Low Cost Advisors, No Robos Here!

“The Price of Financial Advice Is, Finally, Falling” is the title of a 10/8/2018 Wall Street Journal article by Lisa Beilfuss. The byline reads, “As the rest of Wall Street cuts all kinds of fees in a race to zero, advisers have been the exception. That is starting to change.” This is music to our ears as it should be to all investors who are overpaying for financial advice.

The magnitude of overpayment emerges from a report by Cerulli Associates on advisors who charge asset-based fees. For example, 63% of advisors will charge a $1.5 million client 1% ($15,000) or more. The same percentage of advisors will charge a $5 million client 0.75% ($37,500) or more. Please bear in mind that these are not one-time charges but are levied year after year and will grow as the assets increase in value. At Clarity Capital Advisors, our flat fee would be $6,000 for the $1.5 million client and $13,000 for the $5 million client with no sacrifice in service.

The author is absolutely correct in noting, “Technology is reshaping the wealth-management industry, bringing down the cost of delivering advice and putting pressure on traditional fee models.” This certainly explains the continuing rise of the robo advisors that offer automated portfolio management for a low fee. While we believe they are a great solution for smaller investors who seek a basic investment platform, they do not provide the customization and personalization that a human advisor is able to deliver such as retirement planning and college planning.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of working with a team of highly-credentialed human advisors at a reasonable cost, please call us at 800-345-4635 or email us at info@clarityca.com.