How It Works · The Engagement Timeline

From First Conversation
to Full Implementation

Engagement with Varium is a defined operational process — not a service contract dropped on your desk. Two phases. Clear roles for both sides. A predictable arc from discovery to a fully running, value-added portfolio.

01
Phase One
Discovery
1–3 months
02
Phase Two
Implementation
3–18 months
03
Phase Three
Ongoing Partnership
Continuous
Phase 01 · 1–3 Months

Discovery — What You Have, What You Want to Build

Discovery aligns Varium's process with your firm: the clients you serve, the portfolios you manage, and the integration depth you want. Nothing moves until both sides agree on the shape of the engagement.

Your Role

The Advisor

  • Set the integration depth — how much of investments, monitoring, trading, rebalancing, and reporting Varium is responsible for
  • Specify which portfolio segments Varium manages — cash, equities, fixed income, alternatives, or all of them
  • Categorize each client account into an asset-allocation tier (Conservative → Aggressive Growth) via an Investment Policy Statement
  • Execute custodian authorizations — sub-advisory agreement, margin, options (Level 2 or 3; higher levels unlock more strategy flexibility)
  • Grant access to your portfolio accounting system for position-level tax analysis
  • Choose reporting — keep your current portfolio accounting, migrate to Addepar, or run both
  • Define marketing expectations — newsletters, commentary, in-person support, client events, marketing collateral
  • Optional: send a client-introduction letter — templates provided
Our Role

Varium

  • Match each client's risk profile and time horizon to an asset allocation; design custom allocations and IPSs where warranted
  • Review current managers and holdings; identify what changes to align with the new IPS
  • Conduct manager due diligence across every style box — present three vetted managers per box and help the advisor select the primary provider
  • Define the value-added strategies to deploy per client — tax management, covered calls, portfolio protection, and others as relevant
  • Analyze the tax cost of transitioning each portfolio
  • Deliver the action plan and timeline — least disruption, lowest tax impact
Phase 02 · 3–18 Months

Implementation — Tax-Efficient Transition, Then Value-Add Activation

With the plan set in Discovery, Implementation is the execution arc. Pacing is deliberate: protect tax efficiency above all, and activate value-added strategies as positions and authorizations clear.

Your Role

The Advisor

  • Communicate with clients about the strategy and what the transition means for their portfolios
  • Provide context on individual transitions when clients ask — Varium supplies the supporting materials; the client relationship stays with you
Our Role

Varium

  • Execute the action plan account by account, with deliberate sequencing
  • Maintain tax efficiency throughout — manage holding periods, harvest losses, time capital-gains thresholds
  • Coordinate transitions across managers — no cross-style-box overlap, no unnecessary turnover
  • Activate value-added strategies as portfolios stabilize:
    • Direct tax management
    • Covered call overlay
    • Puts for stock entry
    • Portfolio protection (when warranted)
  • Provide periodic implementation updates to the advisor — what's been moved, what's pending, what's next
Phase 03 · Continuous

Then the Partnership Begins in Earnest

Once portfolios run on the full Varium model, the engagement settles into a long-term rhythm: daily monitoring, ongoing tactical execution, quarterly reviews, and continuous optimization of the value-added strategies.

Discovery and Implementation were the build. From here, the firm-value compounding does its work.

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See the Economic Case

Two value streams. One result. The math behind the partnership.

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The Confidence Test

Test the Process Before You Engage It.

Submit a Portfolio for a Complimentary Review: send us your current investment offering, and our team will respond with a detailed written review against institutional standards — strategy, implementation, tax, execution, and risk — with concrete, actionable suggestions. At no cost and no obligation.

Schedule a Call Submit for Complimentary Review