Top Financial Advisors in Minnesota

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Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services (WEAS) has one of the largest client bases of any firm on this list. In fact, tens of thousands of individuals have a client-advisor relationship with the firm, with over three-quarters of these individuals having less than a high net worth. Investment minimums at WEAS vary by service, with requirements beginning at $50,000 and reaching up to $5 million.

Clients of WEAS will find its services are largely customized to their personal needs. For example, its offerings can cover investment management, general financial goal-setting, estate planning, tax minimization, risk management, business owner consulting, retirement income planning and more. Within these, there are four main principles advisors here use when managing client investments, according to its website: active management, diversification, tax efficiency and cost efficiency.

WEAS operates using a fee-based compensation structure, which means some advisors can receive commissions for selling certain financial products to clients. Although this is a potential conflict of interest, the firm abides by fiduciary duty.

Wealth Enhancement also holds a spot on SmartAsset's list of the top financial advisors in Minnesota. Additionally, the firm has branches all over the U.S., including in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Mairs & Power is a fee-only firm that works primarily with high-net-worth individuals, though it also serves individuals without a high net worth. Institutional investors include trusts, investment companies, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, government entities, insurance companies and businesses. Account requirements depend on the type of account you open. But you'll need at least $2 million or $5 million. The firm, however, may waive these minimums at its discretion.

Mairs & Power offers investment management and financial planning services. It has made a name for itself as a regional investor. Investment management fees are generally asset-based, though the firm may negotiate performance-based or fixed fees. For accounts that are especially complex or need extra administrative support, the practice may require additional fees.

Mairs & Power takes a long-term approach to investing. It puts an emphasis on companies with consistent and above-average growth. It also looks for those that have strong returns on invested capital and durable competitive advantages. Also, it says that it invests in companies, not markets, and considers companies of all sizes and across all sectors. The firm generally designs and manages equity, fixed-income and balanced portfolios.

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Thrivent Advisor Network offers discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services to individuals, high-net-worth individuals, families, trusts, estates, businesses and retirement plans through its Advisory Persons. Clients receive ongoing investment advice, but separately pay for securities transactionsand brokerage-related fees. Advisory Persons may recommend the use of affiliated and non-affiliated Independent Managers and Investment Platforms for investment advisory services. The useof Independent Managers and investment platforms offers clients the ability to utilize affiliated and unaffiliated investment managers on a wrap-fee or non-wrap fee basis.

Clients pay an investment management fee quarterly in advance of each calendar quarter. Fees will not exceed 2% of your assets under management and is based on several factors that include services offered, the complexity of services and the level of assets being managed. 

Advisory Persons may use a variety of methods and resources to construct a recommended asset allocation. The resources utilized may include research and/or model management services that Advisory Persons obtainedthrough an agreement with a third-party provider. TAN does not directly contract with unaffiliated third-party research and model management providers for this purpose. Advisory Persons are expected to conduct due diligence of these providers and for all recommendations made to Clients, including model portfolios. The firm advises clients to ask their Advisory Person(s) about any third-party providers used to help provide investment recommendations. 

Fiduciary Counselling (FCI) is a St. Paul-based financial advisor firm. The fee-only firm works with both non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth investors. It also does some institutional business, advising investing companies, charitable organizations, investment advisors and corporations. The firm does not list a minimum investment but has a minimum annual fee of $1,000.

Services offered by the firm include discretionary and non-discretionary investment services, accounting, tax and trust services, retirement planning and estate planning. FCI charges a single fee for investment advisory, accounting, tax, estate planning, financial planning, and trust and charitable administration services. This fee is based on a percentage of assets under management. Hourly fees may be charged for other services.

Advisors at FCI develop an individual portfolio strategy for each client. That said, it has a number of model portfolios it uses as a base when developing each client’s strategy. Customized models are used in some situations when a client’s situation has a number of unusual needs. The asset allocation model focuses on long-term investing. Potential investments for clients include equities, fixed-income securities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, private funds and private equity funds.

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intellicents investment solutions does not require clients to adhere to a minimum investment requirement. This has led the firm's individual client base to feature a nearly even split between individuals with and without a high net worth. Pension and profit-sharing plans are also clients of intellicents.

intellicents is a fee-based firm, which means its advisors can sell insurance products and securities on a commission basis. Despite the potential conflict of interest this creates, the firm's fiduciary duty means it must act in clients' best interests at all times. While many might know intellicents for its retirement plan consulting services, it also has offerings for individual investors. This includes both investment management and financial planning.

Generally speaking, intellicents investment solutions prefer to invest with long-term returns in mind. It follows this by keeping to the tenets of a "buy and hold" strategy, which means it doesn't trade securities all that often. However, the firm will adjust your investment portfolio and asset allocation when your situation, goals or market conditions change.

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Riverbridge is a fee-based firm that works with high-net-worth individuals, banks, investment companies, pooled investment vehicles, retirement plans, charities, government entities, insurance companies, businesses and Taft-Hartley plans.

This firm offers investment portfolio models that are designed to succeed in different ways, depending on your financial objectives. These models range from small-cap growth to growth and income portfolios. Each portfolio varies in the number of companies it invests in and its time horizon.

When choosing specific investments for your portfolio, Riverbridge Partners evaluates each company based on five factors: sound culture and management, strong unit growth, differentiated market position, internally financed growth and conservative accounting. The firm believes that these factors provide strong insight into whether a company has earnings power and intrinsic value.

Once the firm has found enough suitable investments and begins to piece together your portfolio, it will generally look to do so with small- and mid-capitalization companies. At any one point in time, though, Riverbridge prefers to have all of your assets fully invested, regardless of any need for liquidity. The firm estimates that its portfolios will have 30% turnover annually.

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NorthRock Partners is a large advisory firm that works with both high-net-worth and non-high-net-worth individuals, as well as charities and businesses. While the firm doesn't have a minimum asset requirement for new clients, it does have a $5,000 minimum annual fee.

This team also has members who 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.

Before investing a dime of any client's assets, the advisory team at NorthRock Partners will work with them on an individual basis to determine exactly what kind of investor they are. This conversation will allow your NorthRock advisor to build a portfolio plan that can help you achieve your long- and short-term financial goals. Some of the most important factors the firm pays attention to include risk tolerance, time horizon, income needs and liquidity.

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Berger Financial Group caters to a diverse clientele including individuals, high-net-worth individuals and families, trusts, estates, as well as businesses and business owners. This fee-based firm offers a range of financial advisory services tailored to meet the unique needs of each client group.

The firm provides specialized advice on college cost and savings estimates, estate tax strategies and wealth distribution. Their offerings also encompass plan implementation services, financial counseling and both tax preparation and planning.  

The firm employs a distinctive approach to investment management, focusing on proprietary strategies that are both strategic and tactical, with a strong emphasis on long-term objectives. The firm tailors its investment strategies to align closely with client-specific factors such as their financial goals, the timeline for achieving these goals, current and anticipated future assets, risk tolerance, time horizon, net worth and cash flow

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Carlson Capital Management, LLC has a client base almost evenly split almost between individuals and high-net-worth individuals. Aside from individuals, the firm also works with trusts, estates, pension and profit-sharing plans, corporations and charitable organizations. An advisor may sell insurance policies and earn sales commissions. This makes the firm fee-based. That said, the advisory is required to act in the client's best interest.

Carlson Capital Management offers a variety of services for investors who are in search of a firm that can handle all of their financial management needs. The firm’s services include integrated wealth management, 401(k) plan services, risk management, tax services, education planning, retirement planning, charitable gift planning, trust creation and more. 

Although Carlson Capital Management can handle short-term financial needs for clients, its overall desire is to manage assets for the long term. The firm bases its approach on Modern Portfolio Theory, which states that risk and return are inherently related. In turn, the firm thinks that the only time that increasing your risk is appropriate is if there’s a chance for a proportionate boost in return. 

Carlson Capital is also a proponent of active asset management. Its advisors are constantly watching the market for new investment opportunities, all while making sure that their client portfolios are rebalanced when needed and adhere to the original asset allocation plans.

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Accredited Investors Wealth Management is the next firm on this list and operates as fee-only. This firm acknowledges that clients never have the same set of needs. Its advisory services are thus significantly less targeted than most, resulting in broad, customizable offerings like asset protection, income management, debt management, investment planning and estate planning.

Perhaps because of its $20,000 minimum annual fee (which makes sense for those with at least $2 million in assets) this firm has a 6-to-1 ratio of high-net-worth individual clients to non-high-net-worth individuals. Accredited Investors Wealth Management also works with trusts, businesses, foundations, endowments, pension and profit-sharing plan providers and charitable organizations.

The theory of mean reversion states that, in the long term, all investments will return to their average values, even if they fluctuate along the way. Because Accredited Investors Wealth Management strongly believes in this idea, it purchases investments while they’re low in value and sells them when their value increases. While this approach may seem risky, the firm claims that it doesn’t intend to chase returns. To focus more on the long term, the firm strives to invest in areas of the market that it identifies as having strong valuations and upside potential.