Southwestern Investment Group is a financial advisor firm that's headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee. The firm works with a variety of individual and institutional clients.
This is a fee-based firm, which means some of its advisors may have the ability to earn income from the sale of insurance products, in addition to advisory fees. On the other hand, a fee-only firm would earn solely client-paid fees as compensation.
Southwestern Investment Group Background
Southwestern Investment Group has been a registered investment adviser since 2016, but it can trace its history back to 2002. This firm is wholly owned by Southwestern/Great American, Inc., one of the oldest private corporations in the state of Tennessee. Today, the firm is led by chief operations officer (COO) Todd Healy, chief compliance officer (CCO) Deborah Jenkins, president Jeffrey Dobyns and chief financial officer (CFO) Gerry Macbeth.
The firm employs dozens of advisors, and among them are certified financial planners (CFPs), chartered financial consultants (ChFCs), five certified public accountants (CPAs), chartered life underwriters (CLUs), as well as advisors with the accredited investment fiduciary (AIF), enrolled agent (EA) and certified wealth strategist (CWS) designations.
Southwestern Investment Group Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Southwestern Investment Group serves more than 20,000 clients. All but around 800 of these clients are individuals below the high-net-worth threshold. The remaining clients include high-net-worth individuals. The firm also offers services to pension and profit-sharing plans, banks and thrift institutions, corporations and charities and other business entities.
There are a handful of different minimum account sizes at Southwestern Investment Group. The requirement that applies to you will depend on the services you receive.
- Ambassador Program: $25,000
- Freedom Program: $50,000
- American Funds Model Portfolios Program: $25,000
- Raymond James Consulting Services (RJCS)
- Equity and balanced accounts: $100,000
- Fixed-income accounts: $200,000
- Municipal accounts: $200,000 - $500,000
Services Offered by Southwestern Investment Group
Southwestern Investment Group offers a number of different investment management programs and a range of other advisory services:
- Investment advisory services
- Ambassador Program
- Customizable investment advisory account offered as a wrap fee program
- Freedom Program
- Investment account that focuses on mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on your risk tolerance
- American Funds Model Portfolios Program
- Investment account that abides by a specific asset allocation comprised only of American Funds mutual funds
- Raymond James Consulting Services
- A range of wrap fee programs sponsored by Raymond James
- This is a personalized service
- Ambassador Program
- Financial planning and consulting
- Estate planning
- Tax planning
- Retirement planning
- Capital needs planning
- Investor profile creation
- Insurance planning
- Additional advisory services
- Proprietary research
- Seminars
- 401(k) focus advisor services
- Asset allocation planning for retirement plan participants
- Pension consulting services
Southwestern Investment Group Investment Philosophy
In order to formulate its investment recommendations, Southwestern Investment Group relies on fundamental analysis, technical analysis and charting. Fundamental analysis involves examining the key financial statistics and documents of a company or fund in order to gauge its intrinsic value. This can be used to identify securities that the market is undervaluing. The latter two methods of analysis work together to use past pricing patterns and market trends to predict how stock prices will move.
How the firm approaches portfolio construction and asset allocation will depend on a number of factors, including the investment program in which the client participates and their risk tolerance, investment goals and cash flow needs. When it comes to time horizon, the firm can utilize both long- and short-term purchases, as well as trading.
Fees Under Southwestern Investment Group
Southwestern Investment Group provides investment management through several wrap fee programs sponsored by Raymond James Investment Services. Management fees for these programs generally adhere to the following fee schedule:
| Investment Management Fees | |
| Account Value | Annual Fee |
| Up to $1MM | 2.25% |
| $1MM - $2MM | 2.00% |
| $2MM - $5MM | 1.75% |
| $5MM - $10MM | 1.50% |
| $10M and up | 1.25% |
The firm's set of Raymond James Consulting Services abide by a separate schedule, though. This goes as follows:
| RJCS Fee Schedule | |||
| Relationship Value | Equity, Balanced & ETF Fees | Fixed-Income Fees | Laddered Bonds & Short-Term Conservative Fees |
| Up to $1MM | 2.75% | 2.55% | 2.45% |
| $1MM - $2MM | 2.50% | 2.30% | 2.20% |
| $2MM - $5MM | 2.25% | 2.05% | 1.95% |
| $5MM - $10MM | 2.00% | 1.80% | 1.70% |
| $10M and up | 1.75% | 1.55% | 1.45% |
Fees for consulting services at the firm will generally follow a schedule laid out in the client-advisor agreement. Therefore, these charges can vary depending on the nature and complexity of the services being rendered.
What to Watch Out For
Southwestern Investment Group has one disclosure listed on its Form ADV. This is in reference to a violation from 200, when an affiliate of the firm was fined by the Alabama Department of Insurance for failing to report a change of address within 30 days.
As a fee-based firm, certain advisors at Southwestern Investment Group can earn commissions from the sale of specific insurance products and/or securities. This represents a potential conflict of interest. Despite this fee arrangement, the firm abides by fiduciary duty, legally binding it to act in clients’ best interests at all times.
Opening an Account With Southwestern Investment Group
If you’re interested in learning more about the services Southwestern Investment Group has to offer, you can give the firm a call at (615) 861-6100 or fill out the contact form on its website.
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