The founders of Advance Capital Management come from a slightly different background than most financial advisors - they managed the pension at Michigan Bell. While there, they noticed a lot of people didn't understand planning for retirement, so they decided to move into the financial advising space.
This fee-only firm has been providing investment management and financial planning services to a wide variety of clients in Southfield, Michigan since the 1980s. With billions in client assets under its control, Advance Capital is on SmartAsset's top financial advisor lists for both Southfield and Michigan.
Advance Capital Management Background
Advance Capital Management was originally formed in 1986. Today, it’s owned by Advance Capital Group, Inc., which is, in turn, owned by the ACG Employee Stock Ownership Plan, John Shoemaker, Raymond Rathka and Robert Cappelli. Outside of Michigan, the firm has branches in Illinois, Ohio and Texas.
The firm's advisory staff includes certified financial planners (CFPs), certified public accountants (CPAs), chartered financial analysts (CFAs), chartered alternative investment analysts (CAIAs) and more.
Advance Capital Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Advance Capital Management works with individuals above and below the high-net-worth threshold, pension and retirement plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations and corporations. Individual investment accounts do not have minimum size requirements.
Services Offered by Advance Capital Management
Advance Capital Management focuses on financial planning and discretionary investment management services. Its advisors meet with clients to create financial plans that cover various aspects of their financial lives from budgeting to estate planning. For each client, the firm will base investment recommendations on the person's financial plan.
Advance Capital Management Investing Philosophy
As just noted, Advance Capital Management uses the financial plan it designs for clients as the cornerstone of its investment recommendations. The firm generally recommends mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Advisors, though, may consider other types of securities. These may include exchange-listed and over-the-counter securities, foreign issues, warrants, corporate debt securities, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, municipal securities and U.S. government securities. Individual clients' portfolios are actively managed and on a discretionary basis.
Fees Under Advance Capital Management
For investment management services, the firm charges annual asset-based fees. We provide the current fee schedule below. These fees are billed separately at the end of each month based on the fair market value of the assets held in your account.
| Advance Capital Management Investment Management Fees | |
| Assets Under Management | Annual Fee |
| First $500,000 | 1% |
| Next $500,000 | 0.8% |
| Assets in excess of $1,000,000 | 0.65% |
Keep in mind that these fees are negotiable. Also, they apply to services provided by Advance Capital Management. They don’t include other expenses your account may incur such as brokerage fees, custodial costs and fund fees. In addition, accounts with less than a certain amount are required to adhere to a specific minimum fee.
The table below shows what you could pay in management fees based on how much money you have at the firm:
| *Estimated investment management fees do not include brokerage, custodial, third-party manager or other fees, which can vary in amount. | |
| Estimated Investment Management Fees at Advance Capital Management* | |
| Your Assets | Advance Capital Management Fee Amount |
| $500K | $5,000 |
| $1MM | $9,000 |
| $5MM | $32,500 |
| $10MM | $65,000 |
What to Watch Out For
Advance Capital Management has a clean legal and regulatory record based on its most recent Form ADV that's filed with the SEC.
Opening an Account at Advance Capital Management
To speak to someone about opening an account at Advance Capital Management, fill out the contact form on the firm's website. You can also try calling the firm's HQ at (248) 350-8543 or stopping into one of its nine offices.
All information was accurate as of the writing of this article.
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