Horter Investment Management Review

Horter Investment Management provides portfolio management and retirement-focused financial planning, generally to individuals age 50 and older. The firm’s team of more than 60 financial advisors are located in 11 different states, and the firm’s headquarters is located in Cincinnati, Ohio; services are also offered nationwide through virtual means. Horter Investment Management currently oversees over $379 million in assets under management (AUM).

Assets under management: $379,773,623

Minimum investment: No minimum

Individual investor to advisor ratio: 58:1

Fee structure: A percentage of AUM, hourly charges, fixed fees

Headquarters: 11726 Seven Gables Road Symmes Township Cincinnati, OH 45249 Website: www.horterinvestment.com Phone: 513-984-9933

All information included in this profile is accurate as of February 3, 2022. For more information, please consult Horter Investment Management’s website.

Overview of Horter Investment Management

The firm was founded in 1991 in Cincinnati, Ohio, under the name Horter Asset Management; in 2006, the firm modified its name to Horter Investment Management. This independent advisory firm is majority-owned by Drew Horter, the founder, president and CEO.

The firm now has over 80 employees who work out of more than 60 offices throughout the U.S. Of the firm’s employees, 64 serve as investment advisors, with a similar number also serving as licensed insurance agents.

A look at the firm’s founder, Drew Horter

Drew Horter is the firm’s founder, as well as its president and CEO, and began working as an independent financial planner nearly 40 years ago. Featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Tribune and on Fox News, Horter’s firm biography notes that he has shared his investment advice and mentored hundreds of advisors.

Of note, Horter’s certified financial planner (CFP) status was revoked in 2019 after he failed to file an answer to the CFB Board’s complaint regarding an Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finding about his firm.

What types of clients does Horter Investment Management serve?

Almost all of Horter’s clients are individuals who do not have a high net worth — the SEC defines high net worth investors as those with either $750,000 under management or a net worth of at least $1.5 million. Horter states that it primarily works with clients ages 50 and over, and the firm doesn’t impose a minimum account size for new clients.

In addition to serving individual investors, the firm also serves trusts and estates, business entities and pension and profit-sharing plans.

Services offered by Horter Investment Management

Horter offers two primary services to individual clients, portfolio management and financial planning services. Portfolio management can be done on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis (the former allows the advisor to execute trading on the client’s behalf, while the latter requires client permission for every trade). Clients who opt for financial planning services will receive a written report that details a financial plan designed with their goals and objectives.

Below is a comprehensive list of the firm’s offerings:

• Portfolio management and investment advisory services
• Financial planning
  • Personal financial goals and liabilities
  • Tax and cash flow analysis
  • Investment analysis
  • Insurance
  • Retirement strategies
  • Death and disability
  • Estate planning

How Horter Investment Management invests your money

When you begin working with an advisor at this firm, you’ll discuss your goals, objectives, time horizon, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, net worth, total income and more. All of these financial elements will help inform what investment portfolio your advisor recommends for you. Typical portfolio objectives include growth, income and maximum capital appreciation.

At Horter Investment Management, there are three types of portfolio management programs:

• Multi-manager portfolio (model portfolio): Multiple investment methodologies and strategies are used with multiple managers. This program includes tactical portfolios, which are actively traded, as well as passive portfolios, where your money is primarily invested in institutional mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and stays invested. Tactical portfolios are also invested in institutional mutual funds and ETFs, but may use third-party money managers.
• Single manager portfolio: One investment methodology or strategy is followed for this program.
• Custom portfolio: This account can include multiple investment strategies, determined based on a client’s financial or investment objectives.

The firm is affiliated with Tactical Fund Advisors (TFA) and will likely recommend a number of its funds for investment. These funds are primarily invested in ETFs and mutual funds and have different goals, such as capital appreciation (long-term growth) or capital growth. However, this does present a potential conflict of interest: Because the firm benefits from recommending TFA funds and can keep fund expenses lower with larger investments, advisors may be incentivized to recommend TFA funds.

Fees Horter Investment Management charges for its services

At Horter you’ll pay a fee based on your assets under management, currently a 1.99% annual fee. Notably, there’s no tiered fee schedule at this firm, which means that even if you invest a large amount of money, you’ll pay the same flat rate.

Clients with non-discretionary accounts or alternative investments may be subject to different fees, as noted in the table above. In addition to annual fees, your account may be subject to custodian and account maintenance fees, as well as trading and transaction fees.

For financial planning services, clients may be charged based on either an hourly rate or a fixed fee. The firm’s hourly rate ranges from $150 to $175 per hour, while fixed fees will be no more than $3,500 per engagement.

Horter Investment Management disciplinary disclosures

Horter has two relatively recent disclosures in the past 10 years:

• In 2021, the SEC alleged that the firm and its founder, president and CEO Drew Horter had failed to reasonably supervise a former investment advisor representative at the firm and that it had failed to implement policies and procedures to help prevent the misappropriation of client funds by the representative. The matter remains pending; an administrative hearing is slated for July 2022.
• In 2017, F-Squared Investments, a former, unaffiliated signal provider, admitted to violating federal securities laws previously in a period from 2001 to 2008. Horter Investment Management was one of the advisors that relied on F-Squared’s performance information during that period. The firm settled with the SEC and paid more than $700,000 in penalties.

For additional information, visit the firm’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) page.

Horter Investment Management onboarding process

1. Contact the firm: New or prospective clients can contact the firm by calling 513-984-9933 or filling out the contact form on the company’s website.
2. Meet with an advisor: Advisors will initiate a conversation with you, where you’ll discuss items such as:
   • What your ideal life currently looks like
   • What it will look like five years from now
   • What it will look like when you retire
   • What will happen when you can no longer live on your own

   This conversation will help inform the investment plan that your advisors will create. Other considerations include your time horizon, risk tolerance and financial objectives.

3. Have your funds invested: Once you’ve approved your investment plan, your advisors will invest your money and monitor its performance. The firm attempts to create portfolios with consistent, long-term results.
4. Stay in touch: At a minimum, you’ll meet with your advisor once a year, and you can choose how to meet with your advisor. Horter offers meetings face-to-face, over the phone or virtually, during which you can discuss and review your portfolio.

Where Horter Investment Management is located

The firm is based in Ohio, but also has advisors located in nine other states:

• California
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Michigan
• Nebraska
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia
• Texas

Is Horter Investment Management right for you?

Horter might be the right financial investment firm for you if you’re nearing retirement age and are not a high net worth individual. High net worth individuals, on the other hand, may be better served by firms that offer tiered fee schedules that will decrease their rates given their higher levels of assets under management.

Horter Investment Management’s lack of an account minimum or minimum fee allows a wide range of clients to access their portfolio management and retirement planning services. The firm also has over 60 office locations, making it geographically accessible as well.

Still, potential clients should take note of any potential conflicts of interest and the firm’s recent disciplinary history. Before starting a relationship with any firm, it’s a smart idea to speak to several different financial advisors to find the best advisor for you.