MAI Capital Management is a large, Cleveland-based financial advisory firm with billions in client assets under management (AUM). This fee-only firm works with a wide variety of both individual and institutional clients.
MAI Capital Management, which has offices and clients around the U.S., is featured in the first spot on SmartAsset's list of the top financial advisors in Cleveland, as well as the list for the state of Ohio. It has also been named a Financial Times Top 300 Registered Investment Adviser each year from 2017 to 2020, and been recognized by a variety of other publications.
MAI Capital Management Background
MAI Capital Management can trace its roots back to 1973 when it was founded in the city of Cleveland as Investment Advisors International, Inc. It has since rebranded to its current name. The firm is owned by MAI Holdings, which is a subsidiary of Galway Insurance Holdings.
The firm employs a large team of advisors with a number of advisory certifications to boast. These include the chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified financial planner (CFP) and certified public accountant (CPA), among other designations.
MAI Capital Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
MAI Capital Management works with a variety of clients. The firm's individual clients include those with and without a high net worth. Institutional clients include investment companies, pooled investment vehicles, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, other investment advisors and corporations.
To establish an investment management account, you'll typically need $500,000 ready to invest. However, this minimum can vary by strategy and is subject to change at the discretion of the firm.
Services Offered by MAI Capital Management
MAI Capital Management offers a range of financial planning and investment portfolio management services to its clients. It offers several investment strategies including:
- Dividend strategy
- Focused equity strategy
- Growth equity strategy
- Diversified dividend strategy
- Diversified focused equity strategy
- Exchange traded fund (ETF) strategies
- High income yield strategy
- MAI managed volatility strategy
- Fixed income – tax exempt strategy
- Fixed income – taxable strategy
Financial planning services at MAI can include estate planning, retirement planning, wealth transfer planning, insurance planning, employee benefits planning, tax planning and more. The firm also serves as investment manager for a variety of funds.
MAI Capital Management Investment Philosophy
MAI Capital Management tailors its investment management strategies and philosophies to the individual needs of its clients. Advisors meet and work with clients to determine their overall financial portfolio, gathering information on such factors as their tolerance for risk, time horizon, preferred investment strategies and current financial situation.
The firm's advisors do their due dilligence to help craft portfolios that work for their clients. As a result, they use several different research tools and methods of analysis to help inform their decisions. However, advisors primarily rely on fundamental methods of analysis to, while also focusing on factors like historical performance, consistency of returns and style characteristics.
Fees Under MAI Capital Management
MAI Capital Management charges clients fees based on the particular circumstances and scope of their advisory agreement. Therefore, the firm does not rely upon a set fee schedule for the majority of its engagements. Typically, the firm won't charge clients more than 1% of their total AUM for advisory services, though.
There is a single fee schedule listed on the firm's Form ADV for blended asset allocation investment management, a specific type of asset management. It goes as follows:
| MAI Capital Management | |
| Portfolio Value | Base Fee |
| First $5MM | 1.00% |
| Next $5MM | 0.90% |
| Over $10MM | 0.80% |
Portfolios using fixed-income only investment management are charged a single asset-based annual fee of 0.35%.
What To Watch Out For
MAI Capital Management has no disclosures listed on its SEC-filed Form ADV.
Opening an Account With MAI Capital Management
Becoming a client of MAI Capital Management involves either visiting the firm's website and submitting a contact form, calling (216) 920-4800 or stopping by one of the firm's branches in person.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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