Account Details
1. What is your account minimum?
2. What are your fees?
3. Are your fees the only cost?
4. How do your fees compare?
5. Who will handle my account?
6. How do I establish a relationship with Acropolis?
7. How would I terminate my relationship with Acropolis?
8. What are your hours of operation?

About Professional Investment Management
9. What is a “fee-only” investment advisor?
10. Are you a broker?
11. What is a fiduciary?
12. What is discretion?
13. What has been your performance?

Safety and Security
14. How safe are my investments?
15. Where will my accounts be held?
16. Are my investments insured?
17. Is Acropolis regulated?
18. Can I get out of my investments if I need to?
19. Can Acropolis take money out of my account?
20. Will Acropolis hold my money or investments?
21. How often will I get statements regarding my investments?
22. Can I see my investments online?

What is your account minimum?
Our current account minimum is $1 million for private clients.  Some exceptions apply, so please give us a call.

What is your fee structure?
Our fees are a percentage of assets under management.  Fees are paid quarterly in arrears based on the value of the account on the last trading day of the quarter.  Clients receive an invoice quarterly clearly stating the fees and how they were calculated.  Performance is reported net of all fees.

Contact us for the Institutional fee schedule and refer to www.acrinv-rps.com for the 401k fee schedule.

Are your fees the only cost?
The fee schedule does not include brokerage fees, which generally range between $8.95 and $25 per trade depending on the size of the account. We do not earn these fees; they are earned by the custodian.

The fee schedule also excludes the built-in costs of the exchange-traded funds that we use to achieve diversification.  We minimize these costs by selecting low-cost options from providers like Vanguard and iShares.

We estimate that the combination of these two additional costs are less than 0.25 percent in the first year when we set the portfolio up, and less than 0.07 percent in subsequent years.

How do your fees compare?
Our fees are competitive.

According to a 2009 study by Lipper & Company, Inc., the average expense ratio is 1.32 percent for a domestic equity and 0.83 percent for a domestic bond fund.  An investor with a 50/50 domestic stock/bond portfolio would have a blended expense ratio of 1.08 percent.  These are simply the management fees and don’t include front-end loads, 12b-1 fees, or other costs borne by mutual fund holders.

Of course, this is just for the cost of the investment management built within the mutual funds. Advisors who use mutual funds to implement their investment strategy generally charge one percent in addition to what the mutual fund charges.  The combination of these two fees brings your total ‘all-in’ costs to more than two percent.

Who will handle my account?
You will work with a specific Portfolio Manager and Portfolio Administrator, but all clients have access to partners of the firm. These parties work together with our analysts and traders to ensure that your investments are properly managed.

How do I establish a relationship with Acropolis?

When you are ready to hire us, we will complete all of the necessary paperwork.  Most of the forms are for the custodian, such as new account forms, transfer forms, etc.  We also have a Client Agreement that defines the legal relationship between you and Acropolis.

How would I terminate a relationship with Acropolis?
Your relationship with Acropolis is ‘at-will.’  There is no minimum time or fee and termination simply requires a letter.  Fees stops accruing immediately and your assets remain with the existing custodian.

What are your hours of operation?
We are in the office between 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Central Standard Time.  Generally, there are people here to answer your calls between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm.

We are available for appointments or phone calls anytime including evenings and weekends.

What is a "fee-only" Investment Advisor?
Fee-only investment advisors serve clients by offering investment advice and portfolio management in exchange for a pre-determined, mutually agreed upon fee.  We charge as a percentage of assets under management, aligning our interests with yours.

Fee-only differs from ‘fee-based’ in that fee-based advisors are generally people who receive commissions and fees.

Are you a broker?
We are not brokers.  Brokers are licensed to sell securities and are officially called Registered Representatives.

Brokers are compensated based on the volume and type of securities they sell and the advice that they give is incidental to the sale of securities or products.

What is a fiduciary?
A fiduciary is required by law to put your best interests first without exception. Brokers are generally not fiduciaries and may not necessarily have YOUR best interests at heart.

We take pride in our fiduciary responsibility and have gone out of our way to become certified by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX).

What does it mean to have discretion?
Discretion refers to the client allowing Acropolis to make specific decisions about the purchase and sale of individual securities without your consent on a trade by trade basis.

These decisions are made within the framework of a signed Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that provides structure to the decision making process, but ultimately leaves the selection of individual securities and the timing of the purchase or sale in the hands of the manager.

We work with clients to understand how much control they want to have. While some clients elect to be contacted before transactions are placed, others do not want to hear from us because they feel that they hired us to make the decisions and aren’t interested in the details.

What has been your performance?
Acropolis Investment Management, LLC maintains detailed performance composites that we would be glad to share this with you in person.

How safe are my investments?
There are two answers to this question.

First, the safety of your investments depends on the securities we buy for you – some might be risky like a micro-cap exchange-traded-fund; some are safe like a money market fund that holds government securities. What we buy on your behalf will depend heavily on the mutually agreed upon risk profile for the portfolio.

The other answer to this question refers to the safety of the account itself (think Bernie Madoff). Acropolis does not custody any securities. Your cash and securities will be in brokerage accounts that are insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC®) and private insurance carriers. Your accounts are accessible to you at any time.

Where will my accounts be held?
Most of our private clients use Charles Schwab & Co., Inc or TD Ameritrade. Both companies are premier custodians who specialize in service firms like ours. These firms were selected based on the best mix of safety, services, and price.

Are my investments insured?
Your investment portfolio will always be maintained in brokerage accounts that are insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC®). SIPC protects customer's securities of its members for up to $500,000 of which $100,000 may be cash. Brokerage firms typically purchase additional private insurance for higher levels of coverage.

Your custodian has secured additional protection through their insurers and we would be happy to provide you with the details of this additional coverage. SIPC and private insurance do not insure against market risks associated with investing or credit risks associated with issuers.

For more information about SIPC and how your investments are protected, visit www.sipc.org.

Is Acropolis Regulated?
Yes. We are a Registered Investment Advisor and are regulated by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). It is important to understand that although the SEC regulates us, our firm, our investment theory, or our methodology has not been "approved of" or "signed off on" by the SEC.

Can I get out of my investments if I need to?
Yes. All of the securities that we purchase on your behalf are liquid and marketable.
Obviously, any investment is subject to current market conditions. After 9/11 and during the 2008 financial crisis, all investments suffered liquidity and marketability constraints.

Can Acropolis take money out of my account?
Acropolis does not have the right to take money out of your account with the exception of the quarterly fee. This withdrawal is done after you have had ten days to review the invoice that accompanies your quarterly reports.

Will Acropolis hold my money or investments?
We will not custody your money or investments under any circumstance.

How often will I get statements regarding my investments?
You will receive quarterly reports from Acropolis. Your custodian also will send you monthly statements and confirmations.

Can I see my investments online?
Yes; you can log onto our website or through your custodian’s website.

Acropolis Investment Management is a St. Louis based fee-only wealth management firm, staffed with dedicated investment advisors ready to work with you to reach your financial goals.  Whether you are looking to start your retirement planning, rollover your IRA or 401K or you're an institutional investor looking to maximize returns, we are here to help. To learn more about our financial planning services, please contact us at 1-888-882-0072.