What does Modern Wealth Management do?
Modern Wealth Management (MWM) is registered with the SEC and provides advisor-led wealth management that combines discretionary portfolio management with financial planning, tax planning, estate planning, and insurance analysis. The firm primarily serves high-net-worth individuals.
Portfolios reflect each client’s goals, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, time horizon, and restrictions. MWM generally uses long-term strategic asset allocation while allowing tactical or defensive adjustments. It may hold stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), U.S. treasuries, mutual funds, money market funds, and some alternative investments.
The standard minimum is $250,000 in investable assets per household. Its published fee schedule starts at 1.50% on the first $499,999 and declines by tier. The minimum and relatively high starting fee indicate that the service is primarily designed for high-net-worth clients with broader and more complex wealth-management needs.
What are the pros and cons of Modern Wealth Management?
Modern Wealth Management combines investment management with broader financial planning, making it better suited to clients with more complex financial needs. Its $250,000 minimum and relatively high starting fee make the service more suitable for investors with larger portfolios.
Pros of Modern Wealth Management:
- Personalized portfolios: Modern considers risk, liquidity, time horizon, and client restrictions and can combine multiple investment strategies.
- Ongoing oversight: Advisors continuously review portfolios, with reviews conducted at least annually.
- Advisor-led team support: Clients work with an advisor backed by specialists in tax, estate planning, insurance, and financial planning.
- Tiered pricing: Eligible household accounts are generally combined for fee-tier purposes, potentially reducing the effective rate as household assets increase.
Cons of Modern Wealth Management:
- High advisory fees at lower asset levels: The published 1.50% rate creates a substantial ongoing expense for smaller eligible accounts.
- Additional investment costs: Third-party manager and fund expenses can increase total costs.
- Some planning services cost extra: Certain tax and estate planning services require separate fees.
Modern Wealth Management fees: How much does Modern Wealth Management cost?
Modern primarily charges a tiered percentage of assets under management (AUM). Each percentage applies only to the assets within that tier. Fees are generally billed quarterly in advance and may be negotiated below the published schedule.
Assets under management | Annual advisory rate |
|---|---|
First $499,999 | 1.50% |
$500,000–$999,999 | 1.25% |
$1 million–$2,999,999 | 1.00% |
$3 million–$4,999,999 | 0.75% |
$5 million–$9,999,999 | 0.65% |
Over $10 million | 0.55% |
Third-party managers and investment funds carry additional expenses. Custom tax planning, tax preparation, and some estate-planning services may also cost extra, while estate plan funding typically costs $500 to $15,000 per estate plan.
What is Modern Wealth Management’s minimum account size?
Modern Wealth Management generally requires $250,000 in investable assets per household, although the minimum can be waived or negotiated.
The published minimum indicates that the service is primarily designed for high-net-worth clients rather than investors with smaller portfolios.
Who should choose Modern Wealth Management?
Modern Wealth Management works well for:
- Clients wanting coordinated wealth management: Investments, financial planning, taxes, estate issues, and insurance can be considered together.
- Households above the minimum: Households with at least $250,000 to manage, especially those with several related accounts, can use household fee aggregation and ongoing advisory oversight.
- Investors who prefer delegation: Most relationships are discretionary, allowing Modern to implement portfolio changes without approval for every trade.
Who might not benefit as much:
- Investors below $250,000: The published household minimum limits access unless waived.
- Clients needing only portfolio management: The fee may be high if they do not need Modern’s broader planning and specialist support.
- Digital-first investors: The relationship centers on advisors and multiple online tools rather than a single self-service investing app.
Modern Wealth Management: Is it secure?
Modern has several safeguards in place to help protect client assets and information.
Modern Wealth Management is an SEC-registered investment advisor, while client investment assets are generally held separately with independent qualified custodians.
The firm primarily uses Charles Schwab and Fidelity for its investment management accounts. These custodians send account statements directly to clients at least quarterly, keeping custody of client assets separate from Modern’s role in managing them. This also gives clients an independent record they can compare with Modern’s own reports.
It also maintains business continuity plans and risk management systems designed to reduce cybersecurity risks. However, these protections have limitations and do not prevent investment or market losses.
Modern Wealth Management: Customer service
Modern Wealth Management offers an advisor-led service model, so clients can communicate directly with their advisor when questions or financial issues arise, while the advisor is supported by specialists in investments, tax, estate planning, and insurance.
You can contact the firm by phone or online contact form, meet in person or by video conference, and access advisors through Modern’s multiple office locations.
Advisors continuously review managed portfolios, with formal reviews conducted at least annually.
Modern Wealth Management: Mobile App
Modern does not have a dedicated firm-branded mobile app.
Clients use the Modern Wealth client portal alongside third-party planning and custody tools.
Is Modern Wealth Management worth it?
Modern Wealth Management may suit investors who want an advisor team to manage their portfolio while coordinating investment decisions with financial planning, tax, estate, and insurance needs.
Its main practical advantage is the combination of centralized portfolio management and specialist coordination, allowing a household to address multiple financial needs within one advisory relationship.
The trade-off is cost and complexity. The $250,000 minimum, 1.50% starting AUM tier, potential fund and third-party manager costs, and separately priced tax or estate services make the service less suitable for investors with relatively straightforward needs.
Clients who expect to use its broader planning and coordination services are therefore likely to get more value from the relationship than those mainly looking for low-cost portfolio management.
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