Hiring a firm, or trusting an individual within a firm, to invest and protect your money for retirement or wealth accumulation is a big decision. Knowing what asset management company or wealth advisory service to hire can be a tough decision to make. How do you know your money is in the right hands? How do you know about their fees and how it affects your retirement or savings long term? In the financial planning business, reputation is one thing. But the philosophy and how they go about managing your portfolio is much more important.
Many seek the advice of a financial planner to navigate sudden changes in life such as marriage, divorce, death or switching a career. Selling a business can often result in needing a new approach, with a good business broker and a financial planner needed to take the seller to the next level of success.
Every stage of life calls for a different approach to saving and planning. If one started investing at age 21, the needs of that person are drastically different than one who starts at 65 years of age. The approach, how aggressive the investment portfolio is and the current income of the different individuals, are all things to consider. Many options are available for those who wish to invest and plan for a final destination—whether it’s freedom from the work force or for a very comfortable eventual retirement. The success or failure to reach the ultimate destination largely depends on the firm chosen and the performance of their services. Let’s not forget that the political climate, the state of the economy and how dedicated the investor is at staying with the market ups and downs are factors that can impact the lifetime results of your long-term financial strength.
Financial planning can be accomplished in several ways. Signing up with an online do-it-yourself investment company is one way. Another is to hire an actual advisor. Both strategies come with their pros and cons.
An online do-it-yourself firm lets you do it without human advice and usually comes with a lower price or cost to invest. After all, another human is not paid for doing research or making transactions in the investment. The option of hiring a wealth manager or financial planner comes with higher costs, but proven to have more lucrative results. Analysts say you can anticipate 2% to 4% higher results when you have direct involvement of an active financial planner versus going it alone.
What Will That 2% or 4% Cost?
Hiring a financial planner comes with greater returns but at higher costs? At which point is it beneficial? To know that, it’s crucial to understand how your advisor makes money. It will determine how they work to make you money. Which means it is important to understand the various options and payment structures. Here are the most common choices:
Hourly: The investor is charged for time use on his behalf, regardless of assets.
Retainer: A scheduled (usually monthly or annual) fee makes the Financial Advisor available, on-call for the advisory services the retainer covers.
Flat fees: A set price for financial planning and asset management services. The fees have nothing to do with the amount of the investor’s account, big or small. It’s like ordering off a menu of services.
Commission: The financial advisor receives a percentage of the money spent buying high-performing investments, usually charged per transaction.
Asset management: The investor is charged a fee based on how much money is invested and fees usually are paid directly from the investor’s account.
If a financial advisor is less motivated to make you more money—for example, an hourly fee—that advisor is more likely to spend time on another account. They make more money the more investments and assets grow in an Asset Management account. But also be aware that conflicts of interest can arise, depending on the fee structure. For example, advisors in Jacksonville might move money around needlessly if they get a flat fee per transaction. Taking a portion of the growth of the investment (commissions) may encourage more thoughtful transactions.
Financial Responsibility
How do you know an advisor isn’t pushing you into investments that benefit someone else’s interests more than your own? Be sure to ask a financial planner you plan to work with, “Do you have a fiduciary responsibility to my investments?” The question will tell you if he is licensed* or not. If he is, that means the financial planner must invest in your best interest first, even if it doesn’t benefit the financial planner. They are bound by ethics and regulations to do so. If the planner is not operating with a strict sense of fiduciary responsibility, he could lead you down a path that has more risk. But that riskier path can also offer a higher pay off for you, as well as him. Who can say which choice is better? It would be hard to determine. Safer? Or bigger and better results? Like anything else, depending on your unique situation, you may be wise to try it both ways to find which approach is better. The wisest course? Get to know your financial planner and make sure you feel comfortable with the road he or she has planned for you, tailored to the results you desire.
The following are the best financial planners in Jacksonville
Davis Capital Management
From fiduciary financial planning and fee-only investment management to business retirement plan design, Davis Capital Management safely manages assets and provides trusted financial insight to individuals, families, and business owners.
A Jacksonville native, Troy M. Davis completed the Executive Program for Financial Advisors though the University of Georgia and worked with Merrill Lynch and Fidelity Investments prior to opening Davis Capital Management in 2008. He believed, in order to truly serve clients, an investment advisory company had to provide excellent customer service.
Davis Capital Management takes the time to get to know clients, their plans and their financial dreams. As a fiduciary, the firm always puts clients’ interests first.
Davis Capital Management is committed to independent financial methodology and designs financial plans and investment portfolios based on each unique situation, for individuals and institutions. The team works hard to deserve the reputation of high integrity they’ve earned over the years. They start with a plan and then develop a relationship. They know clients and do not simply place clients in a portfolio based on a few risk questions. The advisors get to know all aspects of each client’s financial life and design a truly custom portfolio, based on your future goals and income needs such as whether a client’s goal is to leave a financial legacy or to live comfortably in retirement.
The firm also uses the latest in technology so clients can monitor their portfolios from anywhere. on earth and always know if the financial plan is on track and that the information is secure and at the tips of their fingers.
Davis Capital Management advisors also put their own money where their mouth is and invest in the same investments they recommend. Each client has an experienced advisor as a point of contact and a whole team of subject matter experts at their disposal to answer any questions.
Davis Capital Management
4788 Hodges Blvd
Suite 201
Jacksonville, Fl 32224
(904) 223-0510
https://www.daviscapitalsite.com/
Taras Wealth Management
With the complexity of today’s markets and uncertainty about tomorrow’s economy, good financial advice is more important than ever. As a team of dedicated Financial Advisors, Taras Wealth Management is committed to helping organize each client’s finances around short term needs and longer-term goals. The team’s knowledgeable perspective, good judgment and broad experience can help meet each client’s challenges and seize opportunities.
The firm’s mission is to provide quality strategies customized to a client’s needs and the goal is to be each client’s primary source of financial advice. The advisors concentrate on developing long-term relationships through quality client service.
Founding financial advisor and lead strategist of Taras Wealth Management, Jeanie Taras, CFP, provides financial expertise and customized solutions in portfolio management, retirement planning, and personal financial planning to answer clients’ questions about wealth management.
Working with estate and trust attorneys, divorce attorneys, and CPAs, the four person team develops comprehensive investment plans suited to specific needs.
Taras Wealth Management
One Independent Drive
Independent Square
30th Floor
Jacksonville, FL 32202
(904) 358-4175
https://advisors.ubs.com/taraswealthmanagement/Index.htm
Wolf Retirement Navigation
Wolf Retirement Navigation concentrates on retirement planning–a field that encompasses many focus areas. The team are current and well versed in each and are also results-driven. They offer knowledge to advise, solutions to help, and answers clients need.
Wolf Retirement Navigation believes success in retirement means clients enjoy life without worrying about money. That means a well prepared, winning game plan with strategies in place to help maximize each client’s nest egg.
Helping to protect against market corrections, choosing wise investments that provide potential for solid returns, incorporating multiple guaranteed income streams ensures clients will never run out of money. Most importantly, implementing tax strategies helps keep more of their client’s money in their accounts and less in Uncle Sam’s. That is the essence of what Wolf Retirement Navigation does.
Adam Wolf, president of Wolf Retirement Navigation, LLC, has more than 20 years of experience in the personal financial services industry and earned his Certified Financial Planning™ certification in 2005. He is knowledgeable and current in the areas of financial planning, taxes, annuities, life insurance, and investments and genuinely understands how these products deliver solutions his clients and help them reach financial goals, especially leading up to and through retirement. Wolf Retirement Navigation gives clients every possible chance to succeed by building individualized and comprehensive written retirement plans.
Wolf uses his deep understanding and many years of experience to help clients prepare for, transition to, and enjoy retirement and has even been given the nickname of “Jacksonville’s Retirement Coach.” You can catch Adam on TV, radio, or read one of his published articles. Wolf Retirement Navigation is an independent broad-spectrum financial advisory firm built upon the premise of maintaining a client-centered approach. They are dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of excellence and ethics, as defined by the firm’s fiduciary duty. A client’s interests are placed — legally, ethically, and morally — first and foremost in each and every decision Wolf Retirement Navigation makes on the client’s behalf. The team’s goal is to tailor a successful retirement plan that offers guidance along life’s journey and the flexibility to adapt to potential changes along the way for each client— empowering them to live the lifestyle desired and leave the legacy each envisions.
Wolf Retirement Navigation
4230 Pablo Professional Ct
Suite 101
Jacksonville, FL 32224
(904) 232-8760
https://wolfretirement.com/
Paragon Wealth Strategies
The Certified Financial Planners (cfp®) at Paragon Wealth Strategies want to make their clients’ jobs optional.
Though they hope anyone who has a job enjoys it, they want it to be optional. The firm strives to get each client where they can retire on their own terms, without worries about cash flow, retirement income, or retirement health care costs.
Their job, for the clients who’ve already retired, is to give them the confidence to live out their days knowing that—though they may choose to—they you will never have to work again.
Founded in 2004 as a branch office of a broker dealer, when the storm clouds approached as the financial crisis of 2008 loomed, the founders decided to create a fiduciary, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firm, independent of Wall Street’s interests, designed to look out only for clients’ best interests. Registered directly with the SEC, with a negotiated relationship with Fidelity for safekeeping client’s funds and implementing investments, the firm’s goal was to create a cost effective alternative to abuses, conflicts of interest, and poor levels of service they’d observed at leading Wall Street and retail financial firms. Paragon Wealth Strategies strive to be the best financial advisors in Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra for clients who desire holistic wealth management, delivered by a team of experienced financial professionals who care about each client as individuals.
To provide the highest level of advice and service, the firm serves as a TEAM instead of as individual advisors. This helps keep objectivity and understand each client better. All team members have obtained the CFP credential. For Paragon Wealth Strategies, it is the minimum level of advisor competence hired.
Paragon Wealth Strategies
10245 Centurion Pkwy N. Ste. 106
Jacksonville, FL 32256
(904) 861-0093
https://www.wealthguards.com/
River Capital Advisors, L.C.
Since 1998, River Capital Advisors, L.C. has been a financial fiduciary with a fee-only compensation structure that ensures that their advisors work entirely for each client and put their best interests first, every time. Founded in 1998 as a subsidiary of Smoak, Davis & Nixon, LLP, one of the Southeast’s oldest (since 1924) and most respected CPA firms the firm serves clients locally and nationally and are registered with the SEC as an independent, registered investment advisory firm.
Born out of a desire to help individuals in all aspects of their investments, the team of professional Certified Financial Planners and Certified Public Accountants are dedicated to helping each client achieve financial success. With collectively over 60 years of knowledge and expertise in the industry, River Capital Advisors know how to assist with complex planning situations and can advise in areas other firms may not have dealt with. Each client works with multiple professionals within the firm and gains from the collective knowledge.
The firm’s fee structure is fully transparent and services are provided on a fee-only basis, which means the firm does not sell any products or receive “kickbacks”
The firm offers three levels of financial planning and wealth management to accommodate the various levels of need for individuals, families, and small businesses.
River Capital Advisors get to know each client and reviews the current financial situation for each, then develops a strategy to help achieve goals. The approach to planning is personalized and proactive – designed to be appropriate for every client’s current situation and anticipating future goals and needs. Every client is different and deserves a plan created exclusively for them.
Helping achieve financial goals and objectives is more than picking appropriate investments or choosing the right insurance. The team at River Capital Advisors strives to be each client’s independent voice, listener, architect, teacher, coach, guardian and expert.
River Capital Advisors, L.C.
5011 Gate Parkway Building 100
Suite 300 Jacksonville
Florida 32256
904.398.2075
https://www.rcawealth.com/
TrustWell
There’s something comforting about exploring an unfamiliar city with a guide who knows the best restaurants, the best lodging, the best things to do and see. It’s even better when that guide works only for you. Not the restaurants. Not the hotels. Not the attractions, anxious to have your money. Personal finance can be like a strange and dangerous city sometimes. TrustWell doesn’t sell products and or receive commissions. They are that independent financial guide—with one goal: to works only for the client and act in their best interest.
Established in 1987, TrustWell has always focused on putting clients first.
Saving and investing is a key part of most everyone’s financial plan. Accumulating wealth and managing it to grow and last for a lifetime is much more challenging. Life is busy and the financial world is complex. Most people’s greatest talents are in areas other than finance. They don’t have the time, knowledge, or the interest in managing the hard-earned money they have accumulated.
For over 30 years, TrustWell has helped clients with investment management services. Advisors build a custom portfolio aligned to each client’s goals and objectives so clients can focus on what matters most to them. Most Americans pass through life with no well-considered plan for their money. Financial planning is the process of determining where you are now, where you want to be, and the best route for getting there. TrustWell helps clarify the path to reach financial goals
TrustWell
8825 Perimeter Park Blvd, Suite 304
Jacksonville, FL 32216
904 996 – 7800
https://trustwellfa.com/
Hubbard Financial Planners
Hubbard Financial Planners clients are professionals, business owners and self-made successes that have established themselves in their families and communities. They want to stay ahead of inflation and spend more time enjoying friends, family, activities and hobbies without constant portfolio worries. Experience, knowledge and ongoing attention are critical to reaching financial goals so they depend on Hubbard Financial Planners to provide a proven professional guidance through the many opportunities and challenges of the financial world. Advisors at Hubbard Financial Planners ensure that clients have the resources to manage the wealth they’ve worked hard to accumulate.
Hubbard Financial Planners have insight, experience and integrity. Successful financial planning is about truly understanding the needs and priorities of real people. Their clients’ goals are the advisors goals and a client’s lifestyle becomes the approach for planning as Hubbard Financial Planners become trusted partners in wealth strategy.
Through individualized consultation and industry-proven financial planning and wealth management techniques, the firm delivers the value of extensive training, education and access to a multitude of comprehensive resources to assist in the achievement of each client’s unique financial goals. Hubbard Financial Planners provide realistic and responsive strategies to help deal with or plan for major life events.
Founded in 1986, the firm has been driven to be among the best in the industry. The philosophy is that standard financial requirements are only a starting point and the firm strives to be an asset to the clients it serves. Today, the firm stands committed to nurturing client relationships through educated, insightful thinking and hard work.
Hubbard Financial Planners encourages clients to participate in their own financial plans and apply their own financial acumen and understanding where appropriate. Ultimately, working with
Hubbard Financial Planners is meant to be a relationship and the motivating goal is to help make sure client’s money serves the purpose each client intends, now and for future generations.
Hubbard Financial Planners
4040 Woodcock Drive, Suite 205
Jacksonville, FL 32207
(904) 399-8883
https://www.hubbardfinancialplanners.com/
Sanchez Wealth Management Group
Sanchez Wealth Management Group, LLC became a registered investment advisory firm in 2013 and is a fee-based investment advisory firm dedicated to the fiduciary standard of care for their clients. They help families live the life they dream of. Sanchez Wealth Management believes a proactive approach to the capital markets can enhance the standard of living for generations and their goals-based wealth management, combined with comprehensive financial planning and ongoing communication and education help get their clients there.
Transparent, objective and individualized advice are the cornerstones of the firm, so clients can feel confident and secure about financial matters being taken care of.
Sanchez Wealth strives to simplify the demands of managing wealth so clients can devote their time to business, personal endeavors and their families. The firm organizes assets, insurance, liabilities, and estate documents to simplify, consolidate and integrate every aspect of each client’s financial future.
The founding partner has more than 24 years’ experience in the financial management industry and has guided clients through multiple market cycles and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary AIF™.
The experienced staff at Sanchez Wealth Management Group aims to provide a continued education that will strengthens the working relationship with clients.
Sanchez Wealth Management Group offers all-encompassing services for clients and their reputation thrives on striving to provide a high level of customer satisfaction. When clients are truly confident in their financial stability, the firm has done its job.
Sanchez Wealth Management Group
5150 Belfort Road, Suite 702
Jacksonville, FL 32256
904 281 9261
http://www.sanchezwealth.com/
Diana Monell Fanning
Diana Monell Fanning is a Portfolio Manager in the UBS Portfolio Management Program who hold FINRA Series 7 and 66 securities registrations as well as licenses for life, variable insurance, and health insurance. The firm addresses every dimension of client’s lives and goals, investments, business and legacy to develop a plan that’s truly personalized. The firm helps organize a client’s financial life into three strategies. Liquidity helps provide cash flow for short-term expenses. Longevity helps provide for longer-term needs and goals. Legacy provides for the needs that go beyond the client’s for generations to come.
UBS Wealth Way is a way to approach those strategies and Diana Monell Fanning primarily focuses on custom financial and retirement planning, advanced wealth preservation and gifting strategies, as well as insurance and long-term care planning. The firm helps individuals, families, and business owners develop, execute and evaluate the success of their customized plan compared to their goals. The goal is for clients to feel comfortable knowing they’re making better financial decisions and understanding their life, wealth and what they want to accomplish.
Diana Monell Fanning
One Independent Drive
Independent Square, 30th Floor
Jacksonville, FL 32202
(904) 358-4186
https://advisors.ubs.com/diana.monell/Index.htm
Riverplace Capital Management
Riverplace Capital Management was founded in 1998 and no one on the firm’s team has spent fewer than 25 years in finance. The firm offers a variety of financial management services, including: Financial problem identification, Retirement planning, Insurance review, Tax planning, Cash flow management, Investment management, Education funding and Estate planning.
Riverplace Capital Management primarily uses dynamic asset allocation and continually builds a watch list of investments it believes are most suitable for clients. The firm then actively tries to anticipate where the market is headed and the firm consistently refreshes its current watch list to ensure that stagnation doesn’t settle in.
Advisors then implement the investments that are in line with each client’s goals and risk tolerance. The exact investments utilized vary depending on the client’s objectives.
The firm’s Certified Financial Planners manage assets internally and have earned the trust of individual and family clients. Besides Jacksonville, the firm serves clients all over the United States. The firm delivers top performance through financial planning and disciplined investing and works with clients to enhance investment results and income, manage risk and provide tax protection.
The Lonely Bull moniker reflects independence of thought and a unique hands-on approach to investing. Unlike most firms, clients work directly with the people managing their money.
The Bull has maintained a balance between two styles of investing with a bias toward growth.
Riverplace Capital Management/The Lonely Bull
1301 Riverplace Boulevard, Suite 2130
Jacksonville, FL 32207
https://riverplacecapital.com/
Life Planning Partners, Inc
Life Planning Partners, Inc’s goal is to provide the absolute best in financial life planning. The firm strives to help organize and optimize resources, implementing a sound “Financial Life Plan” to create a great life in the present while providing resiliency for whatever the future brings their clients’ way.
The firm’s advisory team works with clients in an effort to reach their financial goals, one important step at a time. Step one is clarifying goals and identifying what clients want now and in the future. Step two is a diligent review of financial resources and health. Step three develops a plan to reach client’s goals, achieve peace of mind, and reach a high state of financial wellness.
The firm then manages investments through the uncertainties of the market, always keeping client’s goals in mind, keeping assets with a large, independent custodian for safekeeping. All assets are managed from a low cost and tax efficient perspective and plans are updated as life circumstances change. As goals are achieved, the next challenges are identified. Life Planning Partners,
Inc serves as financial bodyguards for hard-earned assets. As an independent fee-only firm, clients are the first and only priority and there are no commissions, referral fees or hidden charges. Financial health and peace of mind starts with a phone call and the firm welcomes questions about their professional credentials, investment philosophies, and about how their advisors can help clients live their best possible life.
Because Life Planning Partners is focused on taking great care of current clients, at this time, they are not taking new clients. But if you are reading this, that may have changed. It is well worth checking to find out—which is why this firm has been included in this list despite not taking new clients.
Life Planning Partners
6550 St. Augustine Road, Suite 302
Jacksonville, FL 32217
904.448.5158
https://www.lifeplanningpartners.com/
The team providing this Top Ten list believes smart people make smart decisions because they educate themselves on the choices they are preparing to make. We hope we’ve helped you become smarter about choosing a financial advisor that meets your unique and specific needs. We try to provide readers with up-to-date information that will help make those good decisions. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the information we’ve provided and learning about some of the choices for Financial Advisors in the Jacksonville area.
No content is intended to constitute professional advice. This content is not responsible or liable for any consequences relating directly or indirectly to any action you take or fail to take based on the information provided. It is very important to do your own analysis, based on your own personal circumstances, before making any investment. Consult with your own investment, financial, tax and legal advisers. Readers agree to indemnify and hold harmless the providers of this information, from and against any and all liability, losses, claims, demands, disputes, damages or costs of any kind.