IHT Wealth Management, LLC is a fee-based financial advisor firm that calls Chicago, Illinois home. However, its presence reaches far beyond the confines of the Prairie State, with additional branches in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, South Carolina, Kansas, Texas and Wisconsin.
It has been featured in many major financial publications and networks, such as CNBC, MarketWatch, FOX Business, Reuters, Bloomberg and more.
The firm offers a number of services, including financial planning, retirement planning, investment management, legacy planning and risk management. It has billions in client assets under management (AUM).
IHT Wealth Management Background
President Steven Dudash founded IHT Wealth Management in 2014 and remains the firm’s principal owner. Prior to his time at IHT, Dudash spent time with Merrill Lynch and had a hand in crafting one of its largest financial advisory teams in Chicago. He has also written financial articles for Forbes and Financial Advisor Magazine, and been quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
A number of the firm’s employees hold certifications relating to financial or investment management. The team includes members who hold various professional financial designations such as certified financial planner (CFP), chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC), certified investment management analyst (CIMA), chartered retirement plans specialist (CRPS), certified public accountant (CPA), chartered global management accountant (CGMA), accredited asset management specialist (AAMS), accredited investment fiduciary (AIF), certified private wealth advisor (CPWA), certified divorce financial analyst (CDFA) and retirement income certified professional (RICP).
IHT Wealth Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Individual investors both with and without a high net worth make up the firm's client base. Aside from these groups, IHT also commonly works with pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts and charitable organizations.
IHT Wealth Management does not impose any sort of financial restriction on who can open an account. In other words, if you’re interested in working with the firm, there’s no set account minimum you must first meet.
For clients who seek to engage in management services, however, IHT imposes a minimum account requirement of $5,000. The firm may also charge a percentage of assets under management for investment management services, which is a maximum of 2%.
Services Offered By IHT Wealth Management
IHT Wealth Management’s plethora of financial services cover a lot of ground, but they all are generally within the realm of financial planning and investment management. Here is a detailed list of all of the services the firm can provide:
- Financial planning
- Financial goal planning
- Cash flow/income analysis
- Education funding strategies
- Stock option analysis
- Retirement planning
- 401(k) and pension plan reviews
- 401(k), 403(b) and individual retirement account (IRA) rollovers
- Retirement income planning
- Legacy planning
- Wealth transfer strategies
- Estate planning reviews
- Beneficiary reviews
- Business succession planning
- Philanthropic gift planning
- Trust management services
- Charitable trust strategies
- Private foundation creation
- Investment management
- Diversification planning
- Asset allocation strategies
- Tax-centric investment planning
- Concentrated stock strategies
- Risk management planning/strategies
- Asset protection strategies
- Life insurance analysis
- Personal liability insurance analysis
- Disability insurance analysis
- Long-term care insurance review
IHT Wealth Management Investment Philosophy
Diversification is the base of all of IHT Wealth Management’s investment decisions for its client portfolios. The firm believes diversification is drastically important because it keeps your assets from being overly invested in any one area of the market, no matter how enticing that area may seem in a given moment. In turn, this protects your portfolio from taking a big hit if the performance of one investment or market area plummets.
There are a number of investment types that IHT usually gravitates towards, although each portfolio is built specifically based on each client’s risk tolerance, time horizon and other factors. The firm typically invests in equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), municipal and U.S. government securities, warrants, mutual funds, fixed income, pooled investment vehicles, variable annuities, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private placements.
In certain situations, IHT does reserve the right to engage in short-term trading and short-selling. However, the firm’s advisors try to avoid these strategies at all costs, unless you require a quick influx of cash or have other liquidity needs.
Fees Under IHT Wealth Management
IHT Wealth Management has a negotiable fee structure that is decided upon separately for each client. The smaller the account, the higher the fees. Clients will be subject to an annual fee as high as a 3% that’s based on the market value of your assets at the firm. IHT does not charge performance-based fees.
If you’re looking to utilize IHT’s financial planning services, you will need to pay a separate fee. This is negotiable as well, but will almost always be an hourly fee ranging between $250 an hour and $500 an hour. A 50% deposit may be required, although the firm will not require the prepayment of fees of $1,200 or higher.
IHT bills its clients at the conclusion of each quarter based on the value of their assets on the last day of that quarter. At this time, it will also send out a transaction history showing all of the trades made within your portfolio throughout the quarter.
Learn more about advisors' typical costs here.
What to Watch Out For
Since IHT Wealth Management is a fee-based firm, its advisors may have potential conflicts of interest. For example, some of the advisors at IHT earn commissions if they sell you certain securities or insurance policies, which may incentivize the advisors to sell these products. However, the firm is technically bound by fiduciary duty, which means it must always put clients’ best interests before its own.
IHT Wealth Management has no disclosures or other legal issues in its past.
Opening an Account With IHT Wealth Management
Aside from visiting the IHT Wealth Management branch located closest to you, calling the firm is the simplest way to start a client/advisor relationship. It offers a toll-free number at (855) 295-2828.
On its website, IHT also offers a “Learn More” form that you can fill out to have an advisor contact you. All you need to give is your full name, email address and phone number. The firm also recently created the IHT Mobile App, which is available for both Android and Apple devices.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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