Hanlon Investment Management, a financial advisor firm based in Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, works with both individual investors and institutional clients. The firm oversees hundreds of millions in assets under management (AUM) on both a discretionary and non-discretionary basis.
Most of the firm’s clients are non-high-net-worth individuals. Read on to learn more about this financial advisor firm.
Hanlon Investment Management Background
CEO Sean Hanlon founded the firm in 1999. It then became a registered investment advisor (RIA) in 2002. Hanlon began his career in the financial services industry in the late 1980s and previously worked for Merrill Lynch.
The team at Hanlon Investment Management features one certified financial planner (CFP).
Hanlon Investment Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Hanlon Investment Management works with individuals, investment companies, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations and business entities.
To establish and maintain investment management services, you generally need a minimum account size of $50,000. Hanlon Investment Management may keep smaller accounts depending on specific factors such as anticipated future earnings capacity.
Services Offered by Hanlon Investment Management
Hanlon Investment Management designs and builds diversified portfolios on behalf of its clients. These are tailored to the client’s individual investment goals, risk tolerance and other factors. The firm also creates and manages its own model portfolios, as well as provides investment management services to mutual funds. Advisors may recommend these funds to individual clients.
Additionally, the firm provides advice regarding variable annuities and variable life insurance products. It also serves as a fiduciary to qualified retirement plans such as 401(k)s under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). In this capacity, the firm helps the plan sponsor choose a qualified default investment alternative and manage participant accounts.
Hanlon Investment Management Investment Philosophy
Hanlon Investment Management’s investing strategy seeks risk-adjusted returns. It evaluates investments by engaging in a combination proprietary technical, quantitative and volume analyses.
Following a daily tactical analysis of the markets, Hanlon Investment Management examines the available fund styles to determine which are performing best on a risk-adjusted return basis. It turns to the highest ranking when building investment portfolios for its clients.
Hanlon Investment Management also takes into account factors like the client's risk tolerance and overall investment goals. The firm primarily utilizes or recommends the following security types:
- Individual stocks
- Bonds
- No-load mutual funds including those managed by Hanlon
- Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
For the model portfolios, Hanlon follows one of three general investment strategies: Strategic, Dynamic or Tactical. The Strategic strategies follow a buy and hold approach. The Dynamic strategies generally consist of index-based buy and hold investments supplemented with actively managed tactical and alternative holdings. The Tactical strategies, meanwhile, are actively managed and have the ability to be fully invested in the market but can also allocate part or all of the model to cash depending on market conditions.
Fees Under Hanlon Investment Management
The firm charges annual investment management fees based on a percentage of the market value of the client’s assets under management. The firm provides the following fee schedules for investment management services:
Institutional Division Fees
| Account Value | Asset Based Fee |
| Up to $499,999 | 1.80% |
| From $500,001-$999,999 | 1.45% |
| From $1MM and above | 1.10% |
Retail Division Fees
| Account Value | Asset Based Fee |
| Up to $250,000 | 1.65% |
| From $250,001-$500,000 | 1.45% |
| From $500,001-$2MM | 1.20% |
| From $2,000,001-$5MM | 0.80% |
| From $5,000,001-$10MM | 0.60% |
| From $10,000,001-$25MM | 0.50% |
| From $25,000,000 and above | 0.45% |
These annual fees are prorated and paid quarterly in advance. They are applied to the market value of the account on the last day of the previous quarter.
Note that this schedule applies to the firm’s investment advisory fees only. They are separate from brokerage commissions, transaction costs and other expenses your account may face. These other expenses are generally not paid to Hanlon Investment Management, but to the brokerage firm.
What to Watch Out For
Hanlon Investment Management has one disclosure of a regulatory action listed on the Form ADV it filed most recently with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The disclosure involved an advisory affiliate, not the firm itself.
It's also important to note that some of Hanlon Investment Management’s associates may earn 12b-1 fees from mutual fund companies when it recommends them to clients, making the firm fee-based. Some representatives of the firm may also earn commissions from a broker-dealer. These arrangements present a conflict of interest. Additionally, Hanlon advises certain mutual funds and may earn a dual fee when clients invest in them. Hanlon is obligated to tell clients about its conflicts of interest, but you should also review the fund prospectus for more information.
However, as a fiduciary, Hanlon Investment Management is legally obligated to always act in the best interests of its clients.
Opening an Account With Hanlon Investment Management
If you're interested in opening an account with Hanlon Investment Management, visit the firm's website or call the firm directly at (609) 601-1200.
All information was accurate as of the writing of this article.
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