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Facet 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.

Founded in 2016, Facet is one of the fastest-growing financial services companies in the United States. It is on SmartAsset's list of the top financial advisors in Baltimore and the state of Maryland. The financial advisor team provides a wide range of financial planning and investment management services to its client base which consists entirely of individuals. 

Facet Background

Patrick McKenna, Anders Jones and Brent Weiss founded the fee-only firm and are the principal owners of the firm. McKenna serves as executive chairman, Jones acts as CEO and Weiss is the firm's chief evangelist, guiding the "vision of Facet’s financial life planning experience," according to the firm's website. Warburg Pincus Private Equity XII, LP and Warburg Pincus Financial Sector, LP have minority stakes, and six employees have very small stakes.

The financial advisor team, holds multiple certifications including the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®).

Facet Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes

Facet works exclusively with individual clients. It has more than 10,000 such clients, a small percentage of with have a high net worth. It has more than $2.5 billion in assets under management. The firm also offers its services to pension and profit-sharing plans, business entities, trusts, estates and charitable organizations.

Facet does not impose a traditional minimum investment requirement for new clients, but rather a $2,000 minimum annual fee. However, for clients for whom it manages assets, the firm has discretionary management without any material limitations, although it works with clients on establishing low-cost, diversified portfolios aligned with the client's long-term goals. Facet does have a $500 minimum for any investment account.

Services Offered by Facet

Facet provides a variety of investment management and financial planning services to clients. These services typically relate to one or more of the following topics:

  • Investment portfolio design
  • Asset management
  • Cash flow and income planning
  • Debt management
  • Online data aggregation
  • Retirement planning focused on accumulation and income
  • Estate planning
  • Financial education and literacy
  • Risk management
  • Insurance planning
  • Income tax planning
  • Education funding planning
  • Employee benefits planning
  • Charitable gift planning

Typically, the firm does not provide stand-alone investment management services, instead combining these offerings with financial planning services to build a holistic financial strategy.

Facet Investment Philosophy

Facet looks to cultivate individual relationships with all of its clients to ensure that it's providing an investment and financial planning experience that meets the client's exact needs. As a result, each client relationship begins with an information-gathering session where advisors learn about the client's investment history, financial goals, risk tolerance and more. Based on these insights, advisors take a wide-angle approach to helping clients along with their investment objectives.

The firm typically allocates client assets in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, stocks and bonds. Advisors may use cyclical, technical and fundamental methods of analysis to help inform their investment decisions. The firm looks to purchase securities on both a long- and short-term horizon, with the quantity of each depending upon the specifics of your situation.

Fees Under Facet

The firm's fees depend on the service received. For example, Facet charges a flat fee that generally ranges between $2,000 and $6,000 per year. This variance depends on the scope and length of the services you need and can be negotiable. Fees are typically calculated and billed on a quarterly or monthly basis. Fees also may be paid annually. 

More commonly, firms charge a fee based on a percentage of assets under management for investment management services. The industry average is roughly 0.95%. Learn more about advisors' typical costs here

What to Watch Out For

Facet has no disclosures of legal or disciplinary action in the Form ADV it recently filed with the SEC.

As a fee-only firm, it does not collect commissions on trades or the sale of certain products. All of its compensation comes from client fees.

Opening an Account With Facet

If you're interested in opening an account with Facet, visit the firm's website and submit a contact form or schedule an introductory meeting. Alternatively, you can call the firm at (443) 376-6222 or send them an email at info@facet.com.

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

Tips for Financial Planning

  • Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
  • If your primary goal is to save and invest for retirement, a good first step is to see whether you're on pace to meet your retirement income needs. Check out our retirement calculator to see where you stand. 

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