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St. Germain Investment Management 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.

St. Germain Investment Management is a financial advisor firm located in Springfield, Massachusetts. The firm provides a range of financial planning and investment management services to many individual clients, most of whom are below the high-net-worth threshold.

This is a fee-based firm, meaning in addition to receiving client fees, some of its employees can also earn commissions from insurance sales. That's different from a fee-only firm, which avoids conflicts of interest by only receiving advisory fees.

St. Germain Investment Management Background

St. Germain Investment Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of D.J. St. Germain Co., Inc., which was founded back in 1924. St. Germain Investment Management was established in its current form in 2010, when it took over the investment advisory arm of D.J. St. Germain Co. Michael Matty serves as the president and director of the firm, as he has over 20 years of industry experience.

The firm has a fair number of advisory certifications. These include multiple chartered financial analysts (CFAs), certified financial planners (CFPs), chartered financial consultants (ChFCs), accredited investment fiduciaries (AIFs) and more.

St. Germain Investment Management Client Types and Minimum Account Size

St. Germain Investment Management offers portfolio management services to individuals with and without a high net worth, pension and profit sharing plans, charitable organizations and corporations.

While the stated minimum account size for new clients of St. Germain is $100,000, this requirement is negotiable and waivable at the discretion of the firm.

Services Offered by St. Germain Investment Management

St. Germain Investment Management provides investment management services to clients, along with general financial planning. Investment management is carried out on a discretionary basis, with portfolios being based around the financial objectives of each client. The firm further customizes investment plans by taking into account your personal risk tolerance, time horizon, liquidity needs and more.

Financial planning services are specifically tailored to clients' needs. The firm offers advice on topics like business planning, business successions and mergers, insurance needs, estate planning, retirement planning and tax planning.

St. Germain Investment Management Investment Philosophy

St. Germain's investment approaches depend on client needs. Advisors meet and work with clients to determine their risk tolerance, time horizon, income needs and other factors that all combine to inform that client's investment preferences. Overall portfolio strategies range from conservative to aggressive growth. According to the firm's latest SEC filing, methods of analysis that advisors use incorporate macro-economic, sector, industry assessments, and fundamental and technical analysis of broad financial markets as well as individual portfolio holdings.

Advisors at St. Germain invest client assets in accordance with long-term growth rather than shorter-term goals. "Buy and hold" is the primary startegy used by the firm, which, in turn, leads to advisors placing significant emphasis on the creation of an effective asset allocation. The firm's typical investments include equities, mutual funds, variable annuities, corporate and municipal bonds and U.S. government securities.

Fees Under St. Germain Investment Management

Investment management portfolios at St. Germain are charged an annual fee based on the total AUM of the client. Fees are deducted quarterly, in arrears, with the minimum quarterly fee being $25. The specific annual fee or fee schedule is different for each individual and is laid out in the investment advisory agreement between the advisor and each client, though it will not exceed 1.25%, except in specific circumstances where a minimum quarterly management fee applies.

If you subscribe to financial planning services, you may incur an additional fee. However, these services are usually included in the cost of the above investment management fee schedule.

What to Watch Out For

St. Germain Investment Management is a fee-based firm. This is because certain members of the firm's advisory staff have the ability to receive commissions from the sale of insurance products to clients. Despite this potential conflict of interest, the firm and its advisors are still fiduciaries, legally obligating them to act in your best interest at all times.

St. Germain Investment Management has three disclosures on its Form ADV. All three of them are directly attributed to the firm itself. The most recent was in 2021, which was in reference to cash sweep revenue sharing agreement it had with an affiliated broker-dealer. As a result of this, the firm paid a $300,000 fine and submitted to disgorgement.

Opening an Account With St. Germain Investment Management

If you're interested in opening an account with St. Germain Investment Management, visit the firm's website and submit a contact form so an advisor can reach out to you. You can also call the firm yourself at (413) 733-5111.

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

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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
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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