Investment management is a complex field that requires us to be life-long students. We enjoy hearing from our clients and prospective clients who are interested in learning along with us. We have received many questions from them over the years, but below are some of the ones that come up fairly often.
If you have a question that is not covered in the list below, feel free to contact us any time.
How much does Inkwell charge me?
Our fee is charged as a percentage of the assets we manage, which aligns our interests with our clients’ interests. That is, when our clients’ portfolios increase in value, our fee also increases; conversely, if our clients’ portfolios decrease in value, then our fee would decrease similarly. The maximum fee we charge is 1.00% per year, in quarterly installments of 0.25% each. However, our fee is reduced for accounts which are larger than $1 million. For more information about fees, please refer to our Form ADV referenced below.
How else does Inkwell earn money?
Other than our 1.00% annual management fee, we earn no other forms of revenue. We do not earn commissions of any kind, we do not get paid by any other financial institution to favor their products in our clients’ portfolios, and we do not participate in any revenue-sharing arrangements with other organizations. Inkwell is therefore a completely independent organization, beholden to no one but our clients.
What other fees will I have to pay?
Inkwell’s management fee is the only fee which is payable to Inkwell.
Inkwell does not serve as a custodian of assets, though, so our clients must have their accounts housed at a qualified custodian, which may charge their own fees.
For instance, most of Inkwell’s clients use Charles Schwab as their third-party custodian. Schwab is the largest of the qualified custodians, home to more than $1 trillion in assets. Schwab charges our clients a commission, which is usually $4.95, each time we make a trade in their account. Schwab may also charge for other services, such as wire transfers.
How do I know Inkwell won't "run off" with my money?
Inkwell does not provide custody of our clients’ assets. We merely have discretionary trading authority over our clients’ accounts. Any movement of money into or out of our client accounts, with the exception of our quarterly management fee which is usually automatically deducted, must be directed by our clients.
What is the minimum portfolio size necessary for me to hire Inkwell?
Our current minimum account size is $250,000.
Are you registered with financial regulators?
Yes, Inkwell is registered with the applicable financial regulators. Our form ADV, which is the annual registration document we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and state securities regulators, can be found at adviserinfo.sec.gov.
How did you come up with the name "Inkwell"?
Life has changed significantly in the last hundred years. The world today is awash in smart phones, laptops, desktops, tablets, and now even smart watches.
While we may have more gadgets now than our ancestors did a few generations ago, the investment principles that Inkwell Capital espouses have remained unchanged during that time.
The word “inkwell” conjures in our mind an image of the way things used to be. It reminds us that our investment principles are rooted in a time before cell phones, before computers, before iPads, and even before ballpoint pens.
If an investment is going to work, the reason it will work is not because of some technological or informational edge we have over our competition. It will work for the same reason it would have worked a hundred years ago: that we get more value in return than the capital we put into it.
Price is what you pay, and value is what you get. It’s as true today as it was in the time of inkwells.