EP Wealth Advisors Review

Pros and Cons of EP Wealth Advisors

Types of Clients

EP Wealth Advisors serves several types of clients, including both individuals and institutions such as corporations, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. Primarily, however, it works with individuals and families of both above-average and high net worth, comprising about 95% of the accounts it serves.

To become a client with EP Wealth, you must have at least $500,000 in investable assets. However, as per the company’s Form ADV Part 2A, it reserves the right to waive the requirement at its preference. It also notes that it allows family members to combine assets to cross the minimum investment threshold.

Financial Advisor Services

EP Wealth offers a wide scale of advisory services, including planning for various aspects of your financial picture—such as retirement, your estate, taxes, and small business ownership. It also offers investment management with a discretionary or, in fewer cases, non-discretionary approach.

Here’s a closer analysis of the services the firm provides:

Financial Planning

The first of the two categories of products EP Wealth Advisors extends to clients is comprehensive financial planning. As mentioned, this can center around several aspects of your life, depending on your goals and needs. Specifically, the firm offers planning for the following areas:

• Budgeting and cash flow
• Wealth management
• Taxes
• Investing
• Retirement
• Large purchases
• Risk management
• Your estate
• Divorce
• Owning a business

As part of the service, according to the firm’s website, you can expect to meet with a professional who will work to understand your circumstances and objectives. Then, they’ll craft a plan that fits your criteria and situation. Finally, you and they will put the plan into action and check in periodically to assess progress.

Per its Form ADV brochure, EP Wealth also offers tax and estate document (via legal partners) preparation. However, these services are reserved only for high-net-worth (HNW) clients with a minimum of $1 million in assets under management (AUM).

Investment Management

Another service EP Wealth includes is investment management. According to the company’s Form ADV Part 2A, this feature is available predominantly on a discretionary basis, where a portfolio manager will have the authority to complete trades and make decisions on your behalf without approval. The firm also offers non-discretionary management, where you must sign off on all choices, but points out this is less common.

In a portfolio management arrangement with EP Wealth, you can expect to work one-on-one with a financial advisor who will assess your goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. Then, they’ll use this information to build and maintain an asset allocation that fits your needs. It points out in its client-facing brochure document that, depending on your needs, this may be a custom or model portfolio.

Fee Structure

The fees at EP Wealth Advisors depend on the service you receive and the arrangement you have with your professional. For example, with financial planning, the firm charges $250 per hour or a $2,500 fee for a retainer. On the other hand, for investment management, the firm uses a tiered structure based on a percentage of the dollar amount of your account’s assets under management (AUM). As your assets grow, your fee percentage decreases.

The table below illustrates the investment management fee structure:

AUM	Annual Fee Percentage
First $1,000,000	1.00%
$1,000,001 – $2,000,000	0.95%
$2,000,001 – $4,000,000	0.85%
$4,000,001 – $5,000,000	0.75%
$5,000,001 – $10,000,000	0.65%
Above $10,000,001	0.55%

The above percentages are the fees for discretionary portfolio management. Non-discretionary fees, conversely, are 25% higher, according to the company’s Wrap Fee Program Brochure.

Investment Philosophy

EP Wealth Advisors takes a client-centric approach to its investment philosophy. Specifically, its website and Form ADV materials align in that it uses your overarching goals, time horizon, and risk preferences while building or assigning portfolio allocations. Moreover, the firm’s product page for investment management on its website outlines that it may use strategies and principles such as diversification, ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance), and industry-specific investing based on your needs.

EP Wealth also emphasizes a tax-aware investing methodology, which, it says, it uses in its company-wide portfolio management philosophy. This includes using tax-loss-harvesting, fixed-income securities, and withdrawal strategies.

While assembling your portfolio, EP Wealth notes it may use the following securities:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual funds
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
• Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
• Commodities
• Alternatives

Disclosures

EP Wealth Advisors, LLC is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an investment advisor. Therefore, the firm must file an annual Form ADV and list any disciplinary actions, arbitrations, or conflicts of interest. This provides transparency with the public, including existing and potential clientele.

According to its latest filing with the SEC, EP Wealth Advisors has no disclosures or regulatory actions to report.

Customer Service and Becoming a Client

If you would like to reach out to EP Wealth with a question or to open an account, the easiest method is to visit its “Contact an Advisor” page. This includes a form you can fill out to send a message to the company. For general questions, you could also try calling the firm’s main branch phone number at (310) 543-4559.

To find a branch near you and get in contact, you can visit the company’s “Our Team” page, which lists links to all its branches. The page also allows you to search by location and advisor name, which can be helpful if you already have an expert in mind.

If you meet the minimum asset requirement of $500,000, the firm lets you schedule an initial consultation for free. Before becoming a client, this can be an effective and direct way to learn more about what the firm offers and how much it will cost.

Methodology

This review is based on publicly available information directly from EP Wealth Advisors’ website and the SEC. Neither the firm nor its representatives have any say on what we’ve included on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EP Wealth Advisors a fiduciary?

EP Wealth is a fiduciary because of its registration with the SEC as an investment advisor. This means it carries the strict responsibility of prioritizing your best interest, acting with integrity and care, and avoiding conflicts of interest. This also applies to its investment advisor representatives (IARs).

Is EP Wealth Advisors good?

EP Wealth Advisors has an excellent reputation—ranking well from sources such as Barron’s and Forbes—and operates in several states. It also offers the services you would expect a firm of its size to include, including financial planning and portfolio management. However, it primarily directs its services toward wealthy clients with at least $500,000 to invest and prefers having a direct hand in managing its clients’ portfolios, charging 25% more for a non-discretionary account.

Based on this information, whether it’s the right advisory firm for you will vary. If you have a lot of money to invest, it’s a strong firm with a range of services. On the other hand, if you have an average net worth or are just starting, it can be largely inaccessible.

Does EP Wealth Advisors offer a free initial consultation?

Yes, EP Wealth offers an initial consultation at no cost. It’s important to note, though, that you must meet its minimum investment requirement of $500,000 before doing so. As mentioned, family members can bring assets together to reach this amount.