Below you’ll find five different criteria in which Ascent Financial Group generates revenue for our firm and its advisors. We pride ourselves on being competitively priced while delivering immense value in our process and performance. Initial consults are always complimentary, and you will not be billed until you choose your path of engagement with us.
The creation of a Financial Plan is where the large majority of our new clients begin. Financial Planning is billed on a flat-fee basis. Upon review and synthesis of your objectives and data, we determine what your up-front fee will be in order for us to complete your comprehensive plan. Our firmwide minimum planning fee is $1,500, while the average is $2,500. The more complex your situation, such as business ownership or multiple real estate properties, the higher likelihood your fee will be more than the average. If you choose to enroll in our Financial Plan Maintenance Program, your ongoing fee will be 10% of the original plan fee, billed every six months. This will correspond to a meeting with your Advisor for maximum plan accountability, increasing your chance of success.
Example Financial Planning Timeline & Fee Breakdown:
Day 1: Client conducts initial complimentary consult with Advisor
Days 5: Advisor conducts Financial Planning proposal meeting with Client. If client accepts, agreement is signed and planning fee is paid. We accept most forms of payment. Plan is now in development phase.
Days 5-10: Advisor conducts Discovery meeting with Client. Client uploads all relevant data to secure Vault.
Day 10-21: Advisor utilizes objectives and data from Discovery meeting to create the initial Financial Plan.
Day 21: Financial Planning delivery meeting (typically 3-4 weeks from engagement).
~6 months later: Accountability meeting with Advisor to check progress.
~12 months later: Financial “Planniversary” meeting with Advisor to review your updated plan.
After the first year, the bi-annual accountability and update meeting schedule continues until the Plan Maintenance agreement is terminated.
Simply put, our fee for managing investments is 1% per year, or less. The management fee is billed quarterly based on the account balance at end of each quarter.
All portfolios are billed based on our typical fee schedule of 1% per year (plus internal costs of ETFs / mutual funds, which tend to be very inexpensive). While our minimum total household size for investment management is $100,000, accounts can have a lower minimum investment per account. For example, a new client may have two $50,000 accounts in order to meet the $100,000 household minimum.
There are additional costs for use of certain models and third-party separately managed accounts (SMAs). These accounts gives us the capability to build customized strategies with high end features such as tax overlay, sustainability screening, risk mitigation, capital gain and loss management, and access to the best separate account managers in the investment landscape. The fees for this program are based on account size and complexity, and range from 0.20%-0.55% per year, billed quarterly from each account. Therefore, the total cost for these accounts will be 1.20-1.55% per year. The third-party account minimum is $100,000.
We have the ability to enter into a consulting agreement for whatever purposes necessary. For clients that are not ready to pursue a Financial Plan, or utilize our other services, we can enter into a consulting engagement. Our Advisor’s maximum hourly rate is $250 per hour; however, rates may vary based on the Advisor with whom you choose to engage.
Often times at the culmination of a Financial Plan, a client chooses to pursue the acquisition of life insurance, disability insurance, or long-term care insurance. We are licensed professionals and maintain broker relationships with many of the top insurance companies in the U.S. Our clients that choose to hire us for insurance solutions do not pay a separate fee to do so. The insurance company will pay a commission to us as your broker in order to help you acquire and then service that policy over the long-term.
AFG works with many small to medium-sized businesses, specifically on their small group benefits and 401(k) plans. We aid in the administration of the plan, and for the assistance in those services, we are paid a fee from the plan on a quarterly basis. This fee can range from 0.10% - 0.50% per year depending on the size of the plan.
