Venice, California
Planning and investing for your family, with the person who manages the money at the table.
No long-term contracts. Stay because it is working, not because you are locked in.
We help you work out what your money needs to do, write it into a plan in plain language, and invest it for you, with the same strategy institutions see. Your account stays in your own name at Schwab, and when you call, you reach the people making the decisions.
Who we help
Three ways families come to us
-
Planning for your family
Retiring, selling a business, receiving an inheritance, paying for college or a home. We start with what the money is for, then build the plan and the investments around it.
How we work with families -
Families caring for someone with special needs
A plan that protects benefits eligibility, works alongside a special needs trust, and lasts beyond your own lifetime. We coordinate with your attorney.
Special needs planning -
People we have already met
Met us at an event, a club or through a friend? Pick up where the conversation left off. No forms to fill in first.
Continue the conversation
Why families choose us
The strategy institutions see, for every family
There is no stripped-down retail version. Every client, whatever they bring above our minimum, gets the same strategy, because our technology scales and we choose to.
At a large bank or brokerage
Many firms keep their most sophisticated strategies for their largest clients and offer smaller accounts a model portfolio. Our policy is different: every client, from our minimum up, gets the same strategy.
With us
We run a small number of strategies, and every client can have them. The same Alpha Convergence portfolio that institutions and advisers reach through the Schwab Managed Account Marketplace: the same 22 US-traded companies, the same amount in each across all 11 parts of the economy, rebuilt four to five times a year from our models’ freshest signals. The only difference between a family account and an institutional one is the paperwork. Availability on the Schwab platform is not an endorsement or recommendation by Schwab.
Our minimum is $150,000, as stated in our Form ADV Part 2A. The technology we built lets us manage concentrated, research-driven portfolios at scale without watering down the product. That is the advantage of a small, technology-driven firm. See the strategy’s evidence at LUL Asset Management
What sets us apart
- Fee-only. 1% to 2% of billable assets a year, billed monthly. No commissions, no performance fees.
- No long-term commitments. 30-day advisory agreements. You can leave at any time.
- Time with us every month. 30 minutes, one on one, with anyone on our team.
- A weekly note from the CIO. The week’s markets, and how we are positioned.
- The same strategy institutions see. No stripped-down retail version.
- See it all, live. Follow along in your Schwab app, our Black Diamond reporting app, and FlightDeck, a public page updated every trading day.
- Liquid, and our own. Proprietary portfolios built on our own technology. No lock-ups, no illiquid holdings.
- Your money stays at Schwab. In your name. We never take custody: we can only place trades and take our monthly fee.
How the strategy is doing
The same live record professionals see
Alpha Convergence has traded live since 27 June 2025. Every trading day its record is updated, tested against luck, and published whether it flatters us or not.
- Alpha Convergence, after a 2% fee
- +52.8%
- Before fees
- +56.8%
- The average S&P 500 stock (RSP)
- +22.3%
Cumulative, 27 Jun 2025 to 20 Oct 2026. 2% is the most we charge.
Is it luck? Tested every trading day against the average stock, the latest reading after fees is significant at the 95% level (p = 0.033). A p-value under 0.05 means a result this strong would arise by luck less than 5% of the time if there were no skill.
The first two months were traded on the firm’s own money, before any client account. A record this short depends heavily on the market it was earned in, and past performance does not guarantee future results. The full record
Special needs planning
The question every parent asks: what happens when we are gone?
We help families plan money for a loved one who will need support for life, planned to help preserve benefits eligibility, in coordination with your attorney.
- Benefits first
- Investments and withdrawals planned around eligibility rules.
- Trusts and ABLE accounts
- Managed alongside the legal structure your attorney sets up.
- Siblings and trustees
- A written plan the next generation can actually follow.
- Reviewed as life changes
- School, work, housing, care. The plan moves with them.
Lela Kelly, our general counsel, brings 16 years of corporate law, including work on estate planning, trusts and special needs matters. Your family’s own attorney still sets up the legal structure, and we work alongside that attorney. We do not give legal advice.
How it works
Three steps. The first one costs nothing.
If we are not the right fit, we will say so and point you to someone who is.
-
A conversation
An hour, in person or by video. What you have, what worries you, what the money is for. No cost and no commitment.
Request a conversation -
We review your situation
We come back with a plan in plain language, including how we would invest and what it costs, before you sign anything. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you, and point you to someone who is.
Questions people ask first -
Open your account at Schwab
In your name, at Charles Schwab. We never take custody of your money: we place the trades, and you can see every holding and every trade in the Schwab app. We report to you and meet whenever life changes.
Why families choose us
- What to bring
- Recent statements, and a sense of what you want the money to do.
- Minimum
- $150,000 for a direct relationship, as stated in our Form ADV Part 2A.
- Fee
- Fee-only: 1–2% a year on the assets we manage, billed monthly, never more than 2%. On $150,000, that is $1,500 to $3,000 a year.
- Agreement
- 30-day terms. Leave at any time with 30 days’ notice: no exit fees, no penalties, no lock-up.
How we invest
What we do with your money, in plain words
Our models rank the stocks we expect may do well over the next few months, and we build a concentrated portfolio around them. There is no assurance that they will.
You don’t need to follow the markets to work with us. Here is the whole idea, without the jargon.
-
Two checks before we buy anything
One check looks at how a company’s stock has been behaving. The other looks at the business itself: how strong it is, what it is worth, and what could lift it. We buy only when both say yes.
-
Twenty-two companies, the same amount in each
Two in each of the eleven main parts of the economy. A problem at one company touches a small slice of your portfolio, not all of it. Spreading out lowers the risk from any one company. It does not remove the risk of the whole market falling.
-
Fresh ideas, on a schedule
Research shows that the advantage of a newly bought stock fades within months, so we rebuild the portfolio from fresh ideas at least every 90 days. That makes most gains short-term. Inside an IRA or a Roth IRA those gains are not taxed when they are realized; withdrawals from a traditional IRA are taxed as income. That makes retirement accounts a natural home for this approach. Consult your tax adviser. In a regular taxable account the gains are short-term, so we talk it through before you invest.
-
Watched every trading day
FlightDeck, the monitoring system we built ourselves, checks market conditions and risk every trading day, and people make the decisions. Your plan sets how much goes into stocks and how much into bonds. When markets turn rough, we can move more toward short-term bonds in steps, and back again as things settle.
-
For money meant for stability, strategies that don’t follow the market
For the part of a plan meant for stability, two market-neutral strategies hold positions that rise and fall in balance, so their returns move separately from the stock and bond markets: AC Market Neutral and Independent Return, both managed by our sister company Leyland Cypress. They sell short and need a margin account, which adds risk: a short position can lose more than it cost, margin can magnify losses, and both records are short. We will tell you plainly whether they suit you. Life UnLocked Partners holds a 50% interest in Leyland Cypress and receives a share of its fees.
- Energy
- Materials and mining
- Industry and transport
- Shopping, cars and travel
- Food and household goods
- Health care
- Banks and insurance
- Technology
- Media and communications
- Power and water
- Real estate
The companies change; the shape stays the same.
The people at the table
Small on purpose
So the people who run the money also answer your call. This is not a call center and not a chatbot: it is a real conversation with the people who manage the company and hold the same investments we offer.
- Mark runs the money
- Mark founded Life UnLocked Partners, designed its investment models, and still manages the portfolios.
- More than forty years in finance
- Mark began on Wall Street building models for derivatives and mergers, co-founded FrontBridge, a technology company Microsoft bought in 2005, and is chief financial officer and a director of MailRoute. MBA, UCLA Anderson.
- Our own money is in it too
- Each of us is substantially invested alongside our clients, in the same companies, bought at the same prices.
- Your account, your name
- Charles Schwab holds your money, in an account in your name. You hold the account; we trade it. We never have custody of your money, and you can see everything we do.
-
Co-founder, general counsel and chief compliance officer
Lela Kelly
An attorney who keeps the firm legal, compliant and protected. Lela started at the law firm Jones Day and brings 16 years of corporate law, including work on estate planning, trusts and special needs matters. USC, UCLA Law.
-
Client relations and trade execution
Aleks Kelly
Manages client relationships and communications, and carries out the trades. Background in finance and in luxury automotive sales, serving high-net-worth clients. BS in Finance and Economics, Cal State Northridge.
Each of us is substantially invested alongside our clients.
Questions
Questions people ask first
Is there a minimum?
Yes. Our minimum for a direct relationship is $150,000, as stated in our Form ADV Part 2A.
Is this the same strategy the big investors get?
Yes. The Alpha Convergence portfolio we run for families holds the same 22 companies, in the same amounts, as the one institutions and advisers use.
Can I leave if it is not working?
Yes. Our advisory agreements run on 30-day terms. You can leave at any time with 30 days’ notice. There are no exit fees, no penalties and no lock-up. We would rather earn the relationship every month than hold you to a contract.
Will I get time with you?
Yes. Every client gets 30 minutes a month, one on one, with anyone on our team, including the chief investment officer, for questions about your portfolio or a second opinion on a financial decision.
Where is my money held?
In your own account at Charles Schwab, in your name. You hold the account and we trade it; we never have custody of your money. You log in to Schwab directly and see everything.
How do I follow what you are doing?
Every holding and every trade shows in your own Schwab account, online or in the Schwab app, and our chief investment officer sends a short note each week on the markets and how we are positioned.
How do you get paid?
We are fee-only: a single advisory fee of 1–2% a year on the assets we manage, billed monthly. 2% is the most we charge, and the full schedule is in our Form ADV Part 2A. On $150,000, that is $1,500 to $3,000 a year. No commissions, no transaction fees from us and no performance fees.
Can I lose money?
Yes. Stocks rise and fall, and any investment can lose value, including the money you put in. That is why we start with what you need the money for, and when, and build the plan around it.
Do you work with our attorney?
Yes. For special needs planning we coordinate with your attorney, who sets up the legal structure, and we manage the money alongside it. We do not give legal or tax advice. Special needs planning
What if we are not a fit?
We will tell you after the first conversation, and suggest where to go instead. There is no cost for that conversation.
Start with a conversation
Tell us a little about what is on your mind. A person, not a sales system, will reply within one business day.
Attorneys and CPAs: if a client of yours is planning for a family member with special needs, we are glad to talk with you first.
Prefer email? info@lifeunlocked.partners