Best Financial Advisors in Denver, Colorado

Denver is known for its world-class cultural attractions, thriving craft breweries, red-hot music scene and you guessed it — quality financial advisors. There are several top advisors that can help you sort your financial situation and meet your personal goals using strategies created by professionals.

Benzinga has shrunk the screening process so that you can choose from a list of advisors and pick 1 that suits your needs. 

Best Financial Advisors in Denver Near You:

• Best for Customized Financial Planning: Sharkey, Howes & Javer
• Best Robo-Advisor: M1 Finance
• Best for Full Suite of Investment Management Services: G&S Capital
• Best Mobile App: Betterment
• Best for Comprehensive Wealth Management: Mercer Advisors
• Best Portfolio Analysis: Personal Capital
• Best for Fee-Based Portfolio Management: Value Financial Advisers
• Best for Finding Custom Financial Advisors: SmartAsset
• Best for High-Net-Worth Investors: Shelton Capital Management

Best for Customized Financial Planning: Sharkey, Howes & Javer

Sharkey, Howes & Javer is a financial advisory firm that has been around for close to 3 decades. The firm offers customizable financial planning and goal-based investing. What this means is that you will get recommendations that are ideal for your unique situation. Sharkey, Howes & Javer serves clients with a wide range of needs — retirees, your college education, selling your business and more.

In addition to comprehensive financial planning, the firm also helps businesses plan. The firm offers employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k) plans and profit-sharing plans that can have tax advantages and improve employee retention rate.

Sharkey, Howes and Javer has a team of certified financial planners (CFP®s). 

Best Robo-Advisor: M1 Finance

M1 Finance lets you control your own wealth-building with flexible and easy-to-use tools. You can seamlessly use automation and customization capabilities to manage the money the way you want to. You can trade fractional shares so that you are completely invested. M1 also lets you access a flexible portfolio line of credit after your total portfolio value reaches $10,000. 

M1 Finance has 2 types of accounts: M1 Core and Plus.

M1 Finance’s Core charges $0 to get you started and includes:

• No trading commissions
• No management fees
• Free checking account
• 3.5% base rate for a portfolio line of credit

M1 Finance’s Plus account has an annual fee of $125 and includes:

• All Core account features
• 1% APY on checking account balance 
• 1% cash back on qualifying debit card purchases, no limits
• Access to a 2nd daily trade window
• 2.75% rate for portfolio line of credit (0.75% reduction)

Best for Full Suite of Investment Management Services: G&S Capital

G&S Capital is an independent, fee-only registered investment advisor (RIA) based in Denver. The firm offers a wide range of investment management services and specializes in individual and family investment management, corporate 401(k) and retirement plans and financial planning.

The firm serves family investment management and planning, the firm typically serves clients with portfolios up to $500,000. The firm’s corporate retirement plans typically serve clients with over $1,000,000 in plan assets. 

G&S is a fee-only advisory firm which means that they are only motivated to do what is in your best interest and provide you unbiased advice.

Best Mobile App: Betterment

Betterment is a popular app that helps you manage your money on the go. You can link your outside holdings like bank accounts and any other investments. You can benefit from this as it tells you how you can lower fees and invest your extra cash for life’s big moments. 

There are 2 accounts that you can use — Betterment Digital and Betterment Premium. Digital members don’t require any minimum account balance to open but it does carry a 0.25% fee. Premium members require a $100,000 account minimum with a 0.40% fee. The benefit of being a premium member is that you get unlimited access to Betterment’s certified financial planners.

Best for Comprehensive Wealth Management: Mercer Advisors

Mercer is a top-ranked private wealth manager in the U.S. with over $5 billion assets under management. Mercer offers a range of wealth services for many aspects of your financial life:

• Customized financial planning and investment strategies
• Proactive tax planning and preparation
• Retirement planning
• Estate planning
• Corporate and family trustee services

Mercer has a team of CPAs, CFP® professionals and lawyers to support your relationship manager so you can tackle any financial problem with ease.

Best Portfolio Analysis: Personal Capital

Personal Capital is an excellent option if you want to view all your accounts at once to manage your finances and keep track of spending. There are multiple free investment management tools to help you track a multi-asset portfolio.

Personal Capital also offers an option for you to get an advisory team that can manage your portfolio. You can only get personal advisory services if you have an account minimum balance of $100,000. If you have a minimum balance of over $200,000, you can get access to dedicated advice and specialist support. 

You must have more than $1 million of assets under management to  get one-on-one comprehensive planning experts who will build customized investment plans for you and more.

Best for Fee-Based Portfolio Management: Value Financial Advisers Inc.

Value Financial Advisers Inc. has been operating for close to 4 decades — upper management has a combined experience of 90 years. 

The firm’s main service is fee-based portfolio management. This means that the firm gets paid based on assets under management and not based on commission. The firm looks out for your needs and tailors an approach that fits well with the aim of a long-term win-win advisory relationship.

The firm also provides financial planning and wealth management services such as insurance and tax planning.

Best for Finding Custom Financial Advisors: SmartAsset

Find the right financial advisor to prepare for your future. SmartAsset‘s platform connects investors, soon-to-be-retirees and retirees with financial advisors from across the country. 

The first comprehensive solution for easily and securely pairing investors with financial advisors, SmartAsset provides you with free and secure access to the financial advisor marketplace and sources advisors that are right specifically for you based on your location, assets and personal preferences. 

Answer a brief survey regarding your preparedness for retirement, investment style and contact information, so SmartAsset’s algorithm can match you with the best financial advisor for you!

Best for High-Net Worth Investors: Shelton Capital Management

Shelton Capital Management is a financial advisory firm that has a strong history of managing portfolios for high-net worth investors. The firm makes high-quality investment solutions to help your unique needs. It offers a range of products and customizable solutions such as fixed income, equity income and international equity solutions.

Shelton also provides Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing if your objective is to invest in the green economy. A green economy company is believed to help improve the economy and reduce environmental risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q

Can financial advisors help mitigate debt?

1

Can financial advisors help mitigate debt?

asked 2021-05-11

Shashank Jacob

A

1

Yes, they definitely specialize in helping you get back into a financial green zone. You will have to disclose all relevant financial information like your income, expenditure, savings, tax returns and investments to formulate a strategy to pay off debt in the fastest way possible.

Answer Link

answered 2021-05-11

Benzinga

Q

How do you evaluate a financial advisor?

1

How do you evaluate a financial advisor?

asked 2021-05-11

Shashank Jacob

A

1

One of the most effective ways to evaluate a financial advisor is by asking the people you trust — friends, family members and colleagues. Look potential advisors  up online and see if they fit your needs. Make sure they are a fiduciary, which means that they provide unbiased advice.

Answer Link

answered 2021-05-11

Benzinga

Q

Which certifications should my financial planner have?

1

Which certifications should my financial planner have?

asked 2021-05-11

Shashank Jacob

A

1

The top designations for financial planners are the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®). There are other certifications that an advisor can have, which still qualifies them as a financial planner. CFAs and CFP®s are the cream of the crop.

Answer Link

answered 2021-05-11

Benzinga

Choose the Right Financial Advisor in Denver

Robo-advisor or human financial advisor, you can make the most of your finances if you utilize them the right way. They can help you manage your portfolio, optimize your tax situation, manage your debt, plan for retirement and more. Do a thorough background check before you zero in on an advisor and try and visit a couple to make an informed decision.

Methodology

To determine the top financial advisors in Denver, we pored through all SEC-registered advisory firms who have an office in Denver. We winnowed the list by only including advisors that are registered fiduciaries, have no past disclosures and have minimal personal conflicts of interest. To further break down the list to the true top advisors in the area, we gave weight to advisors that offer both investment management and planning, have no conflicts of interest, have offices in multiple states, have a wrap fee program and over $50 million in assets under management.