Summit Financial Strategies – Overview/Reviews
Summit Financial Strategies, Inc. is a fee-only financial advisory corporation that was established on July 20, 1994, in Ohio. The company became an SEC Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) in November of 1995.
As a fee-only advisory firm, the company’s advisors sign a fiduciary oath to represent clients in the capacity of fiduciaries. The firm does not engage in selling or promoting specific securities or other investment vehicles. As a result, neither the firm nor its individual advisors receive any compensation from the sales of investment products.
The company provides clients, primarily consisting of individuals, business entities, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations, investment advisory services and, in response to specific client requests, wealth management services such as investment advisory and financial planning.
From its inception, the firm has been heavily focused on establishing long-term relationships with its clients. While these relationships often start off with an individual client, the advisory teams usually end up supporting the entire family.
Service Offerings and Approach
Summit Financial Strategies offers its clients, who generally include individuals, business entities, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations, services that fall under two broad categories: wealth management and investment advisory.
For its wealth management clients, the firm’s advisors will take the time, including at least 6 initial consultations and “get to know you” sessions during the first year of an engagement, to understand clients’ financial goals and objectives. Following this understanding, the advisory team will then build detailed, flexible plans to help clients meet those goals.
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Investment Advisory clients get the benefit of a disciplined investment strategy, portfolio rebalancing, and a customized asset mix based on their (clients’) unique goals and objectives, investment time horizons, and risk profiles.
The company uses a broad range of techniques to analyze securities that could potentially make it into a client’s portfolio. These methods include both a fundamental and cyclical analysis. The firm may also use a choice of investment strategies to maximize portfolio returns, including long- and short-term purchases, trading strategies and options, and margin strategies.
The company follows an extremely transparent approach to service delivery and compensation. Before any investment advisory service is offered to clients, a service agreement is signed, detailing all of the terms and conditions – including fees – under which such services are provided.
The company offers its investment advisory services either on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis at the option of individual clients. Fees for such services are then charged based on a percentage of a portfolio’s market value.
A similar approach is used to proceed with financial planning services offered to clients, which are also guided by terms and conditions set out in a pre-determined formal agreement.
Where requested specifically by a client, the firm may also offer non-investment-related services, including estate planning, insurance planning, and tax planning, on a separate, stand-alone fee basis. Such services may be offered through other (external) professional sources recommended by the firm. These may include, for example, attorneys, accountants, and insurance agents. Clients, however, are under no obligation to accept/follow such recommendations.
What We Like About Summit Financial Strategies
Intensive Relationship-Building Efforts
Initial relationship building is always an important aspect of any client-advisor association. The firm typically meets with its clients 6 times during the first year of their engagement, with a minimum of quarterly visits thereafter. This ensures that advisors have an intimate knowledge of their clients’ goals and objectives to deliver extremely personalized advice and recommendations.
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Relatively Low Fee Threshold
The firm’s investment advisory service fees may be charged to clients at a relatively low rate of seventy-five (0.75) basis points for a portfolio value starting at $1 million and can reach as low as thirty five (0.35) basis points for portfolios in excess of $4 million.
Mix of Investment Strategies
In order to maximize client portfolio returns, the company engages in a broad mix of analysis and investment strategies, including fundamental analysis, cyclical analysis, long-term purchases of securities to be held for a year, short-term strategies that hold securities for less than a year, trading securities within 30 days of purchase, and options and margin strategies.
Personalized Portfolios
The company builds personalized portfolios for each client that revolve around four building blocks, including cash, core bonds, equities, and market diversifiers as well as the key drivers of higher returns – strategic asset allocation and diversified portfolios.
Non-Investment Services
Clients may, at their own discretion, tap into the company’s vast network of non-investment service professionals, such as tax specialists, attorneys, estate experts, and insurance agents, to benefit from a wide range of non-investment-related services.
Well-Regarded Custodians
Clients have peace of mind in knowing that Summit Financial Strategies does not directly hold possession/control of client assets. The firm partners with industry-leading brokers/dealers Schwab and Fidelity, with whom clients enter into direct custodial/clearing agreements, thereby ensuring separation between physical control of assets and investment advice/recommendations.
Research-Based Strategies
Whether it is a decision to “bail out” of the market completely or to invest or divest particular aspects of a portfolio, the company is a firm believer that investment decisions should not be dictated by personal emotions. The firm’s investment strategies are, therefore, based on strong research and highly credible behavioral finance theories that take away the emotional aspects of investment decision-making.
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Summit Financial Strategies Review – Team Members
The firm’s advisory team brings decades of experience in the financial services industry, a diversity of skills, and in-depth knowledge to the table when advising their clients. Recognizing that clients are busy, the team organizes, simplifies, and implements individualized recommendations for their clients.
Team members hold an array of industry certifications, associations, accreditations, and designations, including BA, BSc, MS, MA, MBA, MS, CFP™, NAPFA, ChFC, CDFA, AIF®, CRPS®, MTAX, CAIA℠, CIMA®, EA, JD, RP, CPA, PhD, CAP®, and FPA, among others.
- Austen Harrison
- Ben Skinner
- Brandon Wissinger
- Brian Sutliff
- Chris Cea
- Joe Reardon
- …and more
Summit Financial Strategies Reviews – Services
Specific services offered by the Summit Financial Strategies team include:
Wealth Management Services:
- Data verification and cash flow review
- Retirement planning
- Asset allocation and portfolio development
- Portfolio implementation
- Account consolidation
- Investment recommendations and performance reviews
- College funding
- Tax planning
- Estate planning
- Tax managed rebalancing
- Insurance needs and policy reviews
Investment Advisory Services:
- Asset allocation and portfolio development
- Portfolio implementation
- Tax-managed rebalancing
- Account consolidation
- Investment recommendations and performance reviews
Summit Financial Strategies Address Information (Local Office):
- 7965 North High Street, #350, Columbus, OH 43235-8446
To Contact Summit Financial Strategies:
- Tel: (614) 885-1115
- Or use Summit Financial Strategies’ Contact Us form
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