The Best Financial Advisors of 2023

Annuity.org’s independent editorial team developed a strict and industry-specific methodology to help ensure that only the most effective financial advisors and investment advisory firms were considered.

To ensure access to all consumers, services were only considered if they were available nationally and easily accessible to general consumers.

Each company also needed to have assets under management of $1 billion or more to warrant consideration to help ensure that all companies that were evaluated had a wide reach, were financially secure and have a proven track record of serving consumers.

When comparing companies, Annuity.org took numerous other differentiating factors into consideration as well. This included the variety and depth of the financial advising services offered by the company, the costs, commissions and minimum amounts associated with those services, the user-friendliness of the company’s website and services, along with transparency of offerings.

Whether companies placed — and how well they fared — in several J.D. Power studies, including the Investor Satisfaction Study and Digital Experience Study was also considered.

Learn more about our broader Editorial Guidelines.

There are many potential benefits to working with a financial advisor that range from small perks to major ones. Managing money takes a lot of work, and it can become time consuming for Americans to direct their own portfolios, especially once they have grown to a certain size.

Financial advisors can take some of that burden off your hands and apply their expertise to your wealth, managing and growing it for you.

Thanks to their rigorous training and experience, financial advisors may also be able to manage your money in ways that you would not be capable of on your own. They can help your account grow faster and more effectively than it would have under nonprofessional management.

Financial advisors can also not just grow your money but help you craft your wealth plan, from securing your retirement to establishing what financial goals you are working towards and helping you meet them.

Many investment advisory firms offer robust services that connect you to a dedicated advisor who can help implement a plan from the ground up and provide you with unique ways to grow your wealth.

Financial advisors typically charge an advisory fee that is a small percentage of the assets you have entrusted to them. The fee tends to be smaller for larger investments and can range anywhere from 0.30% of assets managed to 1.50%.

Receiving payment this way helps to guarantee that your advisor and firm directly benefit from growing your account effectively and allows you to keep most of that growth.

Financial advisors come in many different shapes and sizes. The first step in selecting the right financial advisor is determining what level of help you are looking for.

If you are simply looking to get into investing and really want to just place some money in an account that can then grow on its own, a robo-advisor may make sense. Robo-advisors tend to have light minimum balances and smaller advisory fees than traditional advisors.

They allow you to set parameters for your investments and watch your money grow in a hands-off way.

Those with larger investments or who are looking for more personalized and robust help will likely want to browse some of the traditional services offered by investment advisory firms.

These services are typically tiered, with some options offering more help and perks than others. A standard middle-tier service often offers access to a financial advisor, regular check-ins and the ability of the company to grow your investment towards your goals.

A higher-end service goes even farther, often dedicating an advisor or team of advisors to your account who can help you craft a plan from the ground up, answer any questions you have and work tirelessly to grow your investment.

Outside of the type of service you are looking for, cost will likely play a role as well. Comparing the level of services you will receive to the fee charged can help you to determine if a service makes sense for you. Additionally, to determine if a financial advisor is a good fit, it’s crucial to ask questions about their experience, area of expertise and typical client age range.