Professional Asset Management Services

Asset management focuses specifically on the construction, oversight, and optimization of your investment portfolio. It includes selecting appropriate asset classes, diversifying globally to reduce unsystematic risk, rebalancing to maintain target allocations, and managing tax efficiency across all account types. Financial planning is broader—it integrates asset management with retirement income strategies, estate planning, tax management, and risk protection. At Sentinel, asset management is a core component of our comprehensive financial planning process, ensuring your investments are aligned with your overall financial goals and life priorities.

While robo-advisors and index funds offer low-cost passive exposure, Sentinel's approach is grounded in modern portfolio theory and customized to your specific situation. We don't use one-size-fits-all allocations. Instead, we build personalized portfolios guided by an Investment Policy Statement tailored to your goals, income needs, tax situation, and risk tolerance. Each portfolio is stress-tested against historical market conditions, actively monitored for style drift, and rebalanced with tax efficiency in mind. We coordinate across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts to minimize lifetime tax liability—a level of customization and fiduciary oversight that automated platforms simply cannot replicate.

An Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is a personalized blueprint for your portfolio. It defines your investment objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, asset allocation targets, rebalancing guidelines, and acceptable ranges for deviation. The IPS serves as both a roadmap and a guardrail—it keeps your portfolio aligned with your goals and prevents emotional reactions during market volatility. At Sentinel, every client receives a customized IPS that's reviewed regularly and updated as your life circumstances or market conditions change. This document ensures consistency, accountability, and clarity in how your wealth is managed.

Risk management at Sentinel operates on multiple levels. First, we eliminate unsystematic risk through deliberate global diversification across asset classes, sectors, and geographies—based on Nobel Prize-winning modern portfolio theory. Second, we identify and manage systematic risks using our PRIME framework: Purchasing Power, Reinvestment, Interest Rate, Market, and Exchange Risk. Third, we stress-test every portfolio against historical bear markets, recessions, and inflationary periods to ensure resilience. For retirees, we employ structured withdrawal buckets that insulate near-term cash flow from market volatility while allowing longer-term allocations to pursue growth. The goal is to protect your independence and quality of life, no matter how markets behave.

Rebalancing is both disciplined and tax-aware. We continuously monitor all client portfolios for style drift—when allocations deviate from targets due to market movements. When rebalancing is triggered, we evaluate the most tax-efficient way to restore target allocations, often using new contributions, required distributions, or tax-loss harvesting opportunities to minimize taxable events. The frequency depends on market conditions and your specific portfolio guidelines outlined in your Investment Policy Statement. Our goal is to maintain strategic allocation discipline while avoiding unnecessary trading costs or tax consequences.

Sentinel operates on a transparent, fee-only fiduciary model. Asset management fees are based on assets under management and decline on a tiered schedule as portfolio size increases. This aligns our interests with yours—we only succeed when your portfolio grows. There are no commissions, hidden charges, or conflicts of interest. All fees are disclosed upfront and detailed in your advisory agreement. During your initial consultation, we provide a clear breakdown of costs and demonstrate how our tax-efficient strategies and personalized oversight are designed to add value that exceeds fees over time.

Yes. Sentinel can provide advisory oversight for assets held at outside custodians, including employer-sponsored 401(k) or 403(b) plans. While we cannot directly trade within these accounts, we can analyze your holdings, recommend allocation adjustments, and integrate those assets into your overall Investment Policy Statement. For consolidated management, we typically recommend transferring eligible accounts to qualified custodians where we have direct management authority. This allows for more efficient rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and coordinated withdrawal strategies across all your accounts—taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free.

Getting started is straightforward. First, schedule a complimentary consultation where we'll discuss your financial goals, current portfolio, income needs, and risk tolerance. Next, we'll conduct a comprehensive financial assessment and develop a personalized Investment Policy Statement tailored to your situation. Once you approve the strategy, we'll coordinate account transfers, implement your portfolio allocation, and begin active monitoring and oversight. From there, you'll receive regular performance reviews, proactive rebalancing, and ongoing adjustments as your life or the markets change. Our team is available Monday through Friday to answer questions and provide guidance whenever you need it.