fee discount

The Last 30 Years and the Next 30 Years 
By Greg Leibman, Billy Garver, and Caitie Leibman

Friends, a lot of things can happen in three decades. In December 2024, our President Mark Leibman celebrated 30 years of affiliation with LPL Financial. There is a lot of work a person can do in that amount of time, and Mark has chosen to spend a lot of it with you and on this enterprise we now share.

He still intends to work until age 92, and he is energized by the work. Mark’s the founder and he’s still in it for the long haul.

So what’s our story, we “next generation” advisors? All three of us may very well have more years in this industry left ahead of us than there are behind us. It behooves us to remember the importance of the long view.

Thirty years. Something about it just sounded so lovely, it got stuck in our brains.

Back in December, we also celebrated our system of longevity discounts. This is one of the ways that we at 228 Main try to walk the walk: we reward the commitment it takes to become an effective investor, so the program includes fee reductions at certain milestones.

Clients get a fee reduction after 5 continuous years with us and then again at 15 continuous years. Beneficiaries or descendants who come on board with us may also take advantage of their forebears’ start date. In this sense, the longevity discount becomes a “legacy” discount.

But this stuff is all contagious, so we couldn’t help ourselves. We told Mark that we needed to add another level: why not include a 30-year discount? Can you imagine the joy of getting to tell a client of 30 years that you would like them to start paying you less? We could. We’re hungry for it.

And we wanted to give Mark this chance. Another excuse to celebrate some of his oldest friends? Yes, please. Why not?

This is what it’s all about. Growing the buckets. For the long haul. As a team. We’re trying to put our money where our mouth is—which is to say, we’re trying to put our policies where our values are.

Want to talk about this or anything else? Write or call, any time.

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The Last 30 Years and the Next 30 – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text can be found at https://www.228Main.com/.

Actions Speak Louder?
By Mark Leibman, President

In business, it is popular to claim that one is “client-centered,” that the focus is on the clients. Well, we should hope that any service would be client-centered!

So what exactly does that mean to us?

I’ve often said that our only business objective is to grow your buckets. When you do well, we do well. We talk about that a lot, along with the importance of the long view.

So a few years back, when your individual successes began to add up to success for our firm, our costs began to go down. With the savings, we reduced the fees for our loyal clients.

We put in a discount for those with five years’ tenure, and another for fifteen years.

We reviewed these discounts recently, and they spread across the more than 50% of portfolios that have been with us more than fifteen years and the 25% more that have notched at least five years.

It is gratifying to enjoy such loyalty! And it’s also a celebration of the long time horizon that effective investing requires. The effects of compounding have a much greater impact over the long term, too—maybe you’ve noticed?

Many of you have heard me say I plan to work to age 92. But is it work, to talk all day with people I like about stuff I am interested in? It does not seem that way to me. It is an honor to have worked with so many of you for so many years. And it gets easier for me, the bigger and more capable our team here at 228 Main.

Some companies spend their time and money and energy chasing prospective customers. We’re doing very well by striving to grow the ones we already have—and we think that makes things more pleasant for you, too.

Those dollars in fee savings could not be going to nicer folks, in my view. Thank you all, for everything.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

Actions Speak Louder? – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

Straightforward Pricing

© Can Stock Photo / PixelsAway

We believe the investment results we manage are due in part to your sensible, effective investment behavior. You know we think you, our clients, are the best in the world.

Even though some people panic and sell out at low points, you realize this kind of behavior is optional. Many of you invest more when the market has declined. You and we share the belief that focus on the long term lets us seek to improve our long term results.

Effective the first of the year we revamped the pricing on the investment advisory accounts we manage for you in our capacity as investment advisory representatives of LPL Financial. Our object is to reward you for your role in our results.

So we put in a system of volume discounts based on account value, not original invested capital. And we instituted discounts for your persistency: costs decline after two years, and eight years, and sixteen years.

Here in the third month of the quarter, we are busy reviewing costs. Some of you will see fee reductions for the passage of time or an increase in the value of your household assets. Changes if any will take effect next quarter.

Year by year we strive to improve the quality of our research, the capacity of our trading desk, and the responsiveness of our service to you. These things are not free: our overhead tends to rise over time. But our business has grown and our productivity rises as we figure out better ways to do things.

Here is the schedule. After the eighth and sixteenth year, an additional discount of 0.05% will apply. Clients, if you have any questions about this or anything else, please email us or call.

pricing

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.