Any Experience with Clark Asset Mgmt or Integrity Wealth Solns?

[WizardOfGauze]

My dad is a physician as well and has been using a financial advising firm that has charged 1% for the past 16 years. He has finally come to the realization that he's being ripped off. Got him set up to take the Fire Your Financial Advisor course, however, he is very nervous and I think will want to run his plan past a fee-only advisor. I looked at the recommended financial advisor list and it looks like Clark Asset Mgmt and Integrity Wealth Solutions would be a fit for him based on their descriptions.

Does anybody here have any experience with these firms? Or is there anybody else he should look into working with?

Dad has a 8 figure net worth and is probably paying six figures/year in management fees. It's ridiculous. They have him spread out across about 30 different funds plus some treasury bonds. Unnecessarily complicated.

[The White Coat Investor]

Keep in mind that few people who hang out on financial forums also use financial advisors. Kind of different groups of people. You might ask them if they have a client or two that would be willing to talk to him.

But based on what you're telling me, ANY firm on that list will be a huge step up for your dad.

[Larry Ragman]

No experience with these two, but agree with WCI it would be worth talking to the financial advisors on his list. There are others. But meanwhile, here is a related alternative suggestion. He (and whoever he wants to bring - a FA, you, etc) could sit down with his current wealth manager and explain unhappiness with the complexity of the portfolio as well as the ridiculous 1% AUM. My guess, it’s worse than you think, because he is probably paying the 1% per annum on top of underlying fees. So, I would ask them to make tax efficient migrations to a less complex portfolio. Notably, why don’t they have him in no load mutual funds or ETFs? At the same time I would ask for fee concessions in two areas: 1) the AUM fee should be net of any underlying fees (e.g., loads on funds); 2) the AUM should be graduated. That is, maybe 1% on the first half mil, then step down to 0.3% on anything over a million. Something like that would be much more reasonable. I was able to help a friend negotiate a deal like that on the threat of moving the funds.

[Lithium]

I would look at the ADV part 2 of any advisor you consider. You can find it at brokercheck.finra.org

Is there anything unique about your Dad’s situation? In other words, do you think he really needs an advisor that mainly works with physicians?

I know of one advisor who does outstanding project-based plans for $6400. Which is a rounding error for someone with an eight figure NW. Honestly, though, if he is nervous about managing his own finances, it may be worth it for him to go on retainer. I assume he is close to retirement, has SS on the horizon, will be drawing his assets down soon, and he may have more complicated estate planning needs.

It is rare that I disagree with Larry, but I can’t see a good reason why he should stick with this current advisor. Even if the fees could be cut from six figures a year to $50k/year, that is way too much, and it sounds like he isn’t getting much value for those six figure annual fees. It’s pretty impressive that he has an eight-figure NW despite getting fleeced for so long.

[Larry Ragman]

I would look at the ADV part 2 of any advisor you consider. You can find it at brokercheck.finra.org

Is there anything unique about your Dad’s situation? In other words, do you think he really needs an advisor that mainly works with physicians?

I know of one advisor who does outstanding project-based plans for $6400. Which is a rounding error for someone with an eight figure NW. Honestly, though, if he is nervous about managing his own finances, it may be worth it for him to go on retainer. I assume he is close to retirement, has SS on the horizon, will be drawing his assets down soon, and he may have more complicated estate planning needs.

It is rare that I disagree with Larry, but I can’t see a good reason why he should stick with this current advisor. Even if the fees could be cut from six figures a year to $50k/year, that is way too much, and it sounds like he isn’t getting much value for those six figure annual fees. It’s pretty impressive that he has an eight-figure NW despite getting fleeced for so long.

Just to clarify, this option is really only for the situation where Dad won’t pull the trigger. That’s what happened with my friend. He was fearful of leaving his (completely nonfinancial) wife with a lot of money and no ability to manage it. Would not move the money despite the situation being clearly financially disadvantageous because she trusted them. I bowed to the inevitable and talked him through some improvements.

[endomd]

My dad is a physician as well and has been using a financial advising firm that has charged 1% for the past 16 years. He has finally come to the realization that he's being ripped off. Got him set up to take the Fire Your Financial Advisor course, however, he is very nervous and I think will want to run his plan past a fee-only advisor. I looked at the recommended financial advisor list and it looks like Clark Asset Mgmt and Integrity Wealth Solutions would be a fit for him based on their descriptions.

Does anybody here have any experience with these firms? Or is there anybody else he should look into working with?

Dad has a 8 figure net worth and is probably paying six figures/year in management fees. It's ridiculous. They have him spread out across about 30 different funds plus some treasury bonds. Unnecessarily complicated.

I would suggest listen to the most recent podcast as the advisor from Clark asset mgmt was there. I feel the flat fee (no AUM, $9500/year) would be very reasonable for high asset individuals, and the suggestions he made was reasonable.

[WizardOfGauze]

Thanks for this! I forwarded it along. He has scheduled a consult. Since my last post we have found out that the situation was even worse - the financial firm he was with was bought by another firm who added an additional 0.5% AUM fee on top of the origjnal firm’s existing 1% fees. Absurd. And it was really not transparent at all. Any trades That didn’t include their in-house managed mutual funds (with expense ratios from 0.5 - 1%) came with a $100 fee.

yikes. He is going to be moving out of this firm ASAP.

[Tim]

Vanguard AND Fidelity are other options as well.
Not sure what account types he has, one phone call to set up a discussion works wonders. I would suggest that you pitch to your Dad having you listen in to the discussion via a 3 way call regardless of the path if he is amenable.
Your role is a second opinion, Dad is nervous and he can be reassured or have someone just to talk things through. That helps with the confidence level greatly,

[VagabondMD]

Bradley Clark, founder of Clark Asset Management, was featured on the recent WCI podcast. He was excellent. I really liked his philosophy and approach to late career and especially retirement financial planning. I am a recalcitrant DIYer, but based on what I heard from the podcast, along with the WCI endorsement, I would recommend this firm for those in retirement. If something were to take me out of the picture, I would be comfortable with my wife working with this firm.

[Ykcor]

After years of DIY, I basically burned out on financial investing and couple years ago decided to hire a Financial Advisor. I interviewed several on Whitecoat list of recommended FAs including Bradley Clark and Integrity Wealth Solutions. I would have been happy with either. I eventually signed on with FPL Capital Management, mainly because of the cost, $5K vs approx. $10K. But that doesn't sound like a consideration for your dad. Nevertheless, I have been pleased so far with my decision.