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Seeking an hourly fee only financial advisor for a small non-profit

lrwilliams
in Other Investing
Hi All,
I volunteer with a small non-profit that has several hundred k in long term assets that we'd like to invest so as to earn more than the pitiful return on money market accounts/savings accounts. The assets are held at Vanguard. Our by-laws require that we use a financial advisor of some kind. Vanguard only offers advisory services to individuals, not to organizations. I've talked to a few financial advisors, but no one seems to work with Vanguard accounts. They all want to move the assets to Schwab or Fidelity. That's a nonstarter with the board because opening the Vanguard account was such a hassle and they don't want to open a new account. So, I think we're looking for someone who could advise us on an hourly basis, but let us do the actual management of the investments. I've been looking on various fee-only investment advisor websites, but very few work with non-profits and/or they require millions in assets. Does anyone have any leads? Feel free to private message me.
Thanks!
lrwilliams

Comments

  • MrRufflesMrRuffles
    If you haven’t already, you might want to check with your local, regional, or state nonprofit association. They can be a good resource of both information and networking - if they don’t have an answer they might know a nonprofit that had a similar experience. Here’s a finder for your state association: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/find-your-state-association
  • sma3
    Have you asked Vanguard directly? They keep asking me if I want advisory services for our business account
  • MikeMMikeM
    NPFA. This may be a good source to start with.

    https://www.napfa.org/financial-planning/what-is-fee-only-advising
  • davidrmorandavidrmoran
    There was a wonderful guy here on this site who did exactly this (in Ohio), I will poke around and see if I can recall or find out who, and whether still active even a little bit.
  • Sven
    That was Bob Cochran, aka BobC who retired from his financial service. Probably need to find his older posts in order to get contact with him.
  • davidrmorandavidrmoran
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-cochran-30193726/

    fwiw
  • Sven
    Thank you. That is the best way to reach him since he seldom visit MFO these days.
  • davidrmorandavidrmoran
    I don't see non-LI contact info there and iirc he had retired from all such activity a few years back

    all I was thinking is that he would know to refer the querier to someone competent

    but yes, I would think vang would be able to help out just fine, and honestly

    I just wanted to see if bobc was around and perhaps still reading threads here ...
  • lrwilliams
    Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Really appreciate it.
    @MrRuffles - we are members of our state nonprofit association and I have been poking around on their website, but no good leads yet.
    @sma3 - I have called Vanguard. They told me they do not provide advisory services for organizational accounts. But, maybe they meant small ones. They do have a nonprofit investment advisor service for accounts over $5 million. If only...
    @MikeM - have been looking at the NAPFA site, but the only search is by zip code, so it take a lot of time searching through websites and ADV forms to find ones that work with nonprofits or charge hourly.
    @davidmoran - thanks for the reminder about Bob Cochran. Lovely gentleman. I will ping him on LinkedIn.
    What a great community this is!
  • RbrtRbrt
    I wonder if Ritholtz would work with you. https://ritholtz.com/contact-2/ I picture them as low cost, hands off managers but maybe not fee only advisors.
  • WABACWABAC
    If this was the last century, I'ld say try your local Yellow Pages.

    I'm wondering why you can't find local, fee-only, advisors to shop among. Maybe you could even find one to volunteer their services if they are interested in what you are doing.

    Seems like some local advisor would see this as an opportunity to burnish their reputation in the community.

    I spent my entire career in various parts of non-profit land. So I'm biased towards finding someone with ties to your community, if not ties to your mission.
  • RbrtRbrt
    I think WABAC is on the right track. I googled “financial advisors near me” and found several lists and some that say they specialize in non-profits.
  • lrwilliams
    Thanks again for the suggestions.
  • WABACWABAC
    edited April 2021
    Also try this fee only search site: https://www.feeonlynetwork.com/

    If there is no one close by, have you tried talking to the trust department where your org does its banking? A big city bank might blow you off as too small. In a town too small for fee-only planners, your local bankers might be friendlier, and able to come up with some help or ideas.
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