What does F.L.Putnam Investment Management do?
F.L.Putnam Investment Management (FLP) is an advisor-led private wealth and investment advisory firm mainly for individuals and families that want planning, customized portfolios, and ongoing management.
Firm overview:
Service type | Advisor-led investment management and financial planning |
|---|---|
Founded /registration | Founded in 1983; SEC-registered since 1984 |
AUM | $13.8B |
Employees | 157 |
Main fee model | Tiered asset-based fee starting at 1.10% annually |
Main clients | Individuals and families, including professionals and business owners, plus institutional clients |
Standard minimum | $750,000 for investment management with planning |
Main trade-off | Broad customization, but higher minimums and layered costs |
The firm also uses a two-advisor model that combines financial planning with investment management.
Clients with more than $750,000 under management typically work with a client advisor, an investment advisor, and an account administrator, giving the relationship both planning and portfolio-management support.
Key services:
- Financial planning: It covers
- Financial positioning
- Retirement planning
- Tax management
- Estate and legacy planning
- Insurance review
- Executive compensation
- Long-term care and custom reporting
- Customized portfolio management: Portfolios can include equities, fixed income, cash, alternatives, ETFs, third-party managers, mutual funds, and individual securities.
- Family office solutions: F.L.Putnam helps families with complex needs coordinate investments, administration, governance, communication, and consolidated reporting.
How it works:
Investment process in four stages
- Investment Policy Design: Defines goals, return expectations, time horizon, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, and tax constraints.
- Asset Allocation and Portfolio Construction: Builds a diversified portfolio based on the client’s risk-and-return profile.
- Manager & Security Selection: Selects individual securities, funds, alternative investments, and third-party managers.
- Ongoing Management: Monitors the portfolio and adjusts it for market conditions or changes in the client’s circumstances.
Investment philosophy
F.L.Putnam uses a research-driven, long-term approach that combines macroeconomic analysis with security-specific research. Portfolios generally use diversified strategic allocations across global equities, fixed income, and alternatives for market cycles exceeding 10 years, while tactical adjustments reflect the firm’s 12- to 18-month market outlook.
This balances long-term discipline with flexibility, although it also means results depend partly on the firm’s active research and market judgments rather than a purely passive allocation.
What are the pros and cons of F.L.Putnam Investment Management?
Here is a look at the pros and cons of F.L. Putnam Investment Management.
Pros of F.L. Putnam Investment Management:
- Integrated service: Portfolio decisions can be coordinated with retirement, estate, insurance, cash-flow, and tax-planning considerations.
- Broad investment access: Portfolios may use individual securities, passive funds, external managers, and alternatives.
- Ongoing oversight: Accounts are reviewed regularly, with meetings available to discuss strategy, performance, and changing goals.
- Values-based customization: Clients may request socially responsible investing and include or exclude activities based on their ethical, religious, social, or environmental preferences.
Cons of F.L. Putnam Investment Management:
- High standard minimum: The $750,000 requirement excludes many smaller investors.
- Layered expenses: Funds, private investments, custody, brokerage, and transaction charges may apply in addition to the advisory fee.
- Adjacent services can confuse scope: Atrato, institutional, family office, trust, and SMA services have different fees and uses.
F.L.Putnam Investment Management fees: How much does F.L.Putnam Investment Management cost?
F.L. Putnam’s wealth investment management fee is asset-based and billed quarterly in advance.
Service or asset level | Annual fee |
|---|---|
First $2 million | 1.10% |
Next $3 million | 0.925% |
Next $5 million | 0.80% |
Above $10 million | 0.60% |
Financial planning fees | No additional planning fee above $750,000 AUM threshold |
Standalone planning | $5,000 under $5M assets; $7,000 for $5M-$10M; $10,000 minimum over $10M |
Family office solutions | Often $10,000-$40,000/month |
Assets invested in AOGFX | Fund management fee is 1.49% |
Additional costs can include mutual fund and ETF expenses, custody and brokerage costs, private fund expenses, and AOGFX fund-level fees.
What is F.L.Putnam Investment Management’s minimum account size?
F.L. Putnam’s minimums vary by service.
Service | Minimum |
|---|---|
Investment management with financial planning | $750,000 relationship minimum |
Equity SMA strategies | $250,000 |
Taxable fixed income SMA strategies | $300,000 |
Tax-exempt fixed income SMA strategies | $500,000 |
Short duration fixed income SMA strategy | $1 million |
Family office solutions | More than $25 million in investable assets |
Who should choose F.L.Putnam Investment Management?
F.L. Putnam Investment Management works well for:
- Affluent families: The $750,000 minimum fits clients with planning needs.
- Clients with interconnected planning needs: The service covers retirement, estate, insurance, executive compensation, and cash-flow analysis.
- Investors seeking customization: Portfolios can incorporate individual securities, outside managers, alternatives, and values-based restrictions.
- Clients preferring personal support: The model uses advisor teams, regular account reviews, and client meetings.
Who might not benefit as much:
- Investors with smaller portfolios: Service minimums range from $250,000 to $1 million. These relatively high thresholds make the service less accessible to small-balance investors.
- Simplicity seekers: Multiple service lines and affiliated products require careful scope review.
- People needing tax or legal implementation: F.L. Putnam does not prepare tax returns or legal documents.
F.L.Putnam Investment Management: Is it secure?
F.L. Putnam is an SEC-registered investment advisor.
Client assets are generally held by qualified independent custodians, which send transaction, holding, and valuation statements directly to clients.
The firm also offers computer safeguards, secured files and buildings, and restricted information access for employees and vendors.
F.L.Putnam Investment Management: Customer service
Support is relationship-based. Managed accounts are regularly reviewed by the assigned portfolio manager or investment advisor, and clients may meet with the firm to discuss goals, strategy, performance, and questions. Quarterly written reports are available on request, in addition to custodian statements.
Clients can contact the firm by phone, email, or website form. The firm lists offices in several states and says the firm serves clients nationally, but it does not disclose standard response times.
F.L.Putnam Investment Management: Mobile App
FLP does not offer a dedicated branded mobile app.
Clients instead access their accounts through the web-based platform, which is hosted through linked Schwab, Fidelity, and eMoney client portals. Available account, portfolio, and planning functions depend on the platform used.
Is F.L.Putnam Investment Management worth it?
F.L. Putnam may suit investors who meet its service minimums and want advisor-led portfolio management combined with ongoing financial planning.
Its strengths are customized portfolios, broad planning support, direct advisor access, and separate strategies for equity, fixed income, sustainable investing, and family-office needs. The main trade-offs are relatively high minimums, an advisory fee starting at 1.10%, possible additional product and custody costs, and no dedicated mobile app.
It is therefore more relevant to households seeking a comprehensive, high-touch relationship than to small-balance or highly fee-sensitive investors.
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