“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

-Warren Buffet

At Altman Advisors, we believe that value isn’t measured by price alone. It’s measured by understanding, by service, and by results. One recent experience illustrates exactly how we demonstrate this.

A couple, recently retired, came to us as prospective clients. They had an advisor but had concerns about a proposed investment and were interviewing other firms. They were hesitant to hire us, despite their strong interest, because an investment with a multifamily office would raise their expenses.

Rather than retreat, we engaged.

In our second meeting, we uncovered several critical issues in their current portfolio. Their asset allocation lacked balance and depth. They held too much in equities, almost nothing in bonds, and no exposure at all to alternative investments. And the clients weren’t comfortable with the one proposed. In short, they were taking unnecessary risk and not being adequately compensated for it. We demonstrated how, by moving from a Moderately Aggressive to a more Moderate portfolio, they could reduce risk significantly without sacrificing returns. In fact, the risk-adjusted return we proposed was higher.

Still weighing their options, they planned to meet with one more advisor before making a final decision. We decided to offer something unusual: a free 90-day experience of what it’s like to be a client. We would schedule our regular planning meetings and provide advice with no commitment or fee required. They agreed.

During those 90 days, we gave them the full Altman experience. We introduced our process, covered usual planning topics, including insurance and financial planning, and, at the fourth meeting, delivered a comprehensive Financial Independence Plan. That plan, presented in person, revealed that their existing retirement strategy offered only an 82% probability of success. By implementing the changes we recommended, especially better allocation, their probability of success would jump to 91%. 

We also discovered they were paying reporting fees on several accounts they thought were being actively managed but weren’t. These fees weren’t hidden, but they weren’t well understood either. There were no benchmarks and no guidance, just software-generated statements. In contrast, we benchmark every portfolio, transparently report results, and charge no additional fees for consolidated reporting.

As we analyzed their existing structure, we also noted that their accounts were far more complicated than necessary, leading to an excessive number of tax documents. Ironically, their existing advisors had accounting backgrounds. Their portfolios showed their advisor’s lack of portfolio management experience: simplistic constructions overly focused on minimizing expenses at the cost of true diversification and return.

Our approach was different: invest like institutional-quality portfolio managers, hire top-tier CPAs, and deliver real value through strategy, not shortcuts. 

After our fourth meeting, sitting together at their kitchen table for over three hours, they told us, “We understand our finances better now than we ever have.” That night, we received a text message: “Ben we really appreciate the time that you spent with us today and for coming out here.  We would like to sign a contract with you. Have a nice evening.”

In the end, the decisive factor wasn’t price. It was value. And that’s what we deliver at Altman Advisors.