EVALUATING ADVISOR FEES
Quality financial planning can provide meaningful benefits to high-net-worth investors. However, the key question is: What’s a fair, transparent fee that ensures you get the best advice—without unnecessary costs?
​​The Problem with Traditional AUM Fees
While constructing a financial plan requires effort and expertise, the prevailing ‘Assets Under Management’ (AUM) fee structure may not always be the best choice. The traditional AUM fee structure, where investors pay a percentage of their portfolio annually, often lacks correlation with the advisor’s workload or the value delivered. For high-net-worth investors, these fees grow over time with market returns, regardless of the quality or quantity of advice provided. These fees compound over time, reducing long-term growth and eroding wealth.
Conflicts of Interest
Advisors charging AUM fees may have an incentive to recommend actions that increase assets under management. This can include rollovers from 401(k)s, liquidating rental properties, or reallocating legacy positions with embedded capital gains. While these recommendations can be beneficial in some cases, they may not always align with a client's optimal financial strategy.
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Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) operating under the fiduciary standard are required to disclose conflicts of interest and act in their clients' best interests. However, different fee structures can present varying incentives. Flat fees offer an alternative approach that may provide more predictability and transparency, particularly for high-net-worth investors who prefer a fixed-cost model.
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A Smarter, More Transparent Approach
At Altruist Wealth Management, we believe in pricing that makes sense. Our flat annual fee ranges from $3,000 to $12,000 per household, based on the complexity of the financial plan and investment management—regardless of portfolio size*. With a flat fee, you get objective advice, transparent costs, and full alignment with your best interests—without sacrificing long-term compounding potential.
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*This illustration is for informational purposes only and assumes a $5,000,000 portfolio with a 6% annual return over 30 years, with no contributions or withdrawals. Flat fees are based on Altruist Wealth Management’s model, ranging from $3,000 to $12,000 annually, determined through consultation and influenced by account complexity. AUM fees are based on industry averages, scaling from 1.02% for smaller accounts to 0.59% for larger accounts. This illustration excludes the impact of taxes, inflation, and other real-world factors and does not guarantee future performance. Investments are subject to market risk, and actual returns may differ. Full methodology is available upon request.
CONSIDER A COMPARISON
Transparency is key when evaluating advisor fees. If all-in costs are hard to find, that may indicate a lack of clarity.
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Many fee-based firms charge an AUM fee but also recommend additional products—adding layers of costs beyond what investors initially expect. A more transparent fee structure helps ensure your costs are predictable and fully aligned with your goals.
Flat fee of $10,000 is for illustrative purposes and reflects a typical fee based on the services we provide and the complexity of financial planning and investment management needs for many clients. Actual fees may range from $3,000 to $12,000 annually based on individual circumstances. The exact flat fee is determined during consultation and may vary. Industry average AUM fees are based on AdvisoryHQ report, with averages ranging from 0.94% at $1.5M to 0.84% at $5M. The flat fee is expressed as a percentage of assets for comparison purposes only and does not represent an asset-based fee structure.
Common Questions on Our Fees
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How does Altruist Wealth Management maintain lower fees?
Over time, advancements in technology have increased efficiency in financial planning and investment management. However, not all of these benefits have been passed along to investors. While the value an advisor provides can never be replaced by technology alone, modern tools should benefit both advisors and clients.
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At Altruist Wealth Management, we are committed to leveraging technology to streamline operations and enhance service quality. This allows us to deliver best-in-class financial planning and investment management while passing these efficiencies on to our clients through more competitive pricing. Our flat-fee model also supports a manageable number of client relationships, ensuring personalized attention and exceptional service.
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Why don’t more advisors offer this fee model?
The traditional AUM fee model has been the industry standard for decades, evolving as a successor to commission-based brokerage practices. Many advisors have built their careers, compensation structures, and business operations around this model, making a transition to flat fees challenging and disruptive.
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Switching to a flat-fee structure would require most firms to significantly reduce margins, rethink their business models, and restructure advisor compensation. For independent fiduciary RIAs, like Altruist Wealth Management, managing overhead directly allows greater flexibility in adopting transparent and client-friendly pricing.
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Many nationally recognized traditional broker-dealer firms often rely on the AUM fee model to compensate advisors and maintain profitability for their parent companies. While this structure has been a cornerstone of the industry for decades, it can pose challenges when attempting to transition to alternative models like flat fees.
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How does our fee work?
We assess an annual fee between $3,000 and $12,000 paid quarterly and based on the complexity of your financial plan and investment management*. One fee covers an entire household, there are no limits on the number of accounts or the size of the portfolio. And because we serve as fiduciary, fee-only advisors, we receive no commissions, kickbacks, sales charges, or placement fees. Our responsibility is to you, and only you.
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*In particularly complex cases involving multiple legal entities (e.g., irrevocable trusts or family foundations), fees may be assessed on an entity-by-entity basis. All fees are discussed and agreed upon during the consultation process before engagement.