How we work
A dependable process for an unpredictable world.
Much of investing and wealth planning deals with managing unknowns. What is known is fees matter, taxes can be managed, cash flow solves many financial problems, and companies are priced off earnings. We deeply understand the intersection which you stand in, that being your wealth, your life, and the world around you.
The process
Three meetings. Then we do the work.
01
Intro call
Twenty minutes, on the phone. You describe your situation and we say plainly whether we are able to help. If we are not the right firm, we will say so and point you elsewhere.
02
Clarity conversation
A working session, not a sales meeting. We inventory what you hold, where it sits, what it costs you today, and what you need it to do. If your current fee is unclear, we will find it in your statements together.
03
Strategy session
You see the plan in full: the portfolio, the tax work, the retirement math and the fee. You decide. If you proceed, we sign and begin the transfer that week.
After yes
We handle the transfer.
Accounts move to Charles Schwab, an independent custodian, through the standard ACAT process. You sign electronically; we do the paperwork and chase the old firm so you do not have to. Accounts move in kind. Taxable accounts transition on a plan that manages capital gains: intelligently, strategically, not overnight.
Then the rhythm starts. Reviews on a set cadence and whenever life changes. Most clients grant discretion, so we manage the portfolio without per-trade approvals, and every trade appears in your Schwab account and statements. We coordinate directly with your CPA and estate attorney, and we can introduce you to trusted local ones if you need them.
By stage of wealth
The work changes with the stage. The standard does not.
A business owner three years from a sale and a retired couple drawing income need different work in a different order. Find the one that describes you.
Business owners, building
Business owners, heading to exit
Dual-income earners, approaching retirement
Retired clients
Owner-operators in the growth years. Most of the balance sheet is the business, cash flow is uneven, and the tax bill is the largest single expense of the year.
What we work on first
Separate personal wealth from the business, deliberately and early.
Entity and compensation structure reviewed against the tax outcome.
A retirement plan that works for you and for the people you employ.
Liquidity held on purpose, so a good year in the business is not undone by a bad quarter in the market.
Tax planning
Entity election and reasonable-compensation review with your CPA.
Qualified business income treatment, and what jeopardizes it.
Plan design — solo 401(k), safe harbor, cash balance — sized to the payroll.
Quarterly estimates modeled rather than guessed.
Estate planning
Buy-sell agreement funded, and read, not just signed.
Operating agreement and beneficiary designations reconciled.
Basic revocable structure and guardianship provisions in place.
Key-person and disability cover sized to the obligation.
The portfolio, at this stage
Concentration is the real risk, so the invested portfolio is deliberately unlike the business: liquid, diversified, and available.
Illustrative of the work commonly undertaken at each stage. Nothing here is personalized investment, legal or tax advice, and Fjell Capital does not provide legal services or prepare tax returns. Strategies are implemented in coordination with your CPA and attorney, and depend on your own circumstances.
Tax planning
Tax planning compounds wealth. The work happens throughout the year, not just in April.
By the time a return is filed, the year is decided. The decisions that change the number — conversions, harvesting, withdrawal order, the timing of a sale — have to be made while the year is still open. We run them on a calendar and take them to your CPA before they expire.
Where the money comes from
Withdrawal order across taxable, tax-deferred and Roth accounts, set so that each year’s income lands where you want it in the bracket — and so the survivor is not left in a worse one.
The low-bracket window
Between the last paycheck and required distributions there are years of unusually low taxable income. We model Roth conversions across that window and fill brackets deliberately rather than accidentally.
Positions, not just accounts
Gain and loss harvesting, lot-level selection, concentrated stock unwound across tax years, and charitable giving funded with appreciated shares instead of cash.
Owners and sellers
Entity structure, reasonable compensation, retirement plan design, qualified business income treatment, and qualified small business stock eligibility confirmed while it can still be preserved.
Thresholds that bite
Medicare premium surcharges, capital-gain rate thresholds, the net investment income tax, and state residency — watched at the margin, where an extra dollar of income costs more than a dollar.
One table, three professionals
We work directly with your CPA and attorney, and we write down who is doing what. Where you do not have one, we will introduce you to people we trust locally.
Fjell Capital does not provide legal or tax filing services. Tax strategies are illustrative, depend on your circumstances and on current law, and are implemented with your tax professional.
Estate planning
Growing levels of wealth demand deeper strategy and planning.
Documents get drafted and then never funded. Beneficiary forms outlive marriages. A trust exists on paper while the account still passes to someone named in 2009. We audit the mechanics every year, and we do the strategy with your attorney.
The annual audit
01
Beneficiary designations checked on every account, every year
02
Titling and ownership reconciled with the documents
03
Trust funding verified — a trust that owns nothing does nothing
04
Powers of attorney and healthcare directives current in your state
05
Documents, logins and instructions assembled where your family can find them
The structural work
01
Gifting sequenced against the annual exclusion and lifetime exemption
02
Revocable and irrevocable trusts reviewed with your attorney, before a valuation event
03
Business succession and buy-sell terms funded and coordinated
04
Charitable intent structured — donor-advised fund, charitable trust or bequest
05
Liquidity arranged for any estate tax the estate will actually owe
Fjell Capital does not practice law or draft legal documents. Estate work is carried out with your attorney; where you do not have one, we can make an introduction.
Asset management
Modern Value Investing — a pragmatic approach to funding your needs
Portfolios are built in liquidity tiers tied to the plan: money needed in the next few years is held conservatively, money that is not needed for a decade is left to compound. That is what allows a distribution to be funded in a falling market without selling the long-term assets.
Implementation is tax-aware: lot-level selection, low-turnover core positions, and asset location that puts the least tax-efficient holdings where they do the least damage. Every account is custodied at Charles Schwab in your name, and we hold trading authority only.
We publish how we are positioned each quarter, including the positions we have changed our mind about.
How it is run
01
Liquidity tiers set by when each dollar is needed
02
Low-turnover core holdings, with tax-aware lot selection
03
Asset location across taxable, tax-deferred and Roth accounts
04
Rebalancing to written bands, not to a feeling about markets
05
Positioning published quarterly, revisions included
All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Diversification and asset allocation do not assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Fees
What you pay, in dollars.
We strongly believe in transparency, our investing thesis is surrounded by the transparency of capital markets. Our current fee structure
Assets under management
Annual rate
First $750,000
1.25%
$750,000 to $1,750,000
1.00%
$1,750,000 to $2,750,000
0.85%
$2,750,000 to $5,000,000
0.75%
$5,000,000 to $7,500,000
0.65%
$7,500,000 to $15,000,000
0.50%
Over $15,000,000
0.40%
Source: Form ADV Part 2A, March 27, 2026, Item 5. New clients are subject to a minimum fee of $1,250 per quarter, $5,000 per year, waivable at the firm’s discretion. Fees are deducted from your Schwab account and appear on your Schwab statement.
Fit
When we are a good fit.
Your household has roughly $1M to $15M in investable assets, or is about to after a sale, a settlement, or an inheritance. You want one team accountable for the whole picture: investments, taxes, retirement math, and the coordination with your CPA and attorney. You want an advisor who publishes fees in dollars and answers questions with numbers.
Honesty clause
When we are not.
You are looking for market calls, or a manager who claims to beat the market each year; we do not make that claim. You want transactions rather than a relationship; we plan in decades. Or your assets sit below the range the firm is built to serve.
See if you are a fit