Birch Investment Management Review
phone 605-250-3644 print Print Report
Is this your firm? Apply for Trusted badge | August 12th, 2020
Birch Investment Management, registered in 2011, is a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in 1 state(s) with a licensed staff of 1 advisors. Birch Investment Management manages $10.7 million and provides investment advisory services for 52 clients (1:52 advisor/client ratio).
Disciplinary Questions
After checking the disciplinary records of Birch Investment Management, our system found no disciplinary questions to ask. Checks take place monthly.
Conflict Questions
After checking the regulatory records of Birch Investment Management, our system has identified the following question(s) to ask. Learn more.
Do you offer mutual funds that have 12b-1 fees?
Why ask? 12b-1 fees increase the total annual cost of owning a mutual fund with no guarantee of higher returns. Some firms receive these fees as payments, which creates an incentive to promote them.
Do you offer products that have performance-based fees, or do you accept performance-based fees? Will any of my assets be invested in those products?
Why ask? When performance-based fees are charged, the financial advisor is paid for outperforming a benchmark, typically an index. While this may seem like an attractive compensation structure to ensure your advisor is making your money work for you, often, the managers of those products are incentivized to take inappropriate risks to beat their performance benchmark. For instance, research has shown that mutual funds that use incentive fees take on more risk that funds that do not, and tend to double down and increase their risk following a poor performance. This could be detrimental to a client during down markets.
Do you perform side-by-side management? How do you mitigate conflicts that arise from managing accounts with differing fee structures?
Why ask? This typically occurs when firms manage mutual funds or hedge funds alongside smaller retail accounts. Side-by-side management can create an incentive for the advisor to favor the larger funds, potentially leading to unequal trading costs and unfavorable trade executions for their retail clients.
Which securities do you trade for yourself that you will also be recommending to me?
Why ask? This firm has marked in their disclosures that they trade recommended securities. While this often can be seen as "eating your own cooking," there are several inherent conflicts that can arise. For example, front running is when a financial professional buys or sell securities ahead of their client. In short, any financial professional should disclose all positions they hold (or have sold short) that they will also be recommending to you.
Our system found no other conflict questions to ask. Checks take place monthly.
Firm Information
As a financial advisory firm, also known as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), Birch Investment Management can provide a variety of financial planning services for Americans. The goal of a financial advisor is to review your personal finances and work with you to achieve your life goals, e.g., saving for retirement, by creating a comprehensive financial plan. Financial advisors focus primarily on money management, including investments like stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds.
Financial planning services can include tax planning, estate planning, retirement planning, or life-based event planning such as saving for college, getting married, purchasing a home, paying down debt, or planning an inheritance.
| Summary | Firm |
| Minimum Investment | Ask firm |
| Average Client Balance | $206,031 |
| Total AUM | $10.7 million |
| Fee Range | Ask firm |
| Advisor / Client Ratio | 1:52 |
| Website | Visit Site |
| Phone Number | 605-250-3644 |
| Headquarters | Brookings, SD |
| Locations | See locations |
| Facebook page unknown | |
| Twitter handle unknown | |
| LinkedIn page unknown | |
| SEC Filings | View SEC IAPD CRD #158735 |
Disciplinary History
An important aspect of the Trust Algorithm is processing the SEC Form ADV Part 1 filing of each Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). “Item 11 Disclosure Information” contains a list of valuable disclosures that are relevant for Americans.
As identified in SEC Form ADV Part 1, Item 11 “Disclosure Information”, the Trust Algorithm identified the following disciplinary disclosures for Birch Investment Management:
Cost
Unfortunately, there is no single, uniform pricing standard for working with a financial advisor. Catchphrases, including "fee-only," can be helpful; however, Americans often get confused with competitors promoting "fee-based" in response.
Ultimately, to understand the underlying costs of advisory services, we always recommend asking for an itemized fees breakdown and reading the firm's ADV Part 2 Brochure (Item 5, "Fees and Compensation").
| Disclosure | Firm |
| 12B-1 Conflict | Ask firm |
| Attorney Conflict | No |
| Broker-Dealer Conflict | No |
| Performance-Based Fees | Ask firm |
| Commissions Conflict | No |
| Insurance Agent Conflict - Affiliation | No |
| Insurance Agent Conflict - Firm | No |
| Non-Secure Website | No |
| Private Investment Management | No |
| Proprietary Products | No |
| Side-by-Side Management | Ask firm |
| Soft-dollar Arrangements | No |
| Trades Recommended Securities | Yes |
FAQs
Where is Birch Investment Management headquartered? Which states do its financial advisors serve?
Birch Investment Management is headquartered in Brookings, SD. Birch Investment Management offers financial advisor services in 1 state: South Dakota.
What is the average client balance at Birch Investment Management?
While Birch Investment Management advises clients across a variety of portfolio sizes, the average client balance is currently $206,031. In total, Birch Investment Management manages $10,713,625 in assets.
What is the historical performance of Birch Investment Management?
The SEC, nor FINRA, tracks portfolio performance metrics for the financial planning industry. As a result, unlike hedge funds, there is no historical performance for any financial advisory firm. Financial plans and investment portfolios are always unique to the client's personal financial situation.
Can I write a review of Birch Investment Management or file a complaint?
investor.com relies on regulatory data from the SEC to rate and review financial advisor firms. As a result, we do not support personal reviews on the site. To file a complaint or dispute with this firm, please fill out the SEC Investor Complaint Form.
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This automated report was generated using SEC and FINRA data and was last updated on August 12th, 2020*. For data support, email "support@investor.com". Firms that receive a 4.5 or 5-star rating are considered Trusted by investor.com. Learn more.
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