Frequently Asked Questions

Lanson Advisors overriding advantage is that we provide truly customized solutions to meet the needs of our clients. Clients will always have accessibility to the principals of the company who will be managing every account. In addition, our extensive experience with cross border investment management can help diversify and strengthen your portfolio.

Our account minimums are flexible and determined on a case-by-case basis. However, we are always happy to provide a complimentary portfolio review and answer questions regardless of an investors account size.  Client accounts range in size from approximately $100,000 to $5+million.  

We are Registered Investment Advisors (RIA) licensed by the State of Florida. Our clients are primarily located in Florida.  For our clients not located in the Florida area, we conduct regular communication via telephone and various forms of online communication.  

Lanson Advisors is 100% employee owned.  See Company  

Lanson Advisors began operation in 2010.  

Our initial consultation is free of charge and you are under no obligation.   We are pleased to answer client’s questions at any time.  If we find that your particular question requires the expertise of another profession such as a tax and estate planning attorney or accountant, we will offer a referral.  

Lanson Advisors is a fee-only portfolio manager which means we don’t receive mutual fund or trading commissions so your best interest is always our best interest.   Our revenue only grows when our client accounts grow.   Fees are based on a sliding scale %.  Please contact us for details.  

The management fee charged for our services is tax-deductible as an investment expense.  

No, your accounts at Lanson Advisors are portable and your assets are not locked in to specified terms.  

Lanson Advisors has the capability of a “discretionary portfolio manager,” as opposed to the limitations of an “investment or financial advisor” which are how most brokers and financial planners are defined. However, Lanson will accept certain advisory accounts, evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us for more detail between discretionary management and advisory services.  

Yes, we welcome client’s input.  Although the day-to-day management is handled without continuous communication, our staff is always accessible and we are proactive in notifying clients to changes in their investment outlook as well as opportunities that may arise.  

From time to time we will use mutual funds for clients when appropriate. However, we limit our use of mutual funds and prefer mutual funds that have low-MERs (management expense ratio) and are “no-load”, in other words, cost effective solutions. More commonly however, we invest in individual stocks, options, bonds, and low-cost exchange traded funds (ETFs). We believe that this approach better addresses the needs of clients and is a lower cost alternative to most mutual fund portfolios.  

No, unlike many other investment advisors, we cannot receive any form of commission from mutual fund providers as governed by our regulators.  We believe that our fee-for-service structure best aligns our investment management services with the objectives of our clients.  

No, all of our clients have unique segregated portfolios which we actively manage.  This approach, in our opinion, can provide various tax advantages such as greater customization.  It also allows us to tailor investments to the needs of a particular client and often provides greater transparency regarding investment holdings than a pooled fund approach to investment management.  

Yes, we have selectively utilized hedge funds for clients where and when it is appropriate to do so.  Investing in any alternative asset class (such as hedge funds), however, would make up a relatively small portion of a typical investment portfolio.  

Although each client portfolio is unique, our clients generally fall into one of five broad categories.

• Balanced Income: Clients that require higher than average income from their fixed income and stock investments but would also like some price appreciation of their invested capital.
• Balanced Growth: Clients that require less than average income from their fixed income and stocks investments and have a higher than average requirement for capital appreciation.
• Growth: Clients that are primarily concerned with capital appreciation with a primary focus on equity investments.
• Cash Management: Clients that wish to have their assets managed exclusively in short term government treasuries.
• Fixed Income: Clients that wish to have a diversified bond portfolio with no stock (equity) holdings.

We’ll start with a comprehensive initial meeting. Should you choose to work with us, the process of opening an account is simple and usually processed within approximately 1 hour.  

No, for most stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and options we can transfer your account “in kind”.  In other words, your portfolio would be transferred to Lanson Advisors but not modified through selling existing assets. Therefore, no taxable gains or commissions should be triggered by your former institution.  

In the vast majority of circumstances any transfer costs that may arise are reimbursed by our custodian directly to your portfolio.  

No, unlike much of the industry, when transferring your account we will examine your portfolio for possible strengths and weaknesses and migrate your portfolio to what we believe is ideal in relation to your investment objectives.  During this process we will be mindful of tax constraints, income needs, and unique circumstances when making adjustments to your portfolio.