Investment Partners
CLIENT ASSETS AND DATA
All of our firm’s investments are held by Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., headquartered in San Francisco. Schwab is our firm’s only custodian. Schwab maintains records regarding client holdings, including buy/sell transactions, deposits, withdrawals, dividends and interest and other historical information. Using this information, Schwab produces and distributes our clients monthly and year-end account statements. Schwab also reports required information to the IRS and other government entities. Schwab safeguards our client’s assets. The first $500,000 in assets is insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) in the event of Schwab’s failure. Schwab provides additional insurance through Lloyd’s of London up to $600 million. All of our reports to clients are based on the Schwab data. If there is ever a conflict between Schwab data and data from another source, we always defer to the Schwab data. Our clients also have 24/7 access to their accounts via the SchwabAlliance service. Schwab customer service is located in call centers throughout the United States.
OUR EQUITY INVESTMENTS PARTNER
For over 20 years, we have had a close working relationship with Morningstar, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Morningstar is one of our equity investments partners. Morningstar develops high-quality, diversified portfolios for many of our clients. These portfolios are the result of rigorous quantitative analysis. Recently, Morningstar Investment Services received 13 top-three finishes in their sectors in The Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” survey. That means nearly one out of every 10 finalists in the survey is employed by Morningstar, about twice as many as for the second-place firm. Morningstar has been in business since 1984 and is recognized as a leading provider of independent research to individual and institutional investors. As part of our firm’s due diligence, we have met with Morningstar senior management four separate times in Chicago.
In 2024 Morningstar announced a strategic alliance with AssetMark. AssetMark will provide back-office operations and support for all our Morningstar portfolio clients. We are confident that AssetMark’s industry-leading platform, benefiting from exceptional service, powerful tools, and business consulting expertise will significantly enhance our client support and services.
OUR CLIENT SERVICES AND INVESTMENTS PARTNER
Advyzon, located in Chicago, Illinois, manages all of our client administrative services and databases. Advyzon also designed our well received “Profitability Reports” at our request. We also use Advyzon’s client portfolio accounting and relationship management software. Client quarterly billing statements and performance reports are generated by the Advyzon system software. Every day, Advyzon downloads transactions and updates client information from Schwab. This year we established a relationship with Adyvzon Investment Management (AIM) to provide third partner advisory services similar to Morningstar.
OUR FIXED-INCOME PARTNERS
Oppenheimer is a global leader in fixed income markets, providing comprehensive trading and sales support to The McBride Group with a focus on municipal and corporate bonds, structured products, and tailored portfolio solutions. Known for its expertise and innovation, Oppenheimer offers deep market insights and unparalleled access to institutional pricing and new bond issues. With offices across key financial hubs, Oppenheimer delivers personalized service and efficient execution to help clients navigate today’s complex markets with confidence.
Similar to our relationship with Morningstar on the equity side, we work with Advisors Asset Management of Monument, Colorado for fixed-income investments. In the current environment of historically low interest rates, fixed-income investments can be dangerous. The reason is that, cyclically, interest rates will rise, and the market value of fixed income holdings will decline. For example, fourteen years ago we were buying California municipal bonds. When we started our firm, over 40% of our assets were municipal bonds, almost all of which had coupons greater than 4%. Those days are over. Today, we see value in corporate bonds, Agency CMOs, Agency IOs and POs, accrual notes and even some taxable municipal bonds. Advisors Asset Management only selects fixed-income investments that conform to each of our client’s risk profile and investment goals.
OUR REGULATORY COMPLIANCE PARTNER
We take compliance very seriously. We comply with all state and federal rules and regulations regarding investments. Our partner ACA Group is a leader in the compliance and regulatory services industry. Their strength is providing reliable and efficient products and services for investment professionals.
