FAQs

Valor is a financial advisory practice that provides investment advisory services to clients through the advisory programs available at Cetera. As part of these programs, Valor helps clients define their financial goals, select appropriate investment strategies, and monitor and adjust their portfolios over time in accordance with the program’s framework. Within the advisory program, portfolio management and implementation—such as trading, rebalancing, and ongoing oversight—are components of the advisory service itself. These activities are not separate or outsourced; they are integral features of the program administered through Cetera’s platform.

When you work with Valor, you receive guidance and support in understanding your goals and risk profile, selecting an investment approach within the program that aligns with your needs, and receiving ongoing monitoring and advice consistent with the advisory program’s structure.

Valor’s role is to provide advice, guidance, and personalized support while working within Cetera’s established advisory program and its portfolio management processes.

Valor offers three types of models: 1) Diversified, 2) Income, and 3) Stock. Each model is designed to support a range of risk profiles and investment objectives and each follows our "Stay the Course" methodology. The diversified models invest across a variety of asset classes. The income models focus on income producing investments like dividends and bond interest. The stock models invest in stocks only and follow our internal, propriety "Core 4" process that tracks target prices, 52 week high/low, momentum, and volatility. This structure allows us to apply a disciplined, consistent approach to portfolio construction and ongoing oversight across all models.

Valor uses a custom-built onboarding tool with paperless processing as much as possible through DocuSign technology. This is a streamlined process to make it easy for you to open an account in just a few clicks.

Generally, 2-4 weeks depending on the type of transfer and paperwork availability.

If there is enough cash in your account, Valor will simply push it out via ACH bank transfer. Otherwise, a check can be mailed. If not, simply call Valor or submit an online ticket and after confirming your instructions, Valor will sell in your account to raise the necessary cash and then disburse it to you after the trades settle (usually 2 business days).

All trades take 1 day to settle, except for market holidays. For example, if you sell on a Monday, the cash will be available on a Tuesday. If it falls on a weekend or holiday, it will take until the next business day.

While onboarding a new client at Valor, a “Risk Questionnaire” (from the My Advice Architect platform) is used to assess a client’s risk tolerance. The results help determine which model is best suited. For existing accounts that transfer over, Valor also has the capability to perform a “Model Comparison” to determine which model best fits their current portfolio.

We constantly monitor the markets and trade the models throughout each quarter as we see fit. At the end of each quarter, we complete a full rebalance across all models to prepare for the upcoming quarter.

Yes, every account is evaluated for possible tax burden both before and during investment into a Valor model. If needed, a maximum capital gain can be assigned to your account so we do not trade over that limit. Every situation is different and evaluated accordingly.

The fee you pay is an annual fee that is billed every quarter, in advance. Every three months, you will get billed for 1/4 of the total annual fee. Each quarterly fee is paid in April, July, October, and January.

Your fee will automatically come out of the cash balance in your account. Generally, all accounts are managed to a 1% cash position. For example, a $400,000 account will have about $4,000 cash at any given time (1% of $400,000). So, if your fee is less than $4,000, then enough cash would be available to pay it. Otherwise, Valor will sell to raise enough cash to cover it. Valor will also rebalance back to the cash target percentage.

There are a variety of investment programs that Cetera offers which have different fee schedules for trading. At Valor, we chose a program that does not charge any additional fees for trading (known as a "wrap program"). That particular program is called the "Advisor Program" at Cetera.  So, if you invest your account(s) at Valor, there are no extra fees for trading. Clients pay an annual advisory fee, billed quarterly in advance, which covers both the advisor’s services and the Advisor Program fee.