11 Best Financial Advisors in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles metro area is home to a huge range of registered investment advisors, from boutique wealth managers in Beverly Hills to big, established firms that manage billions of dollars. That much choice can make it hard to know where to start.

To build this list, we scoured thousands of Form ADVs, which are disclosures that advisors have to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or state regulators. With help from AI, we were able to pull data from these filings in ways that go far beyond just gathering basic addresses and assets under management levels. For example, we pulled out each advisor’s fee schedule, their account minimums and detailed information about their specific offerings. Then we filtered the data, fact-checked the information and scored the advisors.

We didn't set out to find the cheapest advisors on the market, though cost is a big part of our rubric and we exclude firms with especially high fees. We prioritized advisors without account minimums or minimum fees, but we also gave weight to the breadth of service offerings, firm size and other factors. NerdWallet's full methodology has more detail on how we scored each firm.

» Not in L.A.? See our picks for the best financial advisors nationwide

Index Fund Advisors outperformed other advisors on our rubric for several reasons, not the least of which was fees. The firm’s seven-tier fee schedule gives a sub-1.0% rate to even the smallest investors, which is hard to find and can save hundreds or thousands of dollars a year, depending on your account size. We also like that even the relatively small $100,000 minimum is negotiable. Additionally, the firm’s tax arm can prepare tax returns, which is a great feature that helps ensure nothing falls through the cracks at tax time. The subadvisory arrangement with Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) adds its own fee layer for clients where DFA manages the assets. The firm doesn’t prepare estate planning documents (it refers clients to online estate planning service Trust & Will instead).

Eclectic Associates has over $1.4 billion in assets under management, making it one of the larger firms on the list compared to many of its boutique competitors. It has a $400,000 account minimum, which is a downside, though $400,000 is a more accessible hurdle than at many other firms, and the firm says it’s willing to reduce or waive that minimum sometimes. You’ll get a competitive 1.00% fee if you have less than a million to invest, and people with more than that get a decent quarter-point break on the next million. However, the firm doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents; you’ll need to hire a CPA or attorney for those parts. We don’t love the firm’s one-time setup fee (up to $2,000) for new clients, but the firm says this is negotiable and may be waived, so remember to ask for that.

Cheviot Value Management offers a competitive 1.00% AUM rate to even its smallest clients, and financial planning and budget coaching are both free if you have at least $500,000 under management (these services cost up to $10,000 fixed or $700/hour if you have less than that). The firm also has a long history compared to other advisors on the list. (Although the company in its current form has been registered with the SEC since 2013, the firm was founded in 1974, transitioned to investment management in 1985 and reregistered after the firm changed hands in 2013.) The account minimum ranges from a reasonable $400,000 all the way up to $2,000,000 depending on which advisor manages the account. It refers insurance needs to a third-party platform.

Halbert Hargrove scored high on the list not just because it has a competitive AUM fee; it also has a long track record (all the way back to 1988), no account minimum and no minimum fee. Although the firm gives small accounts a competitive 1.00% AUM rate, its fee schedule has such wide tiers that mid-size accounts get less benefit than they would at firms with earlier breakpoints. The firm doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate documents, which is a definite downside. It does offer a unique “digital program” that combines an online platform from Zoe Financial with a human advisor at the firm. This lets the firm take on smaller accounts that otherwise may not be worth the overhead of standard, high-touch service, but you’ll still pay Halbert Hargrove’s AUM fee. 

Acap Asset Management is a relatively young firm, but its offerings pack a real punch: no account minimum, no minimum fee, a reasonable 1.00% AUM fee even on small accounts, plus in-house tax-prep, which is a real differentiator and can be a huge convenience for customers. On top of that, the firm offers personalized bookkeeping for an extra fee (i.e., tracking bills in Quicken, reconciling statements, building a budget), which is truly uncommon for a firm this size. Accounts over $2.5 million get a break on AUM fees. One notable downside is that if you decide to forgo investment management and just want the firm to create a financial plan for you, you’ll need to prepay.

Towneley Capital Management offers dedicated sustainable investing and climate-aware investing strategies as standalone options for a competitive 1.00% fee and no account minimum, which are real differentiators for clients who want ESG-focused portfolios. We don’t like that Towneley Capital Management charges a $1,250 minimum fee for clients with less than $500,000 under management, though. This is an especially large downside for clients with balances under $250,000, because below that threshold, the AUM fee is over 1.0%, which is much less competitive.

With $2 billion in assets under management, JSF Financial is a relatively large advisory firm and it’s one of the few on this list that’s actually in Los Angeles proper. The firm generally caps its AUM fee at 1.00% for all clients, which is a competitive rate especially for smaller investors, and for some the straightforward fee is probably a welcome respite from having to navigate confusing tiered fee schedules. One downside is that there’s a $250,000 account minimum, though this is a relatively low minimum among firms that impose minimums, and the firm says this is negotiable. Also, the firm doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents, and some of the advisors are licensed insurance agents who earn commissions for selling life insurance products.

Spectrum Asset Management is another firm that has a long track record of experience, which we like, as well as a competitive fee. We don’t love the complexity and variability of the firm’s fee structure, which can make it hard for clients to understand what they’re going to pay; for this analysis  we’ve focused on the “equity and balanced/investment consulting services” fee schedule. A nice plus is that Spectrum uses the Wealth, Inc. platform to help prepare estate planning documents. This comes at an extra cost, but it’s a huge advantage for clients who want to move from simple estate planning to actual execution with wills, trusts and other documents that make an estate plan real. The catch: This advisor has a high account minimum ($1 million).

Like many advisors on the list, RS Crum scored high for its competitive fee rate (1.00% on AUM under $1 million and then a break on amounts over $1 million). There’s no account minimum, which means smaller investors can still get a competitive rate. However, the firm doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents, and it mentions that it “may” charge a minimum quarterly fee but doesn’t disclose when and where it assesses the fee.

Walker Financial Advisors is a relatively young firm, registered in 2018, but its 1.00% AUM fee undoubtedly puts it ahead of some older, more-established firms. Clients wondering about downside risk will probably like hearing that Walker has an active discipline of cutting losses on stock positions when they hit 10% to 15% below cost; some buy-and-hold investors may not like the potential for additional turnover, though. The $500,000 account minimum is a little steep compared to others, but the minimum fee of $5,000 a year works out to a standard 1.00% on $500,000 balances.

We think it’s pretty rare to find a fee under 1.00% on account balances below $1 million, which makes Apriem Advisors feel like a relative deal for those who can meet the $500,000 account minimum. (On a $500,000 account, the difference between paying 1.00% a year and a 0.95% year works out to about $250 in savings on AUM fees per year.) The firm also offers estate planning document prep via a third-party platform for an extra cost, which is distinctive and helpful to investors who want to move beyond just talking about an estate plan to actually making one. Note, however, that this firm is also an insurance agency, so if the conversation veers into that lane, be sure you understand what’s being sold, why and who’s getting paid.