A Tech Pro’s Guide to Finding the Right Financial Advisor

Key Questions to Ask That Will Help You Make the Best Choice

Whether you’re seeking a financial advisor for the first time or transitioning to a new one, finding the right match is essential. This isn’t just about sharing your financial data—it’s about entrusting someone with your most personal aspirations, including your goals for building wealth and creating a legacy that spans generations.

Choosing the right financial advisor is a significant decision that requires careful consideration. Fortunately, there are key steps you can take to identify a qualified professional who can provide the expertise and guidance you need to support your financial journey.

Discover how to find the perfect financial advisor with our Advisor Search Checklist.

Use the following questions as a guide to help you determine if a potential advisor could be a good fit for you.

Compatibility: Evaluating Fit and Expertise

What is your experience working with clients like me?

One of the most important considerations when choosing an advisor is whether he or she has experience helping clients navigate similar challenges and opportunities to the ones you face. For example, if you’re getting ready to sell your tech startup, you need an advisor who has supported other clients through their sales. If you live in a high-tax state or have highly appreciated concentrated positions, the same concept applies. You want to work with a specialist for people like you, versus more of a generalist who is not best equipped for your specific needs.

What is your client service model? Are you supported by additional team members?

It’s important to know how the advisor and his or her team will work with you. Consider asking:

• Will the lead advisor be my primary point of contact?
• Will I ever work with a junior advisor?
• Who will step in if my primary contact is out of the office or otherwise unavailable for a period of time?

Do you serve as a fiduciary?

A fiduciary advisor is legally bound to provide advice that is in clients’ best interests at all times and in all situations. Fiduciary advisors seek to build long-term, ongoing relationships by providing recommendations that are in line with a client’s overall financial situation and goals for the future.

In contrast, some financial professionals are broker-dealer representatives who operate on a more transactional basis. These advisors are held to a suitability standard, which means their recommendations must be suitable at the time of the transaction, but there’s no requirement that the transaction be aligned with the client’s overall best interests.

If you’re looking for an advisor who will put your best interests first and provide recommendations that are in line with your overall financial goals, it’s important to work with a fiduciary advisor.

What are your fees and how are they assessed?

Fiduciary advisors are typically fee-based, which means they charge a percentage fee based on the assets they manage on your behalf. The benefit to this approach is that the advisor’s incentives are aligned with your interests. As your portfolio grows over time, so does the advisor’s fee, and in periods when the portfolio goes down in value, so too do the fees.

In contrast, broker-dealer representatives often receive commissions on the investment products they sell to clients, in which case the performance you achieve is not tied to the broker-dealer representative’s compensation. This can present a conflict of interest if they are incentivized to recommend products that aren’t necessarily the best or least expensive option for you.

Firm focus: Do my priorities align with the firm’s?

What values and behaviors does your firm stand for?

It’s important to find an advisory firm that shares your values, behaviors, and priorities. Some investment-focused firms may strive to maximize client returns, but lack support in other areas. Other firms take a most holistic approach to financial advice by striving to integrate all aspects of clients’ financial lives into a comprehensive plan designed to achieve their goals.

The advisor you choose to work with should share your mission and be able to support your personal goals. He or she should also have the time, resources, and depth of experience to provide the attention and focus you deserve.

Do you focus on a specific set of clients or clients with certain financial concerns?

Financial advisory firms often have experience serving a specific client type. It’s important to find a firm that aligns with your lifestyle and situation. For example, if you hold a highly concentrated stock position, stock options, and/or restricted stock, you’ll want to work with an advisor who has experience navigating these particular complexities.

Financial planning: How can you help me reach my goals? 

What in-house services do you provide? What services do you not provide, or outsource to third parties?

Before signing with an advisor, it’s important to ensure that he or she is able to provide the depth of services you require. Based on your specific needs and challenges, you may need access to the services, such as:

• Personalized financial planning
• Retirement planning
• Estate and trust planning
• State-specific tax strategies
• Investment management
• Philanthropy and Socially-Responsible Investing
• Access to alternatives
• Family governance and education

How will we work together?

It’s important to be up front and honest about your expectations for the relationship in order to find an advisor who will work with you in the manner you prefer. Ask questions such as:

• How often will you meet with me and make adjustments to my strategies?
• What does your review process look like?
• Do you serve as my primary point of contact?

Portfolio strategy: How will you manage my assets? 

What is your approach to portfolio management?

In recent years, many advisory firms have made the decision to outsource portfolio management services. While this approach can save a firm from paying portfolio managers by not having them on staff, clients are often assessed additional investment fees to cover these services.

In contrast, some firms continue to employ in-house investment professionals to conduct investment due diligence and offer recommendations to meet client needs. This approach allows for lower overall fees, customization of the portfolios, and a more tax-sensitive approach to investing. If this is important to you, be sure to ask whether the advisory firm has in-house investment capabilities.

What steps do you take to lower my portfolio’s tax exposure?

It’s important to work with an advisor who continuously looks for opportunities to minimize your portfolio’s tax exposure. When consistently employed over time, strategies such as tax-loss harvesting and asset location have the potential to significantly reduce the amount you pay in taxes, resulting in more long-term wealth-building potential.

Do you customize client portfolios to achieve certain client goals or meet unique client needs?

Some advisors provide off-the-shelf investment portfolios, with little room for customization. Others take time to develop custom portfolios that are specifically designed to meet each client’s needs. It’s important to work with an advisor who is willing to build a custom portfolio that can help you achieve your goals and navigate the specific challenges you face.

How Summitry can help you

At Summitry, we help our clients maximize the benefits of life in the Bay Area. As fiduciary advisors, we support our clients with personal financial planning that is always in their best interests. Our goal is to help clients achieve a more financially secure and empowered life. To do so, we offer a comprehensive suite of services that give our clients clarity of goal, purpose, and intention, translating it all into a plan of action that is grounded in sound financial decision-making.

Our unique investment philosophy and customizable portfolios are designed to optimize returns, while driving progress toward your personal goals. And our focus on serving clients in the Bay Area allows us to implement innovative tax planning strategies to reduce our clients’ California and federal tax exposure.

Ultimately, we strive to provide our clients with the confidence they need to pursue their ambitions and live their best Bay Area lives.

Are you interested in learning more about how Summitry can help you find financial purpose? Please schedule a call with a member of our team. We look forward to getting to know you.