Investment Advisors Near Me: The Ultimate How-to-Find Guide

“Investment advisors near me” is a popular request which means that many people still prefer to talk in person when planning their investment or savings activities. 

Meeting an investment advisor in person can help investors not only to better understand their personality and assess their professional level, but also to discover new investment opportunities in the local markets, make smarter financial decisions, and build short or long-term investment strategies.

Who is an investment advisor?

The investment advisory field covers many services ranging from holistic financial planning, investing management (including crowdinvesting), or retirement planning. Some investment advisors work with all individuals while others specialize in high-net-worth individuals and business owners.

Earlier, the term “financial advisor” was used to describe various positions in the financial sectors, Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) has limited the use of this title to an individual or a company that is registered with the SEC or a state securities regulator. According to this regulation, any advisor is legally obliged to abide by fiduciary duty. It means that they shall act in the interest of their clients rather than in their own interest. 

The position of a financial advisor doesn’t automatically mean that the person has specific credentials. This is why it is recommended to check whether the advisor is registered on the website of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). 

How to find an investment advisor near you

There are special matching services that will help you to find a financial advisor near you based on your requirements. However, to use them, you shall clearly understand what you need.

First of all, decide for which part of your life you need an advisor:

• retirement planning
• paying out a debt
• insurance 
• investing in real estate
• saving funds for college for your kids, and similar.

Not all investment advisors offer the same services, and you should pick one who understands how to help you.

Another detail that you have to take into account is how the investment advisor earns money. There are the following types of advisors based on how they are paid.

• Fee-only investment advisors: they are paid per hour, a flat annual fee, or a percentage of the asset invested by you. The fees are approx: $250 per hour, or approx. 1% of assets under management, or approx. $2,000 per plan.
• Commission-based investment advisors: they advertise their services for free and are paid a commission on products they sell (e.g., insurance policies).
• Registered investment advisors (RIAs): big companies paid through an annual account fee or a percentage of the invested assets.

Now, you can start searching for an investment advisor. Many online resources can help you with it.

Online investment advisor matching services

Online advisor matching services help you to find an investment advisor close to you based on the prerequisites you provide. You have to reply to a list of questions about the type of service you need. For example, you may be asked about the investment type (retirement, estate, crowdinvesting, etc.), your budget, location, and some other information. 

Then, the matching engine lists advisors in your area who meet your requirements. From them, you can choose your investment advisor.

The following online advisor matching services are the best ones.

Wealthramp

Wealthramp matches investors with fee-only fiduciary investment advisors. Before being listed on Wealthramo, advisors pass stringent due diligence during which they are assessed based on multiple parameters including their fee structure, internal and external teams, collaboration network, communication, and others.

The service matches you with up to three advisors and shares your information with them only when you agree to do so. If you don’t like the advisors, you aren’t obliged to meet them.

The main drawback is that the platform doesn’t provide any information on the fees charged by the advisors. To learn fees, you have to meet an advisor. 

Zoe Financial

Zoe Financial matches investors with vetted investment advisors who have a minimum of 5 years of experience and hold a CFP, CPA, or chartered financial analyst (CFA) certification. After you fill in a questionnaire, the service matches you with up to three advisors. 

There is no fee for using a platform, fees of advisors vary, and one needs to meet the advisors to learn the fee.

Edward Jones

Edward Jones allows searching for an investment advisor based on the location (an investor provides the name of the city, state, or ZIP), one can look for a specific advisor by typing in his name, or it is possible to reply to some questions to let the service find an advisor personalized for your specific requirements.

Along with matching clients with financial advisors, the platform also provides a lot of useful information on how to find the best advisor and investment strategies and offers a variety of investment services and account types so that each investor can plan their financial activities.

Top professional financial planning associations

You can find a professional investment advisor not only by using an online matching service but also on the website of a professional financial planning association. The following associations provide free databases of investment advisors.

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)

NAPFA makes it easy to find fee-only fiduciary advisors by using a ZIP code only. The main benefit of NAPFA is that the association doesn’t limit the information about the advisor by name and location only. It provides data about the advisor’s certification, experience, areas of work, and approach to financial and investment planning.

Garrett Planning Network

Garrett Planning Network is another association that provides the databases of fee-only fiduciary investment advisors. All advisors there are hourly-based and have no investment minimums. They all either have or are going to acquire a CFP, CPA, or Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credentials.

XY Planning Network

XY Planning Network lists fee-only investment advisors who hold a CFP certification. It is possible to search advisors by name, location, check fees, complete biography, and practice areas.

Crowdfunding investment advisors

Crowdfunding investments have experienced significant growth in recent years by allowing business owners to raise funds and investors to diversify their portfolios. Even though crowdfunding platforms bring together fundraisers and investors, they  cannot provide advising services, if not registered with the SEC as investment advisors.

However, investment advisors monitor crowdfunding platforms and consider crowdfunding a potential diversification strategy for investors who are looking for risky opportunities in equity investments or more conservative debt crowdfunding and P2P lending. 

This collaboration is not only beneficial for investors who are looking to tap into the alternative finance market, but also for crowdfunding platforms because it serves an additional investor acquisition channel. 

How to build your investment or crowdfunding platform

If you are an advisor who wants to take things to the next level or if you have a strong financial, banking or investment background and want to launch your own investment or crowdfunding platform, check out LenderKit. 

LenderKit is white-label crowdfunding and investment software that offers an all-in-one solution for managing investment deals from user onboarding to campaign creation and funds disbursement. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out to us to discuss your platform requirements and see how the platform works.