Services, Products and Advantages

Potomac Wealth Strategies delivers outstanding services, products, and advantages, all at a competitively-priced fee structure:

Investment Planning

When can I retire?  What about paying for college?  How much to save...  Which accounts to use...  What investments to make...

Potomac Wealth Strategies (PWS) advises clients on all of that.  The Investment Plan crafted just for you shows you what you need to do and whether or not you are on track to meet your goals.

Account Management

PWS helps clients set up the right accounts on Charles Schwab's Advisor Services platform (user-friendly for clients, professional-grade for advisors).  Existing accounts are then transferred to Schwab so PWS can help directly.  While you will deal primarily with PWS, Schwab has a large team available help.  Schwab does not provide financial or investment advice, but they deliver excellent customer service on administrative and transactional matters if PWS is not available.

Portfolio Management

PWS implements your Investment Plan using successful proprietary portfolio models.  These are the investments that comprise your portfolio, the tools to get the job done.

The first step is determining the most suitable long-term asset allocation strategy to optimally balance risk and reward for each client.  The strategy, which is based on Nobel Prize-winning portfolio methodology, is then implemented using mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).  PWS does not usually recommend individual stocks, preferring instead to use best-of-breed professionally-managed products at lowest cost available.

PWS advises tax-deferred account holders use actively-managed mutual funds in pursuit of benchmark-beating performance.  PWS also offers portfolio models comprised of tax-efficient and low-cost index mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for clients with taxable accounts or those who prefer to ensure close tracking of benchmark performance instead of possible benchmark outperformance.  Whether using actively-managed funds, index funds, or ETFs, clients incur no external (out-of-pocket) fund-related costs in the normal course of PWS-advised portfolio management on the Schwab platform.

Financial Advice

To provide even more value to the client experience, Potomac Wealth Strategies offers (or refers clients to other professionals who can offer) evaluation of, advice on, and products/services for:

• Net Worth
• Cash Flow
• Emergency Reserves
• Life, Disability, and Long-term Care Insurance
• Retirement Funding
• Education Funding
• Additional planning coordinated with your tax and legal advisors

Fees

Potomac Wealth Strategies is compensated solely by each client's ongoing investment advisory fees, which is a small percentage of each client's Assets Under Management (AUM).  Clients pay their advisory fees quarterly, and all PWS services are covered by the one advisory fee.

PWS is never compensated by any product vendors or marketing entities--no referral fees or commission-sharing.  PWS' only income source ever is advisory fees from its clients.  While there are many fair and prudent compensation structures in the financial services industry, PWS believes the AUM-based advisory fee method is best for our clients. 

Potomac Wealth Strategies regularly uses the following products:

• Mutual Funds (actively-managed)
  
• Index Mutual Funds (passively-managed)
• Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs, which are usually passively-managed)
  
• Stocks
• Purchased Money Market Funds
  
• Bank Sweep cash holdings
  

PWS in some cases will use the following products:

• Exchange-traded Notes (ETNs)
  
• Stocks
• Bonds

PWS will advise clients on, but not sell or directly manage, the following products:

• Annuities
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• Long-term Care insurance
• Medicare Supplemental insurance

Benchmark-beating performance...  Simple cost structure...  Expert advice from an experienced professional...  The stability and scope of Schwab's Advisor Services...  All available to clients of any size and for a reasonable price.

Potomac Wealth Strategies works hard to earn and maintain the trust of each client.  PWS' services are effective, innovative, time-tested, and delivered through client-friendly practices and user-friendly systems.

Potomac Wealth Strategies devotes most of its time to client service and investment research, not marketing and cold-calls.  PWS is grateful to keep growing thanks to referrals from clients and friends of the firm.

The bottom line:  Potomac Wealth Strategies clients invest prudently and understand their overall financial situations, and so they are better-equipped to achieve their goals.