We pulled fee schedules from 16,545 SEC-filed advisory firms—about 116,000 advisors, roughly a quarter of the registered industry. At every portfolio size we tested, the 90th-percentile firm charges 2.3 to 2.5 times what the 10th-percentile firm charges for the same portfolio. Most of that gap isn't explained by service quality.
The Fee Gap at Every Portfolio Size
Annual fees at the 10th and 90th percentiles, weighted so each advisor (not each firm) counts once. The “ratio” is how much more the 90th-percentile firm charges than the 10th.
| Portfolio Size | 10th percentile | 90th percentile | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| $250K | $2,000 | $5,000 | 2.5x |
| $500K | $4,000 | $10,000 | 2.5x |
| $1M | $8,000 | $18,750 | 2.3x |
| $2M | $14,000 | $33,500 | 2.4x |
The dollar gap grows with portfolio size. At $500K, the spread between the 10th and 90th percentile is $6,000 a year. At $2M, it's $19,500. Over a decade at the $2M tier, that's $195,000 in fees you didn't need to pay.
Data source: Annual fees calculated from tiered fee schedules in Form ADV Part 2A brochures filed with the SEC. Sample: 16,545 firms with disclosed fee schedules, weighted by advisor headcount so percentiles reflect the typical advisor. About 22% of SEC-registered advisors work at firms that publish a tiered schedule; the rest include commission-based brokers, hybrid models, and firms whose fees vary too much to publish.
What Explains the Gap
Some of the spread is real service differentiation. A firm bundling tax preparation, estate planning, and a dedicated advisor with weekly check-ins has higher costs than one running model portfolios at scale. Geography matters too—advisors in dense, high-income metros tend to charge more (see our city-by-city ranking).
The rest is pricing power. Two firms offering essentially the same package can charge very different prices because clients rarely shop around. The industry has very little price transparency, and that lets the gap persist.
Are Expensive Advisors Worth It?
Sometimes. A complicated situation—a business, concentrated stock, multi-state residency, an estate plan that needs work—can produce tax savings that exceed a higher fee. For a straightforward case (portfolio plus retirement plan plus maybe a Roth conversion), a top-decile fee is hard to justify.
On returns specifically: research from Vanguard and Morningstar has consistently found that net of fees, expensive advisors don't outperform cheaper ones in raw investment returns. Where good advisors add measurable value is tax planning, withdrawal sequencing, and keeping clients invested through downturns—none of which scale linearly with price.
How to Find a Good Deal
Start with the table at the top. If a firm quotes you $15,000 a year for a $500K portfolio, you now know that's above the 90th percentile.
Get fee schedules in writing from at least three firms. Compare the dollar amounts, not just the percentages—a “competitive” 1.2% on $1M is still $12,000 a year.
Tools on TrueAdvisor
See where any advisor falls in the distribution. Every advisor profile shows their estimated annual fee at any portfolio size, plus a percentile pill—green if cheap, red if expensive. Drag the slider on the embed below to see it for yourself:
Calculate the lifetime cost of fees. Our fee impact calculator compares two fee rates side by side and shows what the difference compounds to over 10, 20, or 30 years.
Look up your current advisor. The fee check page pulls your advisor's real fee schedule from their SEC filings so you can see what you're actually paying.
Browse advisors sorted by fee