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Altium Wealth Management is a small financial advisory firm offering customized wealth management and financial planning services. The firm has a single office in Purchase, New York, although it is registered to work with clients in a number of states. Altium Wealth Management targets individuals who can invest at least $1 million, though it does make exceptions.
The bottom line: Altium Wealth Management is a small firm with just one physical office, but it has received recognition as a top registered investment advisor (RIA) and offers customized portfolios for individual investors.
| Assets under management (AUM): $2,652,145,382 | |
| Minimum investment: $1 million | |
| Individual investor to advisor ratio: 36:1 | |
| Fee structure: A percentage of AUM, hourly charges, fixed fees | |
| Headquarters: 2500 Westchester Avenue, Suite 210 Purchase, NY 10577 Website: www.altiumwealth.com Phone: 877-780-0074 |
All information included in this profile is accurate as of March 27, 2022. For more information, please consult Altium Wealth Management’s website.
Founded in 2010 in an effort to create a client-centric firm that differed from the traditional industry model, Altium Wealth Management provides both wealth management and financial planning services. The firm currently has over 40 employees, including roughly 25 who serve in investment advisory and research roles.
The firm is owned by its seven managing directors, five of whom are certified financial planners (CFP), a designation that requires rigorous training and testing and adherence to strict ethical guidelines. Many of Altium’s managing directors have been with the firm since it launched.
The firm currently works primarily with individual investors who both are and are not high net worth individuals. Additionally, it serves a smaller number of institutional clients, most of which are pension and profit-sharing plans.
Altium typically requires a minimum account balance of $1 million, but it also will work with those who have less to invest. In fact, its Form ADV lists similar numbers of high net worth individuals and non-high net worth individuals as clients, although the majority of its assets under management come from high net worth clients. Sometimes, the firm aggregates the accounts of family members in order to reach the $1 million threshold required.
Altium specializes in providing wealth management and financial planning services to individual investors. Wealth management services are offered on a discretionary basis, meaning that the firm’s advisors can make trades on behalf of their clients. Clients can take advantage of the firm’s financial planning services on a one-time basis, though they’re typically offered as part of an ongoing wealth management relationship.
Here is a full list of services offered by the firm:
Altium Wealth Management works with each client to create a unique investment plan and portfolio tailored to their financial situation, goals and risk tolerance. It provides in-house, custom equity asset management and fixed income asset management, as well as tax optimization solutions.
The firm’s investment committee researches investment options and uses a proprietary scorecard to rate potential investments. The method allows the firm to analyze each investment quantitatively, looking at the investment’s fees, performance, risk, manager experience and other factors, and then compare it to relevant benchmarks.
Based on 10- to 15-year capital markets assumptions (unless a client’s needs mandate otherwise), portfolios typically consist of a diverse blend of investments, including:
Clients have the option for customization in equity investments, including security, sector and ESG (environmental, social and governance) screens.
Once created, the firm uses various types of technology to offer daily portfolio optimization, as it believes that active management and oversight is key to a successful asset allocation strategy. Technology it employs includes smart rebalancing, custom rules-based trading and robust tax optimization techniques.
For investment advisory services, Altium charges a fee based on a percentage of assets under management. Rates are negotiable but many clients pay based on the fee schedule outlined in the table below:
| Fee Schedule for Altium Wealth Management | |
|---|---|
| Assets under management | Annual fee |
| First $1 million | 1.25% |
| Next $4 million | 0.75% |
| Next $5 million | 0.50% |
| Any funds over $10 million | 0.25% |
Investors who have the firm directly manage their equity or fixed income strategy, rather than outsourcing the management of those strategies to independent managers, will pay an additional 0.20% on those assets. Clients may also owe additional fees to cover third-party charges for transactions made on their behalf with other financial institutions, such as broker-dealers, custodians or banks.
For financial planning services, clients pay either a fixed or hourly fee that depends on the scope and complexity of the services provided. While rates are negotiable, the typical range for one-time, project-based services is a fixed fee of $5,000 to $25,000 or an hourly rate of $150 to $750 per hour. For ongoing financial planning, fees are also negotiable and range from $2,000 to $25,000 per year.
Altium does not have any disciplinary disclosures on its record. Investment advisors who face disciplinary action, including criminal charges, regulatory infractions or civil actions, must report those incidents on the Form ADV that they file with the SEC.
For more information on the firm, go to Altium Wealth Management’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) page.
Altium has only one physical office, in Purchase, New York.
However, the firm is registered in a number of other states aside from New York, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.
Altium Wealth Management could be a good choice if you can invest at least $1 million and are looking for personalized investment services. The firm only has one office, in Purchase, New York, so it may be best suited to clients who live in the region. However, it is registered to serve investors in other states; consult Altium to find out its availability in your location.
Investors who have a smaller account balance or live in other parts of the country where Altium is not registered might be better suited to work with a different firm. Additionally, potential clients should be aware that some Altium Wealth Management advisors are also insurance agents, which could create a conflict of interest when they recommend products. Be sure to research multiple firms to ensure you find the right advisor for you.
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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