About Us
Grand Capital Advisors is a fee-only, independent Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm located in Grand Blanc, Michigan and serving clients across Michigan and the U.S. We primarily work with clients who are 50+ and/or within ten years of retirement. Most of our clients have investable assets of $1 million or more but we’re happy to speak with anyone about their financial future who would like to be a millionaire.
We specialize in retirement planning, tax planning, and investment management. Our fiduciary commitment ensures that we always prioritize our clients' best interests – 100% of the time. Whether you're an individual, couple, non-profit organization, foundation, or endowment, we offer tailored financial solutions to help you achieve your unique goals.
Experts agree you should work with a firm that will put in writing that they and their employees work as full-time fiduciaries. Grand Capital Advisors and all their employees are full-time Fiduciaries.
Experts agree that you should only work with firms who are fee-only advisors. Being a fee-only advisor means that our decision making will not be compromised by revenue from outside firms. Our allegiance is to our clients.
We have credentials and experience. Most financial advisory firms are staffed by salespeople. We are proud of our qualifications and experience as money managers and financial planners. See our bios for more information.
Our independence gives us the freedom to do what is right for our clients without corporate pressure to drive firm revenue at the expense of our clients.
Experts agree that working with an RIA is the best way to build and maintain lifetime wealth. We are a Registered Investment Advisory firm – not a brokerage firm, insurance company, or bank. In fact, we have no affiliation with any banks, brokerage or insurance companies.
The evidence speaks for itself. Since we’ve spent decades managing money and constantly learning, we’ve built an impressive process for investing our clients’ assets by keeping abreast of the best-in-class solutions.
About Us
FAQ
Evidence-based investing is based on the science of investing. Its foundation is from the academic world where the reward comes from building a better mousetrap—unlike Wall Street, where the reward is selling expensive, often complex products in order to reap financial reward to those doing the selling.
Here's why it matters that we are an evidence-based advisory firm.
We will:
● Invest in a widely diversified portfolio.
● Make every effort to keep costs low.
● Follow the investment philosophy with rigor and discipline despite what happens in the markets.
● Manage your money with tax efficiency in mind.
● Make decisions that take your personal risk and return preferences into account and are based upon sound evidence.
● Manage your money in a manner that puts the odds in your favor and increases the likelihood of your success.
We will not:
● Excessively buy and sell investments or churn your portfolio.
● Make trades without taking tax implications into account.
● Place your money into funds that carry high fees in order to maximize commissions paid to us.
● Sell you complex investment products that make money for our bottom line, not yours.
● Make decisions that lack a sound, rational basis grounded in rigorous academic research.
"Goals-based investing" relates the success of an investment strategy to whether it helps you attain specific lifegoals (like saving for retirement or leaving a legacy to a particular charity).
At Grand Capital, we are goals-based advisors.
A “fiduciary advisor” is required to always act in your best interest. It is the highest, most rigorous legal duty an advisor can owe to a client. Most employees of brokerage firms don't owe a fiduciary duty to their clients. They can have conflicts of interest—and resolve them in their economic self-interest—as long as the recommended investment is “suitable” for the client.
At Grand Capital, we are fiduciaries to you, in every aspect of our relationship.
Earning the CFA® designation is a highly selective process. Fewer than one in five candidates becomes a CFA charter holder. The program consists of three exams with an average of 1,000+ hours of intense study to earn this designation. Considered to be the preeminent financial designation, the program covers a broad range of financial topics relating to investment management, financial analysis, quantitative analysis, equities, fixed income, and derivatives. Both Ken and Steve hold the CFA® designation.
CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
A fee-only advisor receives fully disclosed compensation only from their clients. They don't accept compensation from vendors of investment products or others.
A fee-based advisor can charge a fee and also accept commissions paid by the sponsors of the products they sell, thereby creating a conflict of interest.
At Grand Capital, we are fee-only advisors.
All recommendations are made by our closely-knit advisory team.
A registered investment advisor (RIA) is a financial firm that advises clients on securities investments and may manage their investment portfolios. RIAs are registered with either the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or state securities administrators.
RIAs and the people who work for them have fiduciary obligations to their clients, meaning that they have a fundamental duty to always and only provide investment advice that is in their client’s best interests.
A recent study stated less than 2% of financial advisory firms are pure RIAs with no affiliations to other commission-based firms.
Grand Capital Advisors is a pure RIA with no brokerage or insurance company affiliations. This goes for the firm and its employees. See our fiduciary pledge.
A dual-registered advisor is a firm that is registered as both an RIA and a brokerage firm. Working with these firms presents a challenge as the lines between the two roles often become blurred. Consequently, clients may mistakenly believe they are receiving advice from someone genuinely concerned about their best interests, when in reality, the advisor is driven by commission-based product sales.
It is also worth noting that brokerage firms operate under the “suitability” standard vs the more stringent fiduciary standard imposed on RIAs.
Most firms who claim to be RIAs are actually dual-registered – and their decision making can be swayed by large commissions or revenue sharing from affiliated firms.
Grand Capital Advisors is not dual-registered and has no affiliations with brokerage firms, banks or insurance companies.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for valuable insights, tips, and updates on investment management, retirement planning, tax strategies and retirement lifestyle inspiration.