Best Financial Advisors in Dallas — 9 That Made It Through Our Rubric

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is a spread-out market for financial advisors, from downtown towers to smaller practices out in Denton, Plano and Prosper. Some of these firms have been managing money here since the 1990s or earlier, but age and address alone don’t indicate whether an advisor is worth hiring.

That’s why our team went through thousands of SEC Form ADVs — the disclosures advisors must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and state regulators. With the help of AI, we were able to gather data that includes far more than office addresses and asset totals. We looked at fee schedules, account minimums and information about what these firms actually offer clients. Using our rubric, we filtered, scored and fact-checked the advisors.

In our scoring, price counts for a lot, but low price isn’t the only goal. Firms with especially steep fees don't make the cut. But the breadth of a firm's services, its size and a lot of other factors play into the score too. Our methodology page spells out exactly how each firm was scored.

» Not in Dallas? See our picks for the best financial advisors nationwide

Optima Asset Management tops the list in Dallas. Registered in 1996, the firm has a long track record, but what we also like is the fee schedule. The firm charges just 0.75% on balances under $3 million, which is a bargain compared to the much more common 1.00% rate we see many advisors charge. Financial planning is included in the advisory fee for investment management clients, which is great (some advisors charge separately for financial planning). There are no minimum fees, but the account minimum is a high $1,000,000, and the firm doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents, so you’ll need to hire other pros for that work.

Allen-based AssetBuilder has a lower account minimum than Optima Asset Management does (a more accessible $350,000 compared to Optima Asset Management’s $1 million). The AUM fees are below 1.00% even for the smallest accounts, which is hard to find. We also like that the firm offers AUM discounts to clients once they hit $350,000 and $1 million invested (many advisors only offer discounts after the first million).

Relevance Capital Management is one of the larger firms on the list by AUM size, though it’s relatively new (registered in 2012). You’ll need $1 million to get in the door here (though that’s negotiable), but the firm’s rates on accounts that size start out at a solid 1.00% and they drop by a quarter point on the next million, which we like. The fee schedule steps down twice within the first $2 million, reaching 0.50% at a lower balance than several higher-minimum peers on this list.

There’s no account minimum at this firm, making it an option for even the smallest investors. Registered in 2020, Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management is one of the newer firms on the list; it’s also among the smaller firms here. But the firm stands out for its sub-1.00% AUM fee for accounts under $1 million, which is generally hard to find and can save hundreds or thousands of dollars a year depending on your account balance. We also like that there’s no minimum fee, which prevents surprises. This firm doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents.

As we’ve noted, it’s pretty hard to find an advisor that charges less than 1.00% in AUM fees on small accounts, which is why we were excited to see that Lifeway Financial has some of the lowest AUM fees for small accounts – just 0.80% for the first $2.5 million. Sure, it’s only 20 basis points below the standard 1.00%, but on a $250,000 account it saves about $500 a year and on a $1 million account, it saves about $2,000 a year – more if you consider how much those saved amounts could compound over time.

North of Dallas is Prosper, Texas, which is the home of Wisdom Index Advisors. There’s a $1 million account minimum, which will be a hurdle for some investors, though the firm says this minimum is negotiable. With about $221 million under management, the firm is on the smaller side compared to others on the list, and it doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents. But we like that the firm has no minimum fees and a fee schedule that charges 1.00% or less on accounts under $1 million.

At about $375.1 million in assets under management, Cultivar is a mid-sized firm relative to the largest names on this Dallas list. We like that the fee schedule at this firm breaks every $250,000 to $500,000 up to $1 million, giving smaller and mid-sized accounts more frequent fee discounts than most peers on this list. Accounts in the $1 million-plus range can see significant savings in AUM fees here compared to some competitors. Cultivar also runs its own exchange-traded fund, separate from its advisory business, an unusual line of business for a firm this size. This can present a conflict of interest if the firm recommends an investment in the fund, though it says it waives its advisory fee on assets invested in the fund.

We like that Legacy Consulting Group has no account minimum and charges a respectable 1.00% AUM fee for its smallest accounts, with no minimum fee. This offers considerable accessibility for smaller investors. However, clients who also want financial planning will need to pay a front-loaded planning fee of $12,000 in year one, $6,000 in year two and $3,000 per year after that. Also, some of the advisors are also registered representatives of Perryman Securities, Inc., or are licensed insurance agents, which allows them to receive commissions on products they sell — making this a fee-based rather than fee-only arrangement. Be sure to ask how and when your specific advisor is compensated before signing on.

With about $167 million under management, Schlindwein Associates is the smallest firm on the list. Its $500,000 account minimum means it may not be a fit for super-small investors, but those who can get in the door can get low AUM fees, even with the firm’s unusual base-fee-plus-percentage pricing model. It charges a $1,000 base fee per year plus a percentage of assets under management. The percentages are relatively low, at just 0.75% for accounts under $1 million and dropping to 0.25% for anything over $5 million.