Investment Consulting
Your Partner in Portfolio Management
I bring institutional-level investment process and discipline to a wealth management team, helping to create structure without bureaucracy.
Driven by my passion for investing and investment education, my career has focused on three areas: investment consulting, portfolio management and retail wealth management. My independence and experience have allowed me to support my clients with various investment needs by helping to align investment philosophies with execution best practices.
As an investment consultant and portfolio manager, I provide investment guidance and solutions for wealth advisors to implement on their own platform and for their own clients. I act as a true partner for my clients, helping with investment strategy, portfolio management and investment research.
With over 20 years of investment experience, my clients gain significant leverage by utilizing me to enhance their own investment offerings. I am here to support you, your investment strategies and your business, and I love doing it.
How I Can Help
Alongside You in Portfolio Management and Investment Research
As a small- to medium-sized wealth management firm or team, it can be very beneficial to have a consistent, external, independent set of eyes on your investment management process and execution. I have worked as an investment consultant to wealth advisors for almost two decades, supporting the development of and investment research for the investment strategies they utilize for their clients. As an independent investment consultant, I can offer flexibility for my clients that they might not be able to get elsewhere.
I am also currently the lead portfolio manager on a number of investment strategies being implemented across the Intrua Financial and Larson Financial wealth advisory businesses. I have active experience across portfolio management, trading, fundamental research, technical analysis, third-party manager due diligence, and have strong knowledge across different custodians and technology platforms.
Provide Access to Recommended Allocation Strategies
Why completely outsource your investment management services when you can manage your strategies effectively on your own platform? I help firms avoid hefty custodial and other platform fees to efficiently manage their own strategies in their own way on the custodial platform of their choosing.
You will have access to our U.S. Core, Income and Total Return Recommended Allocation strategies to utilize for your clients. These strategies use mutual funds and/or ETFs to construct the portfolios. Each strategy is managed and offered across the risk spectrum, from Conservative to Aggressive. Versions of these strategies are currently being utilized by wealth advisors throughout the U.S.
You have the freedom to adjust these strategies however you like. We will work together on any adjustments to these strategies, whether they are strategic or tactical in nature. Other strategies may also be available as needed and/or defined.
Whether you utilize the Recommended Allocation investment strategies, tweak them, or I help you build and manage your own strategies, we can quickly create leverage for your business across investment philosophy, process and execution. All on your own terms, with my help.
Creation of Investment Policy Statements
You will receive an Investment Policy Statement for each investment strategy we offer. If you choose to modify your own strategy based on our Recommended Allocation strategies, I will help incorporate those changes into your version of the Investment Policy Statements.
Ongoing Manager Due Diligence
Throughout the year, I communicate with the investment management firms that manage each position in our investment strategies. I provide “boots on the ground” direct insights into each investment manager. As part of your due diligence document retention process, I provide updated investment manager summaries so you can stay up-to-date on each investment manager. Based on my experience and knowledge of each investment, I can address the questions you have about any manager at any time.
Investment Reporting
I will assist in creating comprehensive reporting for you to track each investment strategy and all investments within each strategy, preferably using Morningstar Direct software. You will have to purchase your own software license, but I will train you on best practices. Other software options may also be considered. This allows you to maintain full access to your own data for your own strategies over time. You will have the ability to track the performance of every strategy and investment on a daily, weekly, monthly and ad hoc basis.
Investment Commentary
You will receive investment commentary each quarter, providing an update on the financial markets and the Recommended Allocation strategies. This commentary can be shared with your clients as a white-labeled piece with your firm’s name/logo on the commentary. You can edit the commentary as you see fit.
Supporting Regulatory and Compliance Documentation
Wealth advisors often manage client investment strategies without a clearly defined process or adequate documentation of research, performance, and client communications, which are key areas required by regulators and compliance teams. This lack of structure not only jeopardizes client outcomes but also exposes both the advisor and their firm to regulatory risk.
Implementing a structured investment process, supported by thorough documentation, helps advisors strengthen their conviction in the strategies they recommend and enhances their ability to meet regulatory expectations with confidence.
White-Labeled Strategies and Materials
I structured my investment consulting support to allow for full white-labeled purposes. I am here to help you manage your strategies. You own your business and you should own your strategies too. You have the freedom to add your firm’s name, logo and change the name of any investment strategy I help you manage.
Ongoing Access and Communication
I pride myself on being directly available to my clients. I limit the number of wealth management firms I work with to allow me to be available when my clients need me. Depending on the client and their needs, we can have formal discussions on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and/or an ad hoc basis.
Technology Support
I consider myself technologically proficient and have experience effectively utilizing technology to build a comprehensive investment platform. I have experience across various technology platforms, including Schwab and LPL custodial platforms, Orion Advisor Solutions with Eclipse Trading and Risk Intelligence, Nitrogen (Riskalyze), and Morningstar Direct. Having access to quality technology platforms is one thing, but understanding how they can all efficiently work together is even more important.
How I Bring Value to Your Team
Institutional Investment Expertise within Retail Wealth Management
I have over 20 years of deep experience across portfolio management, investment research, and wealth advisor consulting, well suited to the nimble environment needed for a small- to medium-sized wealth management team.
As an institutional portfolio manager who has worked with wealth advisors throughout my career, I bring sophisticated investment acumen combined with retail wealth management experience. I can help blend investment science with art, while understanding the strong emotional and behavioral influences inherent in retail wealth management.
I have third-party investment manager due diligence experience across traditional and non-traditional asset classes and strategies, and across mutual funds, ETFs, SMAs and private product structures. It is this bottom-up research combined with top-down portfolio management that translates into the creation and management of investment strategies that can help a variety of wealth advisors and retail clients reach their specific goals.
Trusted Client Partner
I pride myself on being a strong communicator who can directly support advisors, helping them understand complex strategies and concepts. This can help advisors strengthen their own investment convictions and solidify the trust their clients place in them.
Collaboration with Third-Party Investment Firms
I work closely with many third-party investment firms and have strong relationships with their representatives. Clients have utilized me to drive the conversations with these firms rather than having to manage these relationships as heavily as they have had to in the past.
Team Player and Mentor
I am very passionate about contributing to a collaborative culture, providing investment mentorship to your team members, and helping your firm grow into what you envision it to be.
Technology Experience
Based on my experience and comfort level with various technology platforms, I can provide added guidance to help you leverage technology to efficiently manage your own investment offerings.
- Custodians: LPL, Schwab
- Portfolio Trading, Reporting, Client Management: Orion Advisor Solutions with Eclipse Trading
- Investment Research and Portfolio Tracking: Morningstar Direct; Proprietary Manager Research Database
- Retail Client Risk Assessment: Orion Risk Intelligence, Nitrogen (Riskalyze)
Flat-Fee Service Structure
Whether I work with wealth advisory team clients or retail clients, I want my services and corresponding fee structure to provide significant value.
For most wealth advisory team clients, I charge a flat monthly fee for the investment consulting services described above. The fee level will be based on the complexity of services provided. This structure allows my clients to build their firm and assets under management without an equal corresponding growth in investment consulting fees over time.
My Experience
Current Roles
- Investment, Portfolio Management and Trading Consultant for Wealth Management Firms
- Lead Portfolio Manager on the Following Investment Strategies
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- Core Allocation: U.S. Core, Income, Total Return
- Tactical: FlexTrend, U.S. Core X, Global Unconstrained
- Thematic: High Income, High Income Muni, Diversified Closed End Funds, Bitcoin/Ethereum
- Member of the Larson Investment Committee
- Wealth Advisor
Previous Roles
- RW Baird – Vice President, Senior Portfolio Analyst: Third-party manager due diligence analyst across equities, fixed income and alternative strategies. Assisted on the firm’s discretionary asset allocation strategies utilized by private wealth management advisors and clients.
- U.S. Bank – Mutual Fund Specialist: Mutual fund client support, firm technology support.
Eric Kulwicki CFA®, CFP®
Investment Consultant / Portfolio Manager / Wealth Advisor
(262) 798-7979
[email protected]
Intrua Financial
675 North Barker Road
Suite 220
Brookfield, WI 53045
www.intrua.com