Fisher Investments Review

Pros and Cons of Fisher Investments

Types of Clients

Fisher Investments primarily serves high-net-worth clients. To use its core personal wealth management product, the Private Client Group, you must have $500,000 in assets under management (AUM). The company, however, also has a similar product named WealthBuilder. To use this, you’ll need at least $200,000 AUM.

Financial Advisor Services

Under the umbrella of its Personal Wealth Management product, Fisher Investments offers four main advisory services. They break down as follows:

Portfolio Management

You’ll sit down with a financial professional who will help you put together and manage your investments. They’ll work with you to understand your goals and do their best to help you reach them. Over time, you and your advisor may discuss rebalancing procedures and ways to manage risk according to your tolerance level.

It’s important to note that, according to its client-facing brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), Fisher Investments only offers discretionary management services. In other words, you’re allowing your advisor to wield decision-making control over which securities to buy and sell. While they must uphold a fiduciary duty to maintain your best interest, consider that this arrangement gives your manager substantial power.

There are three types of accounts within the portfolio management product. As we’ll cover later, the one you go with will determine your annual rate. Here is a brief description of each:

• Equity. This approach incorporates assets such as stocks and cash and equivalents, such as certificates of deposit (CDs) and money market funds.
• Fixed income. This exclusively includes assets such as bonds and annuities.
• Blended. This implements various asset classes, including equities, bonds, and more liquid investment vehicles.

Financial Planning

Another featured service Fisher offers is financial planning. In short, this is where a professional helps you map out and reach your short- and long-term goals. Often, a planner will work alongside you to plan various components of your finances, including taxes, cash flow, and investments, and will understand how each one works together holistically. Specifically, on its website, the firm mentions that its advisors can help you figure out your objectives, understand how to budget, and plan for your retirement.

Annuity Evaluation

Fisher Investments also offers an annuity evaluation service. If you have an annuity, your advisor will help determine if it’s right for you and your needs. Per its page on the topic, the company says a licensed Annuity Counselor will look at factors like income, costs, and benefits. After this, they’ll be able to make a recommendation on whether you should retain or consider moving on from your annuity.

Tailored Retirement Planning

As an aside to its financial planning services, Fisher highlights that it creates retirement strategies tailored to your specific needs and desires. This includes assessing your goals, the assets you already own, and your net worth. You and your Fisher Investments advisor will discuss your strategy and ways to keep it on track.

Fee Structure

While fees may be negotiable in some cases, Fisher Investments dominantly uses an asset under management (AUM) fee structure. This means it charges a certain percentage of the number of assets you own. This also means the company and its representatives don’t earn commissions from outside sources for investment or product recommendations, eliminating conflicts of interest.

The percentage you pay depends both on the number of assets and the type of account you have. As your portfolio grows, your rate decreases. The only exception is the WealthBuilder product we mentioned earlier, which has a flat yearly AUM percentage of 1.50%.

Below are two tables the company provides in its ADV Brochure to illustrate its tiered fee structure:

Equity and Blended Accounts

Asset Value	Annual AUM Fee
First $1 million	1.25%
Next $4 million	1.125%
Exceeding $5 million	1.00%

Fixed-Income Accounts

Asset Value	Annual AUM Fee
First $5 million	0.75%
Next $10 million	0.50%
Next $10 million	0.43%
Next $10 million	0.38%
Next $10 million	0.33%
Next $45 million	0.28%

Investment Philosophy

Almost every advisory firm in the industry has an investment philosophy. While your financial advisor’s main priority should be your goals and risk tolerance, how a company approaches investing can be a telling factor in the type of advice or strategies your professional may recommend.

Fisher Investments cites four main goals it uses in its company-wide investment philosophy:

• Personalization. As we just mentioned, you should remain at the core of your investment strategy. The firm’s advisors must always consider your goals and best interests.
• Be flexible. Investment strategies are often fluid as time goes on. Therefore, the company aims to stay well-researched and adaptable to the evolution of successful securities and asset classes.
• Maintain discipline. The company uses what it calls a “top-down” approach to investing to stay disciplined. This involves looking at macro factors rather than the micro level of picking individual assets, which can be more prone to losses.
• Global. Fisher puts forth that it can be beneficial to consider global assets, rather than staying focused solely on the U.S. This tracks with the top-down mindset.

Disclosures and Notable Issues

Fisher Investments is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an RIA. One of the requirements of upholding a registration with the government is disclosing all disciplinary actions it’s received. Disclosures may include reporting issues, criminal proceedings, or disputes with clients. As of the writing of this article, the firm has no disclosures on file with the SEC, as per the company’s Form ADV.

Though it has avoided being handed down any official discipline, Fisher Investments has had a recently and publicly documented checkered past. In 2019, according to Bloomberg, founder and Executive Chairman, Ken Fisher, came under fire for making sexist comments. This resulted in the company losing $4 billion in assets when investors decided to switch providers.

Customer Service

Fisher Investments provides two main ways for Personal Wealth clients to get in touch with a customer support representative. The first, and probably the most direct, is by calling the company’s primary phone number, (888) 823-9566.

The firm also offers a form you can fill out and submit on its contact page. It allows you to select from a few options to explain what your inquiry is about, check a box to request an appointment, and provide a detailed message. You’ll also need to include identifying information such as your name, email, phone number, location, etc.

How to Become a Client

If you meet the minimum account requirements and would like to work with Fisher Investments, there are a few ways to schedule an appointment with an advisor:

• Call the customer service number.
• Fill out the company’s appointment form.
• Use the general contact form.

Tips for Choosing a Financial Advisor Firm

It’s vital to choose a financial advisor who has the expertise to understand your needs and help you reach your goals. It’s also important to consider experts and firms that uphold a duty of care and ethics to their clients. FINRA’s BrokerCheck and the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) tool are two great, easy-to-use resources to learn more about a professional’s reputation and business practices.

Another aspect to keep in mind is the account minimums and fee structures a firm uses. This influences whether you can even get in the door with a company. In the case of fees, some companies may provide better rates to those with more assets. Fisher Investments, for instance, uses a tiered AUM structure that decreases as a client’s portfolio becomes more valuable.

An effective way to find a firm or individual that’s right for you is by using matching tools, such as this free one. After answering a quick set of questions about you and your goals, it will provide you with up to three vetted local financial advisors.

Methodology

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Fisher Investments a good company?

Fisher Investments is one of the largest advisory firms in the country. It has earned and proudly lists several accolades on its website. The company also has no disclosures listed in its Form ADV, which is somewhat of a rarity for large corporations. And, while the company’s founder came under fire in recent years, the company still maintains a high level of AUM.

Is Fisher Investments a fiduciary?

As an RIA, all advisory employees at Fisher Investments are investment advisor representatives (IARs). This means they must carry out a fiduciary duty when working with clients. The company also makes it clear, both on its website and in its SEC filing, that it makes money on a fee-only basis.

How much money do you need for Fisher Investments?

To meet with an advisor from the company, you’ll need to have at least $200,000 to $500,000 depending on the product you get. Therefore, the company mainly works with clients who have an above-average or high net worth.