ECM Investment Management

Getting Started With Our Private Client Group

Initial Meeting

Most clients are referred to ECM Investment Management by a friend or other professional; such as an accountant, stock broker, estate-planning attorney, or financial planner. A client relationship with ECM often starts with an initial meeting, frequently attended by the referrer. The purpose of the initial meeting is to discuss the client's investment situation and objectives, and to determine how we can best help the client.

Our Manager will explain our services to you, and discuss how we work to safeguard client's assets. We will also explain the two major types of investment account objectives that serve as basic platforms for our diverse portfolios, structured individually to meet the needs of each client. Those objectives being: Growth & Value Equity Portfolio for clients seeking capital appreciation, and our Balanced Portfolio which combines income-generating securities (such as bonds) with equity investments for capital appreciation, and is suitable for more conservative clients and those nearer to or in retirement.

Requirements To Open An Account

A minimum investment of $300,000 is required per client to open an account with ECM. There may be multiple accounts per client; such as joint, personal, trust, and IRA. There is no up-front fee to open an account, and our investment advisory fees are payable quarterly in advance based on the market value of the entire account.

When the client has established which accounts they wish to open, we ask that they bring, fax, or mail copies of recent broker or other custodial account statements. These will inform ECM the exact account title, the type of accounts (such as trusts, IRA’s, custodial accounts), and the specific assets to expect in each account to be transferred under our management.

After each account has been established, the client will sign an agreement to appoint ECM Investment Management, Inc. as the investment advisor with authority to buy and sell securities for each account. The client will also sign forms to open new custodial accounts, normally with Union Bank of California, TD Ameritrade, or a brokerage firm. The use of a custodial bank provides a system of checks and balances. ECM never takes physical custody of client assets.

If the client's assets are not presently at one of our preferred custodians, the client will sign forms to transfer their securities from their current custodian to the designated new custodial account. ECM’s Private Client operations staff will assist you with this process, and carefully monitor and expedite the transfer process; which may take from 5 to 10 business days, depending on the custodian currently holding the accounts.

Working With ECM

After securities have been transferred to the custodial bank, ECM will carefully evaluate each security for its merit, and sell or purchase securities to create a new portfolio over time. We have certain investment positions we believe to be the best investment opportunities at any given moment, but we make new commitments of client capital judiciously, and it may take several months for a new client account to be fully invested, or to divest fully of positions transferred in. We work hard to maximize returns, minimize taxes, and meet investment objectives on a highly individualized basis.

Each client will receive detailed monthly reports from both ECM and their third-party custodian listing all account holdings and transactions. The Portfolio Managers of ECM are available to answer any questions, and provide individualized client information as needed.

Clients frequently maintain close communication with our staff in the early months and years of a client relationship. Over time, we often find our clients less inclined to communicate frequently, and those who have been with us longest, over twenty or twenty-five years, are those we hear from least. We have managed the investments of several generations of some of our client families and feel privileged in having earned their trust over long periods of time. We believe that easing the burden of timely investment decision-making is a large part of the value we bring to clients.