West Oak Wealth

West Oak Wealth offers investment management, financial planning (both ongoing and project‑based), and retirement plan consulting and management to individual clients—including high‑net‑worth individuals—and to employer-sponsored plans. The firm operates on a fee‑only basis and generally assesses asset‑based advisory fees, with a stated account minimum that may be waived on a case‑by‑case basis.

The firm’s investment process is grounded in modern portfolio theory and asset allocation, typically using mutual funds and ETFs and, where appropriate, passive strategies or outside managers accessed through a managed‑account platform. Accounts are managed on a discretionary basis when authorized, reviewed quarterly, and custody and reporting are provided by third‑party custodians; the firm does not produce separate written performance reports outside of custodial statements.

Notable differences from many peers include its size and recent establishment as a two‑advisor practice that nonetheless provides ERISA fiduciary services, including acting as a 3(38) investment manager for retirement plans. The firm’s principal maintains an outside oil‑and‑gas business and holds a recent specialized master’s in wealth management, and the firm discloses a trading practice of executing client trades on an individual rather than aggregated (block) basis, which can affect execution dynamics compared with larger firms.