Savant Wealth Management is a large financial advisor firm headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, with billions in assets under management (AUM). Its advisors have a range of certifications and work personally with both individual and institutional clients. The firm’s services include retirement planning, investment management, estate planning and more. It offers financial consulting services to both asset management clients and those who don’t have accounts at Savant.
Savant is a fee-only firm which means that the entirety of the firm’s compensation comes from client fees. This avoids the conflicts of interest that can arise at a fee-based firm, where advisors may earn commissions from third parties for security or insurance sales.
Savant Wealth Management Background
Savant Wealth Management’s history stretches back to 1986, though it wasn't until 1993 that the firm began offering investment services. It’s owned by SCMI, Inc., a financial services holding company that used to be known as Savant Capital Management, Inc. Brent R. Brodeski currently leads the firm as CEO. He has over 20 years of industry experience. The firm has 12 other offices located around Illinois, two more in Wisconsin and one each in New Mexico, Virginia, Michigan and Arizona.
The advisory team at Savant Wealth Management holds a number of advisory certifications, including chartered financial analysts (CFAs), accredited investment fiduciary analysts (AIFAs), certified public accountants (CPAs) and chartered retirement planning counselors (CRPCs), among others.
Savant Wealth Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Savant Wealth Management takes on a number of different client accounts, though most belong to individuals with and without a high net worth. More specifically, it manages around 5,600 individual accounts and 3,300 high-net-worth individual accounts. In Savant's last fiscal year, it provided financial planning services to about 6,500 clients.The firm also manages money and investments for pension plans, charitable organizations, businesses and other investment advisors.
Typically speaking, anyone looking to open a Savant Wealth Management Services account here will need to have at least $300,000 in investable assets. While Savant Wealth Management may occasionally accept clients with less than that, they will be subject to a minimum annual fee of anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000. This may be cost-prohibitive for clients with lower account sizes.
Services Offered by Savant Wealth Management
For those looking to invest their money with Savant Wealth Management, there are three basic services you can use: comprehensive wealth management, standalone financial planning and standalone investment management. As you might expect, comprehensive wealth management includes offerings between both investing and financial planning.
If you’re looking for financial advice, but aren’t planning on maintaining an account at Savant, there are several financial consulting services that the company offers on a one-off basis. Most of these services are available to asset management clients at no extra cost.
- Financial goal planning
- Retirement planning
- Asset protection
- Risk management and insurance planning
- Debt management
- Education planning
- Income tax planning
- Investment planning
- Estate planning
- Business succession planning
- Charitable gift planning
Savant Wealth Management Investment Philosophy
Savant Wealth Management takes a comprehensive view of its clients’ finances. The firm’s financial advisors aim to refine, streamline and integrate your financial planning, investment and tax needs into one holistic portfolio. Your team will propose the best structures and strategies to help you meet your financial goals. It also places a significant emphasis on low trading costs, tax efficiency and independence from outside influences.
Financial planning with Savant includes crafting investment plans. It uses a system of evidence-based investing to avoid unnecessary risk and to help you generate positive returns by keeping an objective outlook on investment opportunities. Its goal is to help you craft the most effective portfolio and to check back over time to ensure that you’re continuing to meet your goals. You can also elect to have your investment portfolio managed with a social value or sustainability objective in mind, at no extra cost.
Fees Under Savant Wealth Management
Savant Wealth Management is a fee-only advisory firm. Its wealth management clients are charged an annual fee between 0.50% and 1.00% of their AUM, with the minimum fee being $10,000. Investment management clients adhere to a slightly different fee schedule, with rates ranging from 0.75% to 1.25%.
Financial planning fees at Savant work entirely differently, as they're instead based on either a fixed or hourly fee. Fixed fees can be anywhere from $250 to $5,000, whereas hourly fees are from $100 to $500 per hour.
What to Watch Out For
Savant Wealth Management does not have any disclosures on its Form ADV.
Opening an Account With Savant Wealth Management
If you’d like to open an account with Savant Wealth Management, you can go to the firm’s website and submit a contact form. For a more direct approach, call Savant at (815) 227-0300 or visit any of its office locations.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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