MagnifyMoney 
Florida Financial Advisors provides financial planning, wealth management and insurance services specifically designed for Florida residents. The advisory firm is headquartered in Tampa and has three additional offices in the Sunshine State, as well as one in Philadelphia. With no stated minimum investment requirement, the firm currently serves only individual investors who don’t have a high net worth.
The bottom line: Florida Financial Advisors is an investment advisory firm that offers asset management and financial planning services to individual investors in Florida.
| Assets under management (AUM): $30,918,793 | |
| Minimum investment: None listed | |
| Individual investor to advisor ratio: 4:1 | |
| Fee structure: A percentage of AUM, fixed fees, other (a percentage of net worth or assets for financial planning clients) | |
| Headquarters: 2330 W. Horatio Street Tampa, FL 33609 Website: www.floridafa.com Phone: 813-333-1683 |
All information included in this profile is accurate as of September 13, 2021. For more information, please consult Florida Financial Advisors’ website.
Florida Financial Advisors was founded in 2017 by Jason Mickool, who currently serves as the firm’s president and chief compliance officer. Mickool also owns Trinity Wealth Securities, a brokerage firm in Tampa, Fla., and some employees of Florida Financial Advisors are registered representatives of Trinity Wealth Securities. Florida Financial Advisors is also the parent company of Tristate Financial Advisors in Philadelphia, which provides the same investment advisory and insurance services to those in the tristate area of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Florida Financial Advisors currently has over 80 employees, all of whom provide investment advisory services and are licensed insurance agents and broker-dealers.
That said, per the firm’s Form ADV, all of Florida Financial Advisors’ current clients are individual investors who do not have a high net worth. For reference, the high net worth threshold is defined by the SEC as having at least $750,000 under an advisor’s management or a net worth believed to be at least $1.5 million. The firm specifically caters to those who live in Florida and have “Floridian” lifestyles.
Florida Financial Advisors doesn’t require a minimum account balance for clients.
Florida Financial Advisors offers financial planning, wealth management, insurance services and business owner services, specializing in the needs of Florida residents.
The firm works with each of its clients to create what it calls an investment policy statement, which serves as the roadmap for meeting their financial goals. Financial planning services are typically included as part of the investment advisory relationship.
The firm’s services include the following:
Florida Financial Advisors subscribes to the investing framework of Modern Portfolio Theory, which calls for diversifying investments to minimize risk and looking at the market as a whole when considering investment opportunities.
Typically, the firm recommends one of six model portfolios based on a client’s goals, timeline and risk tolerance. The portfolios range from conservative to extremely aggressive. Most frequently, the firm recommends the following investment strategies:
To identify investment opportunities, Florida Financial Advisors primarily relies on fundamental, technical and cyclical analysis, which look at a company’s overall financial health, past market trends and patterns and the status of the economy both nationally and globally, respectively. The firm generally allocates client assets among the following:
In some cases, the firm may recommend privately placed securities including debt, equity and/or interests in pooled investment vehicles like hedge funds.
Clients of Florida Financial Advisors pay an annual fee for investment management services, with the rate based on a percentage of their total assets under management. Maximum rates range from 1.40% to 2.65%, depending on the value of a portfolio (see table below for specifics).
While no client will owe more than the maximum rate for each portfolio tier, fees may vary based on factors such as anticipated future earning capacity and anticipated future additional assets. Additionally, because the advisors determine the exact rate within the parameters outlined in the table below, there is potential for a conflict of interest to arise, as advisors stand to earn more when they charge clients a higher rate.
| Florida Financial Advisors Asset Management Fee Schedule | |
|---|---|
| Portfolio value | Maximum rate |
| First $250,000 | 2.65% |
| Next $250,000 | 2.45% |
| Next $500,000 | 1.90% |
| Next $1 million | 1.65% |
| Next $3 million | 1.65% |
| Next $5 million | 1.40% |
| Above $10 million | 1.40% |
In some cases, Florida Financial Advisors may recommend that its clients work with a third-party investment advisor, such as Morningstar Advisory Services or Brinker Advisory Services. In these cases, Florida Financial Advisors receives a portion of the fee that the third-party advisor receives, as outlined in the charts below.
| Annual Fee Schedule for Morningstar Advisory Services | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total assets | Florida Financial Advisors’ fee | Morningstar’s fee | Total fee |
| $1 to $500,000 | 0.75% | 0.55% | 1.30% |
| $500,001 to $1 million | 0.75% | 0.50% | 1.25% |
| Over $1 million to $2 million | 0.75% | 0.45% | 1.20% |
| Over $2 million | 0.75% | 0.40% | 1.15% |
| Annual Fee Schedule for Brinker Advisory Services | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | Florida Financial Advisors’ fee | Brinker’s fee | Total Fee |
| All assets | Up to 2.51% | 0.14% | Up to 2.65% |
A client may also owe additional third-party fees, which could include costs like brokerage commissions, transaction fees and other expenses.
For financial planning and consulting, clients are either charged a fixed fee, which ranges from $200 to $7,500, or a fee based on their net worth or assets, which may be up to 2%. The exact rate will vary based on the scope of the services provided and the advisor’s discretion.
Florida Financial Advisors reports no disclosures. This means that neither the firm nor its employees or affiliates have faced any civil, criminal or regulatory events in the past 10 years.
For more information, you can visit the firm’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) page, where you will find the firm’s Form ADV, which all registered investment advisors must file with the SEC. One section of this form asks for disclosure information that may be pertinent to current or potential clients’ evaluation of the firm.
Florida Financial Advisors has offices in the following locations:
Note that the office in Philadelphia is technically a Tristate Financial Advisors office, of which Florida Financial Advisors is the parent company.
If you live in Florida and are looking for a financial advisor, Florida Financial Advisors may be worth considering. As a small, local firm, it provides personalized service to meet the unique needs of state residents. That service may come at a cost, however, as Florida Financial Advisors’ fees may be higher than average, though it is difficult to predict your exact fee as the firm only provides maximum rates.
Be aware that advisors at the firm may stand to make financial gains by recommending certain products, so there is potential for conflict of interest. Additionally, while the firm may be of great interest to Florida residents, its specialized focus on Floridians and the fact that all but one of its offices are located in the Sunshine State means it may not be a good fit for residents of other states, who may be better served by another financial advisor firm.
Before you make your decision, take the time to research multiple firms to ensure you find the right advisor for you.
Julie Ryan EvansJulie Ryan Evans is a writer and editor who has covered small business, real estate and personal finance for nearly a decade. She has written for an array of publications, including USA Today, Realtor.com, LendingTree and Debt.com.
Read More
