Question 1

What does Whitwell & Co. do—really?

Accepted Answer

We help business owners and families convert the complexity of wealth into a coordinated system—so your money supports freedom, resilience, and legacy, not decision fatigue. Our work integrates tax strategy, investment design, risk management, and life planning so your plan stays aligned as markets, tax regimes, and life change.

Question 2

Who is Whitwell & Co. a great fit for?

Accepted Answer

We do our best work with clients who:
• Have $5MM+ to invest/structure (or a clear path to that level)
• Want leadership and coordination, not just portfolio management
• Are coachable, decisive, and willing to implement
• Care about living at the intersection of health, wealth, and purpose (not just ‘more money’)

Question 3

Who is Whitwell & Co. not for?

Accepted Answer

We may not be a fit if you’re looking for:
• Stock tips, market timing, or performance-chasing
• A transactional relationship or ‘set it and forget it’ service
• The lowest-fee option
• A black-box portfolio with little communication or context

Question 4

What’s the first step to explore working together?

Accepted Answer

We start with a private fit conversation to understand:
• What you’re building (and protecting)
• Where complexity is creating friction
• Whether there’s meaningful leverage we can create—especially around taxes, risk, and coordination

If it’s a fit, we’ll outline a clear path forward and what the first 90 days would look like.

Question 5

What is your process?

Accepted Answer

Think of your financial life like a structure. Before you build—or renovate—you need a blueprint. Our work typically follows three phases:

Design: Align goals across wealth, health, and purpose; identify risks and opportunities.

Build: Architect after-tax cash flow and investments; coordinate entities, insurance, estate, and tax strategy.

Steward: Ongoing guidance, rebalancing, tax-aware decision-making, and updates as life evolves.

Question 6

How involved do I need to be?

Accepted Answer

As involved as you want to be—as long as there’s trust and alignment. Some clients want high engagement and education. Others prefer delegation with clear checkpoints. Either works. Our job is to make the system run smoothly.

Question 7

Will you challenge me if you disagree with a decision?

Accepted Answer

Yes—thoughtfully and respectfully. Leadership sometimes means saying the uncomfortable thing early, rather than the easy thing later.

Question 8

Are you a fiduciary?

Accepted Answer

Yes. As a registered investment adviser, we act as a fiduciary—meaning we’re obligated to put client interests first.

Question 9

What is your investment philosophy?

Accepted Answer

We believe investing should be:
• Goal-driven, not headline-driven
• Tax-aware, not tax-blind
• Risk-managed, not risk-ignored
• Disciplined and repeatable, not ‘hope-based’

Portfolios are tools. The goal is a life with optionality—and a plan that holds up under real-world pressure.

Question 10

Do you offer alternative or non-traditional investments?

Accepted Answer

Yes—when appropriate. We help clients evaluate and access select non-traditional strategies (e.g., private investments, real assets, structured strategies) as part of a broader plan. We also believe in being honest about tradeoffs: alternatives can involve illiquidity, complexity, fees, and additional risk.

Question 11

Can you ‘beat the market’?

Accepted Answer

We don’t build your life around predictions. We focus on what we can control:
• Asset allocation and diversification
• Tax efficiency
• Risk exposure and concentration
• Costs and implementation discipline
• Behavior and decision-making under stress

Question 12

Do you do tax planning?

Accepted Answer

Yes—proactive tax strategy is core to our approach. We look for ways to reduce tax drag through coordination across:
• Investment decisions (asset location, tax-loss harvesting, distribution planning)
• Liquidity timing and life transitions
• Charitable giving strategies
• Entity and income structuring (in coordination with your CPA/attorney)
• Business tax strategies like Section 1202, custom-designed 401k plans, profit share plans, cash benefit plans, defined benefit plans, et cetera

Question 13

Do you prepare tax returns?

Accepted Answer

We do not prepare tax returns ourselves. However, our affiliated firm, Whitwell Tax & Ledger Co., does prepare tax returns! Whitwell Tax & Ledger Co. also offers bill pay and bookkeeping services as well as specialized tax planning. If you are happy with your existing CPA, we will gladly coordinate with them.

If you do not have a CPA, or are possibly looking for a change and want to explore how working with Whitwell Tax & Ledger Co. might benefit you, we would be happy to arrange a personal introduction.

In our experience, many clients, when they come to us, don’t really know what differentiates a good CPA from a bad one, other than at the extremes. We therefore often help educate clients as to what their choices are and what they need to be sure they are getting from their tax preparation firm.

Question 14

Do you replace my CPA, attorney, or insurance professional?

Accepted Answer

No. We don’t replace great advisors, we coordinate them. Most families already have trusted relationships with CPAs, attorneys, insurance professionals, bankers, and business advisors. Our role is to act as a central point of integration, ensuring decisions are aligned, sequenced properly, and made with the full picture in mind.

Question 15

How do you work with other advisors?

Accepted Answer

We collaborate respectfully with your existing team:
• Clarify strategy so specialists can execute more effectively
• Reduce duplication, gaps, and misalignment
• Help prevent decisions being made in silos

We’re not interested in territorialism or control. Our focus is leadership, coordination, and clarity.

Question 16

Do you do estate planning?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. While we don’t draft legal documents, we often quarterback the entire estate planning process. We help define the strategy, identify gaps, and coordinate with attorneys to ensure your estate plan is properly aligned with beneficiary designations, titling and entity structure, liquidity planning, and family communication and continuity. In many cases, we are the ones driving the process forward and looping in legal counsel where needed.

Question 17

What about risk management beyond investments?

Accepted Answer

At higher net worth, many of the biggest risks aren’t market risks—they’re quiet risks:
• Concentration exposure
• Liquidity mismatches
• Liability gaps
• Estate/beneficiary misalignment
• Key-person and business risk
• Decision fatigue and ‘open loops’

We work to surface and reduce these risks before they become expensive wherever possible.

Question 18

How are you compensated?

Accepted Answer

We’re paid for advice, coordination, and stewardship—typically through an advisory fee that aligns our incentives with long-term client success. You’ll always see fees disclosed clearly before engaging.

Question 19

Why are your fees higher than some firms?

Accepted Answer

Our goal isn’t to be the cheapest option; it’s to deliver measurable value where it matters most:
• Better decisions under pressure
• Modern value-add investments
• Reduced complexity and time burden
• Stronger tax outcomes
• Fewer blind spots and better coordination
• A plan that’s actually executable

A lower fee doesn’t get you a better outcome if your financial picture is fragmented, reactive, or lacking a plan. In fact, the cost to you of choosing the lowest cost provider may well be more costly in the end than selecting a premium provider. Selecting the least expensive parachute is not always a winning strategy. There are times when it pays to select quality and this is one of those times.

Question 20

Why should I trust you with significant assets?

Accepted Answer

Trust is earned through structure and transparency—not promises.
• Your assets will be held by an independent qualified custodian (you retain ownership and visibility)
• We run a clear planning process with documented decisions and priorities
• We coordinate with your existing professionals so execution is clean
• You always remain in control: it’s your money, and that’s how it should be.

Question 21

Do you work with clients outside of Austin?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We serve clients in 15 states coast to coast, and we have team members all over the country. Our model is geographically independent by design. Many of our clients travel, operate multi-state businesses, or live in multiple locations. As an SEC-registered firm, we are authorized to work with clients in every U.S. state.

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

How We Work

Investments

Tax Strategy

Coordination With Your Existing Advisors

Estate, Insurance, and Risk

Fees and Value

Trust, Privacy, and Logistics