FCI Advisors is fee-only investment management firm based in Overland Park, Kansas, with billions of dollars in client assets under management (AUM). Its team features several chartered financial analysts (CFAs), with each investment professional averaging nearly 25 years of experience. These financial advisors work with individuals, institutions, other financial advisors and more.
FCI Advisors is the top-rated firm in both Overland Park and the state of Kansas, according to SmartAsset's research.
FCI Advisors Background
FCI Advisors launched in 1966. In addition to its headquarters in Overland Park, FCI Advisors has branches in Kansas City, Missouri; Clayton, Missouri; Greenwood Village, Colorado; Shelton, Connecticut; and Vancouver, Washington. The company includes 17 CFAs, five certified financial planners (CFPs) and one chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA).
FCI Advisors is wholly owned by FCI Holding Corporation, which is in turn owned by MTC Holding Corporation. Through common ownership, the firm is affiliated with the Midwest Trust Company and Benefit Trust Company.
FCI Advisors Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
FCI Advisors provides investment management services to individuals with and without a high net worth, investment companies, pension and profit-sharing plans, banks, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, government entities, investment advisors, insurance companies and businesses. It also provides sub-advisory services to some entities.
The recommended minimum amount of assets to keep in separate accounts is $250,000. The firm also sets the following minimums for the wrap-fee programs it advises:
- FCI-UBS ADVISOR ALLOCATION PROGRAM Portfolios: $100,000
- FCI-UBS ACCESS Portfolios: $100,000
- FCI-UBS Strategic Wealth Portfolios: $100,000
- FCI-UBS MAC Portfolios: $250,000
- FCI-Envestnet Wrap Manager Fee Program (SMA) Portfolios: $250,000
At its discretion, the firm may change or waive any account minimums.
Services Offered by FCI Advisors
FCI Advisors focuses on providing asset management services. Its clients can invest in various model portfolios that provide exposure to different asset classes and market sectors.
The firm’s wealth planning group provides guidance around topics such as Social Security benefits and meeting health care needs in retirement. FCI Advisors provides additional financial planning services through its affiliates, The Midwest Trust Company and Benefit Trust Company.
FCI Advisors also provides 3(38) fiduciary services to plan sponsors of qualified retirement plans. These services include helping the plan sponsor devise an investment menu and select qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) options for their plans.
Additionally, the firm provides sub-advisory services to wrap-fee programs sponsored by Envestnet and UBS.
FCI Advisors Investment Philosophy
FCI Advisors aims to help clients achieve growth in the markets while mitigating risk. To do so, it evaluates a client's profile, taking into account factors like risk tolerance and the person's financial situation. It then uses this information to place clients in the model portfolio it deems appropriate.
We provide brief descriptions of these portfolios below:
- Equity Income: seeks companies with a reliable history of dividend payments
- Value Equity: seeks stocks that are undervalued
- Core Equity: seeks large-cap companies with long-term performance and tax efficiency
- Select Growth: seeks companies whose earnings are expected to outperform the broad market
- Fixed Income Core and Intermediate: combines multiple stages of active management to seek superior returns relative to an appropriate benchmark over a market cycle
- All Corporate Bond: provides exposure to an actively managed, broadly diversified portfolio of investment grade corportate bonds with maturities ranging from one to 10 years
- Mutual Fund/ETF Selection: seeks mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that provide exposure to asset classes recommended by the firm's asset allocation committee
- Tax Advantaged Preferred: aims to provide an alternative to a passively constructred preferred ETF portfolio and outperform the SPDR Wells Fargo Preferred Stock ETF
When selecting securities to build these portfolios, it engages in the following research strategies:
- Fundamental analysis: measures the intrinsic value of a stock by examining the financial information of a company
- Technical analysis: predicts price movements by studying patterns from the past
- Charting: determines market conditions by examining charts that track past performance
Fees Under FCI Advisors
FCI Advisors charges fees on a fixed basis or as a percentage of assets under management (AUM). We provide some details below:
| Equity and Balanced Account Fees | |
| AUM | Annual Fee Rate |
| First $2MM | 1.00% |
| Next $3MM | 0.75% |
| Above $5MM | 0.50% |
The firm offers a different fee structure for separately managed accounts (SMAs) and unified managed accounts (UMAs):
| Fixed-Income Accounts Below $10 Million and Preferred Stock Account Fees | |
| AUM | Annual Fee Rate |
| First $5MM | 0.40% |
| Above $5MM | 0.30% |
| Fees for Institutional Fixed-Income Accounts Above $10 Miliion | |
| AUM | Annual Fee Rate |
| First $25MM | 0.30% |
| Next $25MM | 0.25% |
| Above $50MM | 0.20% |
| Institutional Equity and Balanced Account Fees | |
| AUM | Annual Fee Rate |
| First $10MM | 0.50% |
| Next $25MM | 0.30% |
| Above $35MM | 0.20% |
What to Watch Out For
FCI Advisors does not have any disclosures of legal or disciplinary actions on its most recent Form ADV filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
Tips for Finding the Right Financial Advisor
- Finding a qualified 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.
- Remember that not all advisors live up to the same industry standard. Only fiduciaries are required to deliver advice in your best interest. Others must only make suitable recommendations. And some advisors who wear more than one hat may adhere to both standards, depending on the service they are providing.
- Know how your advisor gets paid. Some work on a fee-only basis. This means their only compensation is the fee they collect from clients. Other advisors, who are fee-based, receive commissions from third parties such as mutual fund companies. To understand how this difference may impact you, read our story on fee-only and fee-based advisors.
All information was accurate as of the writing of this article.
