Top Financial Advisors in Albany, NY

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Graypoint is a fee-based advisory firm whose client base is dominated by high-net-worth individuals, as none of its individual clients come in below the high-net-worth threshold. Institutional clients of the firm include charitable organizations, businesses, retirement plans and government entities. There is a $500,000 minimum investment requirement for new clients of Graypoint. However, the firm may be willing negotiate this minimum.

The services at Graypoint are split into two general categories: investment advisory services and holistic family office/financial planning services. Its set of investment offerings includes helping client build a portfolio according to their needs. Financial planning services are holistic and can involve tax and cash flow planning, retirement planning, estate planning, death and disability planning, insurance review and planning, budget planning and more.

wwwwGraypoint bases every client portfolio it creates on what the client is looking for. More specifically, the firm will focus on important factors like your time horizon, risk tolerance, income needs, liquidity needs and overall financial and investment goals. To further flesh out the picture of your finances, the firm may also look into your past investment history, tax situation, background and family composition.

When it comes to the management and investment of your assets, the firm can do so on either a discretionary or non-discretionary basis. The firm is open to investing in a number of different securities, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), certificates of deposit (CDs), corporate and government debt securities, options and structured notes. On some occasions, the firm may even invest in hedge funds and private equity/venture capital partnerships.

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Curran Wealth Management has a large advisory staff. The minimum account sizes and annual fees at this firm vary depending on the services you’re looking for. Here's a breakdown:

• Portfolio management accounts: $100,000, with a $2,500 minimum annual fee
• Institutional accounts: $3,000,000, with a minimum annual fee of $15,000 to $22,500

The firm splits its services into investment management and financial planning offerings. The former involves investing assets according to the firm’s overarching philosophy, whereas financial planning is more goal-based. Some examples of this are retirement planning, education cost planning, tax preparation services, insurance analysis and more.

When you become a client of Curran Wealth Management, your advisor will go over your personal risk tolerance, time horizon, investment goals and income needs. Based on this all-important information, the firm will throw together an asset allocation that fits what you’re looking for. When it comes to specific investments, Curran normally utilizes equities, bonds, warrants, commercial paper, CDs, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), money market accounts and more.

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Independent Family Office is perhaps the most high-net-worth-centric firm on this list. In fact, the firm’s entire client base is comprised of individuals and families with a high net worth. So while the firm does not state a specific account minimum, it’s clear that its focus is on affluent clients.

Investment supervisory services at this firm include asset allocation planning, risk tolerance assessment, tax liability planning, cash flow projections and more. On the other hand, financial planning is much more open and revolves around tax planning, charitable gift planning, retirement planning, estate planning and risk management.

Independent Family Office isn’t shy about using a wide range of securities when investing client assets. In fact, according to its Form ADV, the firm considers investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), equities, corporate bonds, mutual funds, U.S. government securities, options contracts, municipal bonds and CDs.

Not all of the above investments will make the cut into your portfolio. Instead, your risk tolerance, time horizon and other applicable factors will determine the makeup of your portfolio.

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Greenbush Financial Group offers both investment management and financial planning services to clients. Financial planning can cover a range of topics, such as investment consulting, tax planning, risk management, retirement planning, estate planning, cash flow optimization and more. Investment management involves the design and supervision of a personally created investment portfolio.

Generally speaking, you'll need at least $50,000 in investable assets to become a client of Greenbush Financial Group, though this requirement is negotiable. The firm's client base is dominated by non-high-net-worth individuals, but it also includes high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans and businesses.

When deciding which investments to invest client assets in, Greenbush Financial Group utilizes a combination of fundamental and technical analysis. Fundamental analysis uses an evaluation of a security or company's tangible and intangible factors, economic factors, qualitative factors and more to determine its intrinsic value. On the other hand, technical analysis evaluates the value of a security by looking at overall market activity, historical prices and past volume.

Greenbush uses both long- and short-term purchases within its clients' portfolios, which gives it the flexibility to meet clients goals regardless of their associated time horizon. The firm sometimes uses other investment strategies as well, including option writing, short sales and trading.

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AllSquare Wealth Management is a fee-based firm that comes in next on our list. Most of AllSquare’s client funds belong to high-net-worth individuals, but non-high-net-worth individuals comprise the majority of its client base. The firm also maintains relationships with pension and profit-sharing plans and charitable organizations. There is no minimum needed to become a client here.

Financial planning services at this firm cover retirement income projections, financial statement development, income tax planning, college education funding, existing investment analysis, risk management review and more. If you’d prefer a more general approach, the firm offers investment management as well.

In its Form ADV, AllSquare Wealth Management states that its strategy is “based on the underlying premise that publicly traded financial markets are efficient and that any attempt to distinguish attractive from unattractive securities is futile.” The firm will work to develop a specific asset allocation for you that features passively-managed securities, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), open-ended mutual funds and individual treasury securities.

Should your asset allocation stray from its target, the firm will rebalance your portfolio as needed. The same may be done if your overall investing goals shift at all.

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Each advisor at AlbanyAdvisor Group holds a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation. This firm provides services within both investment management and financial planning. While the former is customized to your needs, the latter is defined by a number of offerings. These include retirement planning, long-term goal planning, education fund planning, insurance needs analysis and more.

Generally speaking, AlbanyAdvisor Group tends to invest in some combination of ETFs, mutual funds, stocks and bonds when managing client assets. The determination of your portfolio’s asset allocation will depend entirely on your needs and goals. This includes your risk tolerance, time horizon and income needs.

The firm also states that it prefers to invest for long-term gains as opposed to trying to beat the market in the short term. Tax considerations are also made when choosing investments for client portfolios.

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Arista Advisory Group is up next. As all of the firm's compensation comes from client-paid fees, this firm is a fee-only operation. This is a different from a fee-based firm, which can receive client fees in addition to third-party sales commissions.

There are far more non-high-net-worth individual clients at this firm than their high-net-worth counterparts. Charitable organizations, businesses and pension and profit-sharing plans also hold accounts at this firm. Arista Advisory does not have a minimum investment needed to become a client.

If you subscribe to portfolio management services at Arista Advisory, you’ll receive asset allocation planning, investment strategy customization and regular portfolio monitoring. Financial planning clients will have access to retirement planning, college fund planning, debt/credit planning, tax planning, life insurance analysis and investment planning.

For the most part, Arista Advisory Group tends to use long-term trading strategies during its investment process. What this really means is that the firm looks to make investments in securities that it will ideally hold onto for at least one year. This approach is intended to reduce transaction costs and keep your returns more stable.

Broadway Advisor Group, which also goes by is a fee-only firm that primarily services individuals, most of whom are non-high-net-worth individuals. There is no set account minimum.

Besides portfolio management, which is offered on a discretionary and a non-discretionary basis, the firm provides financial planning services, which may include but are not limited to investment planning, life insurance, tax concerns, retirement planning, college planning and debt and credit planning. 

Broadway Advisor Group, which manages clients funds on both a discretionary and non-discretionary basis, also administers a wrap-fee program. Management fees range from 1.50% for assets under management (AUM) less than $1 million to 0.75% for AUMs greater than $6 million. The fee for creating client pension consulting plans is between $1,000 and $25,000.

The firm generally limits its investment advice to mutual funds, fixed-income securities, real estate funds (including REITs), insurance products including annuities, equities, hedge funds, private equity funds, ETFs (including precious metal sectors), Treasury inflation-protected and inflation-linked bonds, commodities, non-U.S. securities, venture capital funds and private placements.

Broadway Advisor Group uses several methods to analyze investment opportunities for clients, including fundamental analysis, technical analysis, cyclical analysis, charting, modern portfolio theory and quantitative analysis.

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Dutch Asset Corporation is a fee-based firm that currently has the lowest amount of assets under management (AUM) invested on this list. Portfolio management services at the firm include investment strategy, asset allocation, risk tolerance, asset selection and more. Other services offered by the firm includes pension consulting and financial planning. The firm typically works with individuals, high-net-worth individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, corporations and other business entities.

The fees for portfolio management ranges based on the total annual AUM, but typically doesn't exceed 2.0% annually. Pension consulting is also based off of assets, and is 1.50%. Financial planning services are charged in two different ways, either hourly or via fixed fees. Client financial fans typically cost between $495 to $25,000 or $300 per hour. 

The firm's method of analysis to choose investments for portfolios are fundamental, technical and modern portfolio theory. While the firm may adopt a variety of strategies that match the needs of each individual client, they often use long term trading, short term trading, margin transactions and options trading. 

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Blue Jean Financial is a fee-based firm that is the newest (or youngest) firm on this list. The firm offers a variety of investment management and financial planning services. The firm works with individuals, high-net-worth individuals, trusts, estates, non-profits and businesses. 

The firm doesn't receive compensation for the sale of securities. Investment advisory fees are paid monthly in arrears and are based on the market value of the current assets under management (AUM). The fee is based on a percentage of the AUM and ranges from 0.50% to 2.00%. 

Blue Jean Financial typically employs fundamental and tactical analysis methods in developing investment strategies for its clients. Some of the sources used to