How We Work
Our process, our fees, and what we deliver. Everything you need to know before a first call, and nothing you don’t.
The Merino Equity Method is a repeatable, three-phase process. This is the longer version, written for the moment you’re deciding whether to pick up the phone.
I.
We map your complete equity compensation picture: every grant, every vesting date, every AMT-sensitive position, every open decision. We run the numbers on scenarios you haven’t thought about. Most clients discover something in this audit they didn’t know to ask about.
Typical timeline: 2–3 weeks from kickoff to a written audit.
II.
From the audit, we build a financial plan that connects your equity comp to the rest of your life. Tax strategy. Investment allocation. Retirement trajectory. Cash-flow planning for concentrated stock sales. Charitable giving, if that matters to you. The plan is specific enough to act on and flexible enough to revise as your life changes.
Typical timeline: 3–4 weeks after the audit is complete.
III.
A plan written once and filed away is a plan that fails the moment your life changes. We manage the ongoing work: two client reviews a year, proactive outreach when key decisions or deadlines are coming up, and as-needed help when promotions, IPOs, acquisitions, or life events show up. We actively manage your portfolio throughout the year, rebalancing, harvesting tax losses, and adjusting allocations as your equity comp and concentrated positions change.
No per-meeting fees. No surprise bills. Ongoing is included.
We bill two ways, both disclosed up front, neither of them commission-based. Our entire compensation is aligned with your interests.1
Advisory Fee
0.75–1.5% AUM
A percentage of assets under management, billed monthly in arrears. The rate tiers down as your investable assets grow; households at $2M+ are charged 0.75%. Includes investment management, equity comp strategy, ongoing financial planning, and ongoing access to your advisor between reviews.
Annual Planning Fee
From $10,000
An annual planning fee that scales with the complexity of your situation. Covers the heavier planning work not captured by AUM: the initial Equity Audit (or full-plan build for clients without significant equity comp), tax-year strategy, two client reviews a year, proactive outreach when key decisions or deadlines are coming up, career financial decisions like employer benefits analysis and job-offer negotiations, cash-flow planning around concentrated positions or life events, and coordination with your CPA, estate attorney, and insurance professional when needed.
Our minimum relationship is $1M in investable assets. We don’t pretend to be the right firm for everyone. When we’re not, we’ll help you find an advisor who is.
Most financial advice in America is sold on commission. The advisor gets paid when a product changes hands, so the advice naturally tilts toward products that change hands. This is legal and it’s how most of the industry works. It’s also the wrong model for equity comp planning.
The highest-stakes equity comp decisions involve not selling products. Exercising ISOs in a specific year. Diversifying concentrated stock over a multi-year window. Running the AMT math before a cross-over threshold. Setting up a 10b5-1 plan that matches a real cash-flow need. None of this generates a commission. All of it generates value for you.
We’re 100% fee-only. No commissions. No kickbacks. No proprietary products we’re incentivized to sell. Our only incentive is to do work you’d recommend to a friend.
We don’t unbundle services. Once you’re a client, the whole practice is available to you.
A short intake tells us both whether we’re the right advisor for you. If we’re not, we’ll tell you that too.
Notes & assumptions
Nothing on this page constitutes tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult your tax advisor and a qualified investment professional before acting on any of the planning concepts discussed.