Which Financial Advisor Relationship Is Right for You?
Choosing the right financial advisor depends on your goals, preferences, and the level of support you’re looking for. Whether you’re searching for a Houston wealth management firm to oversee your entire financial picture or you’re looking for specialized investment management, understanding your advisor relationship options is an important first step.
The Goff Financial Group offers two distinct advisor relationships designed to accommodate different investor needs. Understanding how each relationship works can help you determine which may be the better fit for your financial goals.
Compare Your Advisor Relationship Options
Primary Financial Advisor Relationship
The Primary Financial Advisor relationship is designed for individuals and families seeking comprehensive wealth management, including investment management, ongoing financial planning, and coordination with other financial professionals.
This relationship may be appropriate if you:
- Prefer to delegate most investment decisions.
- Want one advisory team managing most of your liquid net worth.
- Want an advisory team that can help you make major financial decisions (e.g., career change, retirement decision, business sale, new home purchase, etc.).
- Want your financial advisor coordinating their services with your independent CPA and/or attorney.
- Prefer one team overseeing your overall investment strategy.
To effectively serve as your Primary Financial Advisor, The Goff Financial Group typically manages at least 90% of the client’s liquid net worth, although certain restricted or illiquid assets may remain outside the firm’s management (e.g., unvested stock options, private investments, real estate, businesses)..
Sub-Advisor Relationship
The Sub-Advisor relationship is designed for ultra-high-net-worth investors, family offices and institutional investors who prefer to maintain responsibility for their overall investment strategy or already work with another primary financial advisor.
This relationship may be appropriate if you:
- Have at least $25 million available for management.
- Prefer to make your own high-level investment decisions.
- Already work with a Primary Financial Advisor.
- You prefer to maintain relationships with multiple investment managers.
- Want specialized investment management for a portion of your portfolio.
Within this relationship, The Goff Financial Group manages only the assets placed under its care. Overall primary asset allocation decisions remain your responsibility or that of your Primary Financial Advisor. Tax-loss harvesting and investment decisions are limited to the assets managed by The Goff Financial Group. Financial planning and coordination with outside professionals are available for additional fees.
Financial Advisor Relationship Comparison Chart
| Our Services | Primary Financial Advisor Relationship | Sub-Advisor Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Party responsible for making the “big picture” decisions at the estate level (e.g. total exposure to the stock and bond markets) | The Goff Financial Group | The Client or other advisors |
| Minimum Assets Under Management Requirement | Up to 90% of liquid net-worth | $25 million |
| Requires a Comprehensive View of Your Estate | Yes | No |
| Tax Loss Harvesting | Comprehensive | Limited in scope to assets under management with our company. |
| Optional Services | ||
| Financial Planning | Included | Minimum fee of $5,000 per planning project |
| Coordination of our services with your tax and legal advisors* | Included | Minimum annual fee of $5,000 |
| Location | Services Available Nationwide | Services Available Nationwide |
| Trust Services** | Provided by independent third party | Provided by independent third party |
(*) For your tax and legal needs, we see several potential conflicts of interest if the client’s CPA or attorney is also serving as their investment advisor. Given the nature of tax and legal advice, we believe your CPA and attorney should always be separate from a financial institution that is providing investment services. In addition, some of these services such as estate planning are often not required on an ongoing basis and should therefore not be built into a fee based on assets under management.
(**) Trust Services: Simple Way to Avoid Unnecessary Conflicts of Interest
Regarding of which type of client-advisor relationship you want, please keep in mind that when investment and trust services are bundled together with a single provider or company, significant conflicts of interest are created. For example, we have seen that when the bank/broker is both the trustee and the investment advisor, the bank has a level of control over the trust that is not always in the estate or the beneficiary’s best interests. In addition, there can be little or no ability to get competitive pricing down the road for trust services if these assets are effectively “locked in” at the bank through a complicated trust agreement. As a result, we recommend to every client that the trust services be provided by a separate entity that is not owned or controlled by the investment advisor. We also recommend that these services only be used if absolutely necessary (e.g. no family member or friend is available to serve as the trustee or as a contingent trustee). If trust services are needed, we do, however, have some solutions for this as we manage several trust accounts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a Primary Financial Advisor and a Sub-Advisor?
A Primary Financial Advisor oversees your overall investment strategy, manages most of your liquid assets, helps you make major financial decisions and provides ongoing financial planning. A Sub-Advisor manages only the assets placed under its management while you and/or another advisor remains responsible for your broader investment strategy.
Who makes the overall investment decisions?
In a Primary Financial Advisor relationship, The Goff Financial Group makes both the overall asset allocation decisions and the individual investment decisions for the assets under management.
In a Sub-Advisor relationship, you or your Primary Financial Advisor remains responsible for the overall asset allocation while The Goff Financial Group manages the specific investment strategy assigned to it.
Is financial planning included?
Financial planning is provided as needed in the Primary Financial Advisor relationship.
For Sub-Advisor clients, financial planning is available as an optional service for an additional fee.
Does The Goff Financial Group coordinate with my CPA and attorney?
Yes. As part of the Primary Financial Advisor relationship, The Goff Financial Group may work with your independent CPA and attorney to help coordinate your financial strategy. The firm does not provide tax or legal advice.
How much of my portfolio does The Goff Financial Group typically manage?
For Primary Financial Advisor clients, the firm generally expects to manage up to 90% of a client’s liquid net worth, although certain restricted or illiquid assets may remain outside the firm’s management.
Does tax-loss harvesting include assets held outside The Goff Financial Group?
No. Within a Sub-Advisor relationship, tax-loss harvesting decisions are limited to the assets managed by The Goff Financial Group and do not include assets managed elsewhere.
Still Not Sure Which Relationship Is Right for You?
Every investor’s situation is unique. If you’re looking for a financial advisor and aren’t sure which advisor relationship best aligns with your goals, we’d be happy to discuss your options.
The Goff Financial Group is not a tax advisor or a law firm nor does it provide tax or legal advice. The opinions and views expressed on this page are subject to change without notice.
