An investment committee for your family.
Vosburgh & Sedley is a New York investment adviser for founders, executives and families with complex wealth. We bring an institutional process, a standing committee, written research and risk measured in factors, and we state our fees in plain numbers.
A first meeting with the committee chair. Your statements stay with you.
The same household, described by what it owns, then by what drives it.
One invented total, shown twice: first by what each holding is called, then regrouped by what moves it.
By label
- Operating company stake38%
- Public equities22%
- Real estate14%
- Private funds11%
- Bonds10%
- Cash5%
By driver
- Equity marketIncludes the company stake and the private fundsCompany stake 38 + public equities 22 + private funds 1171%
- Real estate and interest ratesNet of the mortgage on the building; the mortgage adds rate exposure.Real estate 1414%
- Bonds: rates and creditBonds 1010%
- CashCash 55%
- Illiquid: may not be sellable within a year at a fair priceOverlay, not part of the totalCompany stake 38 + real estate 14 + private funds 1163%
- Single-company riskOverlay, not part of the totalCompany stake 3838%
Illustrative. A composite household, not a client. Percentages of an invented total. It shows a method, not an investment result.
Seen by label, this household looks diversified. Seen by driver, most of it moves with one market and a large share cannot be sold quickly. That is the conversation.
Assumptions: percentages are invented for illustration and sum to 100. The regrouping shows the method we use, not a measured result. Real factor analysis depends on the holdings, the model and its assumptions, and changes over time.
A portfolio can have owners and still have no process.
Wealth arrives in pieces. A company sale, a bank account, a brokerage account, three private funds, a building. Each can have its own manager, with none answering for the whole.
Ask who decided the current allocation, and why, and when it will be reviewed. If nobody can show you, we think it should be written down.
What a process gives you.
One balance sheet, measured as risk.
Everything you own, on one page, described by what drives it. Equity exposure. Interest rates. Credit. Liquidity. How much rides on one company.
- Consolidated reporting
- Factor and liquidity analysis
- Concentration limits
- Stress tests against named historical periods
Decisions you can read.
Every change goes through our investment committee. The question, the research, any dissent and the decision are minuted. So is the date we will look again.
- Standing committee
- Written research memos
- Investment policy statement
- A decision log you can open
Access, with the conditions in writing.
Private markets, where they suit you. The lock-up, the eligibility test and every layer of fees, stated before you commit.
- Manager due diligence
- Commitment pacing
- Liquidity planning
- A fee table per fund
Nothing changes without a minute.
Our investment committee meets every month and whenever a client’s circumstances change. A proposal reaches it with a written memo. Members can dissent, and the dissent is recorded with the decision. Each decision carries a date when it will be reviewed, and the review is minuted too.
You can read every minute that concerns your portfolio.
We write it down before we act.
Every recommendation starts as a memo. It states what we expect to be true, what would prove us wrong, and what it costs to be wrong. Memos are kept with the decision they led to, so you can read the reasoning later, including when it did not work.
What we will not do: call the direction of markets, sell a house view, or change a long-term allocation because of a headline.
A private credit fund may add a source of income the household’s bonds do not, if the money can stay committed for the full term.
A cash need inside the lock-up, or fee layers we cannot justify to the client in writing.
Money tied up for ten years or more, capital calls paid from cash, losses if borrowers default, and a holding that may sell only at a discount.
Before each capital call, and at the annual review.
Private markets, where they fit. With the conditions first.
Private equity, private credit and real estate funds can have a place in a large portfolio. They are not for everyone, and they are not for every dollar. Before any commitment, we put four things in writing.
- Lock-up.
Your money may be committed for ten years or more. You may not be able to sell, and you may have to fund capital calls when the fund asks, not when it suits you.
- Eligibility.
Most funds are open only to investors who meet legal wealth or income tests, such as accredited investor or qualified purchaser status.
- Fees.
Funds usually charge their own management fees and a share of profits, on top of ours. We show every layer, per fund, before you sign.
- Valuation.
Private holdings are valued infrequently and by estimate. Reported values can lag, and may differ from what the holding would sell for.
We size commitments against your liquidity plan to help reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of forced sales.
Fees in numbers. Conflicts in writing.
| Assets we advise on | Annual fee |
|---|---|
| First $10 million | 0.80% |
| Next $15 million | 0.60% |
| Above $25 million | 0.40% |
Illustrative sample. A real firm’s fees are set out in its Form ADV Part 2A.
We are independent: not part of a bank, a broker-dealer or an insurance company. Sample wording. Advisory fees are paid by our clients, under the fee schedule in our Form ADV Part 2A, which also describes any other compensation and our conflicts of interest. Your assets are held in your name at an independent custodian, not by us.
Sample wording. Sample disclosure for a fictional firm. A real firm states here: “We are an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.”
- Private funds are included at their most recent reported value. Their own fees are charged separately, and shown to you per fund.
- Fees are billed quarterly, in arrears. Custodian, trading and fund expenses are separate.
- Fees may be negotiable and may differ by client.
Bring your statements. Leave with one balance sheet.
A ninety-minute review, at our office or yours. We gather what you hold into one page, show you what drives it, and tell you plainly whether a committee process would change anything. If it would not, we will say so.
No cost for the review. No obligation.
On a live site, this button opens the firm’s request form. Vosburgh & Sedley is fictional and takes no requests.
Lower Manhattan, New York.