A financial advisor firm located in Northbrook, Illinois, IRON Financial has advisors who work mainly with pension and profit-sharing plans, but also with individuals and businesses. The firm focuses on portfolio management, though they also provide retirement plan services.
As a fee-only advisory firm, IRON Financial earns its compensation from just client-based fees. A fee-based firm, on the other hand, is one that collects commissions from insurance or security sales in addition to standard fees.
IRON Financial Background
IRON Financial was founded in Chicago in 1994 by CEO Howard Nixon and chief investment officer (CIO) Aaron Izenstark. With decades of investment experience between them, the co-founders focus the firm’s strategy around a strategic income philosophy. The firm is under the principal ownership of IRON Holdings, LLC, a financial services holding company.
The financial advisors at IRON Financial hold a number of advisory certifications. Among the firm’s investment professionals, there are multiple chartered financial analysts (CFAs) and certified financial planners (CFPs).
IRON Financial Types of Clients and Minimum Account Sizes
The vast majority of IRON Financial’s clients are non-government pension and profit-sharing plans. Non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans and businesses round out the firm’s client base.
The minimum account sizes of IRON Financial’s managed portfolios range from $100,000 to $500,000. They are as follows:
- Incertus Portfolios $250,000
- High Quality Equity Strategy: $250,000
- Global Equity Plus Strategy Portfolios: $250,000
- S&P Equity Plus Strategy Portfolios: $100,000
- All-Cap Alpha Equity Strategy Portfolios: $300,000
- Fixed-Income Yield Only Portfolios: $300,000
- Fixed-Income High-Yield Only Portfolios: $300,000
- Core Plus Portfolios: $500,000
- Fixed-Income Total Return Portfolios: $500,000
- Risk-Based Mutual Fund Total Return Portfolios: $250,000
- REIT Strategy Portfolios: $100,000
Most of the firm’s corporate retirement plan services call for a minimum balance of $100,000.
Services Offered by IRON Financial
IRON Financial offers a number of portfolio management services, including a variety of fixed-income strategies, total return strategies and more.
- EQUITY Plus Strategies
- Global Equity Plus Strategy Portfolios
- S&P Equity Plus Strategy Portfolios
- All-Cap Alpha Equity Strategy
- Risk-Based Mutual Fund Portfolios
- Select and managed portfolios
- Convertible Bond Strategy
- Real estate investment trust (REIT) strategy
IRON Financial Investment Philosophy
IRON Financial places emphasis on adding value to typical beta investment practices. It uses a wide array of asset classes, coupled with effective risk management and primary research, to drive growth for clients. The investments that fill out these strategies and portfolios are a combination of fixed-income securities, equities, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options and derivatives.
The firm’s methods of analysis include charting as well as fundamental, technical and quantitative analysis. Each of these techniques attempts to analyze a security’s intrinsic value by looking at various factors, like pricing statistics, performance data, underlying financial conditions of the company and more.
IRON Financial Fees
IRON Financial’s fees vary based on the investment strategy. These charges follow the fee schedule below, though the firm may negotiate fees on a client-to-client basis.
| Investment Fee Schedule | |
| Account Strategy | Maximum Annual Fee |
| Incertus Portfolios | 0.70% |
| High Quality Equity Strategy Portfolios | 0.70% |
| Global Equity Plus Strategy Portfolios | 0.70% |
| S&P Equity Plus Strategy Portfolios | 0.50% |
| All-Cap Alpha Equity Strategy Portfolios | 0.75% |
| Fixed-Income Yield Only Portfolios | 0.35% |
| Fixed-Income High-Yield Only Portfolios | 0.50% |
| Core Plus Portfolios | 0.50% |
| Fixed-Income Total Return Portfolios | 0.70% |
| Risk-Based Mutual Fund Total Return Portfolios | 0.75% |
| REIT Strategy Portfolios | 0.70% |
What to Watch Out For
IRON Financial does not have any disclosures of legal or regulatory action on its most recent SEC Form ADV.
Opening an Account With IRON Financial
If you’d like to open an account with IRON Financial, you can go online and submit a form on the firm's website. You can also call its office toll-free at (888) 396-4766.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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