Finding a Top Financial Advisor Firm in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
It’s understandable if the search for a financial advisor seems daunting to you. After all, there are 13,428 investment advisor firms registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S. - and 2,956 in the New York-New Jersey region alone. To help you narrow the field, we pulled the firms in Cherry Hill and collected a number of fundamentals such as their assets under management (AUM), fee basis and investment strategy. Then we put all the info together, here, for convenient comparing and contrasting. Start your search with this list of the top financial advisor firms in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Then use SmartAsset’s free financial advisor matching tool to personalize your search.
| Rank | Financial Advisor | Assets Managed | Minimum Assets | Financial Services | More Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pine Valley Investments  Find an Advisor | $ 424,000,000 | $250,000 to $5 million |
| Minimum Assets$250,000 to $5 millionFinancial Services
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| 2 | Wealth Management Associates, Inc.  Find an Advisor | $ 310,706,360 | $50,000 |
| Minimum Assets$50,000Financial Services
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| 3 | Wealth CMT  Find an Advisor | $ 145,835,675 | $600,000 |
| Minimum Assets$600,000Financial Services
|
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| 4 | Cypress Financial Planning  Find an Advisor | $ 113,487,647 | Minimum annual fee of $1,500 |
| Minimum AssetsMinimum annual fee of $1,500Financial Services
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How We Found the Top Financial Advisor Firms in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
For this list, we only considered financial advisor firms in Cherry Hill that are registered fiduciaries with the SEC. We removed from consideration any advisory practices that have had a disclosure or disciplinary issue within the past 10 years or whose individual accounts make up less than 50% of their client base. The top four firms are listed here, sorted by AUM, starting with the largest.
Pine Valley Investments
At the top of the list, Pine Valley Investments manages $424 million in assets on a discretionary basis. Its team includes seven advisors, many of whom cut their teeth at Merrill Lynch. Some advisors may also wear hats as brokers or insurance agents.
About two-thirds of Pine Valley’s client base are high-net-worth individuals (with the other third being individuals who do not have a high net worth). The practice also serves pension and profit- sharing plans, charitable organizations, corporations and other business entities. The minimum ranges from $250,000 for individual advisory services to $5 million for comprehensive family office services, though Pine Valley may waive or lower minimums at its discretion.
Pine Valley Investments Background
Harry Morad and Joseph Duncan founded the firm in 2014 after working together at Philadelphia Investment Partners. They own the majority of the firm, though they’re joined by two other partners, one of whom used to play for Houston Astros.
Pine Valley’s main business is providing discretionary investment advisory services, which may include recommending a third-party advisor. It can also assist with trust and estate planning, insurance products and investment banking (if, say, you want to sell your business). Additionally, it does pension consulting and may act as a sub-advisor to unaffiliated third-party advisors.
Pine Valley Investments Strategy
Like most advisories, Pine Valley will customize its investment advice to client goals, time horizon and risk tolerance. In analyzing securities, it uses fundamental, technical and quantitative methods of analysis, and according to its website, it manages “portfolio overlays around various asset classes that deliver attractive, less-correlated and improved risk-adjusted absolute returns.”
The firm reported in its most recent SEC filings that assets under its management were allocated as*:
- 70% Securities issued by registered investment companies (like mutual funds) or business development companies
- 8% Exchange-traded equity securities (such as common stocks)
- 7% Cash and cash equivalents
- 5% Securities issued by pooled investment vehicles
- 2% U.S. government bonds
- 2% State and local bonds
- 2% Derivatives
- 1% Investment-grade corporate bonds
*Numbers don’t add up to 100.
Wealth Management Associates, Inc.
About a quarter smaller than No. 1 on the list, Wealth Management Associates, Inc. (WMA) oversees more than $310.7 million in assets. It’s headquartered in Cherry Hill and has another New Jersey office in Haddonfield and a branch in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Most advisors are also brokers and insurance agents. Those in the Cherry Hill office include one MBA, one certified financial planner (CFP), one accredited asset management specialist (AAMS), one chartered mutual fund counselor (CMFC) and one chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC). (Some advisors have multiple certifications).
High-net-worth (HNW) clients make up about only one-sixth of the firm’s individual client base (98 HNW vs. 518 non-HNW). This makes sense, since the minimum investment is a relatively low $50,000. WMA also serves banks, thrift institutions, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates and charitable organizations.
Wealth Management Associates Background
After working at brokerages for more than a decade, James Johnston set up his own shop, WMA, in 1998. He was soon joined by his friend and former colleague David Hess (they started their careers at Smith Barney together). Today, they are co-managing partners, with interest in the firm split between the two of them.
WMA offers discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services, financial planning on a stand-alone or consulting basis, qualified retirement plan services (to plan sponsors) and seminars. In the management of assets, the firm may recommend using a third-party advisor, and it may recommend insurance products (for which it receives commissions from the insurance company).
Wealth Management Associates Investing Strategy
The firm does not do tactical investing, which involves trying to time the market. Instead, it takes a long-term approach, holding positions for at least a year. Its primary strategy is asset allocation and its main method of securities review is fundamental analysis.
According to its most recent SEC filings, assets under its management were invested as:
- 50% Securities issued by registered investment companies (like mutual funds) or business development companies
- 19% Exchange-traded equity securities (such as common stocks)
- 16% Non-exchange-traded equity securities
- 10% Cash and cash equivalents
- 3% State and local bonds
- 1% U.S. government bonds
- 1% Investment-grade corporate bonds
- 1% Master limited partnerships and American depository receipts
Wealth CMT
Wealth Creation Management and Transfer, more commonly called Wealth CMT, is a boutique firm with four advisors. Together, they manage more than $145.8 million in assets on a discretionary basis. They include two MBAs, one chartered life underwriter (CLU) and one chartered financial consultant (ChFC). (Advisors may have more than one certification.) Two are also insurance agents.
The minimum to open an investment account is $600,000, though the firm may waive the requirement at its discretion. The ratio of clients who are high net worth to those who aren’t is 1 to 2 (51 to 102). The firm also works with pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations and other business entities.
Wealth CMT Background
Andrew Barnett founded Wealth CMT in 2008, and then reformed it with equal partner Eric Feder a year later. Today, they are the sole owners.
The firm stands out for its emphasis on financial planning. It requires it as a first step before it will provide investment advisory services. Fees for financial planning (which includes portfolio design) range from $3,500 to $25,000, while portfolio management fees are asset based, starting at 1.17% annually for the first $500,000 invested. Portfolio design is part of management services at most firms, and Wealth CMT says it will allow part of the cost of financial planning to offset some of its management fee.
Wealth CMT Investing Strategy
Wealth CMT has five basic asset-allocation approaches: conservative, moderate, balanced, growth and aggressive growth. It will custom-design a client’s portfolio using a mix of these approaches and then implement it generally using mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and third-party investment managers. Because of its holistic approach, the firm will include and review investments that can not be transferred in kind to the account with Wealth CMT, such as securities in a 401(k) plan.
According to SEC data, assets under Wealth CMT’s management were invested primarily in exchange-traded equities (58%) and securities issued by registered investment companies like mutual funds and ETFs (42%).
Cypress Financial Planning
Last but not least, Cypress Financial Planning is the only fee-only firm on the list. This means that its advisors only sell advice - and do not sell products that would earn them commissions from third parties. The team at Cypress, which includes two certified financial planners (CFPs) and one MBA, manages almost $113.5 million.
The firm’s main office is in Cherry Hill with a branch in Charlottesville, Virginia. Cypress Financial has no asset requirement, instead charging a minimum annual management fee of $1,500 for accounts smaller than $150,000. Not surprisingly, the majority of investment advisory clients are not high net worth. The firm also serves businesses, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable institutions, foundations, endowments and trust programs.
Cypress Financial Planning Background
Founder Jeff Jones’ career path started at Lockheed Martin, where he worked as an engineer. But an encounter with a financial advisor who was really an insurance salesman opened Jones’ eyes to the need for a “sales-free environment” for financial advice. As a result, he switched tracks, earning a master’s degree in financial engineering and taking a job in the private wealth management division at Goldman Sachs. He started Cypress Financial in 2009, where he is majority owner. The two other advisors at the firm have small stakes.
The boutique shop’s main business is financial planning and investment advisory services. It also offers educational seminars and publishes newsletters about personal finance and economic topics. Additionally, it provides consulting or advisory services to employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Cypress Financial Planning Investment Strategy
Cypress Financial applies Modern Portfolio Theory and fundamental and technical analyses when designing and implementing portfolios. It says that it frequently recommends exchange-traded funds (ETFs). That said, it reported in its most recent SEC filings that the bulk of assets under its management were in stocks - 69% in exchange-traded equities and 16% in non-exchange-traded equities. The rest was in investment-grade corporate bonds (11%) and cash and cash equivalents (4%). (In other words, it reported no holdings of securities issued by registered investment companies, which is what ETFs are.)
