Alliant Wealth Advisors

Wealth Management in Virginia

New to Alliant?

Alliant

Al’li´ant (noun)

1. An ally

Connected with a common interest. Banded together in support of the same goal. Collaborator in a shared plan.

At Alliant Wealth Advisors, we’re proud of what our name stands for. It signifies our commitment to being an ally to our clients and our willingness to partner with our clients’ extended networks of specialists to help them achieve all that is financially important to them. Above all, it signifies trust: the trust that we strive to earn by consistently putting the interests of those we serve first.

At Alliant Wealth Advisors, our mission can be explained simply: We sincerely like to help. It’s the way the firm’s founder, John Frisch, was raised. “Of my two siblings, one sister is a career missionary, and the other is a career social worker,” John says. “I’m a career capitalist, but a helpful one.” We look forward to learning how we can help you.

Who We Work With

At Alliant Wealth Advisors, our clients are a diverse group that shares a common bond. Whether individuals, families, or businesses, our clients value working with an expert, trusted advisor who can instill confidence, help turn goals into reality and relieve the burden of work and worry.

  • We only want to work with you if we can add significant value.
  • Our clients are willing to partner with us in all areas of their personal finances, not just investing.
  • When you choose Alliant, you should be looking for an advisory relationship that offers ongoing, lifelong support.

We serve clients with a focus on big financial goals such as retirement and financial planning. We build customized plans to protect and build on the work they’ve already done to achieve these goals. Our clients are well into the process of building wealth to fund important life goals, including retirement. They are looking for comprehensive planning, tax-efficient investing, and ongoing proactive financial advice.

Our Rising Wealth Builders are committed long-haul savers with an eye to building a strong future. You can tell you’re one if you’re already saving for a stronger retirement nest egg, for buying a home, and for your kids’ college costs. We can help you fine-tune your investments, and help you make big non-investment decisions that can impact your finances in a big way.

Our Accomplished Wealth Builders typically have successful careers, with teenage or young adult children, and sometimes even a grandchild or two. You can tell you’re one if you’ve built up solid assets to prepare for a better retirement and are now anxious to make the right choices that preserve the benefit of all the work you’ve done so far. Our work is to help you plan your finances and future changes so you have the best shot at a secure retirement, and to assist you with estate planning to provide for your family in the way you want.

Our Wealth Stewards have the highest level of financial complexity. You may be a business owner, real estate investor, someone with challenging family dynamics, a high level of investable assets, or other complex financial challenges. Most likely, you’ve reached the pinnacle of a long successful career, and now your concerns lie in making the right choices as you prepare to retire and leave a legacy for your family, maximizing your savings and retirement income.

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Our Process

Our clients span the spectrum in financial complexity, needs, and goals. But one thing they all have in common is they value comprehensive and sophisticated planning that is clear, understandable, and proactive. Here’s how Alliant works to make that happen:

Step 1: Exploratory Meeting

We first meet with you to learn about your values, goals, relationships, the details of your finances, and your current planning situation. We do this so we can create the best possible plan for you that respects all of who you are, not just your finances. You must be willing to do your pre-meeting homework, which involves providing information such as income tax returns, pay stubs, statements, wills, insurance policies, etc. The more forthcoming and open you are, the more accurate and comprehensive our recommendations can be. The information we gather will help us create the most efficient, effective, and risk-proof strategies to help you achieve your financial goals.

Step 2: Investment Plan Meeting

We present a complimentary investment plan tailored to your situation and goals. The cornerstone of this meeting is the comprehensive investment plan, which outlines your investment goals and describes the strategies that we will use to achieve these goals. In this meeting, we encourage you to ask questions and ensure you fully understand what we’re recommending and why to make this plan fully your own. We create this plan at no cost to you because we want to give you an opportunity to evaluate what we have to offer and make the decision about whether we’re the right fit for you.

Step 3: Mutual Commitment Meeting

Once you’ve had a chance to review the plan, we make the mutual decision to commit to a formal relationship with each other. If we agree to do so, we will take over the work of implementing all the details of your plan. We will also begin monitoring your account on a regular basis to identify any opportunities or need for proactive adjustments.

Step 4: Organization and Advanced Planning

In this step, we proactively devise advanced planning solutions with the help of our robust proprietary software. For Wealth Steward clients with the most complex needs, we also partner with your expert team, including lawyers, accountants, and bankers. Our advanced planning work will cover:

  • Wealth Enhancement
  • Wealth Protection
  • Wealth Transfer
  • Charitable Planning

Step 5: Regular Progress Meetings

We will meet regularly to go over how your portfolio is doing and what we’ve implemented according to the Advanced Plan. We will also talk about things you may have on your plate as to-do’s — things we cannot do on your behalf. This ensures that all parts of your plan are progressing smoothly. Of course, we’re always available for questions or if you need more information.

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Companies

Our corporate clients are seeking an expert, objective, and capable partner to design, implement, and help maintain their 401(k) retirement plans—and to help their employees make the most of this important benefit.

Our relationship starts with discovery, plan diagnostics and design, and a full proposal prior to formalizing our service agreements. Once we formalize the service agreement, we will work with you to:

  • Create an investment policy statement
  • Conduct compliance training
  • Provide an enrollment presentation

We’ll work closely with you throughout our relationship. We provide ongoing participant support through education, model investment portfolios, and practical assistance where needed. We also meet with our corporate clients annually to review progress with the investment committee and discuss compliance and your strategic plan agenda.

Want more information? Check out our 401(k) website below.

Alliant 401(k) Website

You’ll Be A Great Client If

1

We can add significant value to your financial situation.

2

You want to work with us in all areas of your personal finances.

3

You like to work with your advisor on an ongoing basis.

4

You appreciate lifelong relationships and dealing with people on a one-on-one basis.

Why Choose Us

True Wealth Management

All financial advisors these days claim to offer wealth management, but that’s mostly lip service. Most advisors only want to focus on your investments—the service that is most lucrative for them—and add a basic financial plan as an afterthought.

True wealth management is concerned with your entire financial life, from retirement and college planning to tax mitigation and philanthropy to estate planning. As an independent, fee-only advisor, Alliant looks at your entire financial picture. We’re concerned about what you need, not maximizing our own profits. None of our counterparts in the industry surpass the extensive depth and breadth of our services.

An Easy, Efficient Process

These days, time seems to be scarce for everyone—that’s certainly the case in the D.C. area. That’s why we’ve made comprehensive wealth management easy and efficient for our clients. Our process is designed to save our clients time, sparing them unnecessary work and getting them firmly on the road to achieving their financial goals.

Our clients tell us that what they love most about us are our consultative process and our state-of-the-art proprietary software which delivers significant efficiencies and time savings. A few examples:

  • Mobility—you can instantly access all your information and communications anytime, anywhere in the world.
  • Data vault—your data and important documents are always secure and easy to access.
  • Digital signatures—you’ll never have to deal with paper and the attendant hassles—our processes are grounded in digital simplicity.

Uniquely Qualified and Experienced

Our team brings more than three decades of financial industry experience with backgrounds that offer clear insight into clients’ situations and needs. We take pride in “seeing around corners” to anticipate and address your concerns before they arise.

Our clients are able to maximize tax-saving opportunities and benefit from advanced planning techniques to preserve wealth and bolster their investment gains.

Some of our credentials include:

  • CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)
  • Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®)
  • Professional Plan Consultant™ (PPC™)
  • Personal Financial Specialist (PFS™)
  • Master of Business Administration (MBA)

The Alliant team brings corporate retirement plan sponsors’ experience and efficiency as well. We’ve served businesses in leadership roles with deep expertise and experience that allows us to quickly understand our clients’ needs and recommend the best solutions.

Our team knows the concerns and needs of small and mid-size businesses inside and out, and we deliver solutions with an ultra-high level of service that frees our clients to focus on their business.

A Fiduciary Partner

As a fiduciary firm, Alliant brings the highest level of objectivity and transparency to families and businesses. Many families and businesses assume that all financial advisors must avoid or disclose conflicts of interest and always do what is unambiguously best for the client. Surprisingly, the majority of financial advisors are not legally held to this standard, and they face potential conflicts of interest that can pit their interests against those of their clients. Alliant is among the minority of financial advisor firms that are true fiduciaries, legally bound to put our clients’ interests first at all times.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is my data secure?

In order to protect your personal information, we maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect your personal information. Our privacy policy restricts the use of client information and requires that it be held in strict confidence. Here are some of the security protocols we have in place to protect your information:

  • Enterprise Grade Firewall to protect from outside threats.
  • Patch Management to keep our systems up to date and prevent serious security risks.
  • Enterprise Virus Protection to prevent, detect, and remove malware.
  • Data at Rest File Encryption to prevent data visibility in the event of unauthorized access or theft.
  • DLP Protection to detect potential data breaches/data ex-filtration transmissions and prevent them by monitoring, detecting and blocking sensitive data.
  • Onsite Security System to provide monitoring and protection for our office locations.
  • Enterprise Backup to serve as a backup storage system for our data.
  • Encrypted File Transfer to provide a way for us and our clients to safely share files.
  • System Monitoring to serve as our IT team to help track and manage all IT assets.
  • Cloud Encrypted Systems to encode our data before it’s transferred to cloud storage, ultimately transforming data to an unreadable form that can conceal it from unauthorized and malicious users.
  • Security Policy Reviews to keep all of our security policies up-to-date and ever expanding.

What are your minimum asset requirements?

We do not have a minimum asset requirement. At Alliant Wealth Advisors, our clients are a diverse group that shares a common bond. Whether individuals, families, or businesses, our clients value working with an expert, trusted advisor who can instill confidence, help turn goals to reality, and relieve the burden of work and worry. We only want to work with you if we can add significant value, you are willing to partner with us in all areas of your personal finances, not just investing, and are looking for an advisory relationship that offers ongoing, lifelong support.

Why is working with a fiduciary advisor important?

As a fee-only fiduciary firm, Alliant brings the highest level of objectivity and transparency to families and businesses. Fiduciary financial advisors such as Alliant Wealth Advisors are a small minority within the financial advisor industry. Fiduciaries have a legal obligation to act in their clients’ interests. They cannot, for instance, recommend an investment to a client just because it pays the advisor a high sales commission. Fiduciary advisors are free from most of the conflicts of interest that are associated with traditional brokers and advisors who accept sales commissions or are fee-based.

What is a fee-only advisor?

100% of Alliant’s revenue comes from its clients. None comes from third parties such as mutual fund, insurance, or mortgage companies. A fee-only advisor is paid only by his or her clients. They do not charge sales commissions, and they do not receive any compensation from product manufacturers. As a result, they do not face the conflicts of interest inherent in other compensation models.

What is the difference between fee-only and fee-based advisors?

A fee-only advisor is 100% compensated by the fees charged directly to clients—either hourly, via a flat retainer, or based on a percentage of assets managed. Fee-only advisors are never paid commissions from selling financial products. This ensures the advisor is offering advice in the client’s best interest. Typically, fee-only advisors hold designations that hold them to a fiduciary duty, wherein they are legally bound to have their clients’ best interests at heart and to adhere to strict ethical guidelines. On the other hand, a fee-based advisor charges a fee for financial advice and also receives commissions for selling financial products used to implement that advice. This can cause conflicts of interest, as commissions incentivize advisors to push certain products that may or may not be the best choice for the client. Clients are often unaware that their fee-based advisors are working on commission and that these incentives may be influencing the advice they receive.

What if I just want you to develop a financial plan without ongoing management?

Unfortunately, our client service process and philosophy does not support one-off relationships. We have learned during our 25 years of experience that one-off relationships rarely work out well for the client. We find that our clients get the most value through an ongoing and long-term relationship.

What is your investment approach?

We eschew fads, market timing, and stock tips, and insist on a disciplined, rigorous approach to investing that is clearly based on scientific evidence of what has worked historically. We believe in patient asset allocation, global diversification, and the value of minimizing fees and taxes.

Where are client assets held?

Our clients’ assets are held with reputable third-party custodians. Our primary custodian is Raymond James Financial. Our financial advisors have no direct access to our clients’ money.

Where can I learn more about your firm?

You can learn more about our firm by browsing our site, including our About Us page, or reviewing our Form ADV.

Have more questions about what it’s like to be a client? Click here.

Our Fees

If you are shopping around for the cheapest firm, Alliant Wealth Advisors is not a good fit. We are more expensive than the average firm because we provide a higher level of service and can confidently say we offer greater value for our clients. Our client-to-employee ratio is half that of the industry average because we are committed to ensuring each client gets focused, careful attention and white-glove service.

Alliant Wealth Advisors is proud to be a fee-only financial advisor.

As a fee-only firm, we provide our clients with an important assurance that we will act in their best interests and provide wealth management services.

Here’s why

Most financial advisors are compensated partly or entirely through sales commissions paid to them by mutual funds companies, insurance manufacturers, and other product providers. What’s more, they are legally allowed to consider their own potential compensation when recommending a product. This creates the ongoing potential for conflict of interest in which an advisor may be tempted to weigh his own interests against those of his clients.

Furthermore, this traditional model encourages advisors to focus on just one of their clients’ many financial needs: investing. Too often, clients do not receive the broad, comprehensive planning and support that their full financial health requires.

Fee-only advisors work within a completely different model. We are compensated through pre-agreed fees that are never impacted by the recommendation we provide and paid only by our client. This eliminates the principal source of conflicts of interest, further enabling us to give purely objective advice and guidance. It also frees us from a narrow focus on investments so that we can properly address our clients’ full range of needs, from planning to tax management to estate planning.

What this means for you is that your fees are always:

  • Completely transparent and always clear
  • Based on the level of assets we manage for you
  • Fixed and don’t increase based on usage—it’s all covered no matter how many times you need to meet with us or how often your needs or situation may change

Ready to Discuss Your
Financial Planning Needs?

Schedule a complimentary call to see how we can help.

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Still Not Sure If It’s Time to Start Your Planning?

Financial planning for your future may seem like something you can put off until later, but your actual lifespan is a wildcard.

While none of us can be 100% certain what the future holds, estimating your longevity as accurately as possible can help you:

  • Make more informed lifestyle choices
  • Consider ideal insurance coverage
  • Spend more confidently
  • Create relevant estate plans
  • Calculate realistic healthcare costs
  • …and more

Unfortunately, most longevity plans are based on plugging in generic averages from the general population. So how can you arrive at YOUR life plan, if you haven’t factored in your individual health variables, lifestyle preferences, and anticipated medical and long-term care spending?

Take the Halo Assessment

After completing your assessment on our secure portal and providing your name and email address, you’ll receive immediate feedback, including your personal Longevity Healthspan. The Longevity Healthspan lists your mean life expectancy and projected number of:

  • Active working years
  • Active retirement years
  • Extended care years

After you complete your assessment, you can play “what-if” with your results to see how they may improve with various lifestyle changes. You’ll also be invited to receive a free, more detailed report and explanatory consultation with an Alliant Wealth planner.

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