Advisors Capital Management is a financial advisor firm with roots in Ridgewood, New Jersey. In fact, the firm places on our list of the top financial advisor firms in both Ridgewood and the entire state of New Jersey. The firm primarily works with individual investors, but also maintains relationships with other investment advisors, charities and businesses too.
Advisors Capital Management is a fee-based firm, meaning certain advisors may earn commissions through the sale of insurance products. This structure differs from that of a fee-only firm, which earns revenue exclusively from client-paid advisory fees.
Advisors Capital Management Background
Advisors Capital Management first opened its doors back in 1998. The principal owner of the firm is ACM Holding Trust, which is controlled by Charles Lieberman, the chief investment officer (CIO) of the firm. Lieberman has more than 35 years of experience in financial services.
This firm has a few dozen advisors in its employ. Throughout this group, there are several chartered financial analysts (CFAs).
Advisors Capital Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Individuals are the most popular client type at Advisors Capital Management, and most of them are below the high-net-worth cutoff. The rest of the firm's client base is comprised of high-net-worth individuals, pensions and other retirement plans, corporations, insurance companies, wealth funds and charitable organizations.
There are a few different management programs available through Advisors Capital Management, and each has its own minimum account size. These go as follows:
- ACM Private Accounts: $300,000
- ACM Model Separate Accounts: $150,000
- ACM Model Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Strategies: $50,000
Services Offered by Advisors Capital Management
The service offerings at Advisors Capital Management include:
- Discretionary portfolio management
- ACM Private Accounts
- ACM Model Separate Accounts
- ACM Model ETF Strategies
- Pension consulting services
- Investment policy statement (IPS) preparation
- Selection of investment vehicles
- Monitoring of investment performance
- Employee communications
- Financial planning
- Tax and cash flow analysis
- Insurance planning
- Retirement planning
- Death & disability planning
- Estate planning
Advisors Capital Management Investing Philosophy
Advisors Capital Management generally constructs client portfolios with a combination of exchange-listed securities, over-the-counter securities, foreign issuers, warrants, corporate debt securities, commercial paper, certificates of deposit (CDs), municipal securities, mutual fund shares, government securities and options contracts. It seeks to diversify these investments across various market sectors to mitigate risk.
The firm has several investment strategies that it uses to guide its management of client portfolios. These include:
- Global Growth - Emphasizes higher-yielding stocks within a portfolio of niche-focused small-and mid-cap companies.
- Global Dividend - Invests in companies all over the world that pay dividends.
- Growth - Invests primarily in common stocks that offer potential growth opportunities.
- Core Dividend - A portfolio that seeks to balance capital appreciation with current income.
- Income with Growth - An approach that prioritizes maximizing current income and also seeks capital appreciation.
- International ADR - Invests primarily in American depository receipts (ADR) around the world that pay dividends.
- Balanced - Balances equities and fixed income together in one portfolio.
- Balanced Defensive - Similar to Balanced, but with a portfolio rebalancing strategy based on a proprietary algorithm.
- Fixed Income - Invests in fixed income with the goal of capital preservation.
- Small- & Mid-Cap - Seeks capital appreciation through a portfolio of small- and mid-cap companies.
- Tactical - Uses a proprietary algorithm to move from concentrated high-beta ETFs or individual securities to lower-beta holdings, based on economic conditions.
Fees Under Advisors Capital Management
Advisors Capital Management typically bases its management fees on a percentage of each client's assets under management (AUM). For the firm’s private accounts, these rates generally range from 1.00% to 1.50% for equity accounts and from 0.50% to 0.70% for fixed-income accounts. The firm's model separate account strategies come with a fee between 1.00% and 1.75%. This is also the case for the firm’s model ETF accounts. Altogether, fees can range from 0.25% to 1.75%.
If you're looking for financial planning services, this firm will charge you on an hourly basis. These hourly rates range from $250 to $350, with a minimum total fee of $500.
What to Watch Out For
Advisors Capital Management has no legal or regulatory disclosures to report in its SEC filings.
Advisors Capital Management is a fee-based firm. This is because certain ACM advisors are licensed insurance agents who can earn commissions for selling insurance products. This incentivizes them to recommend such products, which represents a potential conflict of interest. Despite this arrangement, the firm abides by fiduciary duty at all times, legally binding it to act in your best interest no matter what.
Opening an Account With Advisors Capital Management
To contact Advisors Capital Management, you can send an email to info@advisorscenter.com, or you can pick up the phone and call (201) 447-3400. The firm’s website also has a contact form where you can write in your name, email, phone number and a brief message, and a representative from the firm will reach back out to you.
Tips for Planning for Retirement
- It can be a daunting task to take on creating a retirement savings plan completely on your own. Financial advisors are often experienced at handling this sort of task, though. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
- Don’t forget to take Social Security payments into account when you formulate what kind of income you’ll need in retirement. If you don’t know what you’re in line to receive, check out SmartAsset’s Social Security calculator.
