We manage investment portfolios on a fee-only, discretionary basis (via individual managed accounts or separate portfolios) to various types of clients, pursuant to investment advisory contracts. After digesting the information supplied by a client on their financial position, investment objectives, time horizon, and risk tolerance, we make appropriate investments in a client’s account to best meet their long-term goals. The investment vehicles used comprise an appropriate mix of individual securities and mutual funds (primarily no-load).

We focus on managing individual portfolios that are oriented towards long-term Capital Appreciation. We endeavor to achieve this objective by investing principally in a combination of publicly-traded equities, equity mutual funds (primarily no-load), and at times in other types of securities (irrespective of asset class considerations) that look attractive from a capital appreciation standpoint. While identifying individual securities, the principal method is a disciplined investment process used to identify securities that, in our opinion, are trading at market prices that are at an appropriate discount to our calculated intrinsic worth of these securities (Basically, we are looking for attractive businesses and securities we believe are “on sale”). While identifying suitable no-load mutual fund investments, we strive to identify and use funds/ managers that share our investment philosophy and will give due consideration to past performance, transaction fees, expense ratios, and management style among other factors.

Long-term preservation of capital and producing an adequate return are extremely important to us. In other words, we are very concerned about the downside risk inherent in any of the purchases, and subsequently endeavor to stay out of situations that tend to magnify this risk—such as chasing the hottest stock in the hottest sectors, buying speculative names, and so on. In buying equities while investing on behalf of our clients, we act like prospective owners of the businesses we are buying into and will be mindful of factors that a true long-term owner would be concerned about.

Please see the section on Investment Philosophy and Form ADV Part II for detailed discussions.

Investment Advisory Agreement and Discretionary Portfolio Management
Our clients appoint us as their investment advisor to manage an investment portfolio for them effective when an Investment Advisory Agreement is signed. We manage client portfolios (accounts) on a discretionary basis, i.e. based on the client giving us the authority, we make all decisions to buy, sell or hold securities, cash or other investments for a client’s account at our discretion in line with the objectives discussed with the client. The client gives us full power and authority to carry out these decisions on their behalf by giving instructions to brokers and dealers, and the Custodian for their account. Our discretionary authority is limited to investment decisions and we are prohibited from withdrawing funds and/or securities from client accounts.

Custodian
We do not maintain custody of any of our clients’ assets. A client’s assets will be held by an independent Custodian selected by the client and recommended* by us, if so desired. The account (s) will, at all times, be held solely in the client’s name and will require their authorization for any withdrawal (s). The client pays all the fees and costs of the Custodian--expenses related to the account such as brokerage and other execution costs, custody fees and margin costs, if any. The client instructs the Custodian to send quarterly/ monthly statements showing the assets in and all transactions for the account during the period corresponding to the statement, and to provide us with copies of those statements and confirmations of any transactions effected in a client’s account.

*We recommend using the institutional brokerage division of TD Ameritrade, Inc., TD Ameritrade Institutional (TDA), as the Custodian for our clients’ assets.

Client Reports
We provide our clients with periodic reviews that discuss the performance of their accounts against relevant benchmarks. As discussed above, our clients will also get regular statements from their broker/dealers, custodians, and mutual funds as appropriate. In addition, our clients who use TDA as their Custodian will be provided with online access to eWebPortfolio.com, a third-party provider of an online portfolio management and reporting system. This online system allows our clients to securely access several reports on their portfolios 24x7.

Objectives
The performance of each portfolio that we manage is benchmarked, on a long-term basis of at least 3 to 5 years, against appropriate market indices that reflect the objectives of that portfolio and the client. For example, a portfolio with an objective of 100% towards Capital Appreciation would be benchmarked against the S&P500 index (that is considered a proxy for the equity market as a whole).

Fees
We offer two types of fee schedules (described in more detail in Form ADV, Part II and Schedule F under the Disclosures section), as follows:

Management Fee Schedule:
Under this arrangement, the client compensates Ceera via an annual management fee (paid quarterly) that is typically 1% of the assets under management. This annual fee is negotiable and can vary up to 1.75% of the assets under management depending on the size and complexity of a client’s account, and other business considerations.

Performance-based Fee Schedule:
We also offer to clients who qualify under securities laws, a performance-based fee schedule (Hurdle Rate Method) where we get compensated if and only if we generate a rate of return, on an annual basis, in excess of a negotiated hurdle rate (typically 6%). There is a performance fee if and only if the portfolio’s performance crosses this hurdle, and when it does so Ceera receives 25% of the returns in excess of the hurdle rate (For example, if Ceera generates a 10% rate of return in a year, it gets paid 25% of 4% which is 1%, at the end of the year). Under this fee schedule there are no other annual management fees of any kind—in other words, Ceera needs to generate a rate of return more than the hurdle rate during a year or it does not get paid any fees. Please also see Form ADV II Schedule F (under the Disclosures Section) for a modified version of this fee schedule called Watermark Method.

We do not receive any compensation in the form of trade or sales commissions from any other sources.

Becoming a Client
Please visit the following section for more information.