Checking in with... Ron and Steve Roge
From the May 2004 Issue of Investment Advisor Magazine
A NAPFA stalwart who is frequently quoted in the consumer media, Ron Rogé (the gentleman on the left) has built a $240 million fee-only advisory practice based in Bohemia, New York, around portfolios of mutual funds and bonds built with intense in-house research. But with most new clients coming in with $2 million to $3 million in assets—and a suggested minimum account size that now stands at a hefty $1.2 million—Rogé has been looking for new ways to serve less wealthy clients whose accounts stand a chance of growing over time. Over lunch in New York recently with Editorial Director William Glasgall, Ron and his son, Steve, who is spearheading Ronald Rogé & Company’s recently created “Wealth Bridge” program, discussed their new strategy.Ron, why the new program? “If someone comes in with $200,000, we just won’t take it. Our fees are too high. We get calls every week from people with $200,000, $500,000, or $700,000 who want to work with us. So we’re coming out with a service geared to people who want to save.”
So what’s it going to look like? We can’t customize these [smaller] portfolios, so we are starting a mutual fund. It will be a fund of funds, our moderate risk portfolio for equities, and someone else’s, probably Dan Fuss’s, for fixed income.
Any other wrinkles, Steve? We can have up to 50% of the fund in [investment] partnerships. The cachet is the average Joe can have a globally diversified portfolio. And we had to take the labor out of management.
What’ll the fund be called, Ron? The Rogé Partners Fund. From day one, we are going to have $2 million in assets. We plan to have it on the Waterhouse and Fidelity platforms, and maybe at Schwab.
Steve, what else are you guys up to? We have a new market neutral portfolio. It is designed to have low volatility. It’s made up of a combination of asset classes to provide a little above bond-like returns with similar risk. We have a lot of it in the Arbitrage Fund (ARBNX).
