What does Focus Partners Wealth do?
Focus Partners Wealth is an advisor-led wealth management service that combines ongoing financial planning with discretionary investment management.
The service is delivered by Focus Partners Wealth, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisory firm operating under its current name following a January 2025 name change.
As of December 31, 2024, the firm reports total regulatory assets under management (AUM) of $95,889,888,425.
The firm primarily works with clients who want professional oversight across both their broader financial picture and their investment portfolios.
Its advisory relationships span a wide range of client types, including individuals, family offices, trusts, institutions, charitable organizations and foundations, corporations, businesses, and retirement or profit-sharing plans.
The Focus Partners Wealth service combines two core components: financial counseling (wealth management) and investment management.
Wealth planning across multiple areas
Focus Partners’ wealth management approach centers on integrating financial decisions across different life stages and areas of complexity.
Planning support may cover topics such as net worth development, investment planning, legacy and estate considerations, philanthropic goals, tax considerations, education planning, retirement planning, health and insurance planning, and broader life planning, depending on the scope of the client engagement.
Ongoing investment management
Alongside planning, Focus Partners frames its investment management as client-tailored, with portfolios designed around a client’s goals, objectives, time horizon, risk tolerance, and tax position.
Investment management is typically provided on a discretionary basis, meaning the advisor team manages day-to-day investment decisions within agreed parameters.
Portfolio management is structured to support common investment planning needs, which may include:
- Retirement planning
- Tax planning
- Estate planning
- Cash flow planning
- Philanthropic planning
- Education planning (including college planning)
- Risk management
- Divorce financial planning
Overall, Focus Partners Wealth is positioned as a long-term, advisor-led service that integrates planning and portfolio management and adjusts over time as a client’s circumstances, goals, market conditions, and tax considerations evolve.
What are the pros and cons of Focus Partners Wealth?
Focus Partners Wealth’s core strengths are its advisor-led model, the breadth of its wealth planning areas, and its specialty planning support.
The main trade-offs are cost layering, advisory fees plus underlying product or custody expenses, and the standard conflict-of-interest disclosures for advisory firms.
It’s important to weigh up all of these pros and cons before making a decision. Here, we dive a bit deeper into the advantages and drawbacks of Focus Partners Wealth.
Pros of Focus Partners Wealth:
- Planning and portfolio management in one relationship: The service combines wealth management with investment management, including discretionary portfolio management for client accounts.
- Comprehensive wealth-planning scope: The wealth management service is structured around a wide range of planning areas, including net worth development, investment planning, legacy planning, philanthropic planning, tax planning, education planning, retirement planning, health & insurance planning, and life planning.
- Specialized planning support: In addition to general wealth management, the website highlights specialty solutions in areas such as divorce planning, LGBTQ financial planning (including for single, married, and unmarried clients), and a women-focused planning approach (Her Wealth®).
- Broad toolkit for portfolio construction: Portfolios can include equity and fixed income strategies, mutual funds and ETFs, alternative investments, and sub-advised solutions. This is useful for clients who prefer a managed portfolio that can draw on multiple investment types and managers.
- Client-tailored portfolio design: Investment management is built around the client’s objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, and tax considerations, and discretionary accounts can incorporate reasonable client restrictions.
- Ongoing monitoring and periodic reporting: The firm continuously monitors portfolios and provides quarterly reports on activity, balances, and performance.
Cons of Focus Partners Wealth:
- Total costs may be layered beyond the advisory fee: In addition to the advisory fee, clients may pay custodian charges and embedded expenses for products such as mutual funds/ETFs, private investments, and separate account solutions.
- Conflicts of interest exist in common advisory arrangements: The official disclosures describe examples involving custodian-related benefits (including soft dollars and client referrals), solicitor referral compensation, incentives related to billing on margin assets, and sponsor support for industry conferences.
- No minimum does not mean no baseline cost: While the firm generally does not impose a minimum account size for investment management services, clients engaging in Focus Partners for investment management are typically subject to a minimum annual fee of $5,000, which can function as a practical entry threshold.
Focus Partners Wealth fees: How much does Focus Partners Wealth cost?
Here is a breakdown of the fees and fee structures for Focus Partners Wealth.
Core wealth management fees:
- Investment management fee: Generally charged as a percentage of assets under management (AUM), up to 1.25% annually, with actual rates negotiated based on factors such as portfolio size, scope of services, relationship history, and complexity of the engagement.
- Billing method: Advisory fees are typically billed quarterly, in advance or in arrears, depending on the client agreement, and deducted directly from managed accounts.
Add-on and separately priced services:
In addition to core portfolio management, Focus Partners offers a range of planning and advisory services that are priced separately and engaged only as needed:
| Service category | How fees are charged | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Financial counseling & consulting | Fixed fee / hourly / asset-based | Fixed annual fee (billed quarterly), hourly billing, or 0.10%–0.25% per year |
| Family office services | Fixed annual fee or hourly | $95–$275 per hour |
| Aging life care planning | Upfront + hourly | $1,500 upfront; $250 per hour |
| Practice integrated wealth management | Fixed monthly fee (prepaid) | $150–$825 |
| Family budget services | Fixed monthly fee | $3,000–$6,000 per month |
| Business solutions services | Fixed project fee | $5,000–$50,000 |
| Business management services | Hourly | $80–$375 per hour |
| Dispute resolution services | Hourly | $300 per hour; $250 per hour |
| Optional investment strategies | Additional asset-based fee | Options Income Overlay (OIO): 0.75% annually TrendWise: +0.20%annually |
Other fees and expenses：
In addition to Focus Partners’ advisory and planning fees, clients may incur other costs depending on account structure and investment implementation, such as:
- Custodial and brokerage fees charged by the client’s custodian or broker.
- Internal expenses or management fees of investment products such as mutual funds, ETFs, or private funds.
- Separate account manager (SAM) fees
- Wrap program fees for certain legacy client arrangements.
- Indirect costs related to affiliated or unaffiliated private funds, lending, cash management, or insurance solutions.
What is Focus Partners Wealth’s minimum account size?
Focus Partners Wealth Management does not rely on a single firm-wide minimum to determine who can work with the firm; it applies service-specific minimums rather than a universal entry threshold.
At the institutional level, minimums are more explicit, with certain consulting and OCIO engagements tied to multi-million-dollar relationship sizes.
Minimums by service type：
| Service type | Minimum account size or fee requirement |
|---|---|
| Investment management services | Minimum annual advisory fee of $5,000 |
| Institutional consulting services | Minimum relationship size of $25 million, with a minimum annual advisory fee of $62,500. |
| Institutional OCIO services | Minimum relationship size of $50 million |
Who should choose Focus Partners Wealth?
Focus Partners Wealth Management is best suited for clients seeking ongoing, advisor-led wealth management rather than a standardized or automated investing solution.
Focus Partners Wealth works well for:
- Those seeking comprehensive, long-term advice: Clients who want investment management integrated with broader financial planning may find the firm’s holistic approach well aligned with their needs.
- High-net-worth and complex households: The firm's ability to coordinate investment management with family-office-style services can be especially relevant for these households.
- Clients who value tailored portfolio management: Portfolios are designed around individual goals, time horizons, risk tolerance, and tax considerations, rather than following a standardized model. This may suit investors who prefer customization over preset strategies.
- Clients who want access to specialized or optional strategies: Investors interested in optional investment approaches may appreciate the firm’s ability to incorporate these strategies within a broader advisory relationship.
Who might not benefit as much:
- Not a low-cost option: The firm’s advisor-led, highly customized service model comes with pricing that is generally higher than automated or standardized investment platforms.
- Fees can be complex across services: With multiple service types total costs can vary and may be harder to estimate upfront without a detailed proposal.
- Less suitable for hands-off or self-directed investors: Investors who prefer a do-it-yourself approach or minimal human involvement may find the firm’s high-touch advisory model unnecessary.
- Optional strategies add layered costs: Certain investment strategies incur additional fees on top of the base advisory fee, increasing the overall cost for clients who choose them.
Focus Partners Wealth: Is it secure?
Focus Partners Wealth is generally considered secure from an operational and structural standpoint.
Client protections are built on SEC regulations, third-party asset custody, and documented privacy and information security practices.
The firm is an SEC-registered investment adviser, which subjects it to regulatory oversight and a fiduciary obligation to act in clients’ best interests. Client assets are held with independent third-party custodians, not by the firm itself, helping separate advisory operations from asset custody.
In addition, Focus Partners maintains administrative and physical safeguards to protect personal and financial information, including:
- Internal administrative policies and procedures governing how client information is collected, used, and shared
- Secured files and records are designed to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data
- Restricted access to offices and facilities, limiting physical access to client information
- Limits on information sharing, including not sharing personal information with non-affiliated third parties for marketing purposes
Focus Partners Wealth: Customer service
Focus Partners Wealth’s support experience is primarily advisor-led, built around direct communication with an advisor team and a regular cadence of reporting and reviews.
Advisors generally communicate with clients through in-person meetings, phone calls, letters, and/or email, depending on the relationship.
For prospective clients and, in some cases, existing clients coordinating meetings, the firm also offers a self-scheduling option. Visitors can book a phone or virtual meeting using a Calendly booking tool by selecting an available date and time.
Focus Partners Wealth: Mobile app
Focus Partners Wealth Management offers a dedicated mobile app that functions as a client portal, allowing users to stay connected with their wealth advisor and monitor their financial situation on the go.
Through the app, clients can view account information, track net worth and progress toward long-term planning, and monitor key financial metrics from a single interface.
The app also supports secure communication with the advisory team, document sharing, and task management, making it a practical extension of the firm’s advisor-led service model.
Rather than acting as a self-directed investing platform, the mobile app is designed to support ongoing advisory relationships, providing visibility, coordination, and communication between scheduled reviews.
Is Focus Partners Wealth worth it?
Whether Focus Partners Wealth is worth it depends on what an investor values in an advisory relationship.
For individuals and families seeking ongoing, advisor-led wealth management, the firm can be a reasonable option.
Focus Partners emphasizes personalized portfolio management combined with broad planning support delivered through a dedicated advisory relationship.
Clients who value regular reviews, coordinated advice across multiple financial areas, and access to optional planning or family-office-style services may find the model appealing.
However, Focus Partners Wealth may be less compelling for cost-focused investors or those who prefer automated, self-directed platforms.
The presence of an ongoing advisory fee and a minimum annual investment management fee means it is not designed to compete on price with robo-advisors.
Investors who only want basic portfolio management or occasional advice may find the service more than they need.
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