Brouwer & Janachowski

Brouwer & Janachowski

Kurt Brouwer and Stephen Janachowski founded Brouwer & Janachowski in Tiburon, California in 2011. The firm closed its doors in 2018, with Janachowski moving to Mill Valley Financial Group and Brouwer eventually landing at Hall Capital Partners (per Sonoma Index-Tribune, 2021). During its operating years, the firm served as a registered investment advisor (RIA) focused on high-net-worth technology executives and founders in Marin County and the broader Bay Area. The firm's investment approach centered on low-cost, globally diversified portfolios using index funds and ETFs. Brouwer, who previously managed money at Brouwer & Associates, and Janachowski, a former Smith Barney advisor, advised clients on asset allocation spanning equities, fixed income, and real assets. Their book, 'Fundmastery,' outlined the philosophy — minimize fees, avoid market timing, and rebalance systematically. No specific portfolio company positions were publicly reported. The firm operated primarily from a single office in Tiburon, with a team that never exceeded single digits based on public records. In 2017, the firm received a Wells Notice from the SEC, which it disclosed to clients. Janachowski left the firm in mid-2018, and the entity was dissolved shortly after. The advisor's Form ADV filing from 2017 showed fewer than five employees and regulatory assets under management below $500 million. What distinguished Brouwer & Janachowski was the deliberate marriage of publishing and practice. The 'Fundmastery' brand extended beyond the firm itself — a website, a book, and a blog — creating a thought-leadership engine that funneled Bay Area tech wealth into a boutique RIA. That content-led client acquisition model, where the advisor is also the author, anticipated the direct-to-investor content strategies now common among RIAs serving concentrated tech wealth.