Toepel Investment Counsel, Inc.

Toepel Investment Counsel, Inc. provides professional portfolio advisory and management services to individuals, trusts, qualified retirement plans, pension and profit-sharing plans, and corporations, offering both discretionary and nondiscretionary account management. The firm states a $100,000 minimum account (while smaller accounts may be accepted in individual circumstances) and delivers quarterly account reviews and written reports that inventory holdings and show current values and performance statistics.

Investment advice is delivered using the principal’s professional judgment across broad asset classes—cash equivalents/short-term debt, domestic and foreign stocks and bonds, and inflation hedges—and the firm may use market index funds or exchange-traded funds where markets are considered efficient. The stated objective is to seek the greatest after-tax, after-inflation returns consistent with each client’s risk tolerance, with explicit attention to minimizing portfolio taxes, custodial fees, brokerage expenses and transaction costs.

Noteworthy aspects relative to peers include a long-established solo-practitioner structure (firm formed in 1995) with the principal serving as the sole account reviewer and a background that includes broker-dealer and principal-level registrations. The firm does not take custody of client assets and does not vote client proxies (clients receive solicitations directly), and it maintains internal hiring and conduct standards—requiring employees to hold a bachelor’s degree, ten or more years’ business experience and adherence to AIMR standards—that are uncommon for a small, single-advisor practice.