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For those looking for a financial advisor in South Carolina, the process will begin with a self-assessment. Ultimately, finding the right financial advisor for you comes down to understanding your financial needs and goals, as well as the costs involved. From there, you will need to start comparing your options.
That is where this ranking can hopefully help you out. We have compiled the most pertinent information on South Carolina’s top advisory firms to make your research process easier. To determine the best advisors in the Palmetto State, we looked exclusively at firms that manage individual accounts and offer financial planning services. We then ranked these firms based on assets under management (AUM), which serves as a general metric for a firm’s size. Although not formally part of our ranking, we encourage readers to take note of each firm’s client-to-advisor ratio, as this indicates how much attention you may get as a client. All data used in our methodology is taken from each firm’s most recent Form ADV filing with the SEC so as to ensure the accuracy and reliability of our rankings.
While our list can’t tell you which advisor will be a match for you, it can hopefully make it easier for you to figure that out. See below for our list below for the top firms in South Carolina and their key highlights:
How much would you like to invest?
| Firm name | City | Minimum Assets Required | Fee Structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nachman Norwood & Parrott, Inc. | Greenville | $1 million, typically | A percentage of AUM Hourly charges Fixed fees |
| Fintrust Capital Advisors, LLC | Greenville, Anderson | $100,000, typically | A percentage of AUM Hourly charges Fixed fees |
| Greenwood Capital Associates, LLC | Greenwood, Greenville | $250,000, typically | A percentage of AUM |
| Abacus Planning Group, Inc. | Columbia | Not specified | A percentage of AUM Hourly charges Fixed fees |
| Colonial Trust Advisors, Inc. | Spartanburg, Greenville, Columbia, Charleston | None | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees |
| Dividend Assets Capital, LLC | Ridgeland | $250,000, typically | A percentage of AUM |
| Anchor Investment Management | Columbia | $500,000, typically | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees |
| Foster Victor Wealth Advisors, LLC | Greenville | $5,000 | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees |
| JBJ Investment Partners, LLC | Charleston | $250,000, typically | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees |
| Reynolds Investment Management, Inc | Greenville | $1 million | A percentage of AUM Fixed fees |
For our search, we looked at firms across the state of South Carolina. All of the firms considered are bound by fiduciary duty, registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and offer individual account management and financial planning services. Information used for our methodology criteria is taken directly from each firm’s most recent Form ADV filing and brochure, found on the IAPD database.
To localize our results for this list, we exclusively looked at firms that met the above criteria and had their headquarters in South Carolina, as per the address provided in the Form ADV. Of those firms, we only considered those 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.
In our reviews, we 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 is designed to help you compare firms, it does not indicate which firm may be best for you. All information here is accurate as of February 11, 2021, but we urge you to also evaluate these firms on https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/.
Financial services industry veterans Bob Nachman, Ben Norwood and John Parrott launched Nachman, Norwood & Parrott in May 2007. Parrott retired in 2018, and Nachman and Norwood remain partners at the employee-owned firm.
The firm offers financial planning, cash flow planning, investment management, estate planning, and insurance monitoring, primarily to individuals and high net worth individuals, from its Greenville office.
Nachman, Norwood & Parrott bases its investment recommendations on a variety of factors including past performance of securities, fee structure, portfolio manager, fund sponsor and ratings for safety and returns.The firm uses both long-term purchases and short-term purchases, depending on each client’s circumstances.
Client portfolios typically include a mix of common stock, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and municipal bonds, along with taxable fixed-income products and alternative investments.
Nachman, Norwood & Parrott reports no disciplinary events. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires all registered investment advisors to disclose any disciplinary events — including civil, criminal and regulatory actions — on their Form ADV.
For more information, including access to the firm’s Form ADV, visit its IAPD page.
Founded in 2007, Fintrust Capital Advisors is owned, via trusts and a holding company, mostly by its employees, including co-CEOs Richard P. Sheridan and Phillip Brice. The firm offers wealth management and financial planning. Its clients are mainly high net worth individuals.
Fintrust Capital Advisors has two offices in Greenville and Anderson, and Atlanta and Macon, Ga.
Fintrust Capital Advisors takes a long-term approach to investing, creating customized portfolios that are value-driven, diversified and tax-efficient. The firm creates portfolios that consist of investments in third-party managers, mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end funds, stocks, bonds and options.
In making recommendations, Fintrust Capital Advisors uses fundamental and historical analyses as well as Monte Carlo scenario results.
Fintrust Capital Advisors reports no disciplinary history, which includes any civil, criminal, or disciplinary events, over the past 10 years involving the firm, its employees or its affiliates.
For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Founded in 1983, Greenwood Capital Management grew out of the investment division of a South Carolina textile mill. The firm is now owned by TCB Corporation, a holding company that also owns South Carolina’s Countybank, Countybank Trust Services, Countybank Mortgage, Countybanc Insurance and Countybanc Investment Services.
The firm provides wealth management and financial planning services, primarily to individuals from offices in Greenville and Greenwood, S.C. It generally requires a minimum investment of $250,000.
Greenwood Capital Associates brings a big-picture perspective to the customized portfolios it creates for clients, looking for broad cyclical and secular trends to implement in its investing strategies. Portfolios may include a variety of equities, fixed-income taxable securities, fixed-income non-taxable securities and diversified ETFs.
The firm uses the following types of analysis in investment recommendations: charting, fundamental, cyclical and technical. It also considers clients’ overall financial situation, goals, risk tolerance and investment objectives.
Greenwood Capital Associates reports no disciplinary disclosures on its Form ADV. This means the firm and its employees and affiliates have not faced any civil, criminal or regulatory events within the past 10 years. For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
President and owner Cheryl Holland founded Abacus Planning Group in 1998. The Columbia-based firm offers financial planning and wealth management to individuals, including high net worth individuals. It also works with a handful of institutional investors, such as pension and profit-sharing plans and charitable organizations.
Abacus Planning Groups creates customized portfolios for its clients, comprising 90% long-term investments (three to five years) and 10% short-term or tactical. It emphasizes diversification across asset classes, managers and time periods.
The firm analyzes a range of data to choose investments, including macroeconomic trends, asset class valuation and manager performance. It methodically rebalances portfolios over time to make sure they continue to adhere to asset allocation targets.
Abacus Planning Group reports no legal or disciplinary history, which means neither the firm nor its employees or affiliates have faced civil, regulatory or criminal disciplinary measures over the past 10 years. For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Colonial Trust Advisors has roots in Spartanburg, going back to 1913 when the firm served several founding families. In 1989, H. Walter Barre and Barry D. Wynne purchased the company. Barre, the firm’s chief operating officer, and Wynne, its president, own 25% each of its parent company, Colonial Group.
The firm offers investment management, financial advice and trust and fiduciary services, primarily to individuals, including those who are high net worth individuals. In addition to its Spartanburg headquarters, the firm has offices in Greenville, Columbia and Charleston, S.C.
Colonial Trust Advisors creates personalized portfolios for its clients, using a long-term oriented investment philosophy that typically includes a mix of individual securities and low-cost passive strategies.
The firm uses a range of analyses to select specific investments, and also factors in each client’s investment objectives, risk tolerance and time horizon. The firm reviews each portfolio at least quarterly and rebalances at least once per year.
The firm does not report any disciplinary events. The SEC requires that all registered investment advisors report any disciplinary history within the past 10 years involving its firm, employees or affiliates. For more information, visit Colonial Trust Advisors IAPD page.
Investment industry veterans Thomas W. L. Cameron and C. Troy Shaver Jr. founded Dividend Growth Advisors in 2004, changing the firm’s name to Dividend Assets Capital in 2012. Cameron retired in 2016, but Shaver remains the CEO of the employee-owned firm.
The firm offers wealth management, primarily to individual investors, via its Ridgeland office. IT typically requires a minimum investment of $250,000.
Dividend Assets Capital is true to its name, creating portfolios with a focus on investments that pay dividends. It only considers investing in companies that declare dividends and continue to increase those dividends. It has three main strategies:
Dividend Assets Capital reports no disciplinary events. The SEC requires all registered investment advisors report any disciplinary events involving the firm, its employees or affiliates over the past 10 years. For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
W. Patrick Dorn, Jr., founded Anchor Investment Management in 2000, after a three-decade investing career with Wachovia Bank, and he remains the firm’s only owner. The firm offers financial planning and portfolio management services, primarily to individuals and high net worth individuals, from its Columbia office. Its minimum investment requirement is generally $500,000.
Anchor Investment Management creates blended portfolios, composed of both value and growth securities with an emphasis on large-cap companies. Rather than using the S&P 500 index as a basis for diversification when it comes to stocks, the firm looks for sectors with above-average prospects for future earnings and growth.
For fixed income, Anchor Investment Management prefers investment-grade debt, including corporate or municipal bonds, as well as U.S. government debt. Such investments may be direct or via mutual funds or ETFs.
Anchor Investment Management does not report any disclosures, which means it has a disciplinary history free from civil, criminal or regulatory events involving the firm, its employees or affiliates over the past 10 years. For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Former Northwestern Mutual wealth advisors Paul Foster and Rob Victor launched Foster Victor Wealth Advisors in 2016 and remain its owners. The firm offers financial planning and wealth management services, primarily to individuals and high net worth individuals from its Greenville office. The firm also provides succession planning to business owners.
A typical Foster Victor Wealth Advisor portfolio includes a variety of sectors and securities within eight or nine asset classes, allocated based on the client’s time horizon, risk tolerance and financial situation. The firm rebalances portfolios based on market conditions and movement.
Foster Victor primarily invests in traditional assets, such as mutual funds, ETFs and individual stocks and bonds. The firm may invest clients in model ETF portfolios, through the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios program.
In its Form ADV filing, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors reports that neither the firm nor its employees or affiliates have been involved in any criminal or civil actions, or enforcement proceedings over the past 10 years.
For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Dentist James B. Jackson launched JBJ Financial Partners in 2012, decades after finding success helping professionals manage their money through his firm, Jackson Financial Company. Today, Jackson is chairman emeritus of JBJ Financial Partners, and President and Chief Investment Officer Mathew Emmert is the firm’s owner.
JBJ Financial Partners offers financial planning and wealth management to high net worth individuals, including dentists, doctors and small business owners, from its Charleston office.
JBJ Financial Partners bases its investment recommendations on several factors including a company’s value, expected future earnings, market risk and each client’s specific financial situation. The firm has several model portfolios, designed for clients with varying degrees of risk tolerance, from an aggressive to more conservative approach. Investments may include ETFs, equities, debt securities and Master Limited Partnerships.
The firm usually emphasizes long-term trading, but may make short-term trades under unusual or limited circumstances.
JBJ Financial Partners reports no legal or disciplinary events involving the firm, its employees, or affiliates in its Form ADV paperwork, which the SEC requires all registered investment advisors to file. For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Accountant and investment industry veteran Thomas J. Reynolds III founded Reynolds Investment Management in 1992 and remains the firm’s owner and president. Reynolds Investment Management offers financial planning and investment management, primarily to individuals from its Greenville office.
Reynolds Investment Management does not believe in timing the market, instead aiming to create a diversified portfolio with low taxes and management fees. The firm uses a variety of strategies to select investments, including fundamental analysis, technical analysis, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis and asset allocation suitable to a client’s investment goals and risk tolerance.
Portfolios include both individual stocks and mutual funds composed of companies of varying size, maturity and location. When it comes to fixed income, the firm uses a laddered approach with both short- and medium-term securities, with the goal of lowering volatility and providing income.
Reynolds Investment Management does not have any disciplinary disclosures to report on its Form ADV paperwork filed with the SEC. This indicates that it has a record free from civil, criminal or regulatory events involving the firm, its employees or affiliates over the past decade.
For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Income tax rates in South Carolina range from 0% to 7%, depending on your income. The state does not have an estate or inheritance tax, so you’ll want your advisor to help you manage your income tax as well as any applicable federal taxes.
There are no requirements for specific licenses to be a financial advisor, but you may want an advisor that holds a certification to indicate they’ve been through education and training. For example, you may want someone with a certified financial planner (CFP) designation. CFPs must work as fiduciaries, which means they must put the needs of their clients over their own, and avoid any kind of conflicts of interest when it comes to investment products and other matters.
No. While many financial advisors do offer services in the area of retirement planning, some are focused more on asset management than on broader wealth management services. If you want professional help with retirement planning, make sure to ask a potential advisor whether that’s something they provide. Here are 10 questions to ask a financial advisor while on the hunt for someone who may work best for you.
Financial advisors in South Carolina can offer insurance services, but you may prefer to hire one that does not. That’s because advisors who sell insurance typically get a commission for making the sale, which could give them an incentive to sell you a product you don’t necessarily need. Instead, look for a fee-only advisor, who can recommend the type of insurance you need, and then you can shop around and buy a plan on your own.
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.
