Financial Advisor Companies Near Me: Do I Need Them?
In our guide for investors with over $10 million in liquid assets, we state that a competent financial advisor can do wonders in protecting and growing the wealth of affluent investors. But why is that significant? If you focus a little bit, you will notice the word competent being used in that sentence. This article was written precisely for investors currently searching for “the best financial advisor companies near me” or something similar. We want to stress the importance of finding the right advisor for your current situation. Not all advisors will be suitable for everyone. For instance, wealth managers like Pillar Wealth Management are more suitable for investors with $5 million to $500 million in liquid assets. Other investors may find the services of an investment advisor to be enough.
We’ve written this article to address some of the confusions commonly faced by investors. We’ll answer very popular questions like, “What are financial advisor companies’ services?”, “What are the types of financial advisor companies?”, “Do I need financial advisor companies?”, “Is it worth paying financial advisor companies?” However, if you are still struggling with anything, you can schedule a free chat with us.
What Are Financial Advisor Companies?
The first topic on our agenda is to actually explain what financial advisor companies are and what they do. Understanding their role and function will also help you if the question, “do I need financial advisor companies?” has been on your mind.
Financial advisor companies are institutions that may offer a variety of financial assistance to their clients. This can include advice about managing their portfolio, assets, and other finances or a service that manages your investments according to your wishes. Some financial advisors may combine both financial advisory and investment management services to provide a holistic solution that handles all aspects of your financial life.
This perfectly brings us to our next question: what are the types of financial advisor companies?Let’s take a look.
What Are the Types of Financial Advisor Companies?
Before we get started, we should make it clear that we haven’t necessarily listed all the potential financial advisor companies you might encounter. Our goal is to inform you of the most popular types of firms you might encounter when searching for “financial advisor companies near me.”
Investment advisors
Investment advisors are one of the most popular types of financial advisors around. They’re usually the first advisor most people turn to when they want to invest some money and earn returns.
Investment advisors specialize in helping clients choose the best securities to buy and sell. They fall under the umbrella of active money managers who try to help their clients time the market and earn high returns.
Our experts have found that even if you’re able to time the market a few times in the short run and earn a good return, it’s a losing battle in the long run. It’s almost impossible to time the market consistently in the long run, and you’re almost never going to beat the market returns. Plus, active money management will cost you a lot more in both fees and taxes. Our ultimate guide provides more details on the differences between active and passive money management.
Investments advisors will typically not go any further than providing advice. You will have to go to someone else to undertake the actual transactions they recommend. Investment advisors can be a good option for investors looking to make fast, short-term returns.
Investment Brokers
Investment brokers are very similar to investment advisors in the sense that they also work in the investment management domain. Though they may offer some advice on the securities you should work with, their main job is to just help you conduct the buying and selling of your securities.
The main difference between investment brokers and investment advisors can be seen in how they charge for their services. Most investment advisors will charge an annual fee based on the worth of the portfolio they’re advising for you. On the other hand, investment brokers typically make their money off commissions earned on every transaction you make through them.
Commissions can often give rise to a potential conflict of interest as your broker has the potential to make more money by recommending more transactions than you perhaps need to make. Though many brokers won’t do that, the existence of that opportunity is a risk you shouldn’t have to take as an affluent investor. Every little percentage can add up to thousands of dollars for you! If you’re an investor with investable assets worth over $10 million, you can use this guide to learn more about other conflicts of interest that can occur with other advisors.
Financial Consultants
Financial consultants are highly specialized individuals who work on specific niche problems. They’re usually only hired to solve aspecific short-term issue and will seldom provide any long-term guidance for clients. Rather than looking at your whole financial situation, they will only study the issue they are hired to solve.
If you’re hiring a financial consultant to help make a certain decision or assist in major life events, you should always try to go for Chartered Financial Consultants (ChFC). ChFCs are licensed consultants that have a fiduciary duty to always act on behalf of your concerns. They uphold the highest ethical and quality standards.
Certified Financial Planners
Certified financial planners (CFPs) are another type of fiduciary advisor that upholds the best ethical and service standards. Professionals have to go through a series of robust training programs and gain relevant experience before gaining the title of a CFP. Their main job is to create financial plans for their clients to help them meet their goals.
CFPs will usually not provide any assistance in the arena of investment management since it’s not typically something most CFPs get training for. Financial planners can have knowledge and experience about topics such as tax planning, retirement planning, and so on. They may even specialize in some of these areas.
Asset Managers
Asset managers play a very specific role in the financial advisory field. Their specialty involves managing investment portfolios for investors according to the instructions they’re given. They usually won’t offer any investment advice since it’s not something they specialize in. However, if you do find an asset manager that provides investment advice, make sure they’re qualified to do so. Asset managers typically won’t offer any other financial services either.
Robo Advisors
The reason we’re mentioning robo advisors on this list is because of their growing popularity. These advisors are actually computer programs that typically offer investment management services via the use of algorithms and other technology.
There’s almost no human interaction in the process. The biggest benefit of robo advisors is that their charges are only a quarter of what is charged by other investment advisors. However, the biggest issue with robo advisors is that of personalization. While suitable for some advisors to make a return, the pre-set plans of robo advisors do not offer enough customization to be suitable for high net worth and ultra-high net worth investors. Our free hardcover book on The Art of Protecting Ultra-High Net Worth Portfolios and Estates – Strategies for Families Worth $25 million to $500 million provides more insight on why personalizing financial advisory services is so important for ultra-high net worth investors.
Wealth Managers
Wealth management services are often only reserved for an elite class of investors. This is because these individuals or groups offer a holistic set of personalized services that cover almost every aspect of a client’s finances.
For instance, the wealth managers at Pillar Wealth Management exclusively offer their services to investors with around $5 million to $500 million in liquid assets. Our fiduciary advisors can help you achieve your life goals by smoothing out your finances and setting you up for long-term success. If you want a quick run-down on how we can help you live more peacefully, schedule a chat with us via our site.
But what are financial advisor companies’ services? What services can you expect to get from a wealth manager that covers every aspect of your financial life? Keep reading to find out.
What Are Financial Advisor Companies’ Services?
If you want to know “what are the services of financial advisor companies near me?”, we probably can’t give you the correct answer here. That’s because, as shown above, the services offered by a financial advisor will depend highly on the type of financial advisor you visit and their area of expertise.
However, Pillar Wealth Management offers the following services to our clients as fiduciary wealth managers.
Investment Management
Our investment management strategies are never based on pre-set plans. Our process always involves working with our clients to set their life goals and then to create a sustainable investment strategy around those goals.
Plus, we make sure that we offer a consistent and efficient asset allocation strategy that allows you to get the perfect balance between risks and returns. We realize that every investor has different priorities, goals, and risk appetites. We will always make sure that our investments are only geared for one thing— achieving your goals. Make sure to read our guide on the essential shifts you need to make to optimize your investments.
Risk Management
Risk mitigation is a vital part of what we do as wealth managers. We recognize that it’s impossible to grow your wealth without first having a system in place to protect it. If you incur major losses in one economic downturn, all the efforts of the past few years would be for naught.
Tax Management
High net worth and ultra-high net worth investors are already paying the highest taxes possible. Having to pay unnecessary and avoidable taxes is not a burden that you should have to bear.
You can work with our team of professionals to analyze your current practices and discover all the avenues for tax savings. You’ll be surprised to find out how many actually exist!
Estate Planning
Estate planning can often be a grim topic for many investors, but everyone realizes its importance. Ensuring that you leave your heirs in a financially secure position is vital. Our experts realize the hurdles and difficulties affluent investors often face with making sure that their wealth is smoothly and fairly passed on to their heirs.
We make sure that your assets and properties can smoothly be transferred to your heir without them having to pay any unnecessary costs or taxes.
Retirement Planning
Retirement is an important part of our lives. It’s the period where we deserve to live the lifestyle we want after having worked so hard to get there. Our wealth managers work with you to establish lifestyle and income goals for your retirement by analyzing your sources of income, current wealth, and a variety of other factors.
Our expert wealth managers help you create a retirement plan centered around your life goals. We want to help you create an investment and financial plan that eliminate all financial worries from your retirement. Our guide on Improving Portfolio Performance provides more details about how we optimize your portfolio to meet your retirement goals.
We provide a whole slew of other services that are almost impossible to completely list in this article. You can get more information by scheduling a free consultation with our wealth managers.
Do I Need Financial Advisor Companies?
Now that you’ve understood what financial advisor companies do, you might be asking, “do I need financial advisor companies?”
You can answer this question by doing a little bit of introspection. Take a look at your current financial position, future goals, and your current ability to handle your wealth by yourself.
When it comes to high net worth and ultra-high net worth investors, we typically recommend that they go for wealth managers. The size of their wealth means makes it almost impossible to manage without the right expertise and experience.
Is It Worth Paying Financial Advisor Companies?
The most important question is, in what cases is it worth paying an independent financial advisor?
Simply put, the financial advisor should be adding value to your wealth rather than taking value off it. Advisors that help you protect and grow your wealth sustainably are advisors worth keeping.
If you’re an affluent investor looking for competent wealth managers, make sure that they have:
- Relevant experience
- Expertise in minimizing costs and taxes
- Ability to minimize risks
- Tools to track performance
- Investment rebalancing capabilities
How Do I Search for Financial Advisor Companies Near Me?
When you’re searching for “the best financial advisor companies near me,” there are a bunch of useful avenues you can explore. Just be sure to use the information we mentioned above to find which advisors are actually worth your time. Here are a few ways you can search for financial advisor companies:
- Take recommendations from friends and family. This will help you find trustworthy candidates that already have happy clients!
- Research on the internet. Internet research isn’t just about Google searches. Go on to other websites to check ratings and online reviews to see what clients say about certain advisors. Visit websites of potential advisors to see how knowledgeable they are about the needs of affluent investors.
- Visit and talk! This is the most important part. Visit potential advisors and ask them about how they will help you achieve your objectives and care for your wealth.
If you have liquid assets worth between $5 million and $500 million, Pillar Wealth Management could be the right wealth manager for you. Our experts can use their combined six decades of experience to help you finally live the lifestyle you deserve without having to worry about losing your money. Interested? Schedule a free chat with us to learn how you can live a life of financial serenity.