Camarda Financial Advisors, LLC

The organization that has become Camarda Financial Advisors, Inc. was founded in 1989 in Orange Park, Florida by Jeffrey Camarda, inventor of the trademarked ISIS® process.  Camarda Financial Advisors is an independent, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor.  Our corporate headquarters are on Fleming Island, Florida, in the southwest quadrant of the Jacksonville metroplex.  At Camarda Financial Advisors, the interests of our clients always come first. This isn't just lip service; it is a deeply driven corporate value. Our motto - Invest In Integrity™ - really says it all. Whether your goals are to build substantial net worth for you and your family, or just to get comfortably through retirement without running out of money, our advisors are ready to objectively help you get there - without commissions, products, or sales pressure. To learn more, as well as get a FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan, click here.

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That's a great question, and one we would love to answer for you.  We have developed an exclusive process we call our RealScore™ Performance Analysis™ that will give you an uncanny snapshot of how your current holdings have performed over various periods, that you can use to compare to the results Camarda's clients obtained with ISIS®  This analysis and report is available FREE as part of our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer - click to find out how to reserve yours!

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Getting to know what Camarda can do for you is very simple and easy. In essence, one of our Chartered ISIS® Practitioners™ will give you an executive overview of our overall platform, pointing our what our clients get, and why we think we are different and better.  If you like what you see, we'll ask you some questions to learn about your situation and goals, and give some feedback on improvements we think you could make, and how. This process - which we call our FREE Portfolio Plan™ - can produce - painlessly on your part - a number of FREE analytic reports and information, which we think you will find very valuable. They include your:

1. Confidential Financial Profile™, elegantly summarizing your current financial positions;
2. 6-Point Portfolio Stress Test™ highlighting key financial dangers that could be derailing your current investment planning;
3. Morningstar Performance Analysis, giving the objective performance of your current investments so you can compare to how others are doing;
4. A detailed, customized explanation of how to put Camarda's 7 Secrets of Habitually Successful Investors™ - the foundation of ISIS® - to work for you;
5. Portfolio Mission Statement™ - an exclusive investment policy statement - of your own detailing exactly what you should do, and why, to target your unique financial goals;
6.  Again, this information is yours to keep and use as you wish, FREE of cost, obligation, or pressure. Whether you go it alone, use them to guide your current advisor, or choose to consider Camarda to help you, we think they will give you enormous insight and control over your future. If, after due consideration, you choose to use Camarda, you'll find we make the account setup and transfer process a quick and easy one.

Click here to find out more about getting your own FREE Portfolio Plan™.

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Yes. All of Camarda's free offers and professional services are available for those not living in our physical areas of operation, via Internet, phone, fax, and physical mail. We have clients in many states:  some have moved, some have been referred by existing clients, and some have found us in other ways. Distance in the modern age is no barrier, and as a federally- (Securities Exchange Commission) regulated investment advisor, access to service for clients across the country is greatly simplified. Don't let the miles stand in your way! To learn more and start taking control with your FREE Portfolio Plan™, click here!

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Jeff is the founder and chief executive of Camarda Financial, and the investor of Camarda's exclusive ISIS® process. Raised near New York City, he began his investments career as a rookie stockbroker in 1984.  Since then, he has acquired the Certified Financial Planner®, Chartered Financial Consultant®, Chartered Life Underwriter®, Chartered Financial Analyst®, Certified Funds Specialist®,  and Board Certified in Mutual Funds®, professional credentials.

Jeff is an author and commentator on various investment related matters and has been interviewed and quoted in various national media such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Business Week.

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Kim Camarda, CFP®, CFS®, BCM®, ChFC® is Jeff's wife and business partner.  Kim serves as the firm's President and Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining Camarda Financial, Kim served as Vice President for a major national brokerage firm.

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If you choose to use us, we make it quick and easy.  We will open accounts in your name at a third-party institutional custodian, where your investments will be transferred and safeguarded. We will arrange for your positions to be quickly and easily transferred from your current institution directly to your new one; in most cases, you need do nothing more than endorse the forms.  You should not even need to make a phone call; we prepare the direct transfer forms and follow up on progress for you, each step of the way. 

Click here to get started with our FREE Portfolio Plan™.

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Camarda is very sensitive to your concerns about taxation, and can arrange for tax free transfers of deferred accounts like IRA's, ROTH's, SEP's, pensions, profit sharing plans, 401(k)'s and 403(b)'s, annuities, previous employer retirement plans, and other "tax-free-transfer" accounts.  For taxable "non-qualified" accounts like joint, trust, individual and some children's college accounts, we can, working with your tax advisor, help you to determine your tax exposure - how much, if any, of your value would be subject to taxes - before any "taxable events" like selling your positions occur.  This way, you can get all the facts and make better-balanced decisions about what courses of action best serve your overall investment goals.

We can help you to get a "handle" on your tax exposure as part of our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ process.  Click here to find out more!

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An important - and indelicate (so we'll ask it for you) - question is "how secure are my accounts?  Who would have access to them?" We want you to know that Camarda takes the security of client funds very seriously, and has adopted a number of "check and balance" systems to protect you.

For instance, all client accounts are held - "custodianed" - at major, independent, third-party financial institutions, such as Fidelity Investments, not at Camarda. Transfers go directly to the custodial institution, and, when you want money, checks are sent directly to you from the institution (after they verify your identity, if needed, such as when you request a check be sent to an address other than the address of record). All accounts are titled directly in your name.  All checks are to be made out directly from you to the custodian institution, and from it to you - never to Camarda or its personnel.

Likewise, we take the security of your personal, confidential information very seriously, and have a host of procedures to protect it, both in paper and electronic form.

As independent, objective, fiduciary advisors who accept no payment or economic benefit from any source other than client fees for professional service, we take our commitment to serving and protecting your interests most seriously, indeed.

To learn more about the Camarda Difference™, and to get a FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ with no cost, obligation, or pressure, click here.

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Camarda Financial is owned by a family trust, controlled by Jeff Camarda, and Kimberly Camarda, his wife and business partner, who serves as the firm's president. Profits and some ownership are shared with our valued employees.

We are not now and never intend to be for sale.  There are many reasons for this, the most important of which are expressed in our "corporate constitution," which you can read elsewhere in these FAQ's. In a nutshell, our first priority commitment is to maintain the highest standards of quality, excellence, value and service to our clients, now and in the future. We will not trust this to others.  Our second priority commitment is to our valued employees who provide quality, excellence, value and service to our clients.  We will not sell them out.

Our instructions to our trustees are that Camarda is to remain a private, family-owned company down through the generations.

To learn more about our values and commitments by taking us up on our FREE, no-obligation no-pressure ISIS® Portfolio Plan™, click here.

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No, and no. Camarda is independent, objective, and fee-only, meaning that Camarda accepts no payment or other economic benefit other than the fully disclosed professional fees its clients pay it for investment advice and management. This allows us to control conflicts of interest, and render advice solely designed to serve clients' interests and objectives.  When Camarda makes a recommendation, our only motivation is doing what is best for the client.  Not taking money from anyone else helps keep this clear and in mind. This makes our objectives and incentives very closely aligned with yours, a commonality of interest that our clients really seem to appreciate. Click here to learn more about Camarda's objectivity by taking advantage of our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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It is a system of events and touch-points designed to help us stay close to clients on a variety of levels, to improve communications with them, and to constantly remind them of how very important they are to us, and how important it is for us to continuously "amaze and delight" them. To remind us that we are dealing with real people and real dreams, not just portfolio math and performance. It involves our monthly newsletter, seminars and educational events, a web presence, regular calls and meetings, social gatherings, and our annual holiday party and summer "bring the extended family" picnic. We aim to cultivate a real sense of identity and community among our valued clients and employees, all of whom share the common mission of maximizing client wealth and financial security. Not only have a great many deep and lasting friendships sprung up this way, but it helps promote informal channels of communication that really help us "get" what clients want from us; sometimes, things are clearer over a plate of barbeque than in the conference room.  Both clients and employees have found this approach effective - and fun. To learn more about the total Camarda client experience through our FREE, no-obligation ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer, click here.

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The rules don't let us gush about our results, so we say "our track record speaks for itself." You can view our long-term performance by clicking here.  We are proud of the results we have delivered to our clients since 1998, and encourage you to learn more about them.  Click here for more information, and to learn about our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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Camarda's professional fees are figured as a percentage of assets actually under our management; money market accounts, stocks, bonds, or other investments you choose to keep for whatever reason, are listed as unmanaged assets and are not considered for fee purposes. In other words, we only charge for those assets we actually manage.

Unlike many other advisors, Camarda has no minimum-required contract period.  Essentially, fees are paid based on the number of days we provide management. There is no fee or other Camarda cost to begin. We've set it up this way so that we never forget that we must earn your business each day; we believe we only deserve to keep it if we do.

Our fees are on declining schedule; the larger the total relationship, the smaller the overall fee percentage.   You can learn more about our fee schedule in our free Important Disclosure Information report, which you'll get - along with many others as part of our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™. Click here to learn more.

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"This Camarda Financial Constitution is a long-term, guiding document intended to express the highest, most enduring values that Camarda and its people represent. It reflects our reason for being, not only for now, but also for the generations to come.

Our reason for being, quite simply, is to aspire to be the best at delivering objective, professional/academic-grade, risk-controlled investment advice, specifically and exclusively designed to serve the needs, goals and financial security of our clients. We exist, in a nutshell, to help make the dreams of our clients and their families come true. 

 In this, our clients and their interests come indisputably first. We exist solely to serve them in an expert, conscientious, ethical manner, which strives to deliver the results they want and need.

To serve our clients first, the needs of our competent, loyal, ethical employees come second:  Camarda is a place where those that serve our clients can blossom in an environment that cherishes respect for the dignity of the individual, and offers each employee the opportunity to contribute to the progress of the organization, by encouraging their opinions and contributions to decision-making, and by nurturing them to grow professionally as far as they can and wish. It is a place where our employees have an amazing opportunity to build their families' financial security and personal wealth because of the value they render to our clients. 

Camarda's next obligation is to improve humanity's lot by doing social good. We strive to do this by reaching out to a great many people so they may have the opportunity to invest the "Camarda way." And we do this by supporting, with our time and our money, a variety of the charitable causes important both to Camarda's employees, and to Camarda's clients.

Finally, our last obligation is to the profitability and continued viability of Camarda Financial. It is important that Camarda have the resources to continue, so that it may serve the higher obligations of this constitution.  It is also important - but not most important - that a fair profit on the capital and efforts of the shareholders of Camarda be earned. It is, however, our opinion that these profits are a function - a natural consequence - of fulfilling our higher obligations, and that they will flow naturally so long and we stay focused on them."

 Taking us up on our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer is a great way to meet us and learn more about our "corporate character."  Click here to learn more.

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ISIS®, which stands for INTEGRATED STRATEGIC INVESTMENT SYSTEM, is a portfolio management process designed by Camarda and available exclusively to Camarda clients. Camarda has earned a trademark from the US Patent Office for ISIS®, as well as recognition by the Florida Times-Union in 2004 as one of the "Top Innovations" to come out of all companies - large and small - in the Jacksonville economy.

ISIS® is based on the strategies that very large institutions have used dependably for decades,  innovated to be effective at the private-client level. The ISIS® process, based on Nobel Prize-winning mathematics, is a comprehensive portfolio and service approach with a long, track record, and with client results that speak for themselves. Click here to learn more about our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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In a word, YES.  These excerpts from our "constitution" reflects our commitment well:  "This Camarda Financial Constitution is a long-term, guiding document intended to express the highest, most enduring values that Camarda and its people represent. It reflects our reason for being, not only for now, but also for the generations to come."

"Our reason for being, quite simply, is to be the best at delivering objective, professional/academic-grade, risk-controlled investment advice, specifically and exclusively designed to serve the needs, goals and financial security of our clients. We exist, in a nutshell, to help make the dreams of our clients and their families come true.

In this, our clients and their interests come indisputably first. We exist solely to serve them in an expert, conscientious, unfailingly ethical manner, which gets them the results they want and need. It is not enough to do what is expected or required; we are called to do what is right, and what needs to be done."

We take this sacred commitment - for now, and for the future - very seriously.  Unlike the sea of financial companies that seem to morph and change names in the night, Camarda is committed to remain independent and continue to be a resource you, and your grandchildren, can count on.

Taking us up on our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer is a great way to meet us and learn more about our long term commitment.  Click here to learn more.

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We feel there are several key differences.  One is our fee-only objectivity and independence:  since we accept no commissions or payments from anyone other than our clients, our only allegiance is to serve their interests.   Another is our commitment to training and education. We have a high concentration of credentialed expertise amongst our professional staff (besides Jeff Camarda, who's a CFP®, ChFC, CLU, CFA,  CFS, BCM), as well as a rigorous training program and for our practitioners.   A third is our reliance on documented, systems, instead of human memory, to produce repeatable results.  Finally, we have a deep dedication to staying in touch with our clients and letting them know how cherished and cared-about they are.  Click here to learn more through our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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A common thread we found among clients at other firms (besides "my advisor never calls...unless they want to sell me something!") was that they had a hard time getting any real understanding of how they were doing from their statements.  "There's a lot of ink and paper, but not much information" is a common feeling. So Camarda made it part of our mission to provide clear, easy to understand statements that, with a glance, show exactly how much you're up, or down, and what the quarterly and annual compound percentage returns (after all fees and expenses, of course) have been for you, so you can compare Camarda's apples to whatever other apples you want to. You know in an instant where you stand, without any smoke, mirrors, or forests of dead trees.   This makes it very easy for you to organize and see - at a glance - your Total Investment Picture™ - with every asset neatly cataloged and integrated into a simple easy-to-understand "big picture." Click here to get copies of Camarda statements as part of our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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Successful investors recognize the importance of education and experience when it comes to managing financial assets. But while some may spend countless hours learning about markets, securities, and associated risks, investors often overlook the qualifications of the professionals whom they hire to manage their money. Not only will your investment advisors, they will have access to the most personal details of your finances, but their advice can affect your future happiness and financial security in very significant ways. While there are several reputable professional credentials that advisors may hold, the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation is rigorously focused on investment knowledge. Conferred by the CFA Institute - formerly known as AIMR, the Association for Investment Management and research - the credential is sought-after by employers and clients who want the experience that comes with the CFA® Charter. To learn more about Camarda's CFA® Chief Investment Officer - and Camarda's Portfolio Management Board process - click here to reserve your FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™.

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Camarda earns its living exclusively on the professional fees our clients pay us for ongoing investment management.  Period. No commissions, “soft dollars,” kickbacks, product mark-ups, or anything else that could lead to bias or a lack of objectivity in selecting investments for our clients. At Camarda, our first and only loyalty is to you, and our compensation structure keeps this crystal clear.  We work for you and you alone. And because, unlike many other advisors, we have no required contract period, or up-front costs to hire us, we have a powerful incentive to please you, since we effectively must earn your business each and every quarter.  This makes our objectives and incentives very closely aligned with yours, a commonality of interest that people really seem to appreciate. Click here to learn more by taking advantage of our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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At Camarda, we don't tell you how much we care.  We show you.  That’s not just lip service, but a deeply-driven company obligation that you can feel. We provide in-depth quarterly statements that tell you exactly how your portfolio is performing.  We provide an informative newsletter with timely topics.  We offer seminars and our “Client Community™” events.  And we touch base regularly to give you portfolio updates, and invite you to call whenever you need help or have a question.  Our advisors speak to their clients personally to review performance every quarter, and conduct personalized meetings with each of them at least annually.  We believe trust is earned, not advertised.  Or objective is not just to satisfy, but to delight you as well.  To learn more about all the client services that make up the Camarda Difference™, Click here find out more about our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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No, in fact the vast majority is not.  So-called “Merrill Lynch Rule” advisors are in the business selling products, often on commission, and the advice they offer is “incidental” to their main job of selling product. The standard of duty and accountability for advice being in the client’s best interest is much lower than the “fiduciary” standard which fee-only advisors willingly accept.  “Fee-based” advisors actually accept both fees and commissions, making their duties, and discerning whose interests they serve, sometimes hard to keep up with.  Fee-only advisors get paid from only one place – the client – and own them their highest loyalty and competence.  Click here to learn about advisors’ pay structures and client duties through our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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In a nutshell, we shoot to maximize returns and minimize risk.  For many, this represents the Holy Grail of investing, but reliable techniques to accomplish this have actually been known - and used - at the academic and professional levels since the middle of the 20th century. Camarda's exclusive, trademarked ISIS® - invented by Jeff Camarda - is actually based on Nobel Prize-winning portfolio management practices that have been used dependably by large institutional investors.  The "miracle" of ISIS® is Camarda's systems that allow these esoteric, "Portfolio Management Board" techniques to be utilized, on a customized basis, even for non-institutional-sized account values. To our knowledge, this has not been done before, and ISIS® is available nowhere else. Click here to learn more about how ISIS® works by taking advantage of our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.

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Our beliefs in this regard are well-stated by this quote from George Merke II, whose management drove the Merke company to greatness.  Despite its recent trouble, Merck has throughout its long history been one of the most visionary and altruistic of pharmaceutical firms.  George said, in 1950:

"I want to...express the principles which we in our company have endeavored to live up to...Here is how it sums up...We try to remember that medicine is for the patient. We try never to forget that medicine is for the people.  It is not for profits.  The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear.  The better we remembered it, the larger they have been."

Henry Ford said the same thing in a different way. At a time when Ford was awash in demand it could not fill, and could have raised prices and profits to nearly anything it liked, Henry chose to cut prices, and was accused by no less than the Wall Street Journal of "economic blunders if not crimes" and injecting "spiritual principals into a field where they do not belong." In 1916 Henry said "I hold that it is better to sell a large number of cars at a reasonably small profit...I hold this because it allows a larger number of people to buy and enjoy the use of a car and because it gives a larger number...employment at good wages.  These are the two aims I have in life." Despite what you may feel about Ford nearly a century hence, old Henry was right on the money.

These themes, and many, many others from leaders of visionary companies that have driven great social good, pretty well sum up how we feel at Camarda.  Profits are important, but not most important; they spring naturally from first doing what is right.  Put the people first, those that choose to become clients, and those who, as is their right, do not. Do what is right and best for people, not what may seem best (at least in the short term) for us.  Do that, and we believe we cannot help but do well, because of the good we do, first, for them. It has always amazed us, in modern corporate America, how many firms seem to ignore that simple truth, that companies must first and continuously serve well, and that lasting prosperity is a function of the good delivered, without expectation of getting something in return. For us, it has worked out well, and allowed us to feel passionately good about what we do each day. We have been fortunate to enjoy robust growth and profits, but I have always felt that is a merely a byproduct of our core values.

You can learn more about Camarda's culture and value system, as part of our FREE ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer.  Click here to learn more.

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We begin with our FREE, no-obligation ISIS® Portfolio Plan™ offer, which includes customized reports and information, offered without cost, obligation, or pressure, and which are yours to keep and use as you see fit.

If you choose to use us, we will begin our easy, painless account set-up and transfer process - which we take care of, every step of the way.  In most cases, you need not even make a single phone call. Your assets will then be organized and deployed into your customized ISIS® Portfolio Prescription™. 

But that's just the beginning.  Each quarter, you'll get our "Total Investment Picture™" statements, a clear, easy to understand way that, with a glance, show exactly how much you're up, or down, and what the quarterly and annual compound percentage returns (after all fees and expenses, of course) have been for you, so you can compare Camarda's apples to whatever other apples you want to. You know in an instant where you stand, without any smoke, mirrors, or forests of dead trees.   This makes it very easy for you to organize and see - at a glance - what your entire managed portfolio is doing. 

Every 90 days - just after you've received your Total Investment Picture™ statements, your dedicated Chartered ISIS® Practitioner™ will call, not to try and sell you something, but to go through your statements, page by page if you wish, and answer all your questions.

Along the way, you'll get all of our newsletters and special reports, and drink as deeply of our Client Community™ services as you wish, so you are both fully informed, and reminded of how important you are to us, and how much we care about you.

Then each year we will begin the process anew, with our Annual Review Profile™, to take a complete, new snapshot of your changed financial situation and goals, to make sure that your Portfolio Plan™ is keeping pace with the changes that will surely happen in your life.

All of these services - and more - are offered without additional fee or cost.  They are all part of our complete investment management package.

To get started, and see if the Camarda Difference™ can help you better get where you want to go, act now to take us up on our FREE Portfolio Plan™ offer. All of the professional services and customized reports in the Portfolio Plan™ are offered without cost, obligation, pressure, or expectation that you will use us. Use them in any way you see fit - to go it alone, to better manage your existing advisor, or to consider Camarda. Get the information you need to take control, and then YOU decide, in the comfort of your own home. To get started with your FREE Portfolio Plan™, click here.

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