Top 10 Financial Advisors in New Jersey

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At the top of the list, Pathstone Family is a fee-only firm with billions in assets under management. There are currently more than 100 advisors at the firm with additional offices in Alaska, California, Washington, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Texas  and Massachusetts. The team in New Jersey headquaters includes a number of certified financial planners (CFPs).

Individual clients are mostly high-net-worth individuals. The firm also works with pooled investment vehicles, charitable organizations and other corporations. The minimum portfolio size is $2 million. Fees for investment management are based on a percentage of assets under management, though some qualified clients may enter into an agreement for performance-based fees.

Pathstone Background

This firm was founded in 2016 through the merger of Pathstone Family Office (founded in 2010) and Federal Street Advisors (founded in 1991). It is principally owned by Pathstone Holdings, LLC and is family- and employee-owned.

The firm’s services include:

• Discretionary investment advising
• Financial planning services
• Consulting
• Tax compliance
• Tax return preparation

Pathstone Investment Strategy

Pathstone may use the following strategies in client portfolios: long-term purchases, short-term purchases, trading, short sales, margin transactions, option writing, structured products and and derivatives.

Generally, Modern Portfolio Theory informs the process of determining asset allocation and manager selection for advisors. Each client has a determined return objective and risk tolerance that drives investment decisions. 

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Advisors Capital Management, LLC works with more non-high-net-worth individuals than high-net-worth individuals. Additionally, Advisors Capital Management works with pension and profit-sharing plans, businesses and charitable organizations. 

The account minimum at this Ridgewood-based firm varies depending on the type of account. The minimums are:

• ACM private account - $300,000
• ACM model separate accounts - $150,000
• ACM model mutual fund/ETF strategies- $50,000

The team at Advisors Capital Management includes chartered financial analysts (CFAs) and one MBA. Certain advisors at the firm also sell insurance and earn commissions from sales, which is a potential conflict of interest. That said, the firm is legally bound by its fiduciary duty to act in clients' best interests at all times.

Advisors Capital Management Background

Founding partner Kevin Kern established the firm's predecessor, Advisors Financial Center, in 1998. In 2003, Kern merged that firm with Chief Investment Officer Dr. Charles Lieberman. The merged firm became Advisors Capital Management, and it remains majority owned by Lieberman. The firm’s senior economic advisor is Dr. Alan Greenspan, who served as the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006.

Advisors Capital Management provides most of the services that typical financial advisor firms do. Its services include budget and cash flow planning, investment management, retirement planning, estate planning and insurance analysis.

Advisors Capital Management Investing Strategy

Advisors Capital Management takes into account a number of factors when deciding which industries are worth investing in. These factors include interest rate outlooks, demographics, business cycles and more. Once it has considered these elements, the firm selects specific companies within the viable industries that present strong return possibilities or are currently undervalued.

The final choices your advisor makes throughout this process are not only based on the aforementioned research, but also on how well the investments align with your personal risk tolerance and time horizon. However, this firm heavily emphasizes long-term investments.

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Bleakley Financial Group offers financial planning, retirement consulting and wealth management services to individuals, business entities, trusts, estates and charitable organizations. 

As a fee-based firm it can receive compensation from third parties for the sale of insurance products like annuities. However, as a fiduciary it is obligated to put its clients' best interests at all times.

Most client assets are managed on a discretionary basis, while a smaller portion are managed under advisement. The firm offers wrap and non-wrap accounts.

Bleakley Financial Group Background

Andy Schwarz, one of the firm's principals, is the primary owner of the firm.

Advisors hold a number of professional designations, including certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial consultant (ChFC), chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA), chartered life underwriter (CLU), chartered advisor for senior living (CASL), certified investment management analyst (CIMA) and accredited asset management specialist (AAMS).

Bleakley Financial Group Investment Strategy

The firm uses what it calls the "Banyan Assessment" to create a financial plan tailored each client's short-term and long-term goals, income and risk tolerance and uses it to develop a personalized wealth management strategy.

Bleakley uses economic, fundamental and technical analysis to identify appropriate investment opportunities for clients. Depending on the client, the firm may buy stocks, fixed-income securities, funds, master limited partnerships and alternative investments. 

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Individuals comprise the largest percentage of Modera Wealth Management’s client base, although that’s not the only group the firm serves. The firm has built relationships with pension and profit-sharing plans, estates, trusts, businesses, investment limited partnerships and charitable organizations. Modera Wealth Management does not require new clients to have a minimum level of investable assets, but it does have a minimum quarterly fee of $5,000 for wealth management, $4,000 for portfolio management and $1,375 for retirement plan services.

Aside from its main office in Westwood, you can find this fee-only firm in Massachusetts, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. Designations held by members of the team in New Jersey include certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial consultant (ChFC), accredited investment fiduciary (AIF), chartered life underwriter (CLU), chartered financial analyst (CFA) and chartered special needs consultant (ChSNC).

Modera Wealth Management Background

Modera Wealth Management’s roots can be traced back to 1983. It formed a two-office regional firm in 2011 through a merger between Back Bay Financial Group, Inc. and Modera Capital, Inc. The latter, Modera Capital, Inc. is now a financial holding company and owns the firm.

This firm’s services can be split into a few overarching categories, like wealth management, portfolio management, investment consulting and monitoring, retirement planning and financial planning and consulting. Modera offers business planning, insurance review, estate planning, tax mitigation, cash-flow planning and education funding as well.

Modera Wealth Management Investing Strategy

Modern Portfolio Theory has become popular with financial advisor firms in recent years, but this firm chooses to focus on just three main tenets of it:

• The markets work. The market will usually set fair prices.
• Diversification is key. Use international securities in different markets to fill out portfolios.
• There’s a relationship between risk and return. If you want a boost in return, make sure the risk only increases proportionately.

To put these ideas into practice as fully as possible, Modera Wealth Management remains open to a plethora of investment opportunities, including exchange-traded funds, stocks, bonds, real estate investment trusts, commodities and more.

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Circle Wealth Management's client base consists entirely of high-net-worth individuals and charities.

Circle Wealth is a fee-only financial advisor firm, meaning it only receives income from client fees. This avoids the conflicts of interest found at a fee-based firm, which can receive commissions for insurance or securities transactions.

There is a $30 million account minimum.

Circle Wealth Management Background

Managing partner Maria L. Kattan-Chrin founded Circle Wealth Management in 2006, though the firm didn't register with the SEC until 2007. Kattan-Chrin is also the principal owner of the firm and she has decades of experience within the private wealth management and financial services industries. The firm's team of 11 financial advisors includes two certified financial planners and one certified public accountant.

Circle Wealth provides highly customized financial planning and investment management services to its clients, on both a discretionary and non-discretionary basis. These services include estate planning, tax planning, insurance planning, retirement planning and more.

Circle Wealth Management Investment Strategy

Circle Wealth Management looks to tailor its advisory services to the financial objectives, risk tolerance and time horizon of each client. Part of the process of understanding the client involves an evaluation of their existing investments. Based on these findings, the firm may recommend that those investments should be held or sold. Based on the entirety of this information, the firm will put together an investment policy statement (IPS).

The firm uses both quantitative and qualitative analysis when crafting client portfolios. The firm draws from a wide range of databases to inform their decisions. Based on this research, the firm may recommend investments like individual equities, fixed-income securities, options, mutual funds, private equity funds, funds of funds, hedge funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and structured notes.

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Coming in next on our list is Simon Quick Advisors, LLC. Though originally named Massey Quick Simon & Co., LLC, the firm changed its name to Simon Quick Advisors in 2019. This firm has billions in assets under management (AUM) and several financial advisors on staff. Among them are certified public accountants (CPAs), chartered financial analysts (CFAs), certified financial planners (CFPs), certified divorce financial analysts (CDFAs), chartered alternative investment analysts (CAIAs) and more.

Simon Quick primarily provides services to individual clients, with most of them having a high net worth. The firm also commonly works with pooled investment vehicles, retirement plans, charities, insurance companies, other investment advisors and municipal government entities. Rather than impose a minimum account size, the firm charges a $10,000 minimum annual fee, which could be cost-prohibitive for smaller account sizes.

The firm is fee-only, which means it does not receive any sales or transaction commissions that could introduce conflicts of interest.

Simon Quick Advisors Background

Partners Dwight Massey and Leslie Quick III founded the firm in 2004. Today, it's owned by a combination of William E. Simon & Sons, LLC; managing partners Joseph Belfatto and Leslie Quick III; and QIII Family Enterprises, LLC, a holding company. Altogether, Belfatto and Quick have 80 years' experience in financial services. Massey is retired.

Simon Quick provides several different financial advisory services across the investing and financial planning verticals. The firm and its advisors help clients with wealth management, investment planning, retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning and more.

Simon Quick Advisors Investment Strategy

In order to properly help clients manage their investments, Simon Quick creates unique investment plans that fit the objectives of each client. Through extensive interviews, the firm determines precise investment goals and the asset management styles that would pair well with them. The firm then allocates client funds to a number of securities, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). As your portfolio ages, the firm will rebalance your investments.

Simon Quick primarily utilizes fundamental analysis when crafting client portfolios to determine a security's intrinsic value. In terms of investment strategies, the firm enagages in long- and short-term purchases, short sales and options trading. Each portfolio is given periodic performance updates to ensure proper growth targets are being met.

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Founded in 1995, Palisade Capital Management LLC primarily offers investment management through separately managed accounts. The minimum to open an account depends on the investment strategy and ranges from $1 million to $50 million. The firm also serves as sub-advisor to several mutual funds and as advisor to a collective investment trust, private equity funds and private hedge funds.

Despite its high minimum account requirements, the fee-only firm serves almost three times as many clients who do not have high net worths as clients who do. Advisors at this Fort Lee firm include chartered financial analysts (CFAs), several JDs, several MBAs, one certifed financial planner (CFP) and one certified public accountant (CPA).  

Palisade Capital Management Background

Martin Berman, Steven Berman, and Jack Feiler founded the firm in 1995. Today the latter two serve as vice chairmen, while Alison Berman serves as president and CEO and Michael Feiler is managing director of private wealth management. The firm is primarily owned by Bermans, plus Jack Feiler, Dennison Veru, Jeffrey Serkes, Bradley Goldman, Beata Tannuzzo and Michael Feiler have stakes.

Palisade Capital Management Investing Strategy

Palisade Capital has been offering comprehensive, bottom-up, fundamental investing for 25 years. Its strategies include small cap core equity, focused all cap equity, convertible securities, short duration convertible bonds, hedged convertibles, private equity and hedged equity. Private wealth management individuals with separately managed accounts typically choose one of the following investment goals: growth, preservation of principal/income or balanced/conservative growth. Their assets are typically invested in securities of individual issuers, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and/or investments in funds managed by Palisade.

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Beacon Trust, a financial advisory firm with billions in assets under management (AUM), comes in third on our list of the top financial advisor firms in Morristown. This firm has several financial advisors who carry a range of certifications including certified financial planners (CFPs), chartered financial analysts (CFAs), a chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA) and a certified private wealth advisor (CPWA). The firm has a minimum investable asset requirement of $500,000 for new client accounts.

Beacon is a fee-only advisory firm. A majority of its individual clients have a high net worth. The firm also maintains advisory relationships with high-net-worth individuals, charitable organizations, government entities, retirement plans and investment companies.

Beacon Trust Background

Beacon Trust has been in business since 2015. The firm is owned by Beacon Trust Company, which is in turn owned by Provident Bank, which is in turn owned by Provident Financial Services, Inc., a publicly traded company. The firm's advisory team is led by chief investment officer (CIO) John Longo and Jeffrey Loewy, the only founding member left at the firm. Both Longo and Loewy, along with several other advisors at the firm, have decades of financial industry experience.

Beacon Trust provides financial planning, asset management, consulting and tax preparation services. The firm guides its clients through all of the steps it takes to achieve their financial goals. It performs asset management services on a primarily discretionary basis and offers wrap fee programs as well. Financial planning services include:

• Family governance
• Compensation and benefit planning
• Income tax minimization
• Cash flow planning
• Education fund planning
• Charitable giving planning
• Estate planning

Beacon Trust Investment Strategy

Beacon Trust's portfolio programs look to invest client's assets in a wide variety of securities. The firm looks to preserve wealth and drive growth, while maximizing liquidity, tax efficiency and adaptability. Risk mitigation tends to be at the center of each portfolio strategy. The firm's strategies include small-cap, mid-cap, large-cap, international, bond and high-yield securities. It also uses mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in client portfolios. The firm rebalances and evaluates client portfolios on a consistent basis.

Beacon Trust has a variety of different approaches for clients who engage them for portfolio management services.

• Alternative investments: This is a client-centric model involving affiliated and unaffiliated hedge funds and funds of funds. It seeks to reduce volatility through diversification.
• Active tax management and loss harvesting: Focuses on tax awareness that helps keep money in the pockets of clients, while harvesting losses to create tax advantages.
• Ongoing portfolio monitoring: Centered around continued due diligence that ensures clients are getting the most out of their investments.

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Transcend Capital Advisors provides financial planning and discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services to individuals, including high-net-worth individuals, family offices, trusts, estates, retirement plans, profit-sharing plans and private foundations.

As a fee-based firm it may receive compensation from third parties for the sale of insurance products such as annuities. However, as a fiduciary it is obligated to always put its clients' best interests first.

Transcend, which provides its services on a discretionary or a non-discretionary basis, also offers clients a wrap-fee program.

Transcend Capital  Advisors Background

The firm, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transcend Wealth Collective Holdings, LLC, has five managing partners with approximately 100 years of combined institutional investment experience.

Advisors hold a variety of professional designations, including but not limited to chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC), certified financial planner (CFP), certified investment management analyst (CIMA) and chartered financial counselor (ChFC).

Transcend Capital Advisors Investment Strategy

Transcend emphasizes long-term ownership of a diversified portfolio of marketable and non-marketable investments intended to provide superior after-tax, inflation-adjusted, economic returns. Transcend generally recommends broad diversification via a long-term asset allocation strategy, diversified both across asset classes and within asset classes, to improve the risk and return potential of client portfolios.

The firm says it will explore all asset classes to identify the right allocation for your specific situation. In addition to traditional equities and fixed income, the firm's "toolbox" includes private equity, private credit, reinsurance, venture capital, real estate and more to help us optimize the risk and reward of your portfolios.

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Journey Strategic Wealth offers wealth management services on a discretionary basis, to individuals, high-net-worth individuals, families, trusts and estates.

As a fee-based firm Journey may receive compensation from third parties for the sale of insurance products, like annuities. This can create a conflict of interest, but as a fiduciary Journey must always put its clients' best interests first.

The firm does not offer clients a warp-fee program.

Journey Strategic Wealth Background

The firm, which was founded in 2020, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Journey Strategic Holdings (JSH) in March 2021. JSH is primarily owned by Damian F. Lo Basso, one of the founders of the firm and its CEO, Penny A. Phillilps, also a founder and its president, Michael C. Brown and Brian R. Flynn.

Advisors hold various professional designations, including retired income certified professional (RICP), chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified financial planner (CFP), chartered life underwriter (CLU), chartered financial consultant (ChfC) and wealth mamangement certified professional (WMCP).

Journey Strategic Wealth Investment Strategy

Working with its clients, Journey will develop a strategy that seeks to achieve each client's goals and objectives. That strategy will entail an asset allocation that reflects each client's investment objectives, time horizon, financial situation and tolerance for risk. The firm will then develop a portfolio for each client that is intended to meet the stated goals and objectives. 

Journey employs fundamental and technical analysis methods to identify appropriate securities for each portfolio. In addition, the firm will consider third-party research materials, internet sources and review of company activities, including annual reports, prospectuses, press releases and research prepared by others.