Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  • Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is a method of managing portfolio risk is through broad diversification of asset classes so that if one area of your portfolio is sustaining losses, the owning of multiple other classes will likely offset massive declines in value.

    Proponents of MPT constantly tell you that you have to “ride out the down years” because it’s impossible to know where market tops and bottoms are. You've likely heard this before because this is how the vast majority of the industry "manages" investments.

    If you own enough of the entire market itself then you will never drastically underperform a benchmark — but also never have the opportunity to match or overperform. And all of that of course is before fees and expenses come into play.

    I believe this is a spineless way to manage investments.

  • There are only two investment objectives: Growth and Income

    Our Growth strategies are focused on Alpha!

    Alpha is a risk-adjusted measure of a portfolio or investment’s return compared to a relevant benchmark like the S&P 500 or the US Aggregate Bond Index.

    This is important because it shows how your investment manager has performed historically against the market so you can make an informed decision about whether it justifies fees being charged.

    Canopy Financial Solutions is intently Alpha-focused using unique Dual Defense strategies based on momentum and risk mitigation that has historically produced well above average Alpha, especially over longer periods of time. Our goal is to AVOID risk rather than DILUTE it with overdiversification.

    Clients also rely on us to provide a steady stream of Income to meet their retirement objectives and regular expenses. Traditional fixed income investments like CDs, annuities and bonds are typically not adequate solutions, especially when interest rates are low.

    We seek enhanced income through the use Structured Notes and hedged equity products. In the past, these solutions were accessible to only High Net Worth clients and accredited investors. My previous experience in affluent wealth management allows me to scale these types of investments to everyday investors

    Keep in mind that people choose financial professionals for a variety of reasons and goals. Investment performance is certainly important; however, each person needs to decide whether they are receiving appropriate value and service from their financial professional.

  • Altruist Financial, LLC is our primary asset custodian and investor platform. Altruist boast a modern, yet simple client interface and is designed to support the needs of independent RIAs like Canopy Financial Solutions.

    Clients who onboard through Altruist will immediately notice the smooth digital account opening experience that literally takes just minutes to establish.

    Altruist also offers a separate high-yield cash account that is a great place for clients to partition and safely grow emergency funds or short-term idle cash — a key component of your PROTECT asset bucket.

Investment Style & Philosophy

 Fees & Fee Structure

  • Because of the wide-ranging types of financial services, industry professionals make their money differently — sometimes it’s dictated by the agency or firm, sometimes by personal preference, sometimes by credentials and licensing, and of course sometimes by profit potential.

    A fee-only advisor is a financial professional or firm that provides financial planning, investment advice, asset management, or other consulting services and is compensated solely by the client.

    Examples include providing advice or consulting at an hourly rate, financial planning deliverables for a flat or recurring fee, or portfolio management services where the fee is based on a client’s total account value (assets under management).

    Canopy Financial Solutions does not receive commissions or incentives from trading or selling financial products such as mutual funds, insurance, or annuities.

    This means my interests are aligned with yours and not influenced by a third party or commission structure.

  • My primary role and value I bring to clients is through investment management. Please see the Investments Strategies page to learn more about my investment philosophy, process and fee details.

    Investment clients pay a simple 1% annual fee based on Assets Under Management (AUM), which is automatically deducted each month from client account at a rate of 0.0833% (1% / 12).

    I provide regular communication and and updates to clients on a weekly basis. We address common concerns during semi-annual Client Checkpoint Reviews to ensure your Retirement Roadmap remains on-track.

    Occasionally clients require more pointed advice and specific planning needs that entail detailed analysis, forecasting, or professional research -- if this need arises, I will quote a flat fee based on what it will take to satisfy your need and deliver relevant materials.

    Comprehensive financial planning, modeling, and forecasting: $250 per hour

    • includes advice, plan preparation, plan delivery and presentation with client.

    Consulting services: $200 per hour.

    • client does not require a detailed deliverable but just professional advice and recommendations on a specific topic

    *I will always discuss fee options and make sure we agree on the best path forward before officially engaging.

  • Easy now, one question at a time.

    1) As a fee-only RIA, Canopy Financial Solutions does not make any commissions or transaction fees from trading, therefore, any changes to portfolio holdings are to capitalize on momentum opportunities and not an attempt to “churn.”

    2) True, in a nonqualified (taxable) investment account, capital gains to lend to potentially higher taxes depending on your OVERALL tax situation and filing status. Capital gains are the result of successful investing. While active management may result in complete shifts in and out of bull/bear strategies, the intent is that the extra ROI (or Alpha) offsets taxes on the upside, and “taking profits” to avoid bear market losses preserves account value to a much greater extent than your tax obligation.

    3) Lastly, in nonqualified (taxable) accounts, I replicate core investment holdings with an ETF that replicates the active Dual Defense rotation strategy that is successfully employed in qualified account strategies, which reduces the effects of trading out individual positions.

  • Actually no.

    My commitment to simplifying wealth management is most evident in our fee structures.

    I charge a flat 1% annual fee for Assets Under Management (AUM). This means that my fee depends on your account value and my ability (and incentive) to grow that amount.

    The 1% annual fee is broken down into a monthly charge (0.0833%) that is clearly shown on your client invoice each month. This fee is automatically deducted from your investment account balance so there is no action necessary on your part.

    Since many of our portfolios use individual stocks and almost never include mutual funds, the expense ratios are significantly less than the average model portfolio.

 Protection & Planning

  • No, I am not a lawyer, nor do I offer legal advice or draft legal documents.

    However - As a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), my advanced studies and case work extends beyond traditional financial representative roles and knowledge.

    I have a fully disclosed role as a consultant for Brick City Law, a business and estate planning law firm in Sanford, NC, founded and managed by my wife, Jessica Kelly, Esq.

    Jessica is a North Carolina licensed attorney who can action and advise on critical legal concerns, especially those that often overlap with financial planning. You can learn more about Jessica and the services she provides by visiting the Brick City Law Homepage.

    So while I can perform many of the tasks to prepare you for a successful estate plan, when it comes to drafting items like Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, or other contracts, I recommend Jessica and Brick City Law to provide those trusted legal services.

  • Everyone has a unique situation that lends to different advice and solutions along the way; however, here’s some examples:

    Protect Your Property

    • Home, auto, and umbrella insurance

    • Business liability and overhead (if applicable)

    Protect Your Income

    • Establishing a Bucket Strategy and savings plan

    • Emergency fund with guaranteed growth and protection

    • Disability income insurance

    Protect Your Family

    • Life insurance (term, universal / IUL, whole, variable)

    Protect Your Dignity

    • Long term care insurance

    Protect Your Health

    • Health / medical insurance

    • HSAs / FSAs

    • Medicare

  • It is true that most group benefit plans do include many of the insurance coverages listed above.

    It’s important to recognize that your “group” coverages are valid only for as long as you are a member of that group. That means if you lose or change employment, you lose that coverage - your protection portfolio is highly exposed to risk along with your family.

    Group benefit options often have coverage limits that may not provide adequate protection for your specific needs.

    While group benefits are certainly great, they are not customized for any particular person so it is wise to do a complete review or Needs Analysis to identify coverage gaps and create a more enduring protection portfolio.

  • I believe it’s necessary to have different “buckets” of money to accomplish different goals.

    I’ll try to explain by differentiating between SAVINGS and INVESTING.

    Savings means the money you defer or set aside on a recurring basis for certain goals like retirement, emergency fund, college savings, vacation fund, or planned major purchases. It should occur naturally and automatically with a “pay yourself first” mindset.

    Investing involves working with me to determine your objectives, risk profile, and time horizon, and then allocating your savings into a portfolio or investment strategy.

    A Bucket Strategy helps break down these investment objectives into more appropriate risk/return strategies depending on whether the goal is NOW, SOON or LATER.

  • When you have a real life emergency, the last thing you need is more uncertainty.

    Your emergency funds should reside in a high yield savings or money-market account where it is safe (FDIC insured) and liquid - able to be converted to cash and typically accessible within 24-48 hours.

    All Canopy Financial Solutions investment clients have access to Altruist Cash, a high yield savings account (currently 4%) offered through my chosen asset custodian, and there are zero costs or fees involved.

  • Yes. This is a "no-BS" and "no strings attached" complimentary consultation. I use it to understand your situation and explain how my services work. After that, you can decide whether you’d like to move forward.

    Take full advantage of our time together and bring as much as you want to the table for me to review. I'm confident that I can show you a more exciting way to invest your hard-earned assets and make them grow better than the mundane returns you're probably used to.

  • Item descAbsolutely not. This meeting is educational and focused on you. My goal is to help you decide whether financial planning with me is the right fit—not to pressure you into anything.

    As a "fee-only" RIA and fiduciary advisor, I don't have a single item I could "sell" you even if I wanted to.

  • Zeke is a retired US Army Special Operations officer and served multiple combat deployments while on active duty from 2004 to 2019. He enlisted after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a finance degree and then received a commission in 2010 from the US Army Officer Candidate School.

    Upon conclusion of his military service, Zeke continued his mission to serve by helping people understand the complex world of investments, business, and personal finance.

    Zeke resides in Sanford, North Carolina with his wife, Jessica (married 2007), and their two kids Liam (2010) and Josephine (2014). Jessica works as an estate and business planning attorney and is the founding partner of her own legal practice, Brick City Law.

    Zeke holds multiple professional designations that emphasize his commitment and obligation to operating as a fiduciary – he is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) and a Federal Retirement Consultant® (FRC). His licenses and examinations include the Series Industries Essentials (SIE), Series 7, and Series 66. Zeke also has years of insurance industry expertise, although he no longer maintains active insurance licenses.

    As a result of his distinguished military service over the years, Michael “Zeke” Kelly was recognized with numerous medals and distinctions to include four Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts, five Army Commendation Medals, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

    Canopy Financial Solutions is based on the premise that this is a “people business first.” Whether you’re bringing a million dollars to the table or just the discipline and desire to push your net worth or P&L into the black, we leverage a variety of modern resources and FinTech platforms to deliver you to your unique objectives. We are wealth management…simplified.

  • When you work with a ChFC®, you can trust that your advisor has completed rigorous amounts of coursework (8 courses in all!) to ensure that he or she is prepared for the complex financial situations faced by modern clients.

    ChFC® candidates complete coursework focusing on real-life scenarios and case studies to ensure they are prepared for every situation - in fact it encompasses the full Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) program plus one additional course.

    The ChFC® program includes a wide array of financial topics such as behavioral finance, non-traditional family structures, and small business planning.

  • As someone who has worked in the larger Wealth Management arena with big institutional firms serving High Net Worth and affluent clients, I can confidently say there's a lot that makes Canopy unique.

    1) I believe your investment returns are the single biggest driver of your ability to retire well; therefore my primary focus is on active asset management

    2) We don't try to dazzle with overly complex solutions - we apply common-sense investment management with real-world financial planning and consulting.

    3) Our portfolio solutions are customized and managed in-house, rather than outsourcing to some 3rd party cookie-cutter model that relies on outdated methods and theories like "Modern Portfolio Theory"

    4) We also focus on other key pillars of wealth management that most firms are not well-versed on: estate planning, tax strategies, and protection and succession planning for both personal and business needs

  • Zeke is a retired US Army Special Operations officer and served multiple combat deployments while on active duty from 2004 to 2019. He enlisted after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a finance degree and then received a commission in 2010 from the US Army Officer Candidate School.

    Upon conclusion of his military service, Zeke continued his mission to serve by helping people understand the complex world of investments, business, and personal finance.

    Zeke resides in Sanford, North Carolina with his wife, Jessica (married 2007), and their two kids Liam (2010) and Josephine (2014). Jessica works as an estate and business planning attorney and is the founding partner of her own legal practice, Brick City Law.

    Zeke holds multiple professional designations that emphasize his commitment and obligation to operating as a fiduciary – he is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) and a Federal Retirement Consultant® (FRC). His licenses and examinations include the Series Industries Essentials (SIE), Series 7, and Series 66. Zeke also has years of insurance industry expertise, although he no longer maintains active insurance licenses.

    As a result of his distinguished military service over the years, Michael “Zeke” Kelly was recognized with numerous medals and distinctions to include four Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts, five Army Commendation Medals, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

    Canopy Financial Solutions is based on the premise that this is a “people business first.” Whether you’re bringing a million dollars to the table or just the discipline and desire to push your net worth or P&L into the black, we leverage a variety of modern resources and FinTech platforms to deliver you to your unique objectives. We are wealth management…simplified..

Introduction & Discovery Consultation