Investment Management
Fiduciary Investment Management. No Commissions. No Product Sales. Just tailored advice.
A lot of people have a brokerage account and call it an investment strategy. The two are not the same thing.
A brokerage account is a container. An investment strategy is a plan for what goes inside it, why, in what proportions, across which account types, with what tax implications, and in service of what specific financial goals.
At Oak Street Advisors, investment management is built into your financial plan from the beginning. Every portfolio we manage is constructed around your retirement timeline, income needs, tax situation, and risk capacity. Not a generic model we apply to everyone.
We manage investments on a discretionary basis, which means we make day-to-day decisions on your behalf without needing your approval for every trade. You set the strategy. We execute it and keep you informed.
We are a fee-only, fiduciary Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). We earn nothing from the investments we recommend. No commissions, no kickbacks, no revenue from fund companies. Our compensation comes entirely from you, which aligns our interests with yours.
How Our Investment Process Works
Build a Financial Plan First
We do not open an investment account before we understand your full financial picture. Without that context, asset allocation is guesswork. We have seen well-meaning portfolios built on nothing more than a risk tolerance questionnaire. That is not how we work. Before we manage a single dollar, we build a comprehensive financial plan that gives us the information we need to make sound investment decisions on your behalf.
Develop an Investment Policy Statement
Once we understand your goals, we work with you to create an Investment Policy Statement (IPS). This document defines your target asset allocation, your risk tolerance, the types of investments appropriate for your situation, and the guidelines we will follow when managing your portfolio.
The IPS is not a boilerplate pulled from a template. It reflects your specific situation and serves as the foundation for every investment decision we make going forward.
Implement and Monitor
We implement and manage your strategy on an ongoing basis. We rebalance when allocations drift, adjust when your circumstances change, and review your portfolio against your financial plan regularly.
You receive clear, straightforward reporting. No jargon, no burying the numbers.
Our Investment Strategies
Most clients hold a combination of these strategies across their accounts, depending on their income needs, time horizon, and tax situation.
Core ETF Strategy
For the equity portion of most portfolios, we use a combination of low-cost, commission-free Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Our Core ETF strategy provides broad, factor-based diversification across multiple market segments within your designated asset allocation.
ETFs are tax-efficient, transparent, and inexpensive. For most investors, they are the right core building block.
Dividend Income Strategy
For clients seeking reliable cash flow from their investments, typically retirees or people approaching retirement, we offer a Dividend Income portfolio. This strategy focuses on companies with steady and growing dividend yields, seeking to provide consistent income alongside the potential for long-term appreciation.*
This portfolio works well alongside Social Security, pension income, or partial Roth distributions as part of a coordinated retirement income plan.
*Dividends are not guaranteed and can be reduced or suspended by the issuer.
Growth Strategy
For clients with a longer time horizon who are focused on building wealth rather than drawing income, our Growth strategy targets companies and sectors with strong long-term growth potential. This approach requires patience and comfort with short-term volatility, and it is not right for everyone. But for the right client, the long-term results tend to justify it. This strategy carries higher volatility and is not suitable for everyone; there is no assurance it will outperform.
Flexible, Not Formulaic
We establish target allocations based on your financial plan and risk profile, but we do not treat those targets as permanent fixtures.
There may be times when we reduce equity exposure significantly if conditions warrant it. There are also periods where a portion of a portfolio sits in short-term, liquid instruments while we wait for better entry points. The goal is not to hit a static target on paper. It is to serve your financial plan over the long term. These adjustments are part of managing risk to your plan; they are not attempts to time the market and may not enhance returns
Taxes Are Part of the Investment Decision
Where an investment is held matters as much as what the investment is.
A bond fund generating ordinary income held in a taxable brokerage account creates an unnecessary tax drag every year. That same investment held inside a traditional IRA defers the tax until withdrawal. A high-growth position expected to appreciate significantly over decades may belong in a Roth account, where the gains will never be taxed at all.
We factor asset location into every portfolio we manage. It is not an afterthought. It is part of the strategy from the start. For clients with assets spread across multiple account types (taxable, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k)), getting asset location right can meaningfully improve after-tax returns without changing the underlying investments at all.
What We Invest In
Investment plans at Oak Street Advisors are implemented using:
- Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
- Individual equities (exchange-listed and over-the-counter)
- Foreign issues and international ETFs
- Corporate bonds and debt instruments
- US Treasuries and government securities
- Municipal bonds (for taxable accounts where appropriate)
- Money market and short-term liquid instruments
- Commercial paper
We do not use proprietary funds, in-house products, or investments that pay us any form of compensation. Every security we purchase is selected because it fits your strategy.
Who We Work With
We manage investments for individuals, couples, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, and retirement plans, including 401(k)s, pension plans, and profit-sharing plans.
Our typical individual or household client has $500,000 or more in directly investable assets and wants ongoing, integrated investment management coordinated with a financial plan and a tax strategy. We do not offer stand-alone investment management without a financial plan.
If you are managing your own investments and not entirely sure you are doing it right, or if you have accumulated significant assets but never had a disciplined strategy behind them, that is worth an honest conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fiduciary Investment Management
Let's Look at Your Portfolio
Most people who come to us for the first time have never had someone go through their full investment picture account by account and tell them what they actually see. Not a sales pitch. Not a brochure about market outlook. Just an honest look at how things are set up and whether it makes sense.
That is where we start.
Call us at (843) 946 9868 or use the link below to schedule a no-cost intro call. No obligation.
Oak Street Advisors is an SEC-registered investment advisory firm with offices in Mt. Pleasant, SC and Myrtle Beach, SC. Investment advisory services offered through Oak Street Advisors. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The firm’s current ADV Part 2A discussing services and fees is available upon request or at adviserinfo.sec.gov. Content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or investment advice.
