Functioning as an entirely employee-owned and independent registered investment advisor (RIA), Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel is a fee-only financial advisor firm. The Cincinnati-based firm has a large team of financial advisors on staff. Although it works with a few different client types, Bahl & Gaynor mostly serves high-net-worth individuals. It generally requires a $750,000 account minimum.
The firm also appears on SmartAsset's lists of the top financial advisors in Cincinnati and top financial advisors in Ohio.
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel Background
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel’s co-chairmen and presidents William Bahl and Vere Gaynor opened the firm in 1990. The duo has spent an average of nearly 50 years in the financial services industry. Although Bahl and Gaynor remain the firm’s principal shareholders, several other principals at the firm now also own shares, making this a largely employee-owned business.
Bahl & Gaynor boasts such advisory certifications as a chartered financial analyst (CFA), chartered investment counselor (CIC), certified financial planner (CFP) and certified public accountant (CPA).
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Most of Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel’s client base is made up of high-net-worth individuals, meaning the firm deals almost exclusively with wealthy individuals and their families. However, the firm also has advisory relationships with non-high-net-worth individuals, businesses, charitable organizations, pension plans, profit-sharing plans, investment companies, insurance companies and state/municipal government entities.
In order to begin an advisory relationship with Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel, you must have at least $750,000 in investable assets. However, in certain situations, the firm may work with clients with lower levels of investable assets.
Services Offered by Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel combines aspects of investment management and financial planning in regard to all portfolio decisions. Here is a full list of the firm’s service offerings:
- Investment portfolio management
- Socially responsible investing considerations
- Tax considerations
- Investment goal determination
- Time horizon, risk tolerance and liquidity needs
- Asset allocation
- Wealth management
- Investment restrictions (if necessary)
- Financial planning
- Cash flow planning
- Retirement planning
- Trust services
- Tax planning
- Debt management
- Education funding strategies
- Insurance evaluation
- Net worth statement
- Financial goal development
- Current investment analysis
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel Investment Philosophy
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel uses two overarching investment strategies depending on clients’ needs: a fixed income strategy and an equity strategy. In either case, the firm adheres to a long-term time horizon, which it specifically defines as two to five years. This is done not only because the firm believes in its investment choices, but also because it wants to keep turnover, and therefore trading costs, to a minimum.
For its equity strategy, Bahl & Gaynor aims to identify and ultimately invest in high-quality, dividend-growth companies. In its Form ADV (SEC-filed paperwork), the firm defines high-quality companies as companies that have “consistent earnings growth, low debt levels, pay and grow dividends and are market leaders.” The same general principles apply to the firm’s fixed-income strategy, only to bonds and other related investments.
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel Fees
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel bases its fees on a percentage of assets under management. The firm’s rates vary somewhat depending on which strategy is used in a client’s portfolio. The tables below list all potential rates with the exception of Bahl & Gaynor’s Total Return Bond strategy. This is because the firm separately negotiates fees for this strategy.
| Fees for Quality Growth, Income Growth, Mid-Cap, Global Dividend Growth and Non-Strategy Specific Accounts | |
| Portfolio Value | Annual Fee |
| First $1,000,000 | 0.90% |
| Next $1,000,000 | 0.80% |
| Next $2,000,000 | 0.70% |
| Next $1,000,000 | 0.60% |
| Above $5,000,000 | 0.50% |
| Fees for Small-Cap and Smig-Cap Strategy Accounts | |
| Portfolio Value | Annual Fee |
| First $5,000,000 | 0.90% |
| Next $5,000,000 | 0.70% |
| Above $10,000,000 | 0.65% |
The firm charges clients quarterly in arrears, and fees are based on the value of the client’s portfolio on the final day of the last quarter. The above fees do not take into account brokerage and trading costs, which clients will be responsible for.
What to Watch Out For
Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel has a clean legal and regulatory record, with no disclosures listed in its Form ADV.
Opening an Account With Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel
If you’re interested in working with Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel, you can contact the firm by email or over the phone at (513) 287-6100.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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