What’s your family’s legacy? When we think about families’ legacies, land is often an integral part of their story. It’s a thread woven between each generation as the duty of care and management passed from parents to children to grandchildren. Other owners are organizations who have been gifted land and their mineral assets to financially provide for their work in the community.

While the “how it all began” story varies from owner to owner, everyone wants to be treated fairly and be a good steward. The good news is it’s not a burden you have to carry alone. Having a good attorney, specialized tax accountant and a mineral manager as a part of your team can help you work towards your goals.

So when it comes to a mineral manager advisor, what are your options and how do you find your best fit?

The quantity and complexity of your assets and the amount of time you want to invest in actively managing them are two primary factors.

BANKS & FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Banks are often some of the first options to pop into people’s minds. They have sophisticated tools, extensive teams and impressive client rosters. If you’re a major industry player or have asset ownership that spans multiple continents, they are set up for you. They have a full-service suite ready to deliver. However, the bulk of owners, don’t meet that definition. They pay the full fees, even though they don’t need all of the service offerings. The other concern here is attentiveness—how much attention will you receive when competing against international portfolios.

ATTORNEYS & LAWYERS

This is why we see a lot of owners opt to just self-manage month to month and work with their attorney. We work with some great oil and gas attorneys and recommend having one on your team. When you need to quickly respond to a legal issue, having someone familiar with your assets will be an asset to you. However, as the saying goes there’s a tool for every job, and its true of attorneys and landmen. An attorney may be able to manage a few leases annually, but they may not be as efficient or precise as a professional who negotiates hundreds annually. Many people don’t realize how rigorous the certification process is to obtain a Certified Professional Landman (CPL) designation. It requires a decade of industry experience before you can even attempt to take the boards. Your advisors should be highly skilled and add value for you, and you’ll receive the best work when you hire the right professional for the right project.

SELF-MANAGE

We work with some clients who manage their assets themselves. They have the accounting and financial backgrounds to verify payments and identify the mis-payments or non-payments. Those that opt to self-manage their accounts usually deal with only one or two operators and a handful of wells. We see many new owners initially opt to save on fees by self-managing their accounts; but then they receive that first pay stub and set to task attempting to reconcile the maze of data and lease terms… We use analytics and algorithms to make the analysis efficient and precise and don’t lament the good ole days of having to do it manually.

ARE ERRORS REALLY THAT COMMON?

Yes. Mineral operations are complex so whether the issue is innocent and created by human error or something more ominous created by an ethics problem— the result is still your loss of income. The longer the issue persists, the more costly it will be to recoup. It’s why reconciling and validating payments monthly is critical.

MINERAL MANAGEMENT FIRMS

Mineral Management firms are where you’ll find a marriage between expertise and scalable fees, but they aren’t all built the same. Our firm was founded because we saw an opportunity to create a more client-centric option. When you’re evaluating who to work with, these are some of the questions, you should be asking. We believe in transparency, so you can find our position on our client commitments page.  

• Ask if you’ll be served by an AAPL Certified Professional Landman (CPL). It’s the highest designation possible and it’s an indicator that they’re committed to the profession. Our CPLs have negotiated thousands of leases, so we’re well versed in the troublesome clauses, the need for detail work and the ploys attempted by those who…. well, let’s just say, those who won’t be making it onto the big man’s nice list this Christmas.

• Ask for their policy on representing multiple parties in a deal. Double-dipping is common, but we see it as a clear conflict of interest. How can your advisor best represent you in a sale if they’re also the buyer or the buyer’s agent? It’s an appealing arrangement for them, but not so sensible for the owner.

• Ask about customization. Your portfolio of assets and your needs are unique, and your solution suite should be too. Pay for the services you need—and leave the rest behind. This is just another way you should be able to exercise your right of choice.

DID YOU INHERIT YOUR ADVISORS?

If you inherited your advisors with the land and assets, it may serve you well to explore. Markets have changed, your assets have changed and since ownership has changed, you may find the best fit has also changed. Choice is important. If your current advisors are the best fit, you’ve done your due diligence by exploring your options and confirmed your choice. Quashing doubt is a great feeling, so you win either way. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

INTERESTED IN INCLUDING OUR FIRM IN YOUR EXPLORATION?

We’re flattered! You can request your first meeting online and then explore our client commitments and digitally meet our experienced team. Our first consultations is always complimentary and pressure-free.

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