We have maintained a >99% client retention rate since 2019, even during the pandemic. We take immense pride in this metric!

We serve over 450 families throughout the country.

As of 1/1/2024, GWS has $1,000,494,267.64 in Assets Under Guidance.

As an extension of our deep commitment to providing tremendous value to the families we serve, we introduced our Dynamic Tiered Billing process so that you can automatically pay lower fee rates each quarter as your portfolio grows and you contribute more funds to your Advisory accounts. Here is our current tiered schedule, which operates like tax brackets: We conduct billing from Advisory accounts on a quarterly basis.

There is no minimum; based on our fee structure, it usually makes the most sense for clients with $1,000,000 and above of investable assets to work with us. Our average client has a portfolio of roughly $2,200,000, and our average annual fee is about 0.72%.

Absolutely. We have a designated internal Investment Committee, headed by our Chief Investment Officer, Chris Arends, that works daily to manage our model investment strategies, stay up-to-date on market trends, and much more. As rules-based investors, it is essential to our firm to ensure we are using favorable and the most current data to inform our daily investment decisions. The GWS Investment Committee has 100% control over the investment decisions. We have no conflicts of interest with any asset management or fund company.

Our asset custodian is LPL Financial. They are a partner and truly live up to their mission “we take care of our advisors, so they can take care of their clients.”

No — We work with clients throughout the country in over 30 states and are constantly growing!

"Fee-based" means that we are compensated based on a percentage of the assets we manage for you. Essentially, we both win when your investments perform well. Thanks to this aligned and transparent compensation model, you don't have to worry about us trying to "sell" you on outside products. Plus, as fiduciary-focused advisors, we are legally bound to make decisions only in your best interests. Our goal is to put your mind at ease through industry-leading transparency.

Yes, is the short answer. Depending on how they are invested, it may take several days for trades to settle, but your funds are always liquid and available to you. We do not hold any illiquid private investments in our clients' advisory portfolios.

We intentionally keep our firm at a sweet spot of size and strategy. Because we only serve 450 families, we know their circumstances like our own. We can dig deep into everything from their investments to detailed cash management. Yet, we still maintain strong resources from both a human capital and technology standpoint. It's a suitable intersection of a high-touch client service model, with all the competitive technology, specialization, and talent clients could expect from an elite, specialized firm. Additionally, we make it a point to keep creative and strategic control in all aspects of our business. We don't need to outsource essential resources and departments from specialized knowledge to in-house CFA® charterholders. Finally, unlike our competitors that hide from transparency, we created an app, the GWS Portal, which enables our clients to easily view their investment performance net of fees, their benchmark, and fees. We believe this simple transparency strengthens trust. Our best-in-class Portfolio Dashboard facilitates a phenomenal digital experience for the families we serve.

We are not obligated to limit our investment decisions to any investment management, holding, or fund company. We want our trading tools and proprietary processes to drive our trading decisions. That means the only person paying us is you, based on a percentage of your assets under management with us. Every GWS client can know the exact fees they have paid us with two clicks in our app.

No, there is no fee. We do not make our clients sign any sort of contractual lockups.

GWS takes a highly data-driven, research-based approach to working toward maximizing your returns. For more detail on our process and to hear directly from our CIO, visit our Investment Philosophy page or check out our deep library of content on our YouTube channel.

We hold our Midwestern values — including honesty, hard work, and kindness — close to our hearts at GWS. We don't believe in trying to intimidate or prove ourselves to clients through the jargon. Every client has the right to understand and learn, know what they have in their portfolio, how their plan is working, and what we're doing for them to help them work toward their goals and financial dreams. We would love the opportunity to earn your trust and serve you and your family.

No, we do not currently offer these services. We do work very closely coordinating our clients' affairs with all of their professional services team members. Consider us your "financial quarterback."

Absolutely. Managing and building intergenerational wealth is something at which we are well-practiced. We believe in bringing families together to whatever extent you're comfortable, so everyone can be in the same room to discuss important financial matters and decisions. Then, we provide guidance and accountability every step of the way.

LPL is the broker dealer of Gatewood Wealth Solutions. Gatewood also uses LPL as a custodian. Definition of a broker dealer: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/082715/independent-brokerdealers-what-you-should-know.asp Definition of custodian: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/custodian.asp

Gatewood Wealth Solutions has a managed asset platform and a brokerage platform. Majority of our clients engage with us through the managed platform. On the managed platform, we charge an asset-based fee and have discretion over the accounts. There are no commissions on trades on the platform. A small number of clients will engage us through our brokerage platform. Those clients do not pay an asset-based fee, they pay a commission on a sell or purchase. We only have a handful of those clients, but out of transparency we want to disclose that we can and have operated in this capacity. Some clients also just hold cash in their brokerage account for financial planning purposes, and we do not want to charge a fee on those assets.