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You’ve got the best rodeo and winning sports teams, despite Astros fans having a rough time of things lately. But how do you find the best financial advisor in Houston among the plethora of choices — especially in a state where everything’s bigger?
MagnifyMoney is here to lend y’all a hand by doing the neighborly thing. To help your search for the best financial advisors the city has to offer, we’ve done the hard work for you. We’ve built one heck of a list based on filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). And we only considered firms that offer comprehensive financial planning and work with individual investors. If you’ve got the itch, you can dig into our detailed methodology for yourself.
Now, we know that our best picks might not mean they’re the best picks for you. But we do hope our list helps your search for the qualified financial partner that you deserve.
Here’s our list of the 10 best financial advisors in Houston:
How much would you like to invest?
| Firm name | Minimum assets required | Fee structure |
|---|---|---|
| Avalon Investment & Advisory | $5 million | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees Performance-based fees Other (solicitation and client servicing arrangement with other advisor; model portfolios) |
| U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors, LLC | $50,000 | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees |
| Linscomb & Williams | $1 million | A percentage of AUM Hourly charges Fixed fees |
| Paul Comstock Partners | $5 million | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees |
| Avidian Wealth Solutions, LLC | $1 million | A percentage of AUM Hourly charges Fixed fees Other (management of pooled investment vehicles) |
| Americana Partners, LLC | No account minimum | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees |
| Chilton Capital Management LLC | No account minimum | A percentage of AUM |
| Icon Wealth Partners, LLC | No account minimum | A percentage of AUM |
| Corda Investment Management, LLC | Not specified, but minimum annual fee of $5,000 | A percentage of AUM |
| Inscription Capital, LLC | No account minimum | A percentage of AUM Hourly charges Fixed fees |
First on our list of the best financial advisors in Houston is Avalon Investment & Advisory. Founded in 2001, this is an independent firm owned by its employees, clients and investors, including the private equity firm Cynosure Group. It has offices in Houston and San Antonio.
The firm offers financial planning and portfolio management services, primarily to high net worth individuals and families, who the SEC defines as those with at least $750,000 under management or a net worth of at least $1.5 million. Avalon Investment & Advisory generally requires an account of at least $5 million to act as an investment manager, though private funds the firm oversees may have lower investment minimums.
Avalon Investment & Advisory considers each client’s financial situation when creating a personalized asset allocation strategy. That strategy may include a mix of the firm’s fixed income or equity accounts, as well as specialty accounts or private funds.
Taking a fundamental, long-term approach, Avalon Investments & Advisory aims to choose investments that will provide long-term capital gains and higher after-tax returns.
Avalon Investment & Advisory has had no disclosures over the past 10 years. All registered investment advisors must disclose in documents with the SEC any civil, criminal or regulatory actions against it, its employees or affiliates that clients might consider material when evaluating the firm or its management team.
For more information on the firm, visit its Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) page.
Next up among the best financial advisors in Houston is U.S. Capital Wealth. Originally founded in 2017, the firm assumed its current name in May 2021. Previously, it was known as Legacy One Financial Advisors, LLC. This change occurred after a series of transactions that resulted in U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors being directly owned by U.S. Capital RIA Investors, LLC, Legacy One Financial Holdings, LLC, and PLH Financial Holdings, LLC.
The firm can offer a full suite of wealth management services, which includes investment management as well as financial planning and/or general advisory or consulting services. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors’ clients include individuals, both high net worth and otherwise, in addition to businesses, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations and government entities.
U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors has two offices in Houston. It also has offices in Texas in Georgetown, Dallas and Austin, as well as an office in New York City.
Clients of U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors will have access to a wide range of investment strategies, from a more conservative approach that emphasizes a fixed income allocation, to a balanced approach that invests in a combination of equities and fixed income, to a more aggressive approach that has a heavier allocation to equities with a focus on capital appreciation. The investment approach is ultimately determined by each client’s specifics.
The equity and fixed income investments used in client portfolios can include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and individual stocks and bonds. Alternative investments as well as the sale of covered calls or the purchase of puts and calls may also be used as appropriate.
U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors has a clean disciplinary record, meaning it has had no disclosures in the past decade. This includes any civil, criminal or regulatory issues involving either the firm or its employees or advisory affiliates.
For further information on U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Lawyers Dan Linscomb and George Williams founded Linscomb & WIlliams in 1971. Encore Bancshares purchased the firm in 2005 and was subsequently purchased by Cadence Bank in 2012, but Williams still works at the firm as a managing director and wealth advisor.
Linscomb & Williams is a full-service firm that provides comprehensive financial planning, investment management and general financial consulting. It mostly serves individuals and high net worth individuals, though it also works with institutional investors. An account of at least $1 million is generally required.
The firm has four Texas offices (in Houston, The Woodlands and Fredericksburg), and others in Birmingham, Ala. and in Atlanta.
Linscomb & Williams creates individualized portfolios for its clients based on their financial situation. Portfolios may contain assets in classes including stocks, bonds and cash/cash equivalents. Generally, the firm recommends long-term purchases over short-term trading, as well as using a broker that may offer discounted trading costs.
The firm has an investment committee that is responsible for choosing which securities to recommend to clients. When evaluating investments, the committee uses several criteria, including:
Linscomb & Williams does not have any disclosures. For reference, the SEC requires all registered investment advisors to disclose in their Form ADV paperwork any civil, criminal or regulatory actions against the firm, its employees or affiliates within the last 10 years that clients might consider material when evaluating the firm or its management team.
For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Paul Comstock Partners is a fee-only registered investment advisory firm owned primarily by its CEO, Alison Comstock Moss. Moss’ father, Paul Comstock, founded the firm in 1983 and remains a minority owner and the firm’s director and relationship manager.
Paul Comstock Partners primarily serves high net worth individuals and families with investment assets of at least $5 million, and aims to provide them investment advisory and wealth advisory services as an outsourced “chief investment officer.” The firm’s clients also include foundations and tax-exempt organizations. It has one office in Houston.
Paul Comstock Partners aims to create a diversified portfolio of stocks and real estate as well as liquid fixed-income assets. The firm recommends investment managers that clients can use to create such a portfolio.
Advisors construct portfolios aimed at minimizing risk, using a mix of both traditional and alternative assets. The firm takes a long-term investing view, and believes that a diversified portfolio will deliver returns, even with short-term fluctuations in value.
Paul Comstock Partners has had no disclosures over the past 10 years. The SEC requires all registered investment advisors to disclose in documents filed with the SEC any civil, criminal or regulatory actions against the firm, its employees or affiliates.
For more information on the firm, visit its IAPD page.
Avidian Wealth Solutions, LLC sits in the middle of our list of the best financial advisors in Houston. Avidian is a financial advisory firm that began doing business in 2003 under the name of Streettalk Advisors, LLC. It can provide services including investment management, financial planning and consulting, investment advice on funds and access to insurance products. Clients of the firm include individuals (high net worth and not), businesses, charitable organizations, pension and profit-sharing plans and pooled investment vehicles.
Headquartered in Houston, Avidian Wealth Solutions has additional locations in Texas in Sugar Land and The Woodlands. It is owned by five members of the firm.
Avidian Wealth Solutions formulates clients’ investment strategies based on the information they provide in their Client Information and Financial Planning Profile Worksheet, which asks for information on topics such as their net worth and investment goals. Most clients are invested in one of the firm’s models, though it may grant exceptions to those who would prefer customized portfolios.
To analyze potential investment opportunities, Avidian Wealth Solutions uses a variety of forms of analysis as well as various resources, ranging from financial newspapers to corporate rating services to annual reports and prospectuses.
Avidian Wealth Solutions does not have any disciplinary disclosures to report. As a registered investment advisor, it is required by the SEC to report any such incidents in its Form ADV paperwork. This includes any civil, criminal or regulatory incidents involving the firm or its employees or advisory affiliates.
For further information, visit Avidian Wealth Solutions’ IAPD page.
CEO and founder Jason Fertitta launched Americana Partners, LLC in 2019, after leaving Morgan Stanley along with a team of 11 co-workers. Fertitta is the primary owner of the firm, which has offices in Dallas, Austin and Houston.
Americana Partners offers investment and wealth management, and a range of financial planning and consulting services, primarily to individuals and high net worth individuals. It can also serve trusts, estates, charitable organizations and businesses.
Americana Partners creates individualized portfolios for clients using a variety of analysis techniques. Portfolios primarily include traditional assets, though the firm may also recommend that some clients invest in privately placed securities, such as hedge funds. Alternative investments are used with the goal of enhancing risk-adjusted returns.
In addition to stocks, bonds and ETFs, portfolios also may include investments with third-party managers. To select those, the firm evaluates managers based on those advisors’ public documents, as well as their investment strategy and past performance.
Americana Partners has had no disclosures since its founding. All registered investment advisors must disclose in documents with the SEC any civil, criminal or regulatory actions that involve either the firm or its employees or affiliates and that clients might consider material when evaluating the firm or its team.
For more information on Americana Partners, visit its IAPD page.
Founded in 1996, Chilton Capital Management is now majority-owned by Knapp Brothers, LLC, a private company owned by firm CEO, David M. Underwood Jr., and John Knapp Jr., with other employees of Chilton Capital Management owning the remaining 45% of the firm.
The firm offers fee-only investment management and financial planning, mostly to individuals who do and do not qualify as high-net worth individuals per the SEC’s definition (at least $750,000 under management or a net worth of at least $1.5 million). It also serves institutional investors. The firm has its headquarters in Houston, its only office location.
In general, Chilton Capital Management strives to achieve consistent returns while using an investment strategy that aligns with a client’s goals and objectives. The firm offers a broad array of strategies, each of which is overseen by a dedicated investment team and includes:
When creating portfolios for clients, Chilton Capital Management uses a variety of investments, including both public and private stocks and bonds, master-limited partnerships, real estate investment trusts, options and funds.
Chilton Capital Management has had no disclosures since its founding. All registered investment advisors must disclose in documents with the SEC any civil, criminal or regulatory actions against it, its employees or affiliates that clients might consider material when evaluating the firm or its management team.
You can learn more about the firm by visiting Chilton Capital Management’s IAPD page.
Founded in 2016, Icon Wealth Partners provides investment advisory services to individuals, including those who are high net worth, as well as trusts, estate, charitable organizations and other corporations. It is owned and operated by managing member and chief compliance officer Blake A. Pratz and managing members Mark B. McAdams and Stephen T. Schwarzbach.
Its only office location is in Houston, where it is headquartered.
Icon Wealth Partners works to match clients with one of its various model portfolios based on their investment goals, objectives, risk tolerance and financial situation. These model portfolios are primarily composed of low-cost ETFs, though the firm may also use mutual funds, private investments and individual stocks and/or bonds.
Icon Wealth Partners selects investments for client portfolios using its internal due diligence process. Though the firm mainly takes a long-term approach when investing, it may buy, sell or reallocate investments held for less than a year to meet a client’s objectives or due to market conditions.
Icon Wealth Partners has had no disciplinary issues within the last 10 years, including any civil, criminal or regulatory events involving either the firm or its employees or affiliates. For further information, visit Icon Wealth Partners’ IAPD page.
Firm president and chief investment officer Bonner C. Barnes founded Corda Investment Management in 1999 and remains its primary owner. The firm offers portfolio management and pension consulting. It provides its services primarily to individual investors, both who do and do not meet the SEC’s definition of high net worth, as well as pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations and businesses.
The firm has its headquarters in Houston and additional offices in Texas in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. It also has an office location in Broomfield, Colo.
Corda Investment Management creates customized portfolios for its clients, taking into account their personal financial situation. For clients who own a large position in a single company, Corda Investment Management offers an options strategy designed to help them unwind the position in order to create a more diversified portfolio.
Corda Investment Management looks for sustainable businesses when making investment decisions. To identify sustainable businesses, the Corda Investment Management team evaluates companies based on their impact on environmental, social and governance factors.
Corda Investment Management reports no disclosures within the last 10 years in its Form ADV paperwork filed with the SEC. For reference, the SEC requires all registered investment advisors to disclose any civil, criminal, or regulatory actions against it, its employees or its affiliates that clients might consider material when evaluating the firm or its management team.
You can view the firm’s IAPD page for more information.
Capping-off our list of the best financial advisors in Houston is Inscription Capital. Former UBS brokers Brian Bova, David Leeds Eustis and Marc Oster founded the firm in 2018 and remain the firm’s co-owners. The firm provides financial planning, consulting, investment management and family office services primarily to individuals, both high net worth and otherwise. It has two offices in Houston.
Inscription Capital uses customized models and portfolio strategies that may include individual securities, funds, structured products, options and alternative investments. Additionally, the firm may also recommend that clients invest a portion of their portfolios with external managers. In some cases, Inscription Capital may recommend that clients use the Betterment Institutional robo-advising platform to implement their portfolios.
In general, Inscription Capital takes a long-term approach to investing, aiming to hold assets for at least a year. However, advisors may sell holdings after a shorter period to rebalance a portfolio, meet client needs or respond to a change in the fundamental value of the asset or sector.
Inscription Capital reports no disciplinary disclosures within the last 10 years. All registered investment advisors must disclose in their Form ADV documents filed with the SEC any civil, criminal or regulatory actions against either the firm or its employees or affiliates.
For more information, visit Inscription Capital’s IAPD page.
While there’s no state income tax in Texas or state inheritance or estate taxes, Houston residents still need to consider the impact of local property taxes on their portfolio. It’s also always important to plan for federal income taxes.
No. While many financial advisor firms can help you with retirement planning, it’s not the primary goal of every firm. Some advisors will focus solely on building your portfolio, while others may take a more holistic approach and address other issues, such as tax minimization or risk management.
It’s typically better for you to hire a fee-only financial advisor. Fee-only advisors earn money from fees their clients pay — whether an hourly rate, flat fee or a percentage of assets under management — but they do not receive commissions for making recommendations or selling products.
On the other hand, fee-based advisors may receive commissions for selling certain products in addition to the fees their clients pay, which could create a conflict of interest. Working with an advisor with fewer potential conflicts of interest can leave you more confident that decisions regarding your portfolio are being made with your best interest in mind.
It’s important to hire a fiduciary financial advisor because this will provide assurance that your advisor is making recommendations based on what’s best for you, rather than what will earn them more money. A fiduciary advisor is legally and ethically bound to put your interests before their own.
In our search for the best financial advisors in Houston, we looked at firms throughout the city. All the firms considered are bound by fiduciary duty, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and offer individual account management and financial planning services. Information for our methodology criteria is taken directly from each firm’s most recent Form ADV filing and brochure, found in the IAPD database.
To localize our results for this list of the best financial advisors in Houston, we exclusively looked at firms that met the above criteria and had their headquarters in Houston, per the address provided in the Form ADV. We only considered those firms that offer financial planning services and portfolio management to individual investors. To be considered for this list, firms also could have no more than one disciplinary disclosure in the past 10 years. From there, the remaining firms that met all of the above stipulations were ranked in order of highest to lowest AUM, as this is an indication of a firm’s size and how many assets it has been entrusted to manage.
Our reviews have also listed several other key features that will help you determine which financial advisor may be most fitting for your investing style and financial needs. While our ranking system and methodology can help you compare firms, it does not indicate which firm may be best for you. All information here is accurate as of February 8, 2022, but don’t hesitate to check out any firm’s Form ADV for yourself on the SEC’s Investment Advisor Public Disclosure site.
The “Find a Financial Advisor” links contained in this article will direct you to webpages devoted to MagnifyMoney Advisor (“MMA”). After completing a brief questionnaire, you will be matched with certain financial advisers who participate in MMA’s referral program, which may or may not include the investment advisers discussed.
Beth BravermanBeth Braverman is a freelance writer covering personal finance, careers and parenting. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications, including CNN Business, CNBC.com and USNews.
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