Business Owners

Business Owners, Executives, and their Families
Those in charge of businesses, medical practices and law firms have unique needs. We help coordinate the aspects of your business with those of your personal life to help you achieve your financial goals.
Wealth Management
Investment Oversight Service
- Reviewing your investments and designing a personalized portfolio appropriate to your needs
- Year-long, continual monitoring of your investments
- Quarterly, semi-annual or annual meetings to review and evaluate your investment performance,
update your overall financial objectives and if necessary, reallocate your portfolio as agreed upon by you - Independent Advice
- Recommendations regarding positioning of investments within your employer provided retirement plans
such as 401(k)s - Quarterly economic report detailing updated analysis and a current view of the investment markets
Tax Reduction Planning
- Comprehensive review of your tax return to highlight opportunities for maximizing tax reduction strategies
- Annual review of your tax situation and planning to incorporate any new tax law changes
- Complimentary consultation with your tax preparer
- Recommendations of tax solutions including tax advantaged investments
- Staying current on and presenting new tax laws that can affect your situation
Retirement Income & Distribution Planning
- Analysis of your current and future income needs
- Continual development and implementation of recommendations to fund your income needs to optimize your lifestyle
- Recommendations regarding the most appropriate distribution strategy for your employer retirement plans and IRAs
- Analysis of the beneficiaries of your IRAs
Family Wealth Planning
- Analysis of your current estate plan
- Review of strategies to efficiently transfer wealth to your loved ones
- Complimentary consultation with your attorney
- Assistance in transferring assets to your Living Trust or other trusts
- Providing guidance with the appropriate and necessary steps in the event of the death of a loved one
Client Services & Communications
- Quarterly Newsletter to keep you apprised of the most current planning strategies
- Quarterly, semi-annual or annual reviews
- Special reports on how to help reduce your taxes and other important topics
- Special Gold Medal Service Events, including client appreciation events (where you may bring up to 2 guests)
Fixed Income & Trading
We assist the sophisticated as well as the less experienced professional investor. We are here to work with you and your organization to help you meet the complex Fiduciary landscape of today. By monitoring the markets and financial news consistently, our staff are well aware of those influences affecting interest rates on a daily basis. Our focus is on keeping your money working every day. In addition to bonds, we offer a wide variety of money market funds so that maturities and interest payments continue working after they've been paid.
Gray Pendleton runs the Fixed Income desk. His career started on the third-largest trading floor in world, for one of the largest banks in the world. He worked for that bank's Institutional Fixed Income desk. His experience on "Wall Street" has given him the breadth of knowledge to help ensure "Main Street" is funded so that it can run successfully. Our firm and that of our broker/dealer are specialists in the Fixed Income and specifically the Municipal Fixed Income Space.
Some of the benefits we provide:
- Direct Access to Major Wall Street Bond Inventories
- Institutional Execution of Transactions
- Clearing And Custody Services Through Pershing LLC
- Extensive CD Access
- Exceptionally Experienced Staff
Services:
- Bond Sales
- Certificates of Deposit
- Treasuries
- Corporates
- Municipals
- Mortgage Backed Securities
Foundation and Endowment Services
UPMIFA, the Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act has changed your world. We help you navigate this new world with the best of Fiduciary assistance. Gray Pendleton serves as the president of a Raleigh based Foundation (we do not manage for conflict of interest) and he helps other Foundations, Endowments and Institutions manage their assets with the best available strategies, while ensuring their Fiduciaries are educated and remain compliant.
Advanced Planning
Tax Projections
- While it is difficult to plan long-term taxes, we work with the data we have (the current tax rates and any pending sunsets) and the information you provide to help you plan for major life events.
- Our goal is not to prepare your taxes (we do not) but to help you save on taxes through long-term tax planning.
- We incorporate a highly secure and amazing client portal to help with planning for future taxation and various scenarios. Through this portal, we can share all this work with you, for you to access remotely.
- Some tax projection planning we help our clients with:
- Roth Conversion Planning
- Itemization planning
- Tax Sunsets
- Capital Gains
- Real Estate
- RMDs from IRAs
- Social Security
- Deferred Compensation
- Trust Income
- IRAs through the generations
- Liquidity events from sale of business or exit from company
- Charitable Gifting through QCDs from IRAs or via Trusts
Family Tax Bracket Management (C)
- Working with you and your beneficiaries to reduce the tax burden through the generations.
- Incorporates inherited IRAs, Trusts, Corporations, Real Estate, and many other planning tools.
Estate Planning
- Coupled closely with tax planning and family tax bracket management to deliver the results you want after your death. We all die. It is unavoidable. We help you plan to create the legacy you want when you are no longer here.
- Life Insurance pays tax-free so it can be an incredible planning tool to legally avoid estate taxes. We are licensed life insurance agents and can help you facilitate this process or work closely with your existing insurance agents.
- Trusts covered, among others:
- QTIP
- IDGT
- GRAT
- CRT
- A-B
- Spousal Access
- Bypass
- Revocable
- Irrevocable
- Charitable
- Dynasty
- Special Needs
- NIMCRUTs
- Life Insurance (ILIT)
- Generation Skipping
Insurance Planning
Health Insurance
- We maintain our licenses but do not take income for this service.
- We can help you plan and walk you through the best plan for you and your family, or refer to you another professional who can.
- This service is especially helpful as you plan for retirement before age 65.
Life Insurance
- Life insurance is required for most professionals. As you age, the need for traditional life insurance declines. The are other reasons to consider life insurance beyond the traditional methods.
- Primary Reasons for Life Insurance:
- Estate Planning for Tax Avoidance
- Cash Value for Tax-Deferred Growth and Tax Avoidance
- Death Benefit to Offset Income at Death
- Divorce Planning
- Business Planning
Disability Insurance
- If you are hurt and cannot work for a long period of time, this will provide some portion of what you made before the disability. It is essential to have this coverage prior to retirement.
Long Term Care Insurance
- Nearly everyone has the potential to need long term care. We help you navigate the choices of planning for this need with future cash flow or through insurance.