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Altium Wealth Management Review

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This review was produced by SmartAsset based on publicly available information. The named firm and its financial professionals have not reviewed, approved, or endorsed this review and are not responsible for its accuracy. Review content is produced by SmartAsset independently of any business relationships that might exist between SmartAsset and the named firm and its financial professionals, and firms and financial professionals having business relationships with SmartAsset receive no special treatment or consideration in SmartAsset’s reviews. This page contains links to SmartAsset’s financial advisor matching tool, which may or may not match you with the firm mentioned in this review or its financial professionals.

Altium Wealth Management is a large financial advisory firm based in Purchase, New York. It also makes our list of the top financial advisory firms in Purchase. Among other awards and accolades, Altium was recently named by the Financial Times as one of the country's 300 top registered investment advisors of 2020.

The firm has billions in assets under management (AUM). With a sizeable team of financial advisors on staff, the firm serves a variety of clients, including individuals, pension plans, charitable corporations and business entities. The typical minimum for clients to invest is $1 million.

The firm offers multiple advisory services, though it mainly helps clients with financial planning and investment management. As a fee-based advisor, Altium charges a fee based on clients’ AUM and individual advisors may also earn a commission for selling insurance products.

Altium Wealth Management Background

Altium Wealth Management dates back to 2010 when the firm’s founders decided that they should strike out on their own and create an advisory firm. Their goal was to create a firm that focused on the customer and his or her particular goals and needs. This customer-centric vision manifests itself through the individualized plans that advisors create for each client.

Altium also tries to stay connected with its community through the Altium Foundation. The foundation makes charitable contributions, promotes community service and takes part in other philanthropic endeavors.

Altium Wealth Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes

Altium offers advisory services to a wide range of customers. It serves both high-net-worth and non-high-net-worth individuals. The majority of clients are non-high-net-worth individuals. The firm also works with pension plans, profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations and corporations.

Altium generally requires a minimum of $1 million for portfolios. However, the firm will accept clients with smaller portfolios in some cases. According to the firm, it only accepts a client with less than the minimum if it determines that the smaller portfolio size won’t cause a significant increase of risk in the client’s portfolio (beyond the risk level that the client is comfortable with).

Services Offered by Altium Wealth Management

It’s possible to get a number of financial planning and investment management services from Altium Wealth Management. Some services that an advisor can help you with include:

  • Business planning
  • Cash flow forecasting
  • Trust and estate planning
  • Financial reporting
  • Retirement planning
  • Risk management
  • Charitable giving
  • Insurance planning

All of the services listed above are available on a stand-alone basis, but clients typically pair these services with investment management.

Altium also offers what it calls Vantage Point™. This is a program by which a team of advisors works to approach a client’s finances with a holistic perspective. The team can advise clients on all aspects of their financial health and help to coordinate what is usually a jumble of advice from disparate sources.

Altium Wealth Management Investment Philosophy

When deciding on investments, Altium will first work with a client to understand his or her individual objectives. Advisors will consider things like the client’s time horizon, tolerance for risk, tax management, liquidity and any other specific constraints.

Once a client’s objectives are clear, advisors work to build a diversified, risk-managed portfolio. Altium uses what it calls a scorecard to analyze and rate the securities it uses in client portfolios. Individual portfolios will vary in composition but the firm may use mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fixed-income securities and cash accounts such as money market accounts (MMAs).

Fees Under Altium Wealth Management

The fees you pay with Altium will depend on the services and products you use. Consultation fees, while negotiable, generally range from $5,000 to $25,000 for a one-time project. If you’re paying hourly, you can expect Altium to charge a rate between $150 and $750 per hour. The firm also offers ongoing consulting services for a fee of between $2,000 and $25,000 per year. The exact fee will depend on how complex your individual situation and portfolio are.

If you invest through Altium, you will also pay a management fee. The fee is a percentage of your AUM and depends on how much you invest. Investing larger amounts will give you access to lower fees. For example, the first $1 million you invest is subject to a fee of 1.25% but then the next $4 million faces a fee of 0.75%. You can see the fee schedule in the following table. Altium prorates the annual management fee and will typically charge you quarterly.

Altium Wealth Management Fee Schedule
Assets Under Management Fee Rate
First $1MM 1.25%
Next $4MM 0.75%
Next $5MM 0.50%
Above $10MM 0.25%

In addition to management fees, you may need to pay additional fees from third parties, such as brokers and banks. As an example, trading certain mutual funds may result in brokerage commissions or transaction fees with the broker through which you buy the fund.

Estimated Fee Comparison*
Your Assets Altium Wealth Management
$500K $6,250
$1MM $12,500
$5MM $37,500
$10MM $50,000
*Estimated investment management fees do not include brokerage, custodial, third-party manager or other fees, which can vary in amount.

Altium Wealth Management Awards and Recognition

Altium Wealth Management has a number of awards to its name, such as:

  • Named to the 2020 edition of the Financial Times 300 top registered investment advisors, also named in 2019
  • Named in the 2019 RIA Channel as one of the "Top 100 Wealth Managers"
  • Recognized in CityWire's "Future 50 RIAs" publication in 2019
  • Selected by 914INC. as a recipient of their first annual Best of Business awards
  • Recognized as one of Financial Advisor Magazine’s “Top 50 Fastest-Growing Firms” in the magazine’s annual RIA survey and rankings in 2019

What to Watch out For

Altium Wealth Management has not been subject to any disciplinary actions from regulators over the past decade.

Financial advisors at Altium may earn commissions from the sale of certain insurance products. At the same time, keep in mind that Altium advisors have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their clients.

Opening an Account With Altium Wealth Management

To learn more about working with Altium, visit the firm’s website and click the “Contact” button in the menu. You will see phone numbers, a map to help you find the office and an email address that you can use to contact the firm.

All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.

Tips for Finding a Financial Advisor

  • Finding the right financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
  • Many people look for advisors to help them plan for retirement. However, advisors can also help with much more, such as general financial planning, wealth management, tax planning and estate planning.

How Long $1mm Lasts in Retirement

SmartAsset's interactive map highlights places where $1 million will last the longest in retirement. Zoom between states and the national map to see the top spots in each region. Also, scroll over any city to learn about the cost of living in retirement for that location.

Least
Most
Rank City Housing Expenses Food Expenses Healthcare Expenses Utilities Expenses Transportation Expenses

Methodology We analyzed data on average expenditures for seniors, cost of living and investment returns to determine how many years of retirement a $1 million nest egg would cover in cities across America.

First, we looked at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on the average annual expenditures of seniors. We then applied cost of living data from the Council for Community and Economic Research to adjust those national average spending levels based on the costs of each expense category (housing, food, healthcare, utilities, transportation and other) in each city. Using this data, SmartAsset calculated the average cost of living for retirees in the largest U.S. cities.

We assumed the $1 million would grow at a real return (interest minus inflation) of 2%. Then, we divided $1 million by the sum of each of those annual numbers to determine how long $1 million would cover retirement expenses in each of the cities in our study. Cities where $1 million lasted the longest ranked the highest in the study.

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Council for Community and Economic Research