What does Waverly Advisors do?
Waverly Advisors is a fee-only registered investment advisor that provides advisor-led wealth management, financial planning, and consulting services.
The firm advises on approximately $30.6 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of January 30, 2026, and delivers investment, tax, estate, and financial planning services through a team of 400-plus professionals.
Waverly Advisors, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser organized in Alabama in 1999 and has operated under the Waverly Advisors name since October 10, 2022, with client service supported by advisory professionals, an internal operations team, and an investment committee.
Main clients
It serves individuals, families, trusts, estates, foundations, endowments, charitable organizations, retirement plans, corporations, other business entities, and certain pooled investment vehicles.
Key services
- Investment management: Waverly provides ongoing portfolio management on either a discretionary or non-discretionary basis for client assets under management.
- Financial planning: Waverly offers financial planning services covering areas such as tax, insurance, investment, retirement, and estate planning.
- Advisement / investment consulting: Waverly also provides non-discretionary investment analysis and allocation recommendations for assets it does not directly manage.
- Retirement-related services: Waverly provides retirement planning for individuals and offers retirement plan consulting for employer-sponsored plans.
Waverly also offers a wider platform beyond core private-client wealth management, including additional consulting, certain pooled-vehicle and automated portfolio services, Family Office, Business Services, Trust Services, Institutional Consulting, Corporate Retirement Plans, and Waverly Women.
investment philosophy
Waverly Advisors uses a structured, long-term investment philosophy built on fundamental analysis.
Using technical, cyclical, and fixed-income research, it groups strategies into buy-and-hold, active and tactical, and customized approaches. In practice, that means clients may get a mix of long-term portfolio management, tactical adjustments, and strategy choices shaped around their financial goals and risk profile, while still being exposed to normal investment risk.
What are the pros and cons of Waverly Advisors?
Waverly Advisors offers a broad, advisor-led wealth management service rather than a simple investment-only account.
Here’s a summary of the key advantages and disadvantages to helpyou decide if it’s the right firm for you.
Pros of Waverly Advisors:
- Broad wealth management offering: Waverly combines investment management with tax, estate, retirement, education, risk management, and financial planning support rather than focusing only on portfolio management.
- Customized service model: Its client service is tailored, with dedicated advisors, regular communication, and portfolios shaped around personal goals, values, and financial objectives.
- Wide range of investment tools: Portfolios may include traditional investments as well as a broad range of alternative investments, giving the firm a wider investment toolkit than a basic ETF-only offering.
- Dedicated women-focused offering: Waverly Women is presented as a specialized service bundle for women, combining financial, investment, tax, and estate planning support through women advisors.
Cons of Waverly Advisors:
- Complex pricing structure: Waverly does not use a simple, standardized fee model, which can make costs harder to compare than with simpler advisory platforms.
- Not an automated investing platform: Although Waverly offers digital tools and an automated portfolio option in some cases, its core service is a traditional advisor-led wealth management model rather than a fully automated, self-service investing experience.
- Less appealing for cost-sensitive investors: Waverly is built as a customized, advisor-led wealth management service rather than a low-cost automated platform, so its overall pricing may feel relatively expensive for investors who are focused mainly on keeping fees down.
- Minimum advisory fee less favorable for clients with smaller assets: The firm imposes an annual minimum advisory fee of $500–$20,000, which presents a high entry barrier for clients with smaller asset sizes.
Waverly Advisors fees: How much does Waverly Advisors cost?
Waverly Advisors uses a negotiated, service-based fee structure rather than one simple flat price.
The firm also makes clear that minimum fees and negotiated arrangements can push the effective cost above the headline percentage range in some cases.
- Investment management and advice fees: These are typically charged based on AUM or AUA, with the fee affected by factors such as asset size, service complexity, team support, and customized deliverables; for new clients, the annualized rate generally ranges from 0.25% to 1.5%.
- Financial planning and consulting fees: Standalone planning or consulting generally ranges from $500 to $50,000 on a fixed-fee basis or $75 to $450 per hour, depending on the size and scope of the work.
- Retirement plan consulting fees: Fees for retirement plan consulting generally range from 0.10% to 1.50% per year, although in exceptional cases Waverly may use a negotiated fixed-dollar fee instead.
- Annual minimum fees: Typically range from $500 to $20,000 per year.
- Other fees and expenses: Clients may also pay separate custody, brokerage, transaction, and underlying fund expenses.
What is Waverly Advisors’ minimum account size?
Waverly Advisors does not clearly disclose a single standard minimum account size.
Instead, the firm cites annual advisory fee minimums, which typically range from $500 to $20,000, though the minimum can be higher in more complex cases and may be waived or reduced in some situations. It also notes that when a minimum is waived or reduced, financial planning may not be included and could be charged separately.
Who should choose Waverly Advisors?
Waverly Advisors is best suited for investors who want an ongoing, human-advisor-led wealth management relationship rather than a low-cost automated investing service.
Waverly Advisors works well for:
- Investors who want ongoing portfolio management: Its standard service includes monitored portfolio management, buying and selling securities, and personal investment strategies.
- People looking for broad planning support: Waverly also offers financial planning that can cover tax planning, insurance analysis, investment analysis, retirement planning, and estate planning.
- Clients who prefer a personalized advisory relationship: The firm’s fees and services are negotiated and can vary based on account size, complexity, service scope, and the level of team support, which points to a more customized service model.
- Investors comfortable with discretionary management: Its investment management services are generally provided on a discretionary basis, meaning it can manage assets on an ongoing basis without requiring trade-by-trade preapproval.
Who might not benefit as much:
- Fee-conscious investors: Waverly uses negotiated asset-based fees, percentage schedules, and fee minimums rather than a simple low-cost pricing model.
- Investors who want a fully automated experience: Although it offers an automated option in connection with Advisors Intelligent Portfolios, Waverly’s main service is a traditional advisor-led model.
- People looking for a simple, clearly packaged service: Waverly tailors its service to each client, the scope of support, pricing, and minimum requirements can vary. That makes the service less straightforward than platforms with one standard package.
Waverly Advisors: Is it secure?
Yes, Waverly Advisors is generally considered secure.
It is an SEC-registered investment adviser, with client assets typically held with independent, unaffiliated custodians such as Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, Raymond James, and others, rather than being held directly by Waverly itself.
These custodians are regulated firms that hold client assets, and clients must sign a separate agreement with the custodian before investment management begins.
The firm mentions using security measures that comply with federal law to protect personal information. Those measures include computer safeguards, secured files and buildings, employee access restrictions, revocation of access when employment ends, secure delivery channels for sensitive information such as encrypted email, secure shared folders or client portals, and physical office security procedures
Waverly Advisors: Customer service
Waverly Advisors’ customer service is centered on a human-advisor, relationship-based model rather than a self-service support system.
Clients can expect regular meetings, a team of advisors dedicated to you and your family, and service built around understanding personal and financial objectives, which suggests a higher-touch experience than a typical digital platform.
Waverly also offers standard contact channels and a broad national office footprint, with 47 offices across the US.
Waverly Advisors: Mobile app
Waverly Advisors offers a dedicated mobile app, but it looks more like a supporting client-access tool than a major differentiator of the service.
The app is available only to Waverly Advisors’ clients and provides mobile access to account valuation, performance, and reporting information, which fits the firm’s broader advisor-led model.
Is Waverly Advisors worth it?
Waverly Advisors may be worth considering for investors seeking a customized, advisor-led wealth management service with comprehensive planning support and access to a wide range of investment tools. Its main strengths are the depth of its advisory relationship, the breadth of services across planning and portfolio management, and its tailored approach.
The main drawbacks are a more complex cost structure, less standardization across client relationships, and a service model that is less appealing for those who prefer a simpler, lower-cost, or more automated experience.
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