Top Financial Advisors in Albany, NY

Find an Advisor

Greenbush Financial Group offers both investment management and financial planning services to clients. Financial planning can cover a range of topics, such as investment consulting, tax planning, risk management, retirement planning, estate planning, cash flow optimization and more. Investment management involves the design and supervision of a personally created investment portfolio.

Generally speaking, you'll need at least $50,000 in investable assets to become a client of Greenbush Financial Group, though this requirement is negotiable. The firm's client base is dominated by non-high-net-worth individuals, but it also includes high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans and businesses.

When deciding which investments to invest client assets in, Greenbush Financial Group utilizes a combination of fundamental and technical analysis. Fundamental analysis uses an evaluation of a security or company's tangible and intangible factors, economic factors, qualitative factors and more to determine its intrinsic value. On the other hand, technical analysis evaluates the value of a security by looking at overall market activity, historical prices and past volume.

Greenbush uses both long- and short-term purchases within its clients' portfolios, which gives it the flexibility to meet clients goals regardless of their associated time horizon. The firm sometimes uses other investment strategies as well, including option writing, short sales and trading.

Find an Advisor

Curran Wealth Management has a large advisory staff. The minimum account sizes and annual fees at this firm vary depending on the services you’re looking for:

• Portfolio management accounts: $100,000, with a $2,500 minimum annual fee
• Institutional accounts: $3,000,000, with a minimum annual fee of $15,000 to $22,500

The firm splits its services into investment management and financial planning offerings. The former involves investing assets according to the firm’s overarching philosophy, whereas financial planning is more goal-based. Some examples of this are retirement planning, education cost planning, tax preparation services, insurance analysis and more.

When you become a client of Curran Wealth Management, your advisor will go over your personal risk tolerance, time horizon, investment goals and income needs. Based on this all-important information, the firm will throw together an asset allocation that fits what you’re looking for. When it comes to specific investments, Curran normally utilizes equities, bonds, warrants, commercial paper, CDs, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), money market accounts and more.

Find an Advisor

Independent Family Office is perhaps the most high-net-worth-centric firm on this list. In fact, the firm’s entire client base is comprised of individuals and families with a high net worth. So while the firm does not state a specific account minimum, its focus is on affluent clients.

Investment supervisory services at this firm include asset allocation planning, risk tolerance assessment, tax liability planning, cash flow projections and more. On the other hand, financial planning is much more open and revolves around tax planning, charitable gift planning, retirement planning, estate planning and risk management.

Independent Family Office isn’t shy about using a wide range of securities when investing client assets. In fact, according to its Form ADV, the firm considers investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), equities, corporate bonds, mutual funds, U.S. government securities, options contracts, municipal bonds and CDs.

Not all of the above investments will make the cut into your portfolio. Instead, your risk tolerance, time horizon and other applicable factors will determine the makeup of your portfolio.

Find an Advisor

AllSquare Wealth Management is a fee-based firm that comes in next on our list. Most of AllSquare’s client funds belong to high-net-worth individuals, but non-high-net-worth individuals comprise the majority of its client base. The firm also maintains relationships with pension and profit-sharing plans and charitable organizations. There is no minimum needed to become a client here.

Financial planning services at this firm cover retirement income projections, financial statement development, income tax planning, college education funding, existing investment analysis, risk management review and more. If you’d prefer a more general approach, the firm offers investment management, as well.

In its Form ADV, AllSquare Wealth Management states that its strategy is “based on the underlying premise that publicly traded financial markets are efficient and that any attempt to distinguish attractive from unattractive securities is futile.” The firm will work to develop a specific asset allocation for you that features passively-managed securities, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), open-ended mutual funds and individual treasury securities.

Should your asset allocation stray from its target, the firm will rebalance your portfolio as needed. The same may be done if your overall investing goals shift at all.

Find an Advisor

Each advisor at AlbanyAdvisor Group holds a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation. This firm provides services within both investment management and financial planning. While the former is customized to your needs, the latter is defined by a number of offerings. These include retirement planning, long-term goal planning, education fund planning, insurance needs analysis and more.

Generally speaking, AlbanyAdvisor Group tends to invest in some combination of ETFs, mutual funds, stocks and bonds when managing client assets. The determination of your portfolio’s asset allocation will depend entirely on your needs and goals. This includes your risk tolerance, time horizon and income needs.

The firm also states that it prefers to invest for long-term gains as opposed to trying to beat the market in the short term. Tax considerations are also made when choosing investments for client portfolios.

Find an Advisor

Blue Jean Financial LLC is a fee-based advisory firm that offers both investment management and financial planning services to clients. Certain advisory persons may earn insurance commissions in addition to advisory fees.

There is no minimum needed to become a client here. The firm typically works with individuals, high-net-worth individuals, trusts, estates, non-profits, charities and businesses.

Financial planning services at this firm cover retirement planning, education savings planning, insurance needs analysis, personal savings planning and more. The firm may also provide consulting services and referrals to accountants, attorneys and other specialists when appropriate.

Blue Jean Financial generally uses a long-term investment strategy based on each client’s objectives, time horizon, financial situation and risk tolerance. Portfolio management is offered on a discretionary basis.

When it comes to specific investments, Blue Jean Financial may use mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), individual stocks, individual bonds and other investments. The firm may also use fundamental analysis, technical analysis, strategic asset allocation, portfolio rebalancing, cash positions, tax-loss or gain harvesting and sector or asset class weighting adjustments.

Find an Advisor

Broadway Advisor Group, which also does business as Sgroi Wealth, is a fee-based advisory firm based in Albany, New York. The firm works with individuals, high-net-worth individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans and financial advisors through its advisor solutions services. There is no set account minimum needed to become a client of Broadway Advisor Group.

The firm splits its services into investment management, financial planning and pension consulting offerings. Besides discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, Broadway Advisor Group offers a wrap fee portfolio management program and the selection and oversight of third-party investment advisers. Financial planning services at this firm may cover investment planning, retirement planning, life insurance, tax concerns, college planning and debt or credit planning.

When you become a client of Broadway Advisor Group, your advisor will generally review your investment objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon and other applicable financial factors. The firm may manage assets on either a discretionary or non-discretionary basis, depending on the advisory arrangement. The makeup of your portfolio will depend on your needs, goals and selected advisory program.

Find an Advisor

Arista Advisory Group's compensation comes from client-paid fees, meaning this firm is a fee-only operation. This is different from a fee-based firm, which can receive client fees in addition to third-party sales commissions.

There are far more non-high-net-worth individual clients at this firm than their high-net-worth counterparts. Charitable organizations, businesses and pension and profit-sharing plans also hold accounts at this firm. Arista Advisory does not have a minimum investment needed to become a client.

If you subscribe to portfolio management services at Arista Advisory, you’ll receive asset allocation planning, investment strategy customization and regular portfolio monitoring. Financial planning clients will have access to retirement planning, college fund planning, debt/credit planning, tax planning, life insurance analysis and investment planning.

For the most part, Arista Advisory Group tends to use long-term trading strategies during its investment process. What this really means is that the firm looks to make investments in securities that it will ideally hold onto for at least one year. This approach is intended to reduce transaction costs and keep your returns more stable.

Find an Advisor

Amidon & Petersen Financials, LLC is a fee-based advisory firm that works with individuals, retirement plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations and other business entities. The firm’s minimums vary by program, with a $40,000 minimum for its Direct Asset Program, a $10,000 minimum for its Single Strategy Model and a $2,500 minimum for its ETF-based Index Program.

The firm offers financial planning and consulting, discretionary portfolio management, selection of other advisors and pension consulting services. Financial planning can cover topics such as retirement, education, estate and budget planning. Pension consulting is available for employee benefit plans and fiduciaries.

Investment advisory fees are generally based on a percentage of assets under management. Financial planning fees may be charged as fixed fees, while consulting fees may be charged hourly. The firm is considered fee-based because advisory personnel may also receive insurance commissions separate from advisory fees.

When building client portfolios, Amidon & Petersen Financials may use asset allocation, fixed-income laddering and equity portfolios. These portfolios may include model portfolios, mutual funds, third-party managers and equity index ETFs. Accounts below stated minimums may be invested using mutual funds.