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Beacon Pointe Advisors Review

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This review was produced by SmartAsset based on publicly available information. The named firm and its financial professionals have not reviewed, approved, or endorsed this review and are not responsible for its accuracy. Review content is produced by SmartAsset independently of any business relationships that might exist between SmartAsset and the named firm and its financial professionals, and firms and financial professionals having business relationships with SmartAsset receive no special treatment or consideration in SmartAsset’s reviews. This page contains links to SmartAsset’s financial advisor matching tool, which may or may not match you with the firm mentioned in this review or its financial professionals.

Beacon Pointe Advisors is a fee-based financial advisor firm founded in 2002. This firm has its headquarters in Newport Beach, California. It also places first on SmartAsset's list of the top financial advisors in Newport Beach.

This firm has received significant industry-wide recognition nearly every year since 2005. This includes placements on the Financial Times' Top 300 RIAs list, Barron's various lists of the top RIAs in the U.S., Forbes' list of the Fastest Growing RIAs in the U.S. and more.

Beacon Pointe Advisors Background

Beacon Pointe Advisors was founded in Newport Beach in 2002. The firm is almost entirely owned by its employees. Shannon Eusey is the primary owner of the firm, technically owning it through Beacon Pointe Holdings, LLC. One outside investor named Royce Yudkoff also holds a stake in the firm.

Among the firm's advisors are 61 certified financial planners (CFPs), 17 chartered financial analysts (CFAs), five certified investment management analysts (CIMAs), five certified public accountants (CPAs) and more.

Beacon Pointe Advisors Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes

The majority of Beacon Pointe's more than 10,000 clients are individuals, with a nearly even split between those with a high net worth and those without. The rest of the client base includes pensions and other retirement plans, charitable organizations, government entities, insurance companies and businesses.

To start a relationship with Beacon Pointe, the firm generally requires you to have at least $1 million in investable assets. However, the firm may decide to reduce or waive this minimum at its sole discretion.

Services Offered by Beacon Pointe Advisors

Beacon Pointe Advisors has no shortage of offerings when it comes to advisory services. Here’s a quick breakdown of what it can do:

  • Consulting services
    • Financial planning
    • Investment policy development
    • Asset allocation planning
    • Manager and/or mutual fund search
    • Third-party manager monitoring
    • Performance evaluation
    • Custodial search and selection
    • 401(k) consulting
    • Education services
  • Asset Management
    • Managed Account Program (combination of financial planning and investment management)

Asset management services at Beacon Pointe come in the form of its Managed Account Program. In some cases, the firm's advisors will manage client assets directly, but most of the time, the firm will recommend third-party managers to oversee a portion or all of client portfolios, then provide continuous reviewing and monitoring of these managers.

Beacon Pointe Advisors Investment Philosophy

Beacon Pointe will generally allocate client assets between no-load mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private funds when managing portfolios directly.

Generally speaking, the firm follows a number of core asset classes that it looks to include in client portfolios. These are:

  • U.S. Equity
  • Non-U.S. Equity (Developed Markets)
  • Non-U.S. Equity (Emerging Markets)
  • U.S. Fixed-Income
  • Global Fixed-Income
  • Public Real Estate
  • Private Real Estate
  • Private Equity (Venture Capital, Buyout or Fund of Funds)
  • Hedge Funds (Fund of Funds)
  • Real Assets

Within each of these asset classes, Beacon Pointe may decide to adhere to different styles of investment. In other words, depending on the client's needs, the firm may utilize strategies like value investing, growth investing and more.

Fees Under Beacon Pointe Advisors

For its asset management services, Beacon Pointe Advisors charges a percentage-based advisory fee related to your assets under management. For individual clients, there is a wrap fee program with rates ranging from 0.50% to 1.15%, depending on account size. For institutional clients, this rate can vary from 0.30% to 1.00%. As a point of reference, RIA in a Box's recent study on annual advisory fees showed the average rate is 0.95% of AUM.

For consulting services, the firm may charge a fixed, hourly or annual retainer fee. They each go as follows:

  • Fixed: at least $25,000
  • Hourly: between $350 and $500 an hour
  • Annual retainer fee
    • Discretionary portfolios: between 0.20% and 0.50%
    • Non-discretionary portfolios: between 0.08% and 0.50%

As a fee-based firm, some of Beacon Pointe's advisors receive commissions for selling certain insurance products, which represents a potential conflict of interest. Regardless, the firm abides by fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of its clients. 

What to Watch Out For

There are no disclosures listed on Beacon Pointe Advisors' Form ADV, which means it has a clean legal and regulatory record.

Beacon Pointe employs some advisors that can earn commissions from insurance product sales. These commissions have the potential to cause a conflict of interest, but the firm remains obligated to act in clients' best interests due to its fiduciary duty.

Opening an Account With Beacon Pointe Advisors

If you’d like to become a client of Beacon Pointe Advisors, you can contact the firm a few different ways. You can call its headquarters at (949) 718-1600, or you can send an email to info@beaconpointe.com. Visit the firm’s website to find the contact information for its many regional offices in the following cities:

  • Newport Beach, CA
  • Fresno, CA
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Campbell, CA
  • Palm Desert, CA
  • Riverside, CA
  • San Diego, CA
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Scottsdale, AZ
  • Boston, MA
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Dallas, TX
  • Summit, NJ

All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.

Tips for Finding a Financial Advisor

  • It can be difficult to know what type of advisor makes the most sense for your situation. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
  • Wondering whether you're on track to retire comfortably? Our retirement calculator can help you determine how much you’ll need to save based on your retirement income needs and current savings picture.

How Long $1mm Lasts in Retirement

SmartAsset's interactive map highlights places where $1 million will last the longest in retirement. Zoom between states and the national map to see the top spots in each region. Also, scroll over any city to learn about the cost of living in retirement for that location.

Least
Most
Rank City Housing Expenses Food Expenses Healthcare Expenses Utilities Expenses Transportation Expenses

Methodology We analyzed data on average expenditures for seniors, cost of living and investment returns to determine how many years of retirement a $1 million nest egg would cover in cities across America.

First, we looked at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on the average annual expenditures of seniors. We then applied cost of living data from the Council for Community and Economic Research to adjust those national average spending levels based on the costs of each expense category (housing, food, healthcare, utilities, transportation and other) in each city. Using this data, SmartAsset calculated the average cost of living for retirees in the largest U.S. cities.

We assumed the $1 million would grow at a real return (interest minus inflation) of 2%. Then, we divided $1 million by the sum of each of those annual numbers to determine how long $1 million would cover retirement expenses in each of the cities in our study. Cities where $1 million lasted the longest ranked the highest in the study.

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Council for Community and Economic Research