Question: Is there a minimum account size for Counsel Trust’s wealth management services?

Answer: No. However, our approach to investing adds the most value to portfolios over one hundred thousand dollars.

Question: What are the different types of securities employed in managing portfolios?

Answer: We emphasize low cost ‘institutional’ mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETF’s) from fund groups such as Vanguard or Dimensional (DFA). Counsel’s private common trust funds are managed by outside specialists who invest in individual stocks and bonds. ‘Separate account management’ can also be provided for clients desiring a portfolio of individual securities.

Question: Is Counsel Trust an active or passive manager?

Answer: Portfolios can be passively or actively managed (or a hybrid of both). Regardless of the management style, it is important to follow an asset allocation plan.

Question: What are Counsel’s investment research and asset allocation resources?

Answer: Counsel subscribes to the very comprehensive investment research and asset allocation resources of Northern Trust.

Question: Does Counsel track and report investment performance?

Answer: Client portfolios are carefully monitored for risk and investment performance as compared to applicable benchmarks. The results are reported to clients on a quarterly basis.

Question: Does Counsel Trust offer any unique investments or strategies?

Answer: The Counsel common trust funds are privately managed funds available only to trust clients. Each fund is managed by an outside advisor with expertise in a particular asset class such as large cap value, international, small cap growth or tax-free fixed income. These advisors are typically unavailable to individual investors due to high minimum account size requirements and cost. Common trust funds are not influenced by the sometimes wide emotional price swings typical of retail mutual funds due to public investor (often hyper) trading activity. Unlike retail mutual funds, common funds also have some tax advantages.