Top Financial Advisors in Denver, CO

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Fee-based Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. is SmartAsset's top financial advisor firm in Denver. Outside of its headquarters in the city, the firm boasts offices throughout Georgia, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut, Montana, New Jersey, Hawaii, California, Wisconsin, New York, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Washington, Virginia and Delaware. The firm has hundreds of financial advisors working to manage its billions in assets under management (AUM).

Individuals and high-net-worth individuals are Mercer's most common client types. It also maintains advisory relationships with pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations and businesses. The firm generally requires accounts to have a minimum of $500,000. Certain advisors at Mercer can sell securities on a commission basis. While this is a potential conflict of interest, the firm's fiduciary duty requires it to act in clients' best interests at all times.

Investing strategies may include strategically weighted investments, broad asset class and multi-factor diversification, attention to cost, separate account managers and institutional funds, systematic rebalancing or tax and distribution management. Beyond those basic tenets, the firm offers an array of customized strategies designed to meet varying risk tolerance levels, time horizons and investment objectives. These include total return strategies, defensive strategies and income strategies.

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Johnson Financial Group, LLC is a family office and wealth management firm serving more than 500 individuals, high-net-worth individuals, trusts, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations and small businesses. The fee-only advisory firm requires each new client to have at least $30 million, and it charges asset-based fees and commissions for its services. 

Johnson Financial Group says it applies a total return approach to portfolio management and that its investment strategies focus on building globally diversified portfolios that are tax- and cost-efficient. 

Investments the firm generally utilizes include domestic and foreign equities, fixed-income securities, CDs, options, mutual funds, separately managed accounts, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), private placements and alternative investments. 

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Arax Advisory Partners is a fee-based firm provides individual and institutional investment advisory and financial planning services. These services are provided through discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, third party money manager selection and oversight, written comprehensive or modular financial plans, hourly consultations, financial education, seminars and expert witness services. 

For the investment management and wealth management services, the firm primarily works with primarly affluent and high-net-worth individuals. AAP provides investment management services for an annual fee (“management fee”) based on the amount of assets under AAP’s management. The fee varies depending upon the size of a client’s portfolio and the type of services rendered. Rates vary depending on the size and complexity of a client’s account and generally range from 1% to 2% per year.

AAP uses various investment strategies in managing clients’ assets. The investment strategy for each client is based upon the objectives identified during consultations with the client. The client may change these objectives at any time. Each client executes an Investment Policy Statement (“IPS”) that documents the client’s objectives and desired investment strategy. Portfolios may vary from the general asset allocation guidelines at times, provided the portfolios are still designed to meet the clients’ objectives and investment strategy. Investment strategies used by AAP include long-term purchases, short-term purchases, trading, and margin transactions. 

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IWP Wealth Management, LLC does not necessarily have a set account minimum, so long as clients pay their individually negotiated, fixed quarterly fee. The fee-only firm’s client base is made up almost entirely of high-net-worth individuals, which account for nearly 90% of its clientele.

The firm was formed because its founders thought that while the financial industry had wealth management covered, it wasn’t offering much in the way of assistance with the day-to-day complexities of wealth. IWP Wealth Management, which identifies as a family office, limits the number of families it serves so it can ensure it’s always available to provide counsel and guidance.

IWP Wealth Management says its investment philosophy is risk-averse, focusing more on preserving wealth than earning aggressive returns. The firm has a wealth platform, where its clients can sign in to monitor their investments' growth over time and find other financial information.

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IMA Advisory Services is a fee-based firm that offers a variety of advisory services that includes financial planning, asset management, subadvisory services and more. The firm primarily works with indviduals, high-net-worth indviduals, corporations, trusts, charitable organizations and trusts. 

Fees for financial planning services are stated in the engagement agreement and are subject to negotiation. However, asset management services will cost an annual fee as a percentage of assets under management (AUM). Advisory fees vary by services but will not exceed the annual cost of 1.25%. 

The firm recommends various types of securities, and we do not primarily recommend one particular type of security over another since each client has different needs and different tolerance for risk. Each type of security has its own unique set of risks associated with it. Some investment reccomendations might include mutual funds, ETFs, municipals and bonds but the actual recommendations will depend on the needs of each client. 

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To be a client of GHP Investment Advisors, Inc. (GHPIA), you’ll need at least $500,000 in investable assets. The fee-only firm is one of a few on this list that has a majority of non-high-net-worth individual clients. High-net-worth individuals account for just one-fifth of its client base.

GHPIA claims to be all about integration. When working with clients, the firm focuses on widespread wealth management for your entire life. It wants to get everyone from your accountant to your insurance broker to your attorney on the same page and working toward the same goals.

The firm customizes portfolios to fit clients’ needs, goals and risk levels. It makes its selections using a unique tool called the GHPIA Benchmark Valuation Indicator, which measures risk through various statistical tools to weed out anything high risk. GHPIA mainly uses fundamental analysis when making investment decisions. The firm also employs a range of investment strategies, including long-term purchases, short-term purchases, margin transactions and option writing. 

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Align Impact is a fee-only firm that is an independent, impactfocused advisory firm that aims to increase the effectiveness and alignment of philanthropic grants, impact investments and mission-related investments. Align works with families, charitable organizations, individuals, institutions, high-net-worth individuals, businesses and private funds. The firm provides portfolio management and financial planning services.

Fees are negotiated and generally range from $50,000 to $200,000, depending on complexity and the amount of assets under consideration among other factors. The amount and frequency of payment is outlined in each Impact Strategy Client’s engagement agreement. Typically, 50% of fees are due in advance upon engagement, but never more than six months in advance, 25% is due three months after the effective engagement agreement date, and the remaining 25% of the financial planning fee is due upon completion of the impact strategy. 

The firm focuses on a variety of investment strategies that includes long-term investing, short-term investing, margin transactions and the selection of sub-advisors. Long term trading is designed to capture market rates of both return and risk. Due to its nature, the long-term investment strategy can expose clients to various types of risk that will typically surface at various intervals during the time the client owns the investments. 

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JFG Wealth Management is a fee-only firm working only with high-net-worth individuals. Unsurprisingly, there is a fairly high minimum account size of $5 million.

Fees are based on a percentage of assets under management for investment advice and fixed for financial consulting. The team includes some chartered alternative investment analysts (CAIAs), Certified Financial Planners™ (CFPs®), chartered financial analysts (CFAs) and certified public accountants (CPAs).

Around half of the assets under management at JFG are invested in mutual funds. Almost a quarter is in stocks, and around one-fifth is invested in private capital investments. The rest is split between bonds and cash holdings.

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Cherry Creek Family Offices, LLC is a firm focused on a niche group of very wealthy families. It has a much higher account minimum than the other firms on this list. The company's website says that its method of investing is “best suited” for those with at least $40 million in investable assets. The fee-only firm handpicks its clients.

As the firm’s name implies, it is focused on families - to be specific, very wealthy families. The firm works with its client groups to come up with what it calls a “Family Mission Statement,” which is essentially an agreement that informs all of the group’s financial decisions.

Cherry Creek tailors its services according to what its clients want, and it lets its clients impose restrictions on particular investing selections and sectors. Cherry Creek has an in-house private equity team that works on private investments. Its investment strategy uses long-term purchases, like securities held for at least a year.

The firm states that it believes in educating its clients and allowing them to make the ultimate decisions about their investments rather than pushing particular solutions or products. The firm provides consultations, reviews and updates to clients at no additional charge.

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Buck Wealth Strategies is a fee-based firm that offers financial planning, retirement planning and other services to individuals, high-net-worth individuals, trusts and employer-sponsored retirement plans. 

BWS takes a macro-environmental approach to tactical asset allocation with sector rotation and uses a relative growth/value framework in determining sub-asset classes. This top-down method allows BWS to assess the investing landscape and provide recommendations as to when and where it may be advantageous to modify exposures within the asset classes, market segments and sectors. 

During personal discussions with clients, the firm will determine the client’s objectives, time horizons, risk tolerance and liquidity needs. As appropriate, the Firm will also review a client’s prior investment history, as well as family composition and background. Based on client needs, BWS will develop a client’s personal profile and investment plan.