Based in Chicago, Wintrust Wealth Management has been providing investment management services to high-net-worth clients since 1931. It offers several programs including ones through Wells Fargo Advisors. The firm’s network currently includes hundreds of financial advisors.
Wintrust Wealth Management Background
Wintrust Wealth Management is owned by Wintrust Bank, a subsidiary of Wintrust Financial Corporation. You can also reach its advisors at more than 150 Wintrust banks scattered throughout the greater Chicago and southeastern Wisconsin areas.
The firm offers its services through the following three divisions: Wintrust Investments, The Chicago Trust Company and Great Lakes Advisors. The parent company, Wintrust Financial Corporation, provides banking and mortgage services.
Wintrust Wealth Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Wintrust Wealth Management provides investment and financial advice to the following types of clients:
- Individuals without a high net worth
- High-net-worth individuals
- Banking or thrift institutions
- Corporate pension and profit-sharing plans
- Foundations
- Endowments
- Trust programs
- Businesses
The firm does not have any set account minimum balance requirements.
Services Offered by Wintrust Wealth Management
Wintrust Wealth Management offers a variety of investment programs. Depending on your risk tolerance and investing goals, you may be placed in one of the following options:
- Personalized Unified Managed Account (UMA) Multi Strategy
- Personalized UMA Single Strategy
- Private Advisor Network
- Customized Portfolios
- Private Investment Management
- Asset Advisor
- CustomChoice
- Fundsource
These programs are offered in partnership with Wells Fargo Advisors Investment Advisory Services. They include wrap-fee programs that charge a bundled fee, a mutual fund asset allocation program and discretionary investment advisory services with a separate brokerage fee.
Wintrust Wealth Management Investment Philosophy
Wintrust Wealth Management emphasizes launching investment strategies tailored to the risk profile of the client. It determines your level of risk by gathering information about your financial situation and investment goals, both short-and-long term. This data can give the firm a better understanding of what kind of investment management program may suit you.
When selecting securities for your portfolio, Wintrust Wealth Management generally engages in fundamental and quantitative research.
Fees Under Wintrust Wealth Management
Wintrust Wealth Management delivers each of its programs (except Private Advisor Network) on a wrap-fee basis. The all-inclusive fee includes the investment management fees charged by Wintrust Wealth Management, Wells Fargo Advisors and applicable sub-advisors. It also includes expenses for transaction executions, custodial services, reporting and more.
The wrap-program fee is charged as a percentage of assets under management (AUM). Unfortunately, Wintrust Wealth Management doesn’t publish its fee schedule, so we can’t provide it here. But your advisor will tell you their fees and provide them in the agreement documents.
The asset-based fee for the Private Network Advisor program is negotiable and capped at 2.00%. You may also face other fees associated with the firm’s typical brokerage accounts such as SEC fees and other fees required by law. The firm won’t levy a separate charge for brokerage commissions on agency trades, markups or markdowns on principal transactions.
What to Watch Out For
According to Wintrust Wealth Management’s Form ADV, this firm has several regulatory disclosures. All four apply to the firm directly. The most recent is from 2020 when the firm was alleged to have "failed to exercise reasonable due diligence to ascertain best execution under prevailing market conditions and failed to have a reasonable supervisory system to achieve compliance with best execution obligations." As a result of these allegations, the firm submitted to censure and paid a $35,000 fine.
Additionally, because Wintrust Wealth Management is affiliated with several financial services entities, a potential conflict of interest may arise if its representatives are incentivized to recommend the products and services of these affiliates. However, the firm has established a code of ethics that outlines its fiduciary duty to provide investment advice solely in the best interest of the client.
Opening an Account With Wintrust Wealth Management
If you're interested in working with Wintrust and its network of advisors, you can reach out directly either to the firm or an advisor. You can do so over the phone, or via email if you'd prefer that medium of correspondence.
All information was accurate as of the writing of this article.
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