M.Z. Kark & Associates, Inc.

M.Z. Kark and Associates serves individual clients and the businesses they own, including trustees and beneficiaries, offering discretionary and non-discretionary asset management, investment consulting, and retirement-plan/rollover advice. The firm implements portfolios using mutual funds, exchange‑traded funds and separately managed accounts, and custodial arrangements with Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab.

The firm follows a traditional asset‑allocation framework that allocates across roughly six broad categories (large and small US growth and value, developed and emerging international, fixed income, and alternatives) and implements three base models (conservative, core, aggressive) that are adjusted with specific investment sleeves. It routinely recommends third‑party money managers or SMA managers when appropriate, emphasizes long‑term purchases, and generally accepts limited discretionary authority to trade primarily mutual fund and ETF shares rather than individual securities.

Noteworthy features include its small, family‑owned structure with a single advisory team overseeing about $369.6 million in assets for roughly 165 clients, while maintaining no hard account minimums. The firm’s Code of Ethics and operating practices—such as an explicit prohibition on recommending individual (non‑mutual fund) securities to clients, the use of a wrap arrangement at one custodian while not receiving any portion of those wrap fees, and the engagement of independent audits when it has custody—set it apart from many peers.