Our Strategic Affiliation: The Zero Alpha Group:
...Advocates of low-cost, passive investment strategies
Plancorp is a founding member of an organization called the Zero Alpha Group, LLC (ZAG). Jeff Buckner, Chairman and Founder of Plancorp, served as the first President and Chairman of the organization. Zero Alpha member firms are registered investment advisors from around the world that share a common investment philosophy. Members meet periodically to share investment information, strategic and marketing plans and research related to passive investment management.
In addition to this sharing of best practices, ZAG members use the leverage the organization has achieved with its combined base of assets under management (approximately $8 billion as of 06/30/08) to work with mutual fund companies and broker-dealers to negotiate access to lower-cost investment products and additional services.
In year-end 2001, the organization successfully negotiated with Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), an institutional-only mutual fund company whose funds are recommended by ZAG members, an arrangement whereby clients of ZAG members would have access to less expensive versions of a number of DFA's mutual funds, available only to their institutional clients and selected advisors. The end result: Beginning in 2002, lower annual mutual fund expenses for Zero Alpha clients.
For more information about ZAG, please visit www.zeroalphagroup.com.