Top Financial Advisors in Ohio

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As the top financial advisor firm in Cleveland, MAI Capital Management is next on our list. The firm’s client base is comprised of both non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, as well as investment companies, pooled investment vehicles, pension and profit-sharing plans, charities, other investment advisors and corporations.

The firm says it specializes in working with senior business executives and sports professionals.

The fee-only firm recommends that new clients open accounts with at least $500,000, though it may accept clients with less than that. The team includes Certified Financial Planners™ (CFPs®), certified public accountants (CPAs) and chartered financial analysts (CFAs), among a few other certifications.

MAI Capital Management Background

MAI Capital Management was originally established as Investment Advisors International, Inc. in 1973. After a number of acquisitions and mergers, the firm was renamed as MAI Capital Management. The principal owner is MAI Capital Holdings, a subsidiary of Galway Insurance Holdings.  

MAI offers general investment management for investors who don’t have a specific objective in mind. For those that do, the following goals-based services are available:

• Estate planning
• Retirement planning
• Insurance review and analysis
• Tax planning and minimization
• Financial accounting
• Philanthropic gift planning

MAI Capital Management Investing Strategy

At MAI Capital Management, your risk tolerance, time horizon and liquidity needs will collectively determine your portfolio’s composition. Also, the tax implications of an investment will strongly influence the firm’s decisions.

Additionally, market timing comes into consideration, though the firm primarily takes a long-term approach. MAI isn’t totally against using short-term strategies because these can potentially garner quick returns, albeit with a higher level of risk.

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Johnson Investment Counsel is a fee-only firm based in Cincinnati. It is also featured on SmartAsset’s top Cincinnati financial advisors list. There is quite a large advisory staff at Johnson Investment Counsel. Across this group, you’ll find several chartered financial analysts (CFAs), Certified Financial Planners™ (CFPs®), certified trust and financial advisors (CTFAs) and chartered alternative investment analysts (CAIAs), along with a number of other financially certified advisors.

The firm's individual clients are both non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals. Institutional clients include investment companies, retirement plans, charities, government entities, insurance companies and businesses. The firm doesn't have a specific minimum account size for new clients.

Johnson Investment Counsel Background

Johnson Investment Counsel was founded in 1965. Its ownership is split among many of its employees. To manage client assets as comprehensively as possible, this firm employs a slew of different pillars of financial management. These pillars include goal-based financial planning, investment management, retirement planning, insurance analysis, income tax planning and estate planning.

Johnson Investment Counsel Investing Strategy

Rather than have one advisor form each client’s portfolio and investment plan, Johnson Investment Counsel prefers to work as a group. The firm believes this plays to its collective experience and allows clients to benefit from the entire team’s knowledge. Portfolios are primarily made up of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and mutual funds. However, the exact mix depends on each client's risk tolerance, time horizon and other factors.

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Sequoia Financial Group is a large firm that is also featured on our list of Akron's top financial advisors. It works almost exclusively with individual clients. Of these individuals, the majority do not have a high net worth. It also works with a few institutional clients, such as pooled investments, charities, retirement plans and businesses.

Sequoia is a fee-based advisory firm. Because some advisors are registered and able to sell insurance products to clients, there is potential for a conflict of interest to arise. However, the firm's status as a fiduciary makes it legally obligated to act in the best interests of clients at all times. There is no minimum account size requirement at this firm.

Sequoia Financial Group Background

Sequoia Financial Group was founded in 2000 and became an SEC-registered investment advisor about two years later, in 2002. Sequoia Financial Group, LLC is the owner of the firm. However, Thomas Haught, president of Sequoia, and Gerald Knotek, executive vice president of the firm, both have ownership interests in Sequoia.

Sequoia provides its clients with a range of financial advisory services. Investment portfolio management services may be tailored, but the firm may also make use of model portfolios.

Sequoia Financial Group Investment Strategy

As is the case with most financial advisory firms, Sequoia Financial Group looks to tailor its investment strategies to the needs of clients. While portfolios may be fully tailored from scratch, the firm may also use model portfolios to help invest according the financial situation and investment objectives of each client individually. 

Advisors use such investments as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), real estate investment trusts (REITs) and others to populate client portfolios. They will use a variety of analysis methods, including fundamental, technical and cyclical.

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Bahl & Gaynor is a fee-only firm based in Cincinnati. All of the firm's individual clients are high-net-worth. The firm also advises institutional clients, including investment companies, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, state or municipal government entities, insurance companies and corporations.

Bahl & Gaynor requires a minimum account size of at least $750,000, and it charges a minimum annual fee of $7,000. Each of these minimums are waivable, though.

Bahl & Gaynor's advisors hold multiple certifications, including chartered financial analyst (CFA), chartered investment counselor (CIC), Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®), chartered wealth manager (CWM) and certified public accountant (CPA).

Bahl & Gaynor Background

Bahl & Gaynor was founded in 1990. The principal shareholders of the firm are all senior officers at the firm. Services offered at the firm include:

• Portfolio management
• Financial planning services
• Cash flow planning
• Estate planning
• Tax strategies
• Retirement planning
• Education funding

Bahl & Gaynor Investment Strategies

The following investment management model portfolios are available for Bahl & Gaynor clients:

• Quality Growth
• Income Growth
• Small Growth
• SMIG (Small-/Mid-Cap Income Growth) 
• Total Return Bond Strategy

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Although Wealth Dimensions Family Office has no minimum investment requirement, its client base is composed almost entirely of high-net-worth individuals. Its only other clients are a handful of trusts.

Just about every advisor and planner at this firm holds a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation. Other on-staff certifications include chartered financial consultant (ChFC), chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified public accountant (CPA), certified divorce financial analyst (CDFA) and more.

Some of the advisors at Wealth Dimensions can sell insurance products on a commission basis. While this presents a potential conflict of interest, the firm’s fiduciary duty means it must act in clients’ best interests.

Wealth Dimensions Family Office Background

Wealth Dimensions Family Office is a fairly young firm, as it was established in 2015. It's currently under the ownership of three principals: Thomas A. Curti, Douglas P. Loftus and Michael E. McCaw. Curti and Loftus are the firm’s co-founders.

Again, this firm is very focused on the needs of wealthy individuals and their families. In fact, it specializes in working with medical and dental professionals, corporate executives, business owners and women in transition.

Wealth Dimensions Family Office Investing Strategy

When you start a client-advisor relationship with Wealth Dimensions Family Office, you’ll meet with them to discuss the specifics of your financial situation, as well as your goals for the future. The firm will work with you to develop your risk tolerance, time horizon, income needs, liquidity needs and any other important factors.

The firm invests client assets for both the short term (held for less than one year) and long term (held for a year or longer). It also engages in option investing, as well as occasional margin transactions.

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This fee-only Cleveland firm works with both high-net-worth individuals and non-high-net-worth individuals, as well as retirement plans and corporations. The firm does not list a set account minimum.

Clearstead Advisors hold multiple certifications, including chartered financial analyst (CFA), chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA), Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) and certified public accountant (CPA). Clearstead is also engaged in an accounting firm business.

Clearstead Advisors Background

Until 2018, Clearstead Advisors was known as Hartland & Co. The firm is indirectly owned by employees through two main entities: Hartland Management Investors, LLC and Flexpoint Ford, LLC. The firm was originally formed in 1989.

This firm builds unique investment and financial plans for each of its clients as opposed to pairing clients with previously created solutions. The firm’s stated areas of expertise are retirement and healthcare management for institutions and family financial management for private clients.

Clearstead Advisors Investing Strategy

Clearstead Advisors believes it can build successful portfolios by working to control risk. While this isn’t necessarily a novel idea, this emphasis helps to reduce a portfolio's market volatility, making it more stable over the long term. 

The firm combines both active and passive investment strategies. This marriage of two approaches allows the firm to take advantage of broad opportunities in the market.

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Bartlett & Co. Wealth Management has high minimums to establish an account. Individuals need to meet a $2 million minimum, whereas institutional investors have a $10 million threshold. This is a fee-only firm that manages assets for more than 2,000 individuals who are split between those who do and don't have high net worths. The firm also works with retirement plans, charities, government entities and businesses.

Bartlett’s advisory team holds many advisor certifications, including the chartered financial analyst (CFA), Certified Financial Planners™ (CFPs®), registered life planner (RLP), certified public accountant (CPA), chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA), certified divorce financial analyst (CDFA), certified exit planning advisor (CEPA) and accredited domestic partnership advisor (ADPA) certifications.

Bartlett & Co. Wealth Management Background

Bartlett & Co. Wealth Management has been in business since 1898, making it one of the oldest financial advisor firms in the U.S. Focus Operating, LLC mostly owns the firms, while some employees have small stakes.

The firm’s services are divided into two major areas: investment management and financial planning. Its investment management services encompass different styles of investing, such as equity management, fixed-income, alternative investments and environmental and social investing. Its financial planning services each focus on more specific needs and include:

• Retirement planning
• The financial impact of divorce
• Managing an inheritance
• Stock option exercise
• Birth of a child/grandchild
• Coping with an elderly parent
• Coping with the death of a spouse
• Charitable gift planning
• Early retirement package planning
• Large stock position management

Bartlett & Co. Wealth Management Investing Strategy

Diversification is important to most firms in today’s financial advising world, and Bartlett & Co. Wealth Management is no exception. The firm invests in noncorrelating asset classes across stocks, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds and some international investments.

The firm is also an active investment manager, which sets it apart from many similar firms. Through this ideology, Bartlett strives to maximize the possibility of high returns while minimizing risk by consistently moving assets to try to take advantage of changing opportunities in the market.

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CBIZ Investment Advisory Services offers fee-based financial advising to a diverse clientele including individuals, trusts, estates, corporations and state or municipal government entities. The firm offers a comprehensive suite of services tailored to meet the diverse needs of its clients. These include traditional financial planning, personalized planning strategies and executive financial planning. 

As a fee-only advisor, there is the potential for a conflict of interest as the firm or its advisors could earn commissions for the sale of certain securities. However, the firm is bound by a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of its clients. 

CBIZ Investment Advisory Services Background

CBIZ Investment Advisory Services was founded in 2017. It operates as a subsidiary under its corporate owner, CBIZ, Inc., which is a publicly traded professional services company. Today, the firm manages more than $8 billion in assets under management (AUM) across its 86 advisors. 

CBIZ Investment Advisory Services Investing Strategy

The firm focuses on investment strategies that emphasize long-term purchases, where securities are held for at least one year and an asset allocation process that leverages various asset classes' historical risk and return rates. The firm tailors its investment approach based on each client's risk tolerance, personal investment objectives and a comprehensive review of their demographic and financial information. This personalized strategy ensures that the investments align closely with the individual needs and goals of their clients.

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Carnegie Investment Counsel has a pretty broad client base, though the majority of its clients are non-high-net-worth individuals. It also works with high-net-worth individuals. Institutional clients include retirement plans, charities, government entities, other investment advisors, insurance companies and businesses.

Carnegie is a fee-only firm, so advisors don't earn commissions and there are no potential conflicts of interest related to compensation. The firm has a $500,000 minimum account size requirement for advisory services, though it may be willing to waive that.

Carnegie Investment Counsel Background

Carnegie Investment Counsel was founded in 1974, making it one of the older firms on our Ohio list. Despite such an early founding date, the firm only registered with the SEC as an investment advisor in 2009. This is due to the fact that Carnegie as it exists now was formed by merging with its successor firm, Carnegie Capital Management Corporation, in 2009 as well. The firm is principally owned by Gary P. Wagner and Richard L. Alt.

Carnegie works with clients to provide both investment portfolio management services and financial planning services. Assets are mainly managed on a discretionary basis.

Carnegie Investment Counsel Investment Strategy

When it comes to investment strategies, Carnegie Investment Counsel provides clients with tailored and ongoing strategies. Advisors work to design individualized investment strategies by learning about each client's tolerance for risk, liquidity needs, financial situation and investment objectives. 

Carnegie and its advisors use a wide range of investments, including equities, bonds, fixed-income securities, mutual funds, debt exchange-traded funds (ETFs), hedge funds, third-party money managers, private placements and more. More specifically, investments will depend on the particular client.

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Hamilton Capital is a fee-only firm, which means that advisors collect compensation only from clients. They do not receive transaction-based fees from third parties, which can pose conflicts of interest.

The firm's advisors hold multiple certifications, including certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®), among other designations.

Hamilton Capital serves both high-net-worth and non-high-net-worth individuals, as well as retirement plans, charities and businesses.

The firm has a minimum account size requirement of $500,000, and it charges a $1,250 minimum quarterly annual fee to wealth management clients.

Investment management services may also have an annual minimum fee.

Hamilton Capital Background

R. Matthew Hamilton founded his namesake firm in 1997. Over the years, he's won a number of awards, including being named to Barron's "America’s Top 1,200 Financial Advisors" and Mutual Funds magazine's "100 Great Financial Planners." Today, he is the firm's majority owner and serves as chairman and CEO.

The practice considers investment management as its core service. It also offers wealth management, which combines investment management with financial planning. Additionally, the firm acts as co-advisor to other advisors and offers non-investment consulting on such topics as estate planning, insurance and tax planning.

Hamilton Capital Investing Strategy

Hamilton Capital takes a top-down, macro-economic approach to investing, starting with its analysis of global macro-economic and political conditions. It then estimates the valuation and expected return and risk for a range of asset classes to run a range of scenarios.

With this analysis of base case ranking of returns and the outcomes of other scenarios, the advisory will design a portfolio customized to the client's goals and chosen investing strategies.

Generally, the firm will use mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, third-party investment managers, alternative investments or similar vehicles.