Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers to the questions prospective clients ask most. Where a question touches fees, custody, or authority over your accounts, our answers track our regulatory disclosures. If anything here raises a follow-up, call us. We answer that too.

What services are included in your retainer?

Cardiff Park is a full-service investment advisory firm specializing in financial planning and portfolio management, built on passive, evidence-based strategies. The retainer covers an integrated engagement: comprehensive financial planning, risk assessment, portfolio design and implementation, support for managing concentrated stock positions, tax-loss harvesting, disciplined rebalancing, cash and liquidity coordination, quarterly reporting, and ongoing supervision and advice. The work is continuous, not transactional. We are available throughout the year, and the retainer does not meter the conversation.

Do you have an account minimum?

Yes. Our clients typically have portfolios of $3 million or more. The minimum exists because the resource we sell is senior attention, and attention does not scale. We keep the client roster small enough that every relationship gets the real thing.

How are you compensated?

Exclusively by our clients, through fixed annual retainers billed quarterly, in arrears. We accept no commissions, referral payments, revenue sharing, or incentives from fund companies, brokers, or custodians. Nobody pays us but you, which means nobody influences the advice but you.

What are your fees?

Our fees are not based on assets under management. They reflect the scope, complexity, and responsibility of each relationship: the actual work, not the account balance. Current retainer ranges, onboarding fees, and separately billed services are detailed on Our Fees and Services, and complete disclosures appear in our Form ADV Part 2A. For the reasoning behind the structure, read Why Advisor Fees Matter.

How do you collect fees?

For new relationships, our default is direct fee debiting from a linked custodial account, authorized by you in writing. It is accurate, timely, and visible on your custodial statement next to everything else. Clients who prefer to pay by check, ACH, or bill-pay may do so. Either way, you see an invoice, in dollars, every quarter. We think the fee should be the easiest thing on your statement to understand.

Can you help with my IRA, 401(k), or annuities?

Yes. Retirement accounts are not side accounts; they are load-bearing parts of the plan. We incorporate IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement vehicles into a single coordinated strategy, placing assets across taxable and tax-deferred accounts to improve after-tax outcomes. For annuities, we provide guidance and access to no-load providers so the analysis is about whether the contract serves you, not whether it pays someone.

Do you offer private banking services or lines of credit?

We assist clients in evaluating private banking options and have negotiated competitive pledged-asset lines and credit facilities through custodial relationships. Used carefully, borrowing against a portfolio can bridge a purchase or a tax bill without forcing an untimely sale. We help structure it, and because we earn nothing from the loan, the analysis stays honest.

Does your service include estate planning, insurance, or tax planning?

We do not prepare tax returns, draft legal documents, or sell insurance, and that is deliberate. Estate documents belong with qualified attorneys, tax preparation with experienced CPAs, and insurance with independent, no-load providers. Keeping those functions separate keeps every professional’s advice objective, including ours.

But separation creates a problem the industry rarely admits: nobody is watching the seams. The attorney drafts the trust but never sees the accounts. The CPA files the return but learns about the stock sale in February. The insurance agent has no idea what the portfolio already covers. Most expensive financial mistakes do not happen inside any one specialist’s domain. They happen in the gaps between them: the account that was never retitled into the trust, the beneficiary form that contradicts the will, the gain realized in the wrong year, the required distribution nobody coordinated.

That seam is where we work. We integrate the work of your attorneys, CPAs, and other specialists into one financial framework. We sit in the planning conversations, review legal and tax documents as they affect your balance sheet, align account titling and beneficiary designations with the estate plan, and time portfolio decisions with the tax year in mind. Every specialist stays in their lane. We make sure the lanes lead to the same place.

Does Cardiff Park have discretion over my accounts?

No. All accounts are managed on a non-discretionary basis. You grant us a limited power of attorney, which lets us execute efficiently on your behalf, but the plan we execute is one you have seen and approved. Strategy, security selection, and rebalancing recommendations are reviewed with you before implementation. We do the work; you keep the authority. We would not want it any other way, because a client who understands and approves every move is a client who stays the course when it matters.

Do you accept custody of client funds or securities?

No. Your assets are held in your name at independent custodians, principally Charles Schwab and Fidelity, both members of SIPC with additional private insurance. The custodian sends you statements directly, and we encourage you to compare them against our reports. Advice and custody should never live in the same hands. Every major fraud in this industry required both.

How do you decide when to rebalance?

We monitor portfolios continuously against their targets, from the headline stock-to-bond ratio down to individual asset class weights. Rebalancing is recommended when exposures drift meaningfully beyond predefined thresholds, with sensitivity to your tax position, transaction costs, and liquidity needs. Not on a calendar, and never for the appearance of activity. Rebalancing exists to manage risk, not to justify a fee.

When and how do you report to clients?

Quarterly, through our secure client portal: consolidated, reconciled data across all accounts, portfolio performance, asset allocation analysis, and a summary of unrealized gains and losses. We moved from monthly to quarterly as the default deliberately, to reduce short-term noise and keep attention on the plan rather than the month. Clients who prefer monthly reporting may receive it on request. In addition, your custodian sends monthly statements, tax-lot detail, and provides around-the-clock online access, and we encourage you to check our numbers against theirs. Transparency should be verifiable, not asserted.

Who is your ideal client?

Someone who understands and values passive, index-based investing and is committed to a disciplined, long-term approach. Many of our clients managed their own portfolios successfully for years before joining us. They are not looking for predictions, theatrics, or constant stimulation. They want structure, judgment, and a firm that treats their patience as an asset instead of a sales obstacle.

What experience does Cardiff Park bring to my investments?

John Gorlow, principal of Cardiff Park Advisors, has more than 35 years of experience in financial services. His background includes managing investment advisory engagements for Ernst & Young in San Francisco and 14 years with leading Wall Street firms, including Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Oppenheimer. He holds an MBA from Fordham University and a bachelor’s degree from Penn State, earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst designation through the Wharton School, and is a member of the CFA Institute and the Financial Planning Association. The Wall Street years matter for a specific reason: we know exactly how the conflicted model works from the inside, and we built this firm to be its opposite.

Why should I choose Cardiff Park?

Because everything lines up. The philosophy is rooted in research rather than speculation. The fee is fixed, visible, and disconnected from market levels. Custody sits with independent custodians. Authority stays with you. Compensation comes only from you. Each of those choices removes a conflict that most of the industry has decided to live with. What remains is advice that can only be justified one way: by the work.

Is your investment model personalized or pre-defined?

Personalized. Portfolios are tailored to your goals, risk capacity, tax considerations, liquidity needs, and time horizon, drawing on structured models where they fit and customizing where they do not. We do not sell pre-packaged solutions, because your balance sheet is not pre-packaged.

How do you deliver competitive value at a low cost?

By running lean on purpose. As an independent firm we spend on technology, research, and process, the things that reach the client, and not on marketing, sales structures, or overhead that clients pay for without receiving. Low cost is not a compromise in our model. It is the model.

How do I get started?

Most of our clients arrive by referral from existing clients. The process begins with an introductory conversation about your needs and goals, followed by an initial evaluation of your financial picture. If we both decide to move forward, we agree on the retainer, design the portfolio, and manage the account-opening and transfer process from there, keeping you informed at every step.

Learn More About Us

Cardiff Park Advisors is based in Carlsbad, California, about 25 miles north of San Diego, with an additional office in San Marcos. We work with clients across the United States and internationally. When you’re ready to take the next step, we offer a complimentary consultation. Please complete the Connect Form below, in the footer, and we’ll follow up to schedule a conversation.

To learn more, visit www.cardiffpark.com, review our Form ADV Brochure on the SEC’s website (ADV Part 2A), email us at jgorlow@cardiffpark.com, or call 760-635-7526.