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Cumberland 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.

Cumberland Advisors Review

Cumberland Advisors in Sarasota, Florida is a financial advisor firm with a client base comprised of individuals, retirement plans, government entities, businesses and more. The firm manages billions of dollars.

Cumberland Advisors is a fee-only firm, meaning that it only receives advisory fees directly from clients. While fee-based firms also accept advisory fees, they also receive commissions from the sale of financial products to clients. By eschewing such arrangements, a fee-only firm like Cumberland avoids many conflicts of interest. 

Cumberland Advisors Background

Cumberland Advisors has been in business since 1973. The firm is principally owned by David Kotok, who also serves as chairman and chief investment officer (CIO). The firm is also owned by other members of its senior management staff. While the firm is headquartered in Sarasota, it has a secondary office in Vineland, New Jersey.

This firm employs three chartered financial analysts (CFAs).

Cumberland Advisors Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes

Most of Comberland's clients are individuals (both with and without a high net worth). In addition to these individual clients, Cumberland works with a handful of retirement plans, charities, government entities, businesses, banking institutions, investment companies, investment funds and insurance companies.

In most cases, prospective clients are required to have at least $1 million in "household" investable assets to open an account with Cumberland Advisors. That said, certain investment strategies carry different requirements.

  • Fixed-income investment styles: $500,000
  • Market volatility/leveraged market volatility styles: $100,000
  • Equity and balanced investment styles: $250,000

This firm may waive these minimums under certain circumstances.

Services Offered by Cumberland Advisors

Cumberland Advisors offers investment management services through a number of strategies that are designed to meet each client's investor profile. Strategies range from fixed-income-centric to equity-based.

For the services above, this firm utilizes both wrap fee and traditional programs. A wrap fee program uses a fee schedule that's all inclusive, meaning advisory, transactional and custodial fees are integrated into a single rate. (Under the terms of a traditional fee schedule, the latter two fee types are paid by the client separately.)

Cumberland Advisors Investment Philosophy

Cumberland Advisors is interested in facilitating long-term relationships between its advisors and clients. Therefore, the firm is committed to continually accounting for each client's time horizon, risk tolerance and liquidity needs, as well as their overarching goals. Clients typically work with a single investment advisor at Cumberland, though the firm is known to work together with any of your respective consultants, tax advisors or other related professionals.

This firm focuses on both the preservation of wealth and prudent growth. All assets are held in individual separately managed accounts (SMAs). Each of the firm's strategies involves a slightly different investment philosophy, varying depending on the type of investments used and the time horizon of the strategy. That being said, these philosophies also vary significantly depending on the specific client's needs and goals.

Fees Under Cumberland Advisors

Advisory fees for investment management services at Cumberland Advisors vary depending on the strategy used. These fees are customarily charged on a quarterly basis, in advance.

Cumberland Advisors Fees
Strategy Maximum Annual Fee
ETF Portfolios 1.00%
Balanced Portfolios 0.75%
Fixed-Income, Master Limited Partnership (MLP) and Active/Passive Portfolios 0.525%

What to Watch Out For

Cumberland Advisors' SEC-filed Form ADV has no disclosures, meaning the firm has no record of legal or disciplinary issues with the SEC.

Opening an Account With Cumberland Advisors

If you're interested in opening an account with Cumberland Advisors, there are lots of ways to get in touch. You can go online to its website and submit a contact form or call at (800) 257-7013. The firm also encourages potential clients to reach out on its various social media platforms, like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Retirement Planning Tips

  • Putting together a retirement income plan on your own can get complicated, which is why many people choose to work with a financial advisor. 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.
  • Don’t forget to take Social Security payments into account as you consider what kind of income you’ll need in retirement. If you don’t know what you’re in line to receive, check out SmartAsset’s Social Security calculator.

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