The Marshall Financial Group – Overview
The Marshall Financial Group has been in business as a Registered Investment Advisor since June 1983. It is a subsidiary of Wm. L. Marshall Companies, Inc., a corporation that is principally owned by the firm’s founder, William L. Marshall, CFP.
The Marshall Financial Group offers clients a variety of fee-based advisory services, which include financial planning, consulting, and investment management.
The firm’s latest ADV reports 21 employees (excluding clerical workers) of which 12 perform “investment advisory functions.” A majority of the firm’s customers are retail clients.
History – How Did The Marshall Financial Group Start?
The Marshall Financial Group was founded in 1981 by William (Bill) Marshall, one of the first 100 Certified Financial Planners in the country.
Today, all Marshall advisors are Certified Financial Planners, with each having a distinct area of expertise.
Clients are served by a team of advisors and support staff members that are hand-picked to meet the company’s specific goals and challenges.
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The Marshall Financial Group provides its services to individuals, pension and profit sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, and business entities.
What We Like About The Marshall Financial Group
1. The Marshall Financial Group is a fee-only advisor, meaning its sole source of remuneration is from clients, and it doesn’t receive any third-party commissions. As a fee-only advisor, the firm also acts as a fiduciary to its clients. The advisors must always place their clients’ interests first.
2. The Marshall Financial Group works as a team. Each client is served by a team that includes two Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) and one Registered Paraplanner (RP).
3. The Marshall Financial Group’s investment methodology is based primarily on modern portfolio theory (MPT) and incorporates a combination of largely fundamental, technical, and cyclical analytical metrics.
MPT is a mathematically-based investment discipline that seeks to quantify expected portfolio returns in relation to the corresponding portfolio risk. The basic premise of MPT is that the risk of a particular holding is to be assessed by comparing its price variations against those of the market portfolio, referred to as beta.
Fundamental analysis involves an evaluation of an issuer’s fundamental financial condition and competitive position.
The Marshall Financial Group generally analyzes the financial condition, capabilities of management, earnings capacity, new products and services, as well as the company’s markets and position among its industry competitors, in order to determine the recommendations made to clients.
Technical analysis involves the examination of past market data, rather than specific company information, in determining the recommendations made to clients.
Technical analysis may involve the use of mathematically-based indicators and charts, such as moving averages and price correlations, to identify market patterns and trends which might be based on investor sentiment rather than the fundamentals of the company.
Cyclical analysis is similar to technical analysis in that it involves the assessment of market conditions at a macro (entire market or economy) or micro (company-specific) level, rather than focusing on the overall fundamental analysis of the health of the particular company that the firm is recommending.
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4. The Marshall Financial Group not only provides a comprehensive financial planning service but also offers My Wealth Coach, a program that provides financial guidance and education to clients through a coaching model.
Under this coaching model, the firm works with clients online to manage their finances by aggregating accounts through one secure portal.
The firm assists clients with setting goals and provides a customized guide complete with action items. It sends clients periodic e-mails to allow clients to track their spending and goals. My Wealth Coach offers clients the choice of one annual meeting or two brief semi-annual meetings to review their plans and set upcoming goals.
5. Account Protection: The Marshall Financial Group generally recommends that clients utilize the brokerage and clearing services of Charles Schwab & Co. for investment management accounts. Charles Schwab & Co. is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA).
Consequently, it enjoys the protection of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
SIPC protects the securities and cash in a brokerage account up to $500,000. The $500,000 protection includes up to $250,000 protection for cash in the account to buy securities. Charles Schwab & Co. brokerage accounts are also covered by international insurers such as Lloyd’s of London.
6. The Marshall Financial Group does not provide any services for performance-based fees (i.e., there are no fees based on a share of capital gains or capital appreciation of a client’s assets) nor does the firm engage in side-by-side management.
Side-by-side management occurs when the same portfolio manager simultaneously makes investment decisions for a registered investment company and private fund.
The potential conflicts of interest arise because managers of private funds earn performance fees while managers of registered investment companies typically do not.
7. The Marshall Financial Group keeps its clients up to date through the firm’s blog. Some recent topics include Are you in the 95% who overspend on Medicare? Life Insurance – How much should I have? and How much house should you buy? All great and informative stuff!
A discretionary account allows the investment manager to make investment decisions on a client’s behalf.
A non-discretionary account requires the client’s authorization before any investment action is taken.
The Marshall Financial Group Fee Schedule
The Marshall Financial Group generally charges a fixed and/or hourly fee to provide clients with financial planning or consulting services.
These fees are negotiable but generally range up to $20,000 on a fixed-fee basis and from $175 to $350 on an hourly basis.
The firm can also charge an hourly rate of between $130 and $175 for certain administrative services. The firm generally charges a fixed monthly fee of $150 to provide clients with its wealth coaching services.
Marshall also provides investment management services for an annual fee based on a percentage of the assets being managed by the firm.
For clients to whom the firm provides both investment management and financial planning services, this asset-based fee varies between 50 and 100 basis points (0.50%–1.00%), depending on the amount of assets under management, as follows:
Up to $250,000: 1.00%
Up to $500,000: 0.85%
Up to $1,000,000: 0.65%
Above $1,000,000: 0.50%
The firm’s annual fee is prorated and charged quarterly, in arrears, based on the market value of the assets being managed by the firm on the last day of the previous quarter. Marshall’s annual fee is exclusive and in addition to brokerage commissions, transaction fees, and other related costs and expenses which are incurred by the client.
The firm does not, however, receive any portion of these commissions, fees or costs.
The Marshall Financial Group Address Information
33 West Court Street, Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania 18901
To contact Marshall Financial Group
- Tel: 215-348-9393
- E-mail Address: [email protected]
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