TruAdvisors

TruAdvisors Financial, LLC is a small SEC-registered advisory firm with three investment professionals managing roughly $133 million for about 170 clients, serving individuals (including high-net-worth clients) and a range of institutional entities. The firm provides ongoing portfolio management and financial planning through its Investment Adviser Representatives, recommending diversified holdings such as equities, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, fixed income and option contracts.

TruAdvisors develops client-specific investment policies using a client questionnaire and personal discussions, and manages accounts on either a discretionary or non-discretionary basis with at least annual reviews. Its stated strategies explicitly include derivatives—particularly options used for hedging and other option positions (including straddles and short positions)—and the brochure discloses the enhanced volatility and principal risks of those strategies as well as the ability for clients to restrict their use in writing.

What is distinctive about TruAdvisors relative to many peers is its documented use of derivatives within managed accounts, an approach noted in the brochure as carrying specific risks and client-direction options and that is uncommon among supported firms. The firm also discloses that a principal conducts licensed insurance activities in a separate, non-advisory capacity (life, long-term care and fixed-index annuities) and that it relies on institutional custody and soft-dollar services provided through Charles Schwab & Co. for trade execution and operational support.