Finding a Top Financial Advisor Firm in Connecticut
Managing your finances can be a difficult proposition. So SmartAsset has determined the top financial advisor firms in Connecticut that can make it easier. Throughout this review, we’ll discuss each firm's investing strategies, its specialties and more so you can become a more informed prospective client. If you don’t have a financial advisor yet, finding one doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have free introductory calls with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
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We match nearly 50,000 people with financial advisors per month. Get connected to an advisor that serves your area today.Rank | Financial Advisor | Assets Managed | Minimum Assets | Financial Services | More Information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Stone Temple Partners LLC ![]() | $619,779,937 | $10,000,000 |
| Minimum Assets$10,000,000Financial Services
|
2 | Bradley, Foster & Sargent, Inc. ![]() | $7,676,519,110 | $5,000 minimum annual fee |
| Minimum Assets$5,000 minimum annual feeFinancial Services
|
3 | QP Global Family Offices, LLC ![]() | $964,000,000 | $200,000,000 |
| Minimum Assets$200,000,000Financial Services
|
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4 | Apella Capital ![]() | $4,714,755,698 | No set account minimum |
| Minimum AssetsNo set account minimumFinancial Services
|
5 | Johnson Brunetti ![]() | $2,105,849,981 | No set account minimum |
| Minimum AssetsNo set account minimumFinancial Services
|
6 | Coastal Bridge Advisors ![]() | $4,595,660,113 | $5,000,000 |
| Minimum Assets$5,000,000Financial Services
|
7 | Northeast Financial ![]() | $4,589,561,519 | No set account minimum |
| Minimum AssetsNo set account minimumFinancial Services
|
8 | Connecticut Wealth Management, LLC ![]() | $3,708,773,192 | $2,500,000 |
| Minimum Assets$2,500,000Financial Services
|
9 | Moneco Advisors ![]() | $1,915,081,746 | $10,000 |
| Minimum Assets$10,000Financial Services
|
10 | OakRidge Management Group LLC ![]() | $1,080,694,337 | None |
| Minimum AssetsNoneFinancial Services
|
What We Use in Our Methodology
To find the top financial advisors in Connecticut, we first identified all firms registered with the SEC in the state. Next, we filtered out firms that don't offer financial planning services, those that don't serve primarily individual clients and those that have disclosures on their record. The qualifying firms were then ranked according to the following criteria:
- AUMFirms with more total assets under management are ranked higher.
- Individual Client CountFirms who serve more individual clients (as opposed to institutional clients) are ranked higher.
- Clients Per AdvisorFirms with a lower ratio of clients per financial advisor are ranked higher.
- Age of FirmFirms that have been in business longer are ranked higher.
All information is obtained through public records and is updated once per year following the firms' filing of their amendment to Form ADV at the end of March. This list may include firms that have a business relationship with SmartAsset, in which SmartAsset is compensated for lead referrals. Such relationships have no impact on our rankings, and firms are included and ranked based strictly on the above criteria. SmartAsset is not a client of the aforementioned firms, and did not receive compensation for including any of the firms on the aforementioned list.
Stone Temple Partners
Stone Temple Partners provides portfolio management and advisory services primarily to private wealth clients and to family office clients. These services encompass investment management, wealth management, and financial planning services for a limited number of families of significant means; additional services are offered to a select group of ultra-high net worth clients and family offices. The firm also provides investment advisory services to private investment funds that will be offered to qualified investors in the United States and elsewhere. The firm has the fewest number of clients of anyone on our list.
Stone Temple Partners charges a fee calculated as a percentage of assets under management for the management services provided by the firm to each private wealth client, with tiered decreases in the percentage charged when the value of such client’s total assets managed by the firm exceeds such tier’s threshold. Stone Temple generally imposes a minimum annual advisory fee for private wealth clients, which minimum may be reduced or waived at the firm's sole discretion.
Stone Temple uses sophisticated, hedge-fund style portfolio construction and risk management techniques to build durable portfolios for the firm’s clients. This involves correlation, drawdown, impairment, expected return, cash flow modeling and benchmarking analysis at the portfolio and asset class level. The firm manages customized single family office portfolios across nine asset classes, and intends to run nine commingled pools across those same nine asset classes: cash management, fixed income, liquid alternatives, private credit, public equity, private equity, venture capital, real estate and real assets.
Bradley, Foster & Sargent
With more assets under management than any other firm on our list, Bradley Foster & Sargent (BFS) is Connecticut's No. 2 financial advisory firm. BFS primarily advises individuals with and without a high net worth. The firm also works with pension plans, profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, businesses, a pooled investment vehicle and an investment company. BFS does not require a specific minimum account size, but it does charge a $5,000 minimum annual fee. Clients who are referred to the firm through the Fidelity Wealth Advisor Solutions Program will need a balance of $500,000.
The core services offered at BFS are investment advisory and portfolio management. The firm also provides financial planning and consultation services. While its headquarters are located in Hartford, BFS has other offices in Connecticut, as well as Massachusetts, Florida, Maine and Chicago.
BFS strives to develop investment plans tailored to the specific needs of each of its clients. Advisors use a wide range of strategies, investments and methods of analysis. The firm focuses on determining an effective asset allocation that incorporates strong diversification. Since capital preservation is one of the primary goals of the firm, it typically invests according to long-term strategies that utilize equities, fixed-income securities and cash. However, the firm believes that common stocks are the best assets for crafting an effective client portfolio. The firm does not utilize market-timing strategies, though.
QP Global Family Offices
QP Global Family Offices in Greenwhich, which specializes in serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their families, is the top-rated financial advisory firm in Connecticut, according to our metrics. This firm, which operates on a fee-only basis, only works with families that have a minimum net worth of $200 million, although it may way this requirement at its discretion.
As a fee-only practice, QP Global only receives compensation from clients – not third parties for recommending financial products and services. Those fees, which are charged on a fixed basis, vary from family to family depending on the type and complexity of the assets the firm manages. QP Global also collects management and performance-based fees from private funds that it manages.
QP Global offers personalized family office services to a select group of families with significant wealth. Their comprehensive services include wealth and risk management, direct private investments, succession planning, trust and estate work, tax planning and more. QP Global serves as each family's single-family office, managing various accounts such as trusts, foundations and partnerships.
The firm's typical investments encompass a broad range of assets and financial instruments through third-party managers such as hedge funds, long-only funds and private equity. They also engage in passive market investments, portfolio and macro hedges and currency hedges. Direct investments in private companies, option structures, swaps, credit default swaps (CDS) and short securities portfolios are also integral to the firm’s approach. QP Global also focuses on capturing structural alpha to enhance investment performance.
Apella Capita
Apella Capital, located in West Hartford, primarily advises individuals and high-net-worth individuals. However, the firm's client base also comprises pension and profit-sharing plans, as well as corporations and businesses. With no minimum account requirement, Apella has nearly twice as many individual clients who don't have a high net worth as those who do.
Apella Capital provides investment management on both a discretionary and non-discretionary basis. It also offers financial planning services and retirement plan solutions.
Apella formulates investment strategies and advice based on its clients' financial circumstances, objectives and risk tolerance. The firm has model portfolios constructed for each investment strategy that it uses and then tailors those portfolios to the needs of individual clients. These model portfolios comprise a range of investments including equities and fixed-income allocations in varying percentages. They typically include mutual funds, ETFs and other products. Some of the model portfolios that Apella uses are designed and maintained by the investment committee at Symmetry Partners, another Connecticut-based advisory firm that Sweeny and Connelly founded.
Johnson Brunetti
Johnson Brunetti, a fee-based firm with headquarters in Wethersfield, has a massive list of individual clients who fall below the high-net-worth threshold. Despite not having a minimum account size requirement, the firm also advises high-net-worth investors, corporations and business entities.
All three of the firm's partners are Certified Financial Planners™ (CFPs®). Because some advisors are also licensed insurance agents, they can earn additional compensation for selling policies to clients, creating a potential conflict of interest. However, Johnson Brunetti is required to act in the clients' best interests as a fiduciary despite this potential conflict.
Johnson Brunetti generally uses fundamental analysis when evaluating investments and advising clients. This commonly used method of analysis attempts to measure the intrinsic value of a security by looking at a host of factors, including the overall economy and industry conditions, as well as the management and financial condition of the asset itself. The firm typically provides investment advice on ETFs, securities traded over the counter, foreign issues, U.S. government securities and partnerships that invest in real estate. Johnson Brunetti does not attempt to time the market, but it may increase cash holdings when it deems appropriate.
Coastal Bridge Advisors
Coastal Bridge Advisors rounds out our list of the top-rated advisors in the Constitution State. This fee-based practice requires a minimum initial investment of $5 million. As a result, a majority of clients are high-net-worth individuals, although the firm also works with non-high-net-worth investors, insurance companies, corporations and businesses.
Because some of its advisors can sell insurance products for a commission, Coastal Bridge Advisors is a fee-based firm. While this creates a potential conflict of interest, the firm abides by its fiduciary duty to act in your best interest at all times.
When formulating the composition of a client’s portfolio, Coastal Bridge Advisors will first talk with them about their risk tolerance, liquidity needs and time horizon. Through these conversations, the firm will create a template by which it can determine whether a specific investment falls in line with the client's personal needs.
The firm states in its Form ADV brochure that it believes the most effective asset management strategy is selecting independent managers for its clients. Coastal Bridge Advisors takes into account the investment strategies, past performance and risk results of an independent manager when choosing one for a client.
Northeast Financial
Northeast Financial is a multi-family office that primarily works with high-net-worth individuals but also advises individuals beneath the high-net-worth threshold. As a fee-only firm, Northeast Financial makes its money from client fees, not commissions or other hidden forms of compensation for selling third-party products and services.
Northeast Financial offers services that include investment management, retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning, risk management and more.
When you become a client at Northeast Financial, your advisor will work with you to define your risk tolerance and time horizon. The firm notes in its Form ADV brochure that "we are not 'traders.'" Instead, NFC typically assumes a long-term investment view and relies on asset allocation to guide investment choices and portoflio construction. Clients with substantial income needs will have fixed-income securities in their portfolios. When investing in equities, the firm usually relies on mutual funds and ETFs.
Connecticut Wealth Management
Connecticut Wealth Management (CTWM) comes next on our list of the state's top financial advisors. This Farmington-based firm works mainly with individuals, those both with and without a high net worth. CTWM also works with charitable organizations and businesses, as well as a single government entity. The firm has a $1 million minimum investment requirement.
CTWM provides financial planning and consulting services, along with retirement plan advising and investment management. The firm can specifically offer clients help with things like business succession planning, inherited wealth, estate and wealth transfer, college planning, trust services and more.
CTWM works with each client to determine their financial needs and objectives so that its advisors can craft an appropriate portfolio strategy to help clients meet their goals. The firm examines your risk tolerance, time horizon and liquidity preferences. Advisors typically use a range of mutual funds and ETFs with a long-term investing mindset when constructing portfolios. Portfolios may also include individual stocks, bonds, certificates of deposits and alternative investments. From there, your portfolio will receive ongoing monitoring.
Moneco Advisors
Moneco Advisors is a fee-based financial advisory firm that offers investment management, retirement planning, insurance services, legacy planning and other services primarily to individual clients above and below the high-net-worth mark. As a fee-based firm it may receive compensation from third parties for the sale of insurance products like annuities. However, as a fiduciary Moneco is obliged to put every client's best interest first, at all times.
Most client assets are managed on a discretionary basis, but a significant portion of assets under management are handled on a non-discretionary basis.
Clients' individual investment strategies are tailored to their specific needs. Their portfolios typically consist of individual stocks or bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, options and other public and private securities or investments, as appropriate for each client. Suitable securities are identified by a variety of tools, including fundamental, technical and cyclical analysis.
OakRidge Management Group
OakRidge Management Group offers the services of discretionary and non-discretionary investment management services, financial planning and strategy, balance sheet optimization, trusts and estates, wealth transfer planning, philanthropic planning, next generation education, day-to-day administration of a family’s affairs and selection of thirdparty service providers. The firm primarily works with ultra-high-net-worth families, including individual family members and their related entities.
OakRidge typically charges clients a single annual fixed fee for its services. The amount of the fee, which is payable in advance in quarterly installments, is negotiated with each client and is based only on the types of services that OakRidge is engaged to provide, whether the client seeks to participate in deal flow or benefit from OakRidge’s sourcing network, and the size and complexity of each client’s investment portfolio. The annual fee is typically not less than $250,000 per year and is not based on the level of assets under management.
OakRidge’s investment approach focuses primarily on asset allocation: OakRidge attempts to find an appropriate ratio of exchange-traded securities, private equity investments, fixed income, and cash suitable to the client’s financial goals, time horizon and risk tolerance.