Frequently Asked Questions

Eagle Invest may be a good fit for individuals who may not have the time or experience to manage their own investments and want someone else to do it on their behalf. Eagle Invest clients are also comfortable with a predominantly online experience, reaching out to our team through phone and email as questions come up. Investors who desire greater portfolio customization, financial planning or accessibility to a dedicated team may prefer working with a traditional Portfolio Manager.

The term “digital” refers to the fact that we use a computerized algorithm to help monitor your assets on a daily basis. With oversight from our trading team, the algorithm runs the core portfolio management operations, looking for opportunities to tax-loss harvest, rebalance and ensure your investments are properly aligned to your financial goals.

Eagle Invest looks at all your investments together and analyzes your current portfolio to help make sure you are doing everything possible to help maximize your investable savings. Along with monitoring your accounts every trading day, we provide guidance in helping make the most appropriate investment decisions for your financial goals.

Eagle Invest offers a complimentary portfolio analysis with tailored advice on how to make the most of your investments. You can use this information to educate yourself and adjust your portfolio on your own. Or, for a competitive/minimal fee, we can manage your portfolio for you and take care of making the changes to help optimize your financial plan.

First Republic is committed to protecting our clients' entrusted information. As a digital investment advisor, Eagle Invest makes protecting your information and accounts a top priority, particularly when linking your outside accounts. We ensure that your login information is never on file on our systems and money cannot be moved without your authority.

We know you may have other financial goals outside of retirement, such as saving for a house or other shorter-term goals. We are excited to announce that we are now able to accommodate all your short-term goals you may have.

Our team is here to help. To talk to one of our advisors, feel free to email us at eagleinvest@firstrepublic.com. You can also send us a message directly from your Eagle Invest dashboard by clicking the "Send an email" button under your advisor's picture. We look forward to hearing from you.

Eagle Invest’s investment portfolios are determined by First Republic’s Research Team, which use historical data and established portfolio management theory to create long-term, diversified plans customized to your financial goals.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are similar to index mutual funds yet trade like stocks. We have chosen ETFs as our trusted investment choice for their intra-day trading liquidity, almost exclusively commission-free trading fees, and transparent quality.

When looking at your performance, it is important to know that Eagle Invest does not try to beat the market. Instead, we seek to maximize your return over time through diligent, daily monitoring across all asset classes. 

Usually not, although we do allow clients to "lock" individual stock holdings that they want to keep, provided these locked stocks are a relatively small portion of the overall portfolio. As your investment advisor, we take responsibility for the overall suitability of your portfolio, and as such we're unable to make adjustments to suit each investor's take on the market. Setting up a well diversified portfolio for each client is something we believe should be done well, and with great care.

Your investment mix automatically adjusts towards an increasingly conservative allocation as you approach your retirement date. We refer to this technique as the “glide path” approach, where your portfolio moves with you according to your specific risk tolerance and time horizon. There is no need to readjust your risk tolerance, unless you choose to do so.

Rebalancing is a disciplined way of selling high and buying low. As markets shift, the asset allocation to different asset classes drift away from their targets, presenting an opportunity to take gains on the best performing asset class investments and reinvest into undervalued asset class investments. Our algorithm checks daily for opportunities to rebalance and considers many factors such as fees, tax consequences, and overall portfolio makeup when deciding to trade. In a typical year, you will likely see 3-5 rebalances in your portfolio; that number may increase if markets are volatile or decrease if you make regular contributions to the portfolio.

Eagle Invest does not manage around outside accounts and our portfolio recommendations are based solely on the assets we manage. We are able to report on these accounts through the dashboard but they will be in view-only mode and will not impact any trading decisions made in managed accounts.

Eagle Invest can manage individual or joint brokerage accounts, living trusts, Traditional IRAs, Rollover IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs and Simple IRAs. We can also manage 401(k) assets from a prior employer that are eligible to be rolled over to a Rollover IRA.

We currently cannot manage current-employer 401(k)s, 529 or custodial accounts, irrevocable trusts or business accounts.

You can sign in to your Eagle Invest dashboard any time to see current performance, recent history, and account-by-account holdings. We also provide guidance in the form of regular research reports and market updates to help you become a better-informed, savvier investor. You also will receive regular statements from Fidelity, your account custodian. If you have additional questions, our team of advisors and client service specialists is just a phone call away.

You can request a transfer directly from your Eagle Invest dashboard. Just click the appropriate button under the "Actions" section on the right hand of your dashboard. Our client service team will help facilitate transfers in a timely manner.

We charge a flat annual management fee of 0.40% of assets directly managed. Our 0.40% management fee is billed as quarterly installments of 0.10% of assets directly managed. The billing cycle begins in the month following your initial rebalance, and we deduct the fee from non-tax sheltered accounts whenever possible.

Yes, we require a $5,000 investment at which level Eagle Invest's daily monitoring and asset allocation begin to really add value. The $5,000 requirement is at a portfolio level and can be made up of multiple, smaller accounts.

We believe in transparency when it comes to disclosing fees. There are three ways you pay a fee as part of your ongoing Eagle Invest management: 

1) Your 0.40% management fee.
2) The relatively low embedded expense ratio charged by the ETFs (on average 0.10%-0.18%)
3) Transaction fee charged by Fidelity (note that these usually apply only during the initial rebalance as iShares have a $0 transaction fee)

Eagle Invest is designed to consider the potential tax impact of selling a security held in your portfolio. Though we are cautious of adding to your tax bill, we may take gains both in the initial and subsequent rebalances where it makes benefits the overall portfolio. We will also look for opportunities to tax loss harvest, setting off potential gains whenever possible.

Tax-loss harvesting is an investment technique that helps save you money by deferring taxes on taxable accounts. We monitor your holdings daily, looking for positions with at least $500 and 1.5% in harvestable losses that, at tax time, can be used to offset taxable gains elsewhere in your portfolio and/or ordinary income. We automatically reinvest the holdings we sell, ensuring that you are never out of the market.

Eagle Invest strives to utilize best practices such as Tax-Efficient Placement and Tax-Loss Harvesting, as well as always considering capital gains and the tax impact of trades as part of our management. References to tax strategies that Eagle Invest considers in managing accounts should not be confused with tax advice, as Eagle Invest is not a tax advisor. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing.

During the enrollment process we will help you establish a Fidelity online profile if you do not have one already. You will be able to use this profile to access account statements and tax documents.