Forms, Guides, Tools & Answers

Our minimum is $250,000 in investable assets, counted across your household. That size lets us diversify properly across our SMA strategies and give every client the same level of attention. If you’re close to the minimum and serious about getting started, we’re happy to have a conversation.

Three things, in order: the Client Intake Form (about five minutes), the Risk Tolerance Questionnaire (ten to fifteen minutes), and a one-hour introductory call with Chris. Both forms are under Start Here at the top of this page. Both are required before you become a client, and doing them before the call is what makes the call worth an hour — Chris arrives with a real recommendation instead of spending the time gathering facts. Everything after that is ours to do: the portfolio proposal, two signatures, account opening and transfers at Schwab, and your technology setup. Most clients are fully onboarded within two to four weeks.

Fee-only means our only compensation is the advisory fee you pay us, based on your assets under management. We do not earn commissions or revenue from any product we recommend. That removes the biggest conflict in this business: our pay does not change based on what we recommend. It is a meaningful distinction from “fee-based” advisors, who charge a fee and can also earn commissions on certain products.

We can open and manage virtually any account type through Charles Schwab: individual and joint brokerage accounts, Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, inherited IRAs, SEP IRAs, custodial accounts (UTMA/UGMA), 529 education savings plans, trust accounts, and more. For business owners, we also offer retirement plan solutions — including 401(k) plans and cash balance plans — through our Workplace Solutions division. And if your current employer’s 401(k) offers a self-directed brokerage window (PCRA/SDBA), we can manage that as well, provided your plan allows it.

A standard ACAT transfer from another brokerage typically takes five to seven business days. We initiate the transfer as part of the Schwab account opening paperwork, so there’s no separate step for you. During the transfer window, your assets remain invested at your prior custodian and move over in-kind — meaning your existing positions transfer without being sold, unless we recommend liquidating specific holdings as part of your new allocation plan.

Yes — if you’re currently employed and contributing to your employer’s 401(k), that account stays where it is. We can still fold it into your financial plan and monitor its allocation alongside your other accounts through Black Diamond. If your plan offers a self-directed brokerage window, we may be able to manage a portion of it directly. One note: our Equity Innovation strategy is not available inside an employer plan, so that allocation is held in Equity Growth, the closest mandate.

Rolling over an old 401(k) from a former employer is straightforward. You contact your old plan provider, request a direct rollover to Charles Schwab, and they send a check directly to Schwab for deposit into your new Traditional IRA (for pre-tax funds) or Roth IRA (for Roth 401(k) funds). We walk you through the entire process, and our Schwab 401(k) Rollover Instructions in the library cover it step by step, including where the check goes. Most rollovers are completed within one to two weeks.

After your risk tolerance assessment, we set the blend of our four proprietary SMA strategies that fits your profile. Each strategy is a portfolio of individual stocks chosen through our own fundamental research — not a third party’s model portfolio. Any bond allocation runs through an ETF, and the small fund sleeve the strategies hold is printed in your proposal with its exact expense ratio. Chris Passarelli, our Founder and Portfolio Manager, runs all four strategies. We hold trading authority over your accounts, so we can act without asking approval for each trade.

A separately managed account is an investment portfolio managed individually for you — not pooled with other investors like a mutual fund or ETF. You directly own every stock in your portfolio, which gives you full transparency, the ability to customize holdings, and real tax advantages like harvesting losses on individual positions. Our four SMAs — Innovation, Growth, Core, and Low Volatility — each target a different risk and return profile. The full explainer — ownership, tax treatment, and the cases where an ETF is the better tool — is in Section 03 of our strategies page.

We rebalance tactically based on market conditions and portfolio drift — not on a rigid calendar schedule. In practice, our higher-growth strategies like Innovation are rebalanced more frequently (typically at least once or twice per quarter) because they experience more volatility. Our Core and Low Volatility strategies are rebalanced less often, which is advantageous because fewer trades mean fewer taxable events. This is one reason we prefer placing higher-turnover strategies in tax-advantaged accounts like Roth IRAs when possible.

Each strategy is measured against a stated benchmark. Our Equity Low Volatility SMA is measured against the S&P 500 and is built for a smoother line, not a higher one. The Equity Core SMA is measured against the S&P 500 over full market cycles. The Equity Growth SMA is measured against both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100. And our flagship Equity Innovation SMA is measured against the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, and the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index. The full performance history is on our strategies page and the four interactive fact sheets, gross and net.

Both portals are accessible directly from our website. Hover over the Login dropdown in the top-right corner of the navigation bar for links to Black Diamond, RightCapital, Charles Schwab, and other tools; each one goes straight to its login page. You receive your credentials from us during onboarding. Schwab updates to the second; Black Diamond and RightCapital show balances as of the last business day. Step-by-step setup is in the Black Diamond Client Portal Guide and the RightCapital Planning Guide in the library.

Yes — this is one of the most valuable features of Black Diamond. You can link virtually any outside account: bank accounts, a 401(k) at your current employer, cryptocurrency accounts, brokerage accounts at other firms, real estate values, and more. This gives you a single, consolidated view of your complete net worth and financial picture, all in one dashboard. There’s no additional charge for this feature.

Yes. Both Black Diamond and RightCapital offer native mobile apps for iOS and Android. The Black Diamond app gives you access to your portfolio, performance, accounts, document vault, and direct contact with your advisory team from your phone. The RightCapital app lets you track your financial plan, probability of success, budget, and tasks on the go. Search for “Black Diamond Wealth Platform” or “RightCapital” in the App Store or Google Play.

As often as you’d like. Most clients meet with us quarterly to review portfolio performance, the financial plan, and any changes in life or goals. Some prefer annual reviews; others are in touch more frequently. We adapt to whatever cadence works best for you — there are no hourly charges for meetings or communication. At minimum, we conduct at least one comprehensive review per year.

Absolutely. You can call, email, or message us anytime — there’s no limit on communication and no additional charge. Whether you have a question about a transaction, need to discuss a life event, or just want to check in on markets, we’re accessible. You work directly with your portfolio manager, not a support queue.

We reach out to you proactively — you won’t need to wonder what’s happening. During periods of volatility we send communications explaining what is driving the move, how your portfolio is positioned, and what actions, if any, we are taking. Our strategies are built to be held through declines and to take part in the recoveries, and every decline in our record is on the chart, gross and net, on our strategies page. The five risk profiles exist for exactly this: they set how much Innovation you hold, so the size of a decline is something you chose in advance.

Yes. We conduct tax-loss harvesting on an ongoing basis across all client accounts as opportunities arise. Because our SMAs hold individual equities rather than ETFs, we have much more granular control — we can harvest losses on specific positions without disrupting the overall strategy. Toward year-end, we also reach out to discuss any client-specific tax planning needs. If you have a particular situation, like a large capital gain from selling a home, we’ll coordinate with you and your CPA to optimize the outcome.