Top Financial Advisor Firms in Utah

Find an Advisor

Albion Financial Group manages nearly $1 billion in client assets, which is almost double the amount of assets managed by the second firm on this list, The Insight Group, Inc. This Salt Lake City-based firm has six certified financial planners (CFPs), two chartered financial analysts (CFAs) and one chartered life underwriter (CLU) on its advisory team. It also placed as the #1 firm on SmartAsset’s list of the top financial advisor firms in Salt Lake City.

Albion offers a unique financial service called “Women of Albion,” which focuses on the distinct factors that affect how women manage their money. This service can encompass estate planning, tax planning, insurance planning, retirement counseling, multi-generational wealth transfer and more.

The fee-only firm does not require a minimum account size. Its typical clients are individuals, families, corporations and businesses. Albion tends to serve more high-net-worth clients than non-high-net-worth clients.

Of all the firms on this list, only Albion and Knox Capital Advisors, LLC charge performance-based fees when your account performs better than projected.

Albion Financial Group Background

Albion Financial Group is tied with First Western Advisors for the oldest firm on this list, as both firms were established in 1982. Albion is independently owned by CEO William Levitt, President John Bird and partner Doug Wells.

Regardless of the type of financial services you need, this firm likely has something to offer you. Its wide range of services includes:

• Education fund planning
• Divorce planning
• Retirement planning
• Net worth and cash flow analysis
• IRA, 401(k) and pension guidance
• Albion Wealth Builder robo-advisor
• Philanthropic investing
• Non-profit consulting
• Corporate trust services
• Small business consulting

Albion has received several awards recently. It was named one of Financial Advisor Magazine’s top registered investment advisors (RIAs) in 2017, and one of Utah’s top 10 RIAs by Utah Business Magazine in 2016.

Albion Financial Group Investing Strategy

At Albion Financial Group, your personal financial goals, risk tolerance and time horizon will shape your final investment plan. To iron out these details, your advisor will meet with you face-to-face so you can discuss your current financial life and determine your financial goals.

This firm believes in using many different types of investments in client portfolios. Your assets may be invested in equity and debt securities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), no-load and closed-end mutual funds, corporate and municipal bonds, convertible securities and U.S. government securities.

Find an Advisor

The Insight Group, Inc. works with a many different types of clients, including individuals and high-net-worth individuals, estates, trusts, pension and profit-sharing plans, businesses and charitable organizations. The firm has a unique approach to portfolio management, as it doesn’t select a single advisor to manage your account but rather uses the strengths of individuals across its team.

You will need at least $1 million to open an account at this firm that came in second on SmartAsset’s list of the top financial advisor firms in Salt Lake City. As far as advisory certifications go, Insight currently has three chartered life underwriters (CLUs), three chartered financial consultants (ChFCs), two certified financial planners (CFPs) and one certified fund specialist (CFS) on staff.

The Insight Group is a fee-based firm. Advisors at this firm may offer you insurance policies to supplement your account. However, the firm is fiduciary, and it is therefore required to always act in your best interest.

The Insight Group, Inc. Background

The Insight Group, Inc. has been in business since 1993. It’s principally owned by Paul Salisbury and Mark Matley, the firm’s co-founders. Every one of this firm’s advisors has spent at least 20 years in the financial management field, affording it ample experience.

The firm’s financial planning services encompass retirement planning, investment planning, financial independence preparations, estate planning, life/disability/long-term care risk analysis, tax management, cash flow review and debt management review.

The Insight Group, Inc. was ranked by Financial Times as one of America’s top 300 financial advisor firms in 2017. It also placed 19th on Financial Advisors’ list of the top 50 fastest-growing firms in the U.S.

The Insight Group, Inc. Investing Strategy

The Insight Group, Inc. focuses on incorporating tax efficiency into every financial plan it creates. To do this, it utilizes targeted tax management early on each year to try to maximize clients’ tax returns come tax season.

In addition, The Insight Group, Inc. says it strives to allocate your assets across as many different classes as possible while still adhering to your risk tolerance and time horizon requirements. More specifically, your assets will likely be invested in some combination of stocks, cash equivalents, fixed-income investments, real estate, municipal bonds and corporate bonds.

Find an Advisor

No firm on this list has a higher account minimum than Crewe Advisors, which requires a $2 million minimum account size. It is the third ranked firm in Salt Lake City according to SmartAsset, and principally serves individuals, businesses, charitable organizations, trusts, estates and profit-sharing and pension plans. More specifically, the firm’s individual client base is nearly split down the middle between high-net-worth individuals and those without a high net worth.

Compared to the rest of the firms on this list, Crewe Advisors’ staff has significantly fewer certifications. There is only one chartered financial analyst (CFA) and one certified financial planner (CFP) on staff.

Crewe Advisors is a fee-based firm. Advisors may earn commissions from trading certain investments in your account or from selling insurance policies. However, fiduciary duty binds this firm to act in your best interest at all times.

Crewe Advisors Background

Crewe Advisors is tied with Navigate Private Wealth, LLC as the youngest firm on this list. Both firms were founded in 2014. Crewe is not an independently owned entity. Rather, it’s controlled by business services company HH2007, LLC, business management firm Tidus, LLC and holding firms T2, LLC and Crewe Holdings, LLC.

The firm’s financial planning services encompass investment management, college fund planning, debt and credit planning, retirement planning, tax minimization, executive counseling, business succession planning and life insurance review.

Crewe Advisors Investing Strategy

There are four basic factors that Crewe Advisors takes into account when building your personalized financial plan: your current financial situation including your income and tax status, your level of risk tolerance, your overall time horizon and any financial goals you may want to reach in that time span. Based on these facts, the firm will invest your assets across exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, individual fixed-income and equity securities and private securities.

Like many other firms, Crewe believes in long-term investing. However, because some clients may have a need for liquidity, the firm does engage in some short-term strategies like short-term trading, short sales and margin transactions to ensure it meets those needs.

Find an Advisor

Although it places fourth on our list, Tanner Capital Management, LLC has the smallest advisory team with just two advisors on staff. The firm’s staff also has a limited number advisor certifications, as there is only one chartered financial consultant (ChFC) on staff. 

This fee-based firm has the second-highest account minimum at $1 million. Tanner, which is located in Provo, mostly handles the finances of individuals. It serves more than double the number of high-net-worth individuals than non-high-net-worth individuals. In addition, the firm works with pension and profit-sharing plans, estates and trusts.

Advisors at this firm may earn commissions when certain securities are traded in client accounts and when they sell insurance policies. However, the firm is a fiduciary and therefore must act in your best interest.

Tanner Capital Management, LLC Background

Tanner Capital Management is an independent financial advisor firm owned by managing member J. David Tanner and CCO Natalie Tanner. J. David Tanner has spent more than 30 years in the financial management industry.

This firm believes that financial planning can only be done comprehensively. The services it offers include:

• Cash and risk management
• Retirement planning
• Estate planning
• Charitable giving
• Tax mitigation
• Capital needs planning
• Education funding review
• Insurance analysis
• Overall financial review of income, liabilities, business agreements, tax returns and more

Tanner Capital Management, LLC Investing Strategy

Tanner Capital Management uses a variety of investment strategies in its client portfolios. These include long-term purchases, short-term purchases, margin transactions and trading. Long-term purchasing is the primary investment strategy used, while the other three strategies are utilized to take advantage of quick market shifts.

Mutual funds, index funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), separately managed accounts (SMAs) and alternative investments make up the majority of the investments the firm uses in its client portfolios. The exact distribution depends upon your risk tolerance and any financial goals you may have.

Find an Advisor

Though Navigate Private Wealth, LLC does serve a small group of high-net-worth individuals, more than 98% of its individual clients fall beneath the high-net-worth threshold. The fee-based firm located in Draper also serves trusts, estates, corporations, LLCs, pension and profit-sharing plans and charitable organizations. To open an account with this firm, you will need at least $250,000 in investable assets. 

Navigate’s staff boasts one of the most extensive lists of certifications. There are five certified financial planners (CFPs), three chartered retirement planning counselors (CRPCs), one certified public accountant (CPA) and one chartered financial consultant (ChFC) on staff.

If you purchase an insurance policy through this firm or have specific securities traded in your portfolio, advisors may earn additional compensation. It’s important to remember that the firm abides by fiduciary duty though, forcing it to act in your best financial interest.

Navigate Private Wealth, LLC Background

Navigate Private Wealth, LLC is an employee-owned firm. It was established in 2014, making it the most recently formed firm on this list alongside Crewe Advisors, LLC. Navigate’s advisors average about 23 years in financial management. The firm’s team includes both younger and older advisors though, offering different points of view.

Navigate offers a variety of financial services. The firm’s offerings include retirement planning, estate planning, corporate and personal tax planning, real estate analysis, insurance analysis, line of credit evaluation, corporate structure planning and charitable giving planning.

Navigate Private Wealth, LLC Investing Strategy

To make risk tolerance easier to identify, Navigate Private Wealth has determined six tiers of risk tolerance based off of the five-year standard deviation of the S&P 500:

• Conservative - Less than 40% of the five-year S&P 500 standard deviation
• Moderately conservative - Less than 55% of the five-year S&P 500 standard deviation
• Moderate - Less than 70% of the five-year S&P 500 standard deviation
• Moderately aggressive - Less than 85% of the five-year S&P 500 standard deviation
• Aggressive - Less than 100% of the five-year S&P 500 standard deviation
• Speculative - More than 100% of the five-year S&P 500 standard deviation

Once you’ve chosen one of these risk tolerances, you and your advisor will evaluate how it can be implemented while still taking into account your financial goals for the future. Navigate Private Wealth typically uses mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and individual stocks and bonds in client portfolios.

Find an Advisor

No firm on this list has a larger advisory team than First Western Advisors. The fee-based firm has a staff 18 advisory employees. However, out of that group, there is a total of just three certified financial planners (CFPs).

This firm, located in Holladay, is the only firm on this list that does not charge fixed rate fees. It is also one of three firms on this list that does not have an account minimum, making it possible for any level of investor to open an account. Individuals and high-net-worth individuals, corporations, corporate pension and profit-sharing plans and foundations make up the firm’s typical client base. However, the firm will work with other clients at its discretion.

Certain members of this firm sell insurance, and they may earn commissions from sales. The firm is a fiduciary though, obligating it to act in your best interest.

First Western Advisors Background

First Western Advisors, like Albion Financial Group, Inc., was founded in 1982, making the firms tied for oldest on this list. Business services company Carmel Sands, LLC is the principal owner of First Western Advisors.

Presumably, some prospective clients will know what they’re looking for in an advisory relationship. On the other hand, others may not know exactly what they’ll need. First Western offers services for each type of client, including:

• Determination of financial goals
• Identification of any financial problems
• Tax planning
• Retirement and estate planning
• Social security review and planning
• Investment management
• Cash flow management
• Insurance review
• Education funding

First Western Advisors Investment Analysis

Stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), no-load or low-load mutual funds and options make up the vast majority of the investment types that this firm uses in its client portfolios. However, the firm goes through an in-depth research process to determine specifically which investments to use and which to avoid.

Most of the firm’s research is based on various financial magazines and newspapers, corporate inspections and rating services, prospectuses, annual reports, company press releases, any relevant SEC information and research materials created by others in the industry. Popular sources like the Morningstar Principia and Charles Schwab SchwabLink services are also used to ensure that all possible avenues of information are explored.

Find an Advisor

Riggs Capital Management, LLC is a fee-based financial advisor firm in Provo that principally serves non-high-net-worth individual clients. The firm also has experience working with other types of clients though, such as high-net-worth individuals, retirement accounts, plan sponsors and businesses. It imposes a $500,000 account minimum.

The firm has three certified financial planners (CFPs), one certified public accountant (CPA) and one chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC) on staff. Advisors at this firm may sell insurance products, and they may earn commissions from sales. As a fiduciary though, the firm is required to act in your best financial interest.

Riggs Capital Management, LLC Background

Riggs Capital Management, LLC has been in business since 2002. It is currently owned by Alpha Capital Advisors, Inc., Vertex Capital, Inc., Fosteca, Inc. and Focus Investment Management, Inc., all of which are financial advisor firms. The advisory team at Riggs Capital Management averages just over 20 years in the financial services industry.

Many of the services this firm provides are based on individuals and their specific needs. The firm’s offerings include investment management, retirement planning, general financial planning and advice, estate planning, tax planning and insurance evaluation.

Riggs Capital Management, LLC Client Experience

The initial step after opening a client relationship with Riggs Capital Management is filling out its confidential investor questionnaire. This questionnaire is intended to determine your financial objectives and preferred investment management style, which depends a lot on your risk tolerance. During this time you can indicate if you’d like to place any restrictions on how your assets are invested.

Your answers to this questionnaire will culminate in your financial plan, which will be implemented should you choose to accept it. Once your plan is put into effect, your portfolio will be rebalanced periodically based on any changes in your personal situation or the markets.

Find an Advisor

Jacobsen Capital Management works with a smaller number of client types than some of the other firms on this list. This fee-only firm serves roughly equal numbers of high-net-worth individuals and individuals, and it also handles retirement plans, pension plans, trusts and foundations. It does not require a minimum amount of investable assets to open an advisory relationship.

SmartAsset ranked this firm fifth in its analysis of the top financial advisor firms in Salt Lake City.

Jacobsen has one of the most varied sets of advisor certifications of any firm on this list. There are two certified public accountants (CPAs), one certified financial planner (CFP), one chartered mutual fund counselor (CMFC), one accredited asset management specialist (AAMS), one certified valuation analyst (CVA) and one personal financial specialist (PFS) on its team.

Jacobsen Capital Management Background

Jacobsen Capital Management was founded in 2001, but its advisors have been in the industry much longer than that. They have spent an average of 18 years in the field of asset management. Founder Eric Jacobsen opened the firm, and remains its principal owner.

Planning for your financial future is much easier said than done, so the firm offers a variety of planning services to facilitate the process. Its services include:

• Insurance planning
• Estate planning
• Retirement planning
• Overall life and specific goal planning
• Trust and will creation
• Tax minimization

Jacobsen Capital Management Investing Strategy

Jacobsen Capital Management typically invests its clients’ assets in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs), individual stocks and bonds and separately managed accounts. Aside from the typical risk tolerance and time horizon boundaries that are used to build most accounts, this firm also takes into account management fees, daily trading volume, turnover, track record and manager tenure to help determine your portfolio’s final makeup.

Because this firm believes a short-term investing mindset can cause “unwanted swings in portfolio value that will bring unwanted stress to the advisory relationship,” it favors a long-term investing ideology.

Find an Advisor

Financial Insight Center has four certified financial planners (CFPs), four chartered financial consultants (ChFCs) and four chartered life underwriters (CLUs) on its 11-member advisory staff. The firm has two offices in Utah: one located in Salt Lake City and one in Logan. Its Salt Lake City location was ranked by SmartAsset as the sixth overall financial advisor firm in the city.

To open an account, you’ll need at least $100,000 in investable assets. The firm has a wide range of clients, including individuals, corporations, businesses, estates, trusts, charitable organizations and pension and profit-sharing plans.

Financial Insight Center is a fee-based firm. Advisors may earn commissions from selling insurance policies. The firm is a fiduciary though, requiring it to act in your best interest.

Financial Insight Center Background

Paul Salisbury and Mark Matley, the firm’s principal owners, opened Financial Insight Center in 2010. They remain owners to this day, though they retain ownership through their second venture, holding company Financial Insight Holdings, LLC. 

This firm offers an assortment of services, including debt management, cash flow analysis, risk and disability analysis, general investment management, retirement planning and estate planning.

Financial Insight Center Client Experience

Financial Insight Center has created what it calls the “Discovery Board,” which gives new and prospective clients the chance to customize their investor profiles. This is achieved through the process of determining your personal financial goals and risk tolerance. These factors, as well as your short-term and long-term liquidity needs, will ultimately shape your investment plan.

After your plan is in place, the firm spends its time monitoring your portfolio’s results and looking into how it can continue to maximize those results throughout changing market conditions.

Find an Advisor

No team on this list holds more certifications the team at LJCooper Capital Management, LLC, a financial advisor firm based in Orem. The firm boasts nine certified financial planners (CFPs), two certified private wealth advisors (CPWAs), one certified public accountant (CPA), one chartered financial consultant (ChFC), one registered financial consultant (RFC) and one chartered advisor in philanthropy (CAP).

This fee-based firm calls for at least $100,000 in assets to open an account, a relatively low account minimum. As a result, it serves many different types of clients, including individuals, endowments, corporate pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable institutions and foundations.

Advisors at this firm may earn commissions from selling insurance policies or trading specific securities in client accounts. This firm a fiduciary though, requiring it to act in your best interest.

LJCooper Capital Management, LLC Background

LJCooper Capital Management, LLC is an independently owned firm that was founded in 2000. Founding partner Timothy Whipple and partner Kenneth Brown principally own the firm.

Investment management, estate planning, retirement planning and tax strategies are LJCooper’s four pillars of financial planning. There are services offered within these pillars, including 401(k) advisory services, alternative investing, income planning, business retirement planning, trust management, tax return review and preparation and capital gains planning.

LJCooper Capital Management, LLC Investing Strategy

LJCooper Capital wants its clients’ focus to remain on the long term. The firm uses buy-and-hold strategies that entail keeping an investment in your portfolio for at least a year. Your risk tolerance, as well as your liquidity needs and current financial situation, will affect how the firm approaches your specific case.

The firm prioritizes international diversification in its client portfolios. It primarily uses passively managed mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In an attempt to objectively measure how your account is performing, the firm compares your portfolio’s returns against the benchmark of the corresponding asset classes.