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Sensible Portfolios
Darrell Armuth, a Certified Public Accountant, launched Sensible Portfolios in 1994 as a fee-only registered investment adviser. He later brought in Lena...
Sensible Portfolios
Darrell Armuth, a Certified Public Accountant, launched Sensible Portfolios in 1994 as a fee-only registered investment adviser. He later brought in Lena Armuth, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, cementing its structure as a family-run practice. The firm operates from Reno, Nevada and maintains an additional office in Austin, Texas. The firm delivers two services — portfolio management and retirement planning — for a single, transparent fee schedule. Portfolios are composed solely of low-cost mutual funds from Dimensional Fund Advisors and Vanguard, reflecting a conviction that product expenses compound into the largest performance drag for individual investors. Client assets are guided through a two-part process: a portfolio review to align risk and holdings with personal goals, followed by a financial wellness checkup that covers drawdown strategies and Social Security planning. The practice serves individuals, high-net-worth households, trusts, and pension plans. Sensible Portfolios acts as a fiduciary and accepts no commissions, a posture it advertises as eliminating conflicts from product-distribution incentives. The firm discloses its fees directly: 0.70% annually on the first $1,000,000 under management and 0.10% on assets above that threshold. It does not publish a total AUM figure. The firm’s structural differentiator is its extreme cost-consciousness, applied to both its own advisory fees and the expense ratios of the funds it selects. By restricting its investment universe to DFA and Vanguard vehicles, it removes active-manager risk while giving clients a transparent, all-in cost that the Armuths can quote on a single page. This architecture functions as a permanent bet that fee minimization — not manager selection — is the surest path to net-of-fee performance for the clients it advises.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
1994
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Reno
Corporate office
Reno, NV, United States
Additional offices
Austin, TX, United States
Principals
Darrell Armuth
Founder
Lena Armuth
Investment Advisor Representative, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Sensible Portfolios?
Founder Darrell Armuth, a CPA, and Lena Armuth, a CFP® professional, jointly advise clients. The firm does not make individual security selections; it allocates client portfolios exclusively across low-cost mutual funds from Dimensional Fund Advisors and Vanguard, which eliminates traditional active-management discretion.
How does Sensible Portfolios charge for its services?
The firm publishes a transparent, two-tier fee schedule on its website: 0.70% annually on the first $1,000,000 under management and 0.10% on any assets above that threshold. It operates on a fee-only basis, accepts no commissions, and includes ongoing retirement planning in the management fee.
Is Sensible Portfolios structured as a single-family office or a traditional RIA?
It is a traditional registered investment adviser, not a family office. Although it is a family-run business — founded by Darrell Armuth and staffed with Lena Armuth — it serves external clients including individuals, high-net-worth households, trusts, and pension plans.
Does Sensible Portfolios participate in fund commitments or direct deals?
No. The firm does not engage in private fund commitments, direct company investments, or alternative assets. Its entire investment implementation relies on publicly available mutual funds from Dimensional Fund Advisors and Vanguard, a constraint it treats as a structural advantage for cost control.
What is Sensible Portfolios' posture on fiduciary duty?
Sensible Portfolios acts as a fiduciary on every client engagement, meaning it is legally obligated to place client interests ahead of its own. It contrasts this with non-fiduciary advisors who may earn commissions, arguing its fee-only model removes the incentive to recommend higher-cost products.
Does the firm maintain any philanthropic or adjacent investment structures?
There is no publicly disclosed philanthropic foundation, donor-advised fund platform, or parallel investment vehicle affiliated with Sensible Portfolios. Its published offerings are limited to portfolio management and retirement planning for direct clients.
Where does Sensible Portfolios maintain physical offices?
The firm is headquartered in Reno, Nevada, and lists an additional office in Austin, Texas on its website. Both locations support its client base of individuals, trusts, and pension plans, though it does not disclose the geographic distribution of its assets under advisement.
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