BINT
Bluemonte Global Equity ETF
stock NYSE ETF

Appreciate y’all taking the time to read this.
So we’ve made the decision to separate from our financial advisor. Classic story of not getting any real value for the fees we’re paying that I’m sure you all have heard countless times.
We have the following assets at Fidelity managed by our FA:
\- Brokerage account = $220k (this was largely funded by an inheritance we received a few years ago and then further supplemented with company stock that I sold over the last two years). We don’t actively contribute to it otherwise.
\- Wife’s retirement account (was rolled from a 403(b) from her previous job) = $63k
\- Each of us have a Roth IRA worth about $8k each
Apart from this, an overview of our financial situation:
\- I’m a 41M, my wife is 39F.
\- I have a Roth 401k at work (FA does NOT manage this) worth about $575k and I max it out every year. Employer also matches 3% and contributes another 8%.
\- My wife is a part time teacher on a 1099 - her income is relatively minimal and doesn’t currently factor in to our savings / retirement goals.
\- I also have an HSA that I max out each year. Not much of a balance, we unfortunately didn’t get going on that until a couple years ago and have had some medical expenses where we needed to leverage it. We are doing everything we can to keep it growing going forward.
\- 30 year mortgage at 3.0% with about $240k remaining (house currently valued around 550k)
\- 1 car loan with $13k remaining
\- We are strict about paying our CCs in full every month and don’t have any other loans
\- We live comfortably but certainly not extravagantly. The result of all this is money is usually tight each month and we’re not currently able to save much more than what I outlined above.
\-Also have about $40k in cash savings
\- Bottom line: we ideally would never touch our brokerage account (so far we haven’t) but also would like to have options/flexibility. We have two young kids so who knows what the near future holds from an expense standpoint.
Situation with the FA:
Last year, our FA put all the above accounts in a series of Bluemonte ETFs (BLUX, BVAL, BLUC, BDBT, BINT, BLGR, BLST, BLTD). The expense ratios are all around 0.25%. He did this via a 351 exchange as these were new ETFs introduced last year. Not sure if these are inherently “bad” other than seemingly just being overly complicated.
Where I could use guidance from the community is confirmation on our approach separating from our FA and then ultimately unwinding these ETFs and move into a three-fund strategy.
My planned next steps are to call Fidelity and get them to remove my FA from our accounts. I then plan to send my FA a 30-day termination notice, per our agreement. I plan to keep the accounts at Fidelity going forward.
My main questions to a group more educated and savvy than me:
\- Do these ETFs have any underlying issues that I need to be aware of other than higher than desirable expense ratios?
\- Anything specific I need to be aware of regarding the 351 exchange that was done? My understanding is that it’s tax-deferred so it didn’t impact me when I was moved into the funds but that any move I do from here would be a normal taxable event.
\- Any other general pitfalls to avoid or options to consider?
I’m not looking to be an active trader at this point (maybe down the road). Just looking for solid sustained growth and to avoid any significant tax bills in the process.
Appreciate the thoughts in advance, and excited to be freeing ourselves from unnecessary fees.

Appreciate y’all taking the time to read this.
So we’ve made the decision to separate from our financial advisor. Classic story of not getting any real value for the fees we’re paying that I’m sure you all have heard countless times.
We have the following assets at Fidelity managed by our FA:
\- Brokerage account = $220k (this was largely funded by an inheritance we received a few years ago and then further supplemented with company stock that I sold over the last two years). We don’t actively contribute to it otherwise.
\- Wife’s retirement account (was rolled from a 403(b) from her previous job) = $63k
\- Each of us have a Roth IRA worth about $8k each
Apart from this, an overview of our financial situation:
\- I’m a 41M, my wife is 39F.
\- I have a Roth 401k at work (FA does NOT manage this) worth about $575k and I max it out every year. Employer also matches 3% and contributes another 8%.
\- My wife is a part time teacher on a 1099 - her income is relatively minimal and doesn’t currently factor in to our savings / retirement goals.
\- I also have an HSA that I max out each year. Not much of a balance, we unfortunately didn’t get going on that until a couple years ago and have had some medical expenses where we needed to leverage it. We are doing everything we can to keep it growing going forward.
\- 30 year mortgage at 3.0% with about $240k remaining (house currently valued around 550k)
\- 1 car loan with $13k remaining
\- We are strict about paying our CCs in full every month and don’t have any other loans
\- We live comfortably but certainly not extravagantly. The result of all this is money is usually tight each month and we’re not currently able to save much more than what I outlined above.
\-Also have about $40k in cash savings
\- Bottom line: we ideally would never touch our brokerage account (so far we haven’t) but also would like to have options/flexibility. We have two young kids so who knows what the near future holds from an expense standpoint.
Situation with the FA:
Last year, our FA put all the above accounts in a series of Bluemonte ETFs (BLUX, BVAL, BLUC, BDBT, BINT, BLGR, BLST, BLTD). The expense ratios are all around 0.25%. He did this via a 351 exchange as these were new ETFs introduced last year. Not sure if these are inherently “bad” other than seemingly just being overly complicated.
Where I could use guidance from the community is confirmation on our approach separating from our FA and then ultimately unwinding these ETFs and move into a three-fund strategy.
My planned next steps are to call Fidelity and get them to remove my FA from our accounts. I then plan to send my FA a 30-day termination notice, per our agreement. I plan to keep the accounts at Fidelity going forward.
My main questions to a group more educated and savvy than me:
\- Do these ETFs have any underlying issues that I need to be aware of other than higher than desirable expense ratios?
\- Anything specific I need to be aware of regarding the 351 exchange that was done? My understanding is that it’s tax-deferred so it didn’t impact me when I was moved into the funds but that any move I do from here would be a normal taxable event.
\- Any other general pitfalls to avoid or options to consider?
I’m not looking to be an active trader at this point (maybe down the road). Just looking for solid sustained growth and to avoid any significant tax bills in the process.
Appreciate the thoughts in advance, and excited to be freeing ourselves from unnecessary fees.