling high. Deciding when to buy or sell a single investment based on price movements alone is notoriously difficult, even for professionals. Should you sell after a gain to lock in profits—or hold in hopes of further gains? Should you buy more of a losing investment because it’s cheaper—or sell before it declines further? Investors wrestle with these questions constantly, and history shows that expert predictions are not consistently better than chance.

Rebalancing offers a better, more disciplined approach. Rather than trying to guess the direction of individual investments, you adjust based on relative performance between asset classes. For example, if you own both a stock fund and a bond fund, you might sell some of the one that has risen in value and buy more of the one that has lagged.

This systematic process has been shown over time to be a far more reliable way to buy low and sell high—while keeping your portfolio’s risk profile aligned with your goals.

Mark’s Take:
Rebalancing is a disciplined framework for deciding what to buy and sell, ensuring your portfolio stays aligned with your agreed-upon risk level while helping you capture opportunities created by market fluctuations.

Behavioral Finance

Most topics in finance can be explained with tools like mathematics, which gives them a certain air of precision—sometimes more than they deserve.

Behavioral finance takes a different approach. It applies psychology to understand how investors actually behave, focusing on the mental shortcuts and biases that serve us well in everyday life but can work against us in the investing world.

Traditional finance assumes investors act rationally—an assumption economists love because it keeps their models neat and predictable. In reality, though, human behavior is far messier. We’re emotional, influenced by stories, swayed by recent events, and sometimes even irrational in predictable ways.

These behavioral biases can quietly derail a well-constructed investment plan. One of the most valuable roles a financial advisor plays is to help clients recognize these tendencies and design strategies to reduce their impact.

Some common examples you might recognize—even if you didn’t know their names—include:

• Loss aversion. The tendency to hold on to a losing investment to avoid “locking in” a loss, even when selling might be the wiser choice.
• Confirmation bias. Seeking out information that supports your existing beliefs while ignoring evidence that challenges them.
• Recency bias. Overweighting recent market performance in decision-making, such as chasing “hot” stocks while discounting long-term trends.

And that’s just the beginning—behavioral finance has cataloged dozens more.

Mark’s Take
It might not be obvious at first glance, but psychology plays a huge role in long-term investment success.
Great advisors don’t just acknowledge this—they study it deeply and incorporate it into every client interaction.

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