Fidelity Wealth Management Reviews – Service, Offerings, & Limitations

Nine Key Points About Fidelity Wealth Management Reviews

1. Who is Fidelity Investments?
2. Fidelity Investments Financial Planning & Advisory Options
3. Wealth Management
4. Private Wealth Management
5. What Are Fidelity Custodial Accounts?
6. A Deeper Look at Fidelity Wealth Management
7. Fidelity Charitable Giving
8. What Types of Client Does Fidelity Accept?
9. Should A Wealth Management Firm Be A Fiduciary?

Fidelity Investments offers several investment management services including Fidelity wealth management – a fairly large wealth management practice. Fidelity holds $3.3 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

For anyone looking to invest their money to build a more secure future, it’s never easy to know where to get started. Choosing a wealth manager can be even more intimidating.

Here’s our promise:

By reading this article, you’ll have a comprehensive Fidelity wealth management review and a good sense of whether their services might be what you’re looking for, or if you need something more specialized or customized.

Fidelity wealth management reviews available online will include how to get the most out of your Fidelity accounts through comprehensive services in investment management and financial planning. And if you are a high net worth Fidelity client, you deserve the custom holistic wealth management services provided by Pillar Wealth Management, which are detailed in our published book “7 Secrets To High Net Worth Investment Management, Estate, Tax, and Financial Planning.”

Who is Fidelity Investments?

In contrast to large firms like Fidelity that serve all types of clients, you can also work with a niche firm like Pillar Wealth Management. We take only 17 new clients a year, and only those who have $5 million to $500 million in total investable assets (of course, this is not the kind of information you would find in Fidelity wealth management reviews). Both types of investment services have their pros and cons. It really depends on what strategy fits best for your purposes, goals, desires, and interests.

For example:

If you enjoy and have interest in playing a role in managing your own investments, Fidelity makes that easy. It is a big part of their business.

But if you just want someone else to take care of it so you can go live your life, a firm like Pillar Wealth Management might be a better match, although online Fidelity wealth management reviews will not tell you this.

Also, keep in mind that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) does not insure investments in market funds.

Fidelity Investments Financial Planning & Advisory Options

Continuing our Fidelity wealth management review, Fidelity offers a wide variety of services for people at different points of their lives, and with different financial and investment needs.

Here’s a quick Fidelity wealth management review of its four main financial advisory and wealth management services:

Fidelity Go®

Fidelity Go is Fidelity’s version of a robo advisor (which you may read about in Fidelity wealth management reviews). What this means is, you answer a few questions from their automated system, and based on your answers, the system develops an investment plan for you and begins to implement it once you fund your account.

Over time, the robo advisor may make periodic adjustments to your strategy, based on what Fidelity’s investment experts are seeing in the markets and in the economy. It sends you email updates and reports when changes are made. Let’s add this to our Fidelity wealth management review.

Fidelity Go requires no minimum balance and has no fees for accounts under $10,000. There’s a 0.35% fee for accounts over $50,000. Between those limits, accounts are charged $3 per month.

This is a hands-off investment approach for both parties.

Make sense?

You don’t have to do anything. And Fidelity’s people don’t have to do anything. The automated system manages your investments.

Investments strategy for your digital investment by Robo advisor and information provided is general.

Fidelity® Personalized Planning & Advice

Next on tap in our Fidelity wealth management review is Fidelity’s robo advisor service. This service blends the robo advisor service with human financial advisors.

Here, the robo advisor still manages your investments, but you also get access to financial advisors who will work with you to advance your financial goals and maximize your investments. You’ll also learn more about how investing works and will become more confident in making decisions. You may learn from online Fidelity wealth management reviews that Fidelity Personalized Planning & Advice requires a $25,000 minimum, and comes with a 0.50% advisory fee. At $25,000, you’ll start off paying about $10 per month. It goes up as your account grows.

Wealth Management

More for you to add to your Fidelity wealth management review — regarding wealth management, the Fidelity Wealth Management minimum jumps up to $250,000, and so does the service and the fee, which ranges from 0.5 to 1.5%.

Any Fidelity wealth management review will tell you that you’ll get to work with a dedicated wealth manager who will offer investing and planning advice based on your individual needs and preferences.

Once a year, they review your plan and make adjustments as your life situation and priorities change, and based on how well your investment strategies are working.

They will also work with you to plan and prepare for retirement.

The advisor will inform you about new investment opportunities and optional strategies, and will show you how to use Fidelity’s advanced online tools. You can also arrange plans for family members, as well as back-up plans to protect them in case of emergency issues.

Minimum Investment

$250,000 (managed through Fidelity Wealth Service)

Annual Investment Gross Advisory Fee

0.50% to 1.50% a year

Private Wealth Management

Let’s continue with out Fidelity wealth management review. For private wealth management, you are not only assisted by your own advisor but also a team to help you in planning and managing your investment. Your primary advisor leads this team, and together they assist in managing your assets, reviewing your portfolio, setting and adjusting goals, and understanding your preferences.

Much work goes into all this before the actual plan is created.

Online Fidelity wealth management reviews may tell you that Fidelity’s Private Wealth Management service is sort of like the regular wealth management service but even more personalized and with more people in your corner helping you surpass your goals and achieve your desired outcomes.

The Fidelity Private Wealth Management minimum is $2 million that must be managed by Fidelity, and a total net worth of at least $10 million.

Because these tend to be larger accounts, the Fidelity wealth management fee for the Private service is lower, from 0.2% to 1.04%. This service also includes help with estate and tax planning. They work to guard against risk and protect you from excessive taxation.

Private Wealth Management is the closest Fidelity comes to the type of service offered by Pillar Wealth Management, which you won’t know from reading Fidelity wealth management reviews online. What we do goes quite a bit farther than Fidelity, but they’re in the same ballpark.

Minimum Investment

$2 million managed through Fidelity Services or Fidelity Strategic Disciplines)

Gross Advisory Fee

0.20% –1.04%

General Eligibility

$10 million or more depends on total investable assets

A Note about Wealth Management Fees

It is worth pointing out that the Fidelity wealth management fees (and fees from any other large investment firm) don’t cover everything.

There are other fees and charges too.

For example:

The advisory fee does not cover charges from trades made by brokers or dealers other than Fidelity Investment affiliates. It also doesn’t cover mark-ups or mark-downs by broker-dealers, transfer taxes, exchange fees, regulatory fees, odd-lot differentials, handling charges, electronic fund, and wire transfer fees.

Working with Pillar Wealth Management, however, can protect you from some of these fees, because we obsess over minimizing unnecessary costs for our clients. Some of these can’t be avoided, but some can, and we work hard to avoid all the needless ones.

What Are Fidelity Custodial Accounts?

And there’s more that you won’t find in Fidelity wealth management reviews online. So, next up in our Fidelity wealth management review are Fidelity custodial accounts. Some families with ultra-high net worth recognize that a boutique family office style firm like Pillar Wealth Management offers the level of comprehensive wealth management service they need.

Except for one thing:

They like the breadth of offerings and investments and the well-known trustworthy nature of a firm like Fidelity.

If that’s you, there’s good news (not found online in Fidelity wealth management reviews):

The concept of a custodial account lets you blend the customization and elite-level expertise of a firm like Pillar Wealth Management with the investment breadth and trustworthiness of Fidelity.

Our clients, who have $5 million to $500 million in liquid net worth, are drawn to us in part because we utilize Fidelity to custody our clients’ money.

This also appeals to people who already had existing Fidelity accounts, but want the level of service we offer. With custodial accounts, for existing Fidelity account holders, you won’t have to change anything if you work with us.

The accounts will remain as-is, the money is accessible to you, and the links to your debit/credit cards and bank accounts all remain in place.

Isn’t that great?

Your cost basis information and all historical details will be preserved. So, while you gain an ultra-high net worth expert advisor to guide you, invest your portfolio, and help with ultra- customized lifestyle achievement and financial planning, you get to keep the familiarity of your investments. We are merely granted access to manage your portfolio, but within the well-functioning and trustworthy Fidelity platform.

Here’s another benefit of custodial accounts:

This arrangement protects you. It also helps you avoid ACAT transfers (firm to firm) and IRA to IRA transfers, which you would have to deal with if you hired a new wealth management firm that does not use custodial accounts.

If you want to talk to a wealth manager who has served ultra-high net worth clients for over 30 years and uses a 100% custom approach to create a plan that grows, manages, and protects your wealth, schedule a free call with one of our co-founders, Hutch Ashoo or Chris Snyder.

Also, you can read about what a wealth manager does and what areas are covered in this specially created guide on choosing the best financial advisor for individuals with $5 million to $500 million in liquid assets.

A Deeper Look at Fidelity Wealth Management

You’ve gotten an overview of the four main investment management services offered by Fidelity. Here’s more info for our Fidelity wealth management review.

Now, let’s take a deeper dive into Fidelity wealth services.

As you may learn from Fidelity wealth management reviews, Fidelity Investments offers many wealth management services, including a dedicated advisor, financial and investment planning, personalized investment management, and tax-smart investing.

Dedicated Fidelity Advisor

A dedicated advisor from Fidelity helps connect you with the right advisors and other team members you’ll need to create your customized strategic investment plan.

The advisor will help you define your objectives, gain a clear understanding of the options available, and also actively assist you in implementing your plans.

This is the person you will talk to the most, and will work with on an ongoing basis.

Financial and Investment Planning

Many Fidelity wealth management reviews may tell you that a Fidelity advisor will work with you to build an investment strategy around your goals, tax situation, investments, retirement status and related goals, and the legacy you are building toward.

Personalized Investment Management

Not everyone is thinking the same thing about retirement and investment. Different ages, different life situations, different desires and aspirations – everyone’s plan needs to be built around them.

Fidelity tries to help you understand how your plan will be affected by decisions you make. The advisor helps create an asset allocation that will incorporate your risk tolerance, time horizon, and your key financials, which you may learn from online Fidelity wealth management reviews.

Asset allocations will be comprised of a blend of domestic stock, international stock, bonds, and short-term holdings.

Tax-smart Investing Techniques Implementation

Fidelity Wealth Management applies six tax-smart investing techniques in managing your portfolio at separate times in a year. The procedures implemented for your tax-smart investing techniques including tax-loss harvesting, capital gains management, distributions, municipal bonds, transition management, and tax-smart withdrawals.

More than the mentioned services above, Fidelity also offers other investment options and transactional services such as mutual funds, IRAs, trading, fixed income services, bonds & CDs, cash management & credit cards, charitable giving, ETFs, life insurance, and long-term care insurance.

Fidelity Charitable Giving

Next up for our Fidelity wealth management review — Fidelity is not only focused on helping their clients invest their money but also making it easier for them to make charitable gifts.

Fidelity Charitable Giving makes it possible to donate mutual funds, stocks, and other assets to charity. Your donations will potentially be tax-free because they are invested and give better support for the charities. Some donors with additional ambitions and complex situations can join the Private Donor Group.

Is Fidelity the Right Option for You?

Just like wealth management firms screen clients, you should also screen financial advisors and wealth managers, as you know from reading Fidelity wealth management reviews.

Always try and speak to the wealth manager one-on-one before deciding who to work with. If you wish to know more about how to evaluate a wealth management firm, we strongly recommend you read this book called The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Financial Advisor: For Investors With $5 Million to $500 Million in Liquid Assets.

Hutch Ashoo and Christopher Snyder are the expert founders of independent, fee-only, and fiduciary wealth management firm Pillar Wealth Management. If you would like to speak with them or simply ask any questions about how custom and trusted wealth management advice is offered to high-net-worth individuals with $5 million to $500 million in investible assets, then feel free to start a conversation. Our wealth managers can provide you with a thorough Fidelity wealth management review.

What Types of Clients Does Fidelity Accept?

Fidelity Wealth Management has two offerings, both of which you have read about, here or in other Fidelity wealth management reviews. Their Wealth Management service requires a minimum investment of $250,000. The Private Wealth Management service requires a minimum investment of $2 million. The Private Wealth Management option is for high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals.

Various firms may have additional criteria to screen clients further, but Fidelity, being a large national company, doesn’t screen based on much other than their minimum requirements.

What about us?

Pillar Wealth Management works with clients from all professional and demographic backgrounds, industries, and age groups. The primary criterion of our firm is the liquid-asset size, which should be between $5 million to $500 million.

We also want to work with people who want to be liberated from having to worry about all the details of managing their wealth.

It’s a lot of work!

If you like managing your own investments (which wouldn’t be recommended in Fidelity wealth management reviews), navigating all the transactions, studying investment options, and all the rest, we probably aren’t the right fit. We’re looking for clients who want a worry-free life, where someone else takes care of their wealth so they can focus on enjoying it and using it for their desired purposes.

Pillar Wealth Management has worked with medical professionals, millennials, entrepreneurs, engineers and technology professionals, women, senior citizens, and all kinds of high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals.

The experience of working with such a diverse set of individuals and families has allowed the firm to build its expertise and have a ready template for figuring out any wealth management issue that you may be facing. Go ahead and schedule a free consultation with Hutch Ashoo or Chris Snyder. There is nothing to lose, and a lot to gain.

Should A Wealth Management Firm Be A Fiduciary?

Fidelity wealth management reviews may not have much to say about fiduciaries. But we believe that yes, a wealth management firm should be a fiduciary. This is an essential quality of any wealth manager or financial advisor you consider working with.

It means that the firm assesses the requirement and the risk tolerance of your objective under their service, and only makes recommendations that are in your best interests.

As a capital wealth management company in America, Pillar Wealth Management is a fiduciary wealth management firm.

Fidelity private client group   

History

Fidelity was founded in 1946 by Edward C. Johnson. The Johnson family owns a 49% voting interest in the company through trusts and individually. The remaining 51% is owned by Fidelity employees and ex-employees.

Fidelity is a global financial services company with over $4.5 trillion in assets under management. Fidelity was the first major investment firms to offer mutual funds to the public. Its largest mutual fund in Fidelity Contrafund, which is managed by William Danoff and has over $100 billion in assets. It is the largest American non-indexed fund.

Fidelity Clients

Fidelity offers financial services to all types of clients, including individuals, advisors, and businesses. Anyone can invest in Fidelity’s offerings through its online platform.

Among its financial services, Fidelity provides advisory services. Its online investment services do not have a minimum account requirement, while its digital personal planning advice requires a minimum of $25,000.

For a dedicated wealth advisor, there is a minimum requirement of $250,000. The highest minimum investment amount is $2 million invested with Fidelity Wealth Services and $10 million in investable assets, which are required for the personalized service offered by the Private Wealth Management group.

Fidelity’s Approach to Investment

At Fidelity, the customer’s financial goals and aspirations are a priority. Through its personal advisory services, available to wealthy clients, a Fidelity advisor will focus on the clients’ short- and long-term goals and their financial circumstances and needs to devise investment and financial planning strategies to meet those goals. They will work together on asset management, retirement planning, as well as estate and tax planning.

Fidelity’s Advisory Services portfolios are an actively managed mix of funds.

Fees Under Fidelity

There are no fees for online trades of stocks, ETFs, or Fidelity funds.

Fees for a personal wealth advisor range from 0.50% to 1.5% of the value of the assets managed by the advisor. For Fidelity’s Private Wealth Management, the fee ranges from 0.20% to 1.02%.

Opening an account with Fidelity is easy. You can fill out a form online or call the 800 number and talk to an assistant. You can find an advisor near you by looking on the Fidelity website.

If you are seeking assistance in wealth management, beyond this Fidelity wealth management review, you can contact us today to set up an appointment.

Hutch Ashoo and Christopher Snyder are the expert founders of independent, fee-only, and fiduciary Pillar Wealth Management firm. If you would like to speak with them or simply ask any questions about how custom and trusted wealth management advice is offered to high net worth individuals with $5 million to $500 million in investible assets, then feel free to start a conversation. Our managers can share with you a comprehensive Fidelity wealth management review.

Related Post

1. Charles Schwab Wealth Management – Charles Schwab is an investment management platform that offers a wide range of financial planning services…
2. Top Wealth Management Firms – Too many supposed ‘experts’ take the easy route in trying to identify the best wealth management firms…
3. Wealth Management Firms – We live in the age of the one-stop-shop. Big box retail is all about finding everything in one location…
4. Wealth Management San Francisco – Looking for the best San Francisco wealth management companies? These days, it seems nearly every big bank…