Who We Are
Client Focused. Period.™
At Align Wealth Management, our only business is the delivery of objective fiduciary advice resulting in simple & elegant financial planning solutions. Our clients consist of a discerning group of individuals, families, and small business owners. We believe in straight talk, good old-fashioned common sense, hard work, reliability, and complete transparency. Our dedicated team is composed of a unique blend of highly credentialed professionals with decades of wealth management experience. What we hope we've gained from our long experience is the wisdom to offer solutions that allow you to feel relieved, confident, empowered, and just plain good about your wealth.
Why Choose Us?
The Align Difference
Let's face it, there are plenty of providers competing for the privilege of managing your money. How does Align Wealth Management stand apart?
We enjoy a long-established history of solid performance that we gladly make available upon request. On a daily basis, every account we manage is tracked by an industry leading third-party reconciliation firm verifying our actual investment performance, net of fees. Accordingly, at any given time, we are able to precisely document our historical investment performance over a variety of market conditions.
Before investing a penny of your hard-earned money, we work with you to craft a customized plan with a focus on your specific goals, dollars, and deadlines. Then, we help you implement your plan to minimize the chance you'll take more risk than you have the ability, willingness and need to take. This focus on understanding risk has been instrumental to our continual delivery of successful investment experiences through both good and bad markets. We also help you minimize taxes and costs along the way.
With our distinguished credentials and meaningful experience, we have developed a national reputation for wealth management excellence. We have been recognized as one of America's top wealth management firms by BusinessWeek, Barron's, Financial Times, Wealth Manager Magazine, Financial Advisor Magazine, etc. In 2019, Align was named one of 300 elite advisor firms by the Financial Times. We are proud to see Align acknowledged in this way. The recognition reflects the commitment of our entire team and the fortitude of our clients who inspire us with their grace under pressure and sense of purpose.
Brokerage firms, banks, and insurance companies bombard you, selling expensive, commission-based products and declining a fiduciary role that would protect your best interests. To complicate matters, many financial service representatives call themselves "financial advisors" or "wealth managers" when they are actually working as commissioned salespeople for financial institutions that pay them handsomely for selling products to you. Unfortunately, too much of the retail financial services industry is still driven by this conflict-ridden sales culture.
We proudly go against the grain. At Align Wealth Management, we never forget whose money it is. We are honored to serve you in a fiduciary capacity in all of our business dealings. As advisors registered under the Investment Advisor Act of 1940, we are held to a fiduciary standard requiring us to act solely in your best interest. This fiduciary standard is more stringent than the "suitability" test applied to stockbrockers, insurance salespeople, and registered representatives. And, we proudly put our fiduciary promise to you in writing. You and your family deserve nothing less.
Our only business is fiduciary wealth management. As an independent, privately-owned firm, our recommendations are based solely on your goals and objectives. We work only for you ... not some large financial company, brokerage firm, bank, or insurance company. In fact, we do not receive any commissions or compensation from any third party. Every penny of our revenue is derived from fully disclosed fees for the advisory services we provide to you. Accordingly, every ounce of our allegiance flows directly to you. We are Client Focused. Period.
We stand behind our work with a no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee. If you don't love the work we do for you, simply let us know within the first year, and we will gladly refund every penny in fees you paid us. No questions asked; no strings attached.
You enjoy 24/7 access to your accounts from two sources, an independent custodian and a third-party reconciliation agent. We never take custody of your money. Instead, your accounts are held securely in your name with solid custodians such as Schwab and TD Ameritrade.
Our primary value lies in the timely and accurate delivery of unbiased wealth management services. You will always know what you own and why you own it. Rather than being limited to one contact person, you'll be served by a unified team dedicated to your specific needs. Our team approach enables us to help you coordinate your entire financial life and eliminate piecemeal, disjointed advice. We continuously monitor and manage your assets, assist with appropriate asset-titling, deliver tax-wise asset location, perform chores such as trading, re-balancing, record-keeping, tracking cost-basis, and other tax reporting issues. Additionally, we perform periodic progress reviews and we collaborate with your other trusted advisors (such as your CPA and attorney) to help you minimize your taxes and maximize your wealth.
Your investment costs are important not only because of the difference lower costs make to ultimate returns, but also because costs are an area that you can control irrespective of the market's ups and downs. We work diligently to ensure that your total investment costs are among the most competitive. Align clients incur no sales loads or 12b-1 fees. And, Align never charges or accepts a commission. The result? Our total cost is typically a fraction of industry averages.
Industry Average |
Align |
|
Advisory Fee for $2,000,000 Account | 1.00% | 0.95% |
Third Party Portfolio Management Fee¹ | Varies | None |
Mutual Fund Expense Ratio | 1.25%2 | 0.26%3 |
Mutual Fund Trading Charges | 1.44%4 | 0.09%5 |
TOTAL | 3.69% | 1.30% |
- Many firms outsource their investment management to a third-party asset manager, which charges an additional fee that is passed on to you.
- Mutual Fund Expense Ratio Trends, Morningstar - June 2014, Russell Kinnel, Director of Manager Research.
- Average expense ratio of Align Wealth Management's portfolios. Portfolio expenses range from 0.23% to 0.32%, depending on the asset allocation.
- Shedding Light on "Invisible" Costs: Trading Costs and Mutual Fund Performance. Roger Edelen, Richard Evans, and Gregory Kadlec - Financial Analysts Journal Vol. 69 #1, 2013.
- Average trading costs of all funds held within Align Wealth Management portfolios. Trading cost data for each fund received from personalfund.com, a third-party fund expense calculator.