Alliances

The BAM ALLIANCE

West Loop Financial LLC is a member of The BAM ALLIANCE. The BAM ALLIANCE is a community of more than 130 independent wealth management firms located throughout the United States — united in belief and in practice that there is a better, more effective, and more resilient way for investors and their families to safeguard their financial futures and realize their dreams:

• We believe in delivering unbiased, transparent, evidence-based advice.
• We believe every investor is unique — requiring custom, comprehensive wealth management solutions.
• We believe that doing what’s best and doing what’s right should be one and the same.

Our principles and approach stand in sharp contrast to many in the financial services industry who prefer to play a rigged Wall Street game, often putting their own interests ahead of their clients’. That is not how it works within The BAM ALLIANCE. We believe that by putting our clients’ interests first, we achieve more together.

Attracted to our unbiased advice, our evidence-based approach to low-cost investing and our ability to deliver on the promise of true wealth management, more than 15,000 investors have become clients of independent BAM ALLIANCE wealth management firms across the country, representing more than $22 billion of collective assets under management or administration as of December 31, 2013.

Dimensional Fund Advisors

Our passive asset class investment approach is translated by Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) into an array of mutual funds, each of which is rigorously designed to capture a particular “dimension” or asset class within a globally diversified portfolio. (DFA is our primary but not exclusive source for implementing our recommended investment approach, West Loop Financial LLC receives no compensation from DFA for using its funds nor are we under any obligation to use them if they do not best meet your particular investment needs.)

Working years ahead of the industry, Dimensional has forged a new way to invest. The firm inaugurated its strategies in 1981 with early research into the stronger performance of small cap stocks. Later, a comprehensive analysis of stock prices worldwide deepened the strategy repertoire and set a new standard for portfolio design. This evolution reflects an abiding belief in financial science and the efficacy of capital markets.

Dimensional views markets as an ally, not an adversary. Rather than trying to take advantage of the ways markets are mistaken, they take advantage of the ways markets are right—the ways they compensate investors. The firm designs asset class funds to help investors capture what the market offers in all its dimensions.

Account Custodians

While we provide investment advice, we do not have direct access to your account assets. As a client, you choose Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments or TD Ameritrade to be custodians of your account. With your permission, West Loop Financial receives Limited Power of Attorney to submit trade requests on your behalf and provide you with regular reports that summarize your portfolio’s performance. However, you remain in control of your assets by having them held in accounts in your name. Our custodians provide us with the platform, products, programs and resources to serve our clients efficiently and effectively.