Quite possibly the safest town in all of Michigan, Forbes ranks Grand Rapids the No. 1 best city to raise a family. Its financial district caters to a wealthy majority, particularly in East Grand Rapids, the wealthiest part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. East Grand Rapids is only 3.4 square miles, with a population of about 11,000. The average income here is a whopping $115,000 and the average home price is $303,000.
All that wealth has to be managed somewhere. Benzinga has culled the list of the best financial advisors in Grand Rapids so you’ll be confident you’re choosing the best financial advisor in the west-central part of the mitten.
1. Best for Comprehensive Management: Blue Water Asset Management
BlueWater Asset Management is an SEC-registered investment advisory built to serve you (or as its website states, through a spirit of partnership with you). The company provides services that include portfolio management, insurance, pension consulting, retirement and estate planning. Blue Water Asset Management works with 2 investment advisor representatives: Redfield Financial Group and Jay Greer.
- A percentage of assets under your management
- Hourly charges
- Fixed fees (other than subscription fees)
- Financial planning services
- Pension consulting services
- Selection of other advisers (including private fund managers)
Address
4120 E. BELTLINE AVE. SUITE 100GRAND RAPIDS MI, 49525
Phone number
616-447-1600
2. Best Robo-Advisor: M1 Finance
Ready to tackle your own finances? You might want a robo-advisor, so check out M1 Finance. M1 Finance offers low-cost ETFs, individual stocks or a combination of both. You’ll get a portfolio line of credit up to $10,000. You can also use M1 Finance’s checking account option to set up direct deposits.
M1 Finance’s Core account includes:
- Zero trading commissions
- Zero management fees
- Free checking account
- 3.5% base rate for a portfolio line of credit
M1 Finance’s Plus account includes:
- Core account features
- 1% APY on checking account balance
- 1% cashback on qualifying debit card purchases, no limits
- Access to a second daily trade window
- 2.75% rate for portfolio line of credit (0.75% reduction)
Brokerage products and services are offered by M1 Finance, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of M1 Holdings, Inc. ✝Your free trial (a $30 value) begins the date you enroll in the M1 Plus subscription, and ends 3 months after (“Free Trial”). Upon the expiry of the Free Trial, your account is automatically billed a monthly subscription fee of $10 unless you elect annual billing of $95 or cancel your subscription under your Membership details in the M1 Platform
3. Best for Full Suite of Financial Planning Services: Voisard Asset Management Group
Voisard Asset Management Group, a fee-only fiduciary, offers financial planning and management services in Grand Rapids. Voisard is a true fiduciary, which means the group works in your best interest to provide unbiased advice.
You won’t miss out on a full suite of financial planning services with Voisard, either. Voisard’s team of planning and investment professionals are all certified financial planners and carry the Series 65 license.
- A percentage of assets under your management
- Hourly charges
- Fixed fees (other than subscription fees)
- Financial planning services
- Pension consulting services
- Selection of other advisers (including private fund managers)
Address
99 MONROE AVE, NW, SUITE 504GRAND RAPIDS MI, 49503
Phone number
616-988-5778
4. Best for Employees: Calder Investment Advisors
Calder Investment Advisors offers the full gamut of investments, from brokerage accounts, IRAs, HSAs, 401(k) plans, charitable foundations, trusts and endowment funds.
Whether you’re an employee planning for retirement through your company or need a comprehensive strategy for both short- and long-term goals, Calder Investment Advisors can help. The company offers administrative services for employee benefits and compensation programs and acts as another arm of support for companies’ HR offices.
A trusted fiduciary, Calder Investments won’t sell you commissioned products and works to fully grasp your financial goals to come up with a comprehensive financial plan for you.
5. Best Portfolio Analysis: Personal Capital
Personal Capital can offer 2 different types of services:
- It catalogs all your accounts and helps you budget your finances and track your spending. Tracking your personal spending is free. You’ll be able to track a multi-asset portfolio with its free investment management tools.
- Personal Capital can also help you develop your portfolio with managed services, though you must have an account minimum balance of $100,000 or more.
Personal Capital’s advisors can help you plan tax optimization strategies and can analyze your personal long- and short-term goals.
6. Best for Continued Support: Grand Wealth Management
Few financial advisors clearly articulate a plan for long-term ongoing success. That’s not the case with Grand Wealth Management LLC. The group’s top priority is to learn what’s important to you and meet regularly with you to review your progress. Grand Wealth Management calls this its “Grand Wealth Management Process.” It includes five meetings:
- Discovery
- Wealth management plan
- Mutual decision
- 45-day follow up
- Regular progress
Grand Wealth Management can help you with your investments, retirement plans, tax questions, charitable contributions, estate and other planning needs.
7. 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.
It’s 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!
8. Best for an Active Portfolio Approach: LaFleur & Godfrey Private Wealth Management
LaFleur and Godfrey opts for an active approach to building a custom equities portfolio. LaFleur & Godfrey chooses leading companies in the fastest-growing sectors, in contrast to competitors that diversify in passive investments like index funds and ETFs.
It’s a unique approach to long- and short-term wealth management. Long-term management with LaFleur & Godfrey aims to preserve principal and can help you come up with a plan for retirement — and services continue with a plan to withdraw your money when you retire.
Get the Best Financial Advisor in Grand Rapids
The key to getting the best financial advisor in Grand Rapids is to shop around. Don’t be afraid to ask several advisors lots of questions. Remember, you must be able to trust the advisor you ultimately end up choosing! See more investment firms in Michigan.
Methodology
We pored through all SEC-registered advisory firms who have an office in Grand Rapids to determine the top financial advisors in Grand Rapids. We winnowed the list and only included advisors who are registered fiduciaries, had no past disclosures and have minimal personal conflicts of interest. We gave weight to advisors that offered both investment management and planning to further break down the list to the true top advisors in the area, have no conflicts of interest, have offices in multiple states, have a wrap fee program and have over $50 million in assets under management.