Bel Air Investment Advisors is a fee-based firm with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco that offers estate planning, tax management, philanthropic strategy and other services.
Bel Air Investment Advisors Background
The firm launched operations in 1997. It’s wholly owned by Fiera U.S. Holding, Inc. Its team currently features three chartered financial analysts (CFAs), one chartered alternative investment analysts (CAIA) and one Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF). Some of its advisors have been quoted by industry leading financial publications such as Fox Business, Bloomberg and Barron’s.
What Types of Clients Does Bel Air Investment Advisors Accept?
Bel Air works with the following client types:
- Individuals without high net worth
- High-net-worth individuals
- Charitable organizations
- Corporations
Bel Air Investment Advisors Minimum Account Size
Bel Air Investment generally seeks the business of individuals with at least $20 million in investable assets. But it may make exceptions at its discretion.
Services Offered by Bel Air Investment Advisors
Bel Air Investment specializes in managing investments on behalf of its clients. The firm’s advisors create and monitor separately managed accounts (SMAs) that invest in individual securities like stocks and bonds. They also advise around mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other pooled investment vehicles.
The firm also specializes in providing guidance on:
- Pre-liquidity planning
- Mortgages and lines of credit
- Portfolio management
- Tax management
- Educational funding through 529 plans and more
- Philanthropic strategy
It should be noted, though, that the firm’s financial planning services are limited to ones that involve investing.
In some cases, Bel Air Investment may recommend the use of a sub-advisor.
Bel Air Investment Advisors Philosophy
Bel Air Investment focuses on helping clients grow and protect their assets by engaging in goals-driven investment strategies. The firm aims to customize portfolios by investing in securities based on the risk tolerance and long-term investment goals of its clients.
The firm’s investment analysts apply various research methods such as fundamental analysis. This involves determining the true value of a company's stock by analyzing macroeconomic factors such as the state of its industry and the overall economy and micro economic factors like the financial health of the company and the structure of its management team.
Fees Under Bel Air Investment Advisors
For investment advisory services, Bel Air Investment charges a management fee as a percentage of assets in the account. The firm generally charges an annual percentage ranging from 0.25% to 1.1% for equity strategies. For internally managed fixed-income strategies, the fee can span from 0.1% to 0.6%.
Fees are negotiable. But they ultimately depend on factors like the size of the account, investment strategy and whether a sub-advisor is involved.
What to Watch Out For
Bel Air Investment had no disclosures reported on its 2021 Form ADV.
Depending on the complexity of an account, Bel Air Investment may use the services of a sub-advisor. In such cases, the client will pay an asset-based fee to the sub-advisor in addition to Bel Air Investment’s management fee.
These clients may also bear the additional expenses associated with pooled investment vehicles such as mutual funds. These may include expense ratios, management fees and more. Also, keep in mind that your account may face additional expenses such as custodial fees and brokerage commissions for certain transactions.
Clients should carefully review all fee-related documents to make sure they understand all the fees.
Moreover, Bel Air Investment shares affiliations with numerous financial services entities. This arrangement may incentivise Bel Air to recommend the products or services of these firms, thereby creating a potential conflict of interest. That said, Bel Air has a code of ethics that emphasizes its fiduciary duty to solely act in the best interests of its clients.
Opening an Account With Bel Air Investment Advisors
To contact Bel Air Investment, call (310) 229-1500 or send an email to info@belair-llc.com.
Bel Air Investments is headquartered at 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 3200, Los Angeles, California 90067.
The firm also has an office located at 750 Battery Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, California 94111.
Tips for Finding the Right Financial Advisor
- Don’t have $20 million to invest? There are plenty of other financial advisors who can help you. Use SmartAsset’s pro matching tool to narrow the field. The interactive tool suggests up to three advisors in your area based on your needs and investment goals. It also gives you access to in-depth profiles, so you can compare and contrast advisors.
- Relying on someone to manage your assets takes a lot of trust. So make sure you find the right match. Ask advisors if they are fiduciaries. This means that they provide advice solely in your best interests or face legal consequences.
All information was accurate as of the writing of this article.
