Fintegrity FAQs
Fee-Only Fiduciary Wealth Management for $2M+ Families.
About Fintegrity
Firm overview, mission, and what makes Fintegrity different.
What is Fintegrity?
What makes Fintegrity different?
Fintegrity is a fee-only fiduciary RIA built around four structural commitments that distinguish us from typical advisory firms: continuous fiduciary duty on every account, fee-only compensation with no commissions or product revenue, GIPS-compliant performance independently verified by The Spaulding Group, and direct access to the managing principal — Jeffrey Barnett, an HBS MBA and former TIAA Managing Director — for every client meeting and portfolio decision. Most RIAs satisfy one or two of these criteria; Fintegrity is built around all four.
Fintegrity claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) and has been independently verified for the periods 1/22/2019 through 12/31/2025. Verification provides assurance on whether the firm’s policies and procedures related to composite and pooled fund maintenance, as well as the calculation, presentation, and distribution of performance, have been designed in compliance with the GIPS standards and have been implemented on a firm-wide basis. Verification does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report. The verification report is available upon request.
Who do you typically work with?
Do you hold the CFA designation? What does that mean for me as a client?
No — Jeffrey Barnett is not a CFA charterholder. The Chartered Financial Analyst designation is a rigorous three-exam credential designed primarily for institutional portfolio managers, research analysts, and securities-selection roles at investment banks and asset-management firms. It is a securities-analysis credential, not a fiduciary-advice credential.
When choosing an individual advisor, it’s crucial to ensure they meet several key criteria. The person managing your money should be:
- A registered investment adviser held to a fiduciary standard.
- Verifiable through public regulatory records.
- Accountable for a proven track record you can inspect.
- Experienced in handling your specific financial situation.
- Operating a practice structured to prioritize your interests above all else.
Fintegrity meets all five. The firm is registered with the SEC (CRD #292421) and Jeffrey Barnett is registered as an investment adviser representative (CRD #6924554) — both verifiable on adviserinfo.sec.gov. Fintegrity is a fiduciary 100% of the time, is fee-only with no commissions, and claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) — having been independently verified by The Spaulding Group for the periods 1/22/2019 through 12/31/2025. Fewer than 4% of RIAs meet this institutional standard for performance reporting.
The most important question is not “what letters follow your advisor’s name?” but “can you verify their record, and is it being reported under a recognized standard?” Both answers for Fintegrity are public.
What is your account minimum?
Fintegrity’s account minimum is $2 million in investable assets. We work with a deliberately limited number of households — currently 24 — so that every client receives direct attention from Jeffrey Barnett rather than being routed to a junior associate. The minimum reflects the level of complexity, tax coordination, and ongoing planning work that makes a fiduciary relationship genuinely valuable. Households just below the threshold are welcome to reach out; we’ll have an honest conversation about fit.
Do I need to live in New Jersey to work with you?
Fiduciary Status, Regulation & Trust
How to verify Fintegrity, our fiduciary standard, and regulatory background.
How do I verify that Fintegrity is a real, registered investment adviser?
You can verify Fintegrity LLC directly on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website at adviserinfo.sec.gov by searching our CRD number, 292421.
The IAPD database is maintained by the SEC and FINRA and contains the registration status, Form ADV filings, disciplinary history, and ownership information for every state- and SEC-registered investment adviser in the United States. Every adviser representative is also searchable individually — Jeffrey Barnett’s individual CRD number is 6924554.
Fintegrity has been continuously registered since 2017 and files its updated Form ADV Part 2A annually within 90 days of fiscal year-end, as required under Rule 204-1 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
For prospective clients, this means you can independently verify our registration, fee schedule, disciplinary history, and ownership in under two minutes — without taking our word for any of it.
What is Fintegrity's CRD number and how do I look it up?
Fintegrity’s firm CRD number is 292421, and you can look it up at adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/292421.
A CRD (Central Registration Depository) number is a unique identifier assigned to every registered investment adviser and broker-dealer by FINRA on behalf of the SEC and state regulators. CRD numbers never change and follow the firm for life — they are the most reliable way to verify an advisory firm’s identity, because firm names can be similar or duplicated.
Fintegrity has two CRD numbers you may encounter: the firm CRD #292421 (Fintegrity LLC) and the individual CRD #6924554 (Jeffrey E. Barnett, founder and managing principal). Both are searchable on IAPD and produce a free PDF report including the most recent Form ADV.
When evaluating any adviser, we recommend pulling the IAPD report before your first meeting — it takes 60 seconds and tells you more than most marketing pages.
Is Fintegrity a fiduciary 100% of the time, or only on certain accounts?
Fintegrity is a fiduciary 100% of the time, on every account, for every client — there are no exceptions, no dual registrations, and no commission-based products.
A fiduciary is legally bound to act in the client’s best interest at all times under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Many large firms operate under a hybrid model — fiduciary on advisory accounts, but suitability-only on brokerage accounts — which means the same advisor can switch hats mid-conversation. Fintegrity is registered only as a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) and holds no broker-dealer license, no insurance license, and no third-party product affiliations.
We are also fee-only, meaning 100% of our compensation comes from clients via transparent advisory fees — never from commissions, kickbacks, revenue-sharing, or product sales. This structure is the definition of “continuous fiduciary.”
For HNW families evaluating advisors, this matters because it eliminates the most common conflict of interest in wealth management: an advisor who earns more by selling you something than by advising you well.
Has Fintegrity ever been disciplined by the SEC or any state regulator?
No. Fintegrity LLC has no disciplinary history, no SEC enforcement actions, no state regulatory actions, and no client arbitration awards on its record as of the most recent Form ADV filing. You can verify this independently at adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/292421.
Form ADV Part 1, Item 11 requires every registered investment adviser to disclose any criminal, regulatory, civil, or self-regulatory disciplinary events for the firm and its principals. The IAPD report displays these events for ten years after they occur and is updated within 30 days of any reportable event.
Founder Jeffrey Barnett (CRD #6924554) has held FINRA and/or SEC registrations continuously since 1996 with no disciplinary disclosures across nearly three decades of regulated employment, including senior roles at TIAA where he managed approximately $40 billion in assets across multiple asset classes (equities, fixed income, and alternatives).
We disclose this directly because we believe a clean regulatory record is a baseline expectation for an HNW fiduciary, not a marketing achievement — and because any prospect can verify it themselves in 60 seconds.
What does it mean to be a registered investment adviser (RIA)?
A registered investment adviser (RIA) is a firm registered with either the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or one or more state securities regulators that provides investment advice to clients in exchange for compensation. RIAs are governed by the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and are held to a fiduciary standard — they must act in their clients’ best interest at all times.
This standard differs materially from the suitability standard that applies to broker-dealers. A broker-dealer must only recommend products that are “suitable” given a client’s situation; an RIA must recommend what is genuinely in the client’s best interest, even when a less profitable recommendation for the firm is the right answer for the client.
Fintegrity operates as a discretionary investment manager, meaning clients authorize Fintegrity to make investment decisions on their behalf without seeking approval for each individual trade. This authority is granted through a written Investment Management Agreement that defines investment objectives, risk tolerance, and any constraints. The discretionary authority is exercised under continuous fiduciary obligation.
Fintegrity charges transparent, asset-based advisory fees and accepts no commissions, kickbacks, revenue-sharing, or product-sales income from any third party. This fee model aligns Fintegrity’s interests directly with client interests — the firm benefits when client portfolios grow, not when clients trade frequently or buy high-commission products. By contrast, broker-dealers earn commissions on trades and embedded product fees, and banks frequently bundle advisory services with lending and deposit products in ways that create competing revenue streams.
What disclosures should I review before becoming a client?
Before becoming a Fintegrity client, prospective clients should carefully review the following key disclosures:
- Form ADV Part 2A (Firm Brochure): Comprehensive information about Fintegrity’s business, services, fees, conflicts, and risks
- Form ADV Part 2B (Brochure Supplement): Background and qualifications of advisory personnel who will serve you
- Investment Management Agreement: The contract establishing the terms of your relationship with Fintegrity
- Privacy Notice: How Fintegrity collects, uses, and protects your personal information
- Interactive Brokers Custodial Documents: Account agreements, risk disclosures, margin disclosures (if applicable), and options disclosures (if applicable)
Taking time to read and understand these documents will help you make an informed decision about entrusting Fintegrity with the management of your assets. If anything is unclear, you should ask questions before signing any agreements or transferring assets.
What happens to my accounts if Jeffrey Barnett is unable to manage them?
Fintegrity maintains a written Business Continuity and Succession Plan filed with the SEC under Rule 206(4)-7, which provides for the orderly transition of client accounts in the event the founder is unable to continue management.
In the short term, all client assets remain custodied at Interactive Brokers — a SIPC-member broker-dealer that custodies over $500 billion in client assets (Interactive Brokers 2024 Annual Report) — meaning your accounts are safe, accessible, and unaffected by any operational issue at Fintegrity itself. Fintegrity never takes custody of client funds.
Clients are notified in advance of any material change and retain the right at all times to terminate the advisory relationship and either retain assets at Interactive Brokers, transfer to a new advisor, or move to another custodian — without penalty.
For HNW families, the practical answer is: your assets are not held by Fintegrity, your portfolio holdings would not change, and you retain full control of next steps regardless of what happens at the firm level.
Fee-Only Structure & GIPS Verification
How our fees are calculated, billed, and how they compare to alternatives.
What does it mean that Fintegrity is "fee-only"?
What's the difference between a fee-only and a fee-based financial adviser?
A fee-only adviser is paid exclusively by the client — through an asset-based fee, flat fee, hourly fee, or retainer — and accepts no commissions, kickbacks, revenue-sharing, or product-placement compensation from any third party. A fee-based adviser is paid by the client and by third parties — meaning the same adviser earns advisory fees from you on some accounts and earns commissions on products sold to you on other accounts.
The distinction is structural, not semantic, and it determines which legal standard applies to the recommendations you receive. The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), which requires all of its members to operate under the fee-only structure, states: “NAPFA’s position is that the Fee-Only method of compensation is the most transparent and objective method available. This model minimizes conflicts and ensures that your financial planner acts as a fiduciary.”
Aspect
Fee-Only
Fee-Based
The practical risk of a fee-based relationship is that the adviser earns more by recommending some products than others — a structural incentive to suggest higher-commission variable annuities, proprietary mutual funds, or non-traded REITs over lower-cost index funds or individual securities, even when the lower-cost option is better for the client. Disclosure does not eliminate this conflict.
The cleanest test is to ask: “Will you ever earn any compensation related to my account from anyone other than me?” A fee-only adviser answers no, in writing, without qualification.
Fintegrity is fee-only. We are registered solely as a Registered Investment Adviser, hold no broker-dealer license, no insurance license, and no third-party product affiliations. Every dollar of our compensation comes from clients via the transparent advisory fee disclosed in our Form ADV Part 2A and the investment management agreement.
What is GIPS verification and why does it matter for choosing a financial adviser?
GIPS verification — verification under the Global Investment Performance Standards maintained by the CFA Institute — is an independent third-party engagement that provides assurance on whether a firm’s policies and procedures related to composite and pooled fund maintenance, and the calculation, presentation, and distribution of performance, have been designed in compliance with the GIPS standards and have been implemented on a firm-wide basis. Verification is conducted using sample testing of policies, composites, and portfolios; verification does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report and is not the same as a financial-statement audit.
In plain terms, GIPS verification is the principal way an outside investor can gain independent assurance that a manager’s performance is being calculated, presented, and distributed under a rigorous, globally-recognized framework — rather than a methodology the firm chose for itself. It is the standard used by institutional asset owners (pensions, endowments, sovereign wealth funds) when they evaluate external managers, and the 2024 CFA Institute Asset Owner Survey found that 68% of asset owners require or ask about GIPS compliance when selecting managers for liquid asset classes.
GIPS compliance is rare among RIAs serving individual clients. According to data from the CFA Institute, approximately 1,355 firms in the United States claim compliance with the GIPS standards, against a universe of more than 32,000 SEC- and state-registered investment advisers — meaning roughly 4% of U.S. RIAs have committed to GIPS-compliant reporting. Of those, approximately 84% have engaged an independent verifier, leaving roughly 1,140 U.S. firms with verified GIPS compliance.
Why GIPS compliance and verification matter when choosing an adviser:
- Composites must include every fee-paying discretionary portfolio. Under the GIPS standards, a firm must group all fee-paying discretionary portfolios with similar objectives into composites and present asset-weighted composite returns — there is no ability to selectively exclude underperforming accounts.
- Standardized calculation and presentation. GIPS prescribes how returns are calculated, how composites are constructed and maintained, and what disclosures must accompany every GIPS Report.
- Independent verifier. Verification is performed by a specialized third-party firm — not the adviser’s accountant, custodian, or compliance consultant — using sample testing of the firm’s policies, procedures, and supporting records.
- It is a meaningful commitment. GIPS compliance and ongoing verification carry real cost and operational burden, which is why so few firms maintain them. A firm that has chosen to be verified is signaling its commitment to a globally-recognized performance reporting standard.
What verification is not: verification is not a financial-statement audit, does not constitute SEC review or approval, and does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report. A separate engagement called a performance examination may be conducted on a specific composite, but most verified firms — and the substantial majority of verified RIAs — do not undergo performance examinations on individual composites. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Fintegrity’s verification statement: Fintegrity claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) and has been independently verified by The Spaulding Group for the periods 1/22/2019 through 12/31/2025. The verification report is available upon request. Verification provides assurance on whether the firm’s policies and procedures related to composite and pooled fund maintenance, as well as the calculation, presentation, and distribution of performance, have been designed in compliance with the GIPS standards and have been implemented on a firm-wide basis. Verification does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report. Our composite returns and full GIPS Reports are available on the firm’s composite reports pages, and we have published additional context on what GIPS verification means in this article.
Comparing Advisers & Switching to Fintegrity
How Fintegrity compares to wirehouses and large RIAs, and how to move accounts.
How does Fintegrity compare to Charles Schwab Wealth Advisory or Vanguard PAS?
Fintegrity is a fee-only, GIPS-compliant and independently-verified boutique RIA serving 24 ultra-high-net-worth households, while Schwab Wealth Advisory and Vanguard Personal Advisor Services are mass-market advisory programs serving hundreds of thousands of clients each.
The key differences are scale, customization, and verification. Charles Schwab Wealth Advisory charges a tiered fee starting at 0.80% on the first $1M with a $500,000 minimum (Schwab.com) and assigns clients to a regional advisor team. Vanguard Personal Advisor Services (PAS) charges approximately 0.30% AUM with a $50,000 minimum (Vanguard.com) and uses a centralized advisor pool combined with model portfolios. Fintegrity charges 1.00% on the first $1M dropping to 0.25% above $10M, requires a $2M minimum, and provides direct access to its managing principal — an HBS MBA and former TIAA Managing Director — who personally manages every relationship.
Unlike Schwab and Vanguard, Fintegrity claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) and has been independently verified by The Spaulding Group for the periods 1/22/2019 through 12/31/2025 — a standard adopted by less than 4% of U.S. RIAs. Verification provides assurance on whether the firm’s policies and procedures related to composite and pooled fund maintenance, as well as the calculation, presentation, and distribution of performance, have been designed in compliance with the GIPS standards and have been implemented on a firm-wide basis. Verification does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report. The verification report is available upon request.
For prospects deciding between a national platform and a boutique fiduciary, the trade-off is breadth versus depth: Schwab and Vanguard offer brand recognition and lower fees on smaller balances; Fintegrity offers individually-managed portfolios, direct principal access, and GIPS-compliant verified performance reporting for $2M+ relationships.
Who is a good RIA for someone with a $2–5M portfolio who's tired of their wirehouse?
A good Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) for a $2–5M household leaving a wirehouse should provide four things wirehouses structurally cannot: fiduciary duty on every account, fee-only compensation, customized individual-security portfolios in place of proprietary products, and direct access to the senior adviser managing the relationship.
A wirehouse — Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS, or Wells Fargo Advisers — is a dual-registered broker-dealer and investment adviser, which means the same adviser can switch between fiduciary (advisory) and suitability-only (brokerage) standards within a single relationship. Wirehouse advisers are typically compensated through a combination of advisory fees, embedded product revenue, and firm-set production targets — a structure that Kitces Research identified as carrying a median all-in cost of approximately 1.50% per year at the $2M level, declining to 1.20% at $5M+, when underlying expense ratios and platform fees are included. By contrast, an independent fee-only RIA is registered solely as an investment adviser, accepts no commissions, and discloses every form of compensation in its Form ADV Part 2A.
Fintegrity LLC (CRD #292421) is structured specifically for the $2–25M household leaving a wirehouse: $2,000,000 minimum, fee-only compensation, continuous fiduciary duty, GIPS-verified performance, individual-security portfolios custodied at Interactive Brokers under its institutional IBKR Pro tier (typically under $1 per equity trade, with smart-order routing and execution quality that more than offsets the modest commission), and direct access to the managing principal — an HBS MBA and former TIAA Managing Director — for every client meeting. The blended effective fee for a $5M relationship is approximately 0.80%, with no embedded product revenue, soft dollars, or revenue-sharing arrangements.
For prospects evaluating the move, the practical due-diligence test is to compare your current wirehouse 1099 (advisory fee + fund expense ratios + platform fees + transaction costs) against an RIA’s all-in fee — the difference is often substantial, and the structural conflict elimination is independent of the cost savings.
Should I move my account from Merrill Lynch to a fiduciary RIA?
Whether to move from Merrill Lynch to a fiduciary RIA depends on three diagnostic questions: (1) Does your current adviser act as a fiduciary on every account, or only on advisory accounts? (2) What is your current all-in cost when fund expense ratios and platform fees are included? (3) Do you have direct access to the senior adviser managing your portfolio, or are you assigned to a rotating team?
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management is a division of Bank of America and operates as a dual-registered broker-dealer and investment adviser. According to Merrill’s own client relationship summary, client relationships can be structured as either advisory (where the firm acts as a fiduciary) or brokerage (where the firm acts under a suitability standard) — and many clients hold both account types with the same adviser. Merrill Guided Investing With an Adviser charges a stated annual program fee of 0.85%, but Kitces Research found that the median all-in cost for dually-registered firms at the $1M level is approximately 125 basis points versus 120 basis points for fee-only RIAs, with the gap widening at higher asset levels once underlying fund expenses are included.
A move to a fee-only fiduciary RIA typically delivers four structural changes: (1) the adviser is fiduciary on every dollar at every moment, (2) compensation is paid only by the client with no product revenue, (3) portfolios can hold individual securities rather than proprietary or affiliated funds, and (4) Form ADV Part 2A discloses every conflict in plain language. The trade-off is that you lose the integrated banking, lending, and concierge services that a wirehouse bundles — services that are valuable to some HNW households but not worth the cost for others.
The practical decision framework: request your most recent 12 months of statements from Merrill, total your all-in costs (advisory fee + fund expense ratios + transaction charges + platform fees), and compare to a fee-only RIA’s published fee schedule plus underlying ETF or individual-security expenses. If the cost gap exceeds 30 basis points and you do not actively use Merrill’s lending and banking services, the structural and economic case for moving to a fiduciary RIA is typically strong. Fintegrity does not provide investment advice to prospective clients before engagement; this answer is intended as a decision framework, not a recommendation. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
How do I move my IRA from Fidelity, Schwab, or Morgan Stanley to a fiduciary RIA?
You move an IRA from Fidelity, Schwab, or Morgan Stanley to a fiduciary RIA through an ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) transfer initiated by the receiving custodian — a process governed by FINRA Rule 11870, which requires the delivering firm to validate the request within one business day and complete the transfer within three business days of validation.
Mechanically, the transfer happens in-kind, meaning your existing positions move to the new custodian without being sold and without triggering any taxable event — your cost basis, holding periods, and lot-level tax history transfer with the assets. The end-to-end timeline is typically 5 to 7 business days for standard portfolios of stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and Treasuries; complex assets such as alternative investments, restricted stock, or private placements can extend the timeline to 10 business days or longer. You do not contact your existing broker to initiate the transfer — the new RIA submits the ACATS request on your behalf, which prevents retention calls and pressure tactics from your current adviser.
For Fintegrity clients, the process is straightforward: we open new accounts in your name at Interactive Brokers (the qualified custodian), you sign a one-page transfer authorization form per account, and we initiate ACATS. During the transfer window, your assets remain invested and continue to receive dividends and interest — there is no period when you are out of the market. Once positions arrive at Interactive Brokers, we review the portfolio against your new investment policy and execute any rebalancing in a tax-aware sequence, prioritizing harvest of existing losses and deferral of short-term gains where possible.
A few practical notes for prospective clients before initiating a transfer: (1) let pending dividends settle before transferring, since dividends declared but not paid can route to the wrong account; (2) disable automatic features — dividend reinvestment, recurring contributions, and auto-rebalancing — at least a week before the transfer; (3) expect a transfer-out fee from the delivering firm, typically $75–$150 per account, which most RIAs (including Fintegrity) will reimburse on request for new client relationships; and (4) confirm options-position settlement — most brokers will not transfer options expiring within seven business days.
This is not investment advice and the appropriate transfer approach depends on your specific account types, tax situation, and existing positions. We’re happy to walk through your statements before any commitment is made.
What questions should I ask before hiring a fiduciary financial adviser?
The most important questions to ask before hiring a fiduciary financial adviser are the ones that expose how the adviser is paid, what they’re legally required to do for you, and whether you can verify their record independently. The SEC’s official Form CRS guidance provides a concise framework, expanded below for high-net-worth households.
Compensation and conflicts of interest:
- Are you a fiduciary 100% of the time, on every account, with no exceptions? A “yes” should be unconditional. If the answer involves “advisory accounts” versus “brokerage accounts,” the adviser is dual-registered and switches standards mid-relationship.
- Are you fee-only, or fee-based? Fee-only means 100% of compensation comes from the client. Fee-based means the adviser also earns commissions, revenue-sharing, or product-placement income. The two are not interchangeable terms — see the NAPFA fee-only definition.
- If I give you $10,000 to invest, exactly how much goes to fees and how much is invested for me? This is verbatim from the SEC’s recommended client questions and should produce a specific, written answer.
- What is the all-in cost — advisory fee plus underlying fund expense ratios plus platform fees plus transaction costs? A 1.00% advisory fee on a portfolio of 0.85% expense-ratio mutual funds is meaningfully different from a 1.00% fee on individual stocks and Treasuries.
Verification and track record:
- What is your firm’s CRD number, and what is your individual CRD number? Both should be searchable at adviserinfo.sec.gov in under a minute.
- Has the firm or any principal ever had a regulatory action, arbitration award, or customer complaint? This is reported in Form ADV Part 1, Item 11.
- Do you publish GIPS-verified composite performance, and if so, who is the verifier? Fewer than 4% of U.S. RIAs claim GIPS compliance, and the standard is the only one that lets you compare investment results across firms on an apples-to-apples basis.
Service model and accountability:
- Who is my primary point of contact, and will that person change? At many large platforms, HNW clients are routed to regional teams that rotate every 18–36 months.
- What is the qualified custodian, and how is it independent from your firm? A qualified custodian under Rule 206(4)-2 holds your assets separately from the adviser’s operations.
- What is your business continuity and succession plan? SEC Rule 206(4)-7 requires every RIA to maintain one.
- What’s your minimum, and how many client households do you currently serve? This tells you whether you’ll receive direct principal attention or be assigned to a junior associate.
The simplest filter: if any answer requires the adviser to call you back, check internally, or “get the disclosure document,” that’s a yellow flag. A genuinely transparent fee-only fiduciary can answer all of the above on the spot, in writing, without consulting compliance.
For Fintegrity, every answer is published on this FAQ page and verifiable on IAPD (CRD #292421). We encourage prospective clients to ask us these questions and the same questions of every adviser on their shortlist.
What's the best fee-only fiduciary financial adviser in Bergen County NJ for a $5M portfolio?
The “best” fee-only fiduciary adviser for a $5 million portfolio in Bergen County, NJ is the one that meets four objective criteria: (1) fee-only compensation, (2) continuous fiduciary duty, (3) independent third-party performance verification, and (4) direct access to a credentialed principal rather than a rotating team.
Bergen County, NJ has over 200 SEC- and state-registered investment advisers based on SEC IAPD records, but only a small subset meets all four criteria simultaneously. Fee-only means the adviser accepts no commissions, kickbacks, or product-sales compensation — a structure followed by approximately 15% of U.S. financial advisers (NAPFA). Continuous fiduciary duty means the adviser acts in the client’s best interest 100% of the time and is not dual-registered as a broker. Independent third-party performance verification under the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) is adopted by fewer than 4% of U.S. RIAs because of the cost and ongoing operational burden. Direct principal access at the $5M relationship level is increasingly rare as national platforms route HNW clients to regional adviser teams.
Fintegrity LLC, headquartered in Tenafly, NJ (CRD #292421), meets all four criteria: fee-only, fiduciary 100% of the time, GIPS-compliant with independent verification by The Spaulding Group for the periods 1/22/2019–12/31/2025, and led by founder Jeffrey Barnett — Harvard Business School MBA and former TIAA Managing Director responsible for approximately $40 billion in assets across multiple asset classes (equities, fixed income, and alternatives) — who personally manages every client relationship. Verification provides assurance on whether the firm’s policies and procedures have been designed in compliance with the GIPS standards and have been implemented on a firm-wide basis; verification does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report. The verification report is available upon request. Fintegrity’s tiered fee schedule for a $5M portfolio produces a blended effective rate of approximately 0.80%, declining further at higher asset levels.
For Bergen County families with $5M+ in investable assets, the practical recommendation is to verify these four criteria for any adviser on your shortlist using the SEC’s IAPD database — and to interview the principal who would actually manage your portfolio, not a regional sales representative.
Getting Started & Onboarding
What it takes to become a client and how the onboarding process works.
How do I get started with Fintegrity?
How long does it take to onboard with Fintegrity?
A typical Fintegrity onboarding is complete within two to four weeks of signing the investment management agreement, with assets fully transferred, accounts open, and the initial portfolio aligned to your investment policy. The exact timeline depends on the complexity of your existing holdings and the responsiveness of your prior custodian, not on any internal Fintegrity process.
The onboarding sequence has four stages:
Stage 1 — Discovery and proposal (typically completed before the engagement, no time charged to onboarding): We hold a complimentary introductory conversation, review your most recent custodial statements, and prepare a written proposal describing your proposed investment policy, target allocation, fee schedule, and an analysis of your current all-in cost compared to ours. This is a no-obligation step — most prospects take one to three weeks to review the proposal and decide whether to proceed.
Stage 2 — Engagement and account opening (1–3 business days after agreement signing): You sign the investment management agreement and the Form ADV delivery acknowledgement. We open new accounts in your name at Interactive Brokers — the qualified custodian — using an electronic onboarding workflow. Account types are mirrored from your existing setup (individual, joint, IRA, Roth IRA, trust, entity, etc.) so that ACATS transfers complete cleanly. Most account openings finalize within one to three business days, with trust and entity accounts occasionally requiring additional documentation.
Stage 3 — Asset transfer (typically 5–10 business days): We initiate ACATS transfers from your existing custodian under FINRA Rule 11870. The delivering firm has one business day to validate and three business days to deliver, with most transfers completing in 5 to 7 business days end-to-end. Complex positions — alternative investments, restricted stock, private placements, or assets requiring re-registration — can extend this window. Throughout the transfer, your assets remain invested in their existing positions and continue to receive dividends and interest.
Stage 4 — Portfolio alignment and first review (1–2 weeks after assets arrive): Once positions are at Interactive Brokers, we conduct a tax-aware rebalancing toward your target allocation, prioritizing harvest of existing losses, deferral of short-term gains, and step-up basis considerations where relevant. We deliver an opening statement summarizing the new holdings, the rationale for each trade, and the year-to-date realized gain/loss position. Your first formal portfolio review meeting is scheduled within 30 days of completion.
For HNW households moving from a wirehouse, the most common onboarding-timeline question is whether retention pressure from the prior adviser will delay the transfer. ACATS is regulator-protected and the delivering firm cannot legally refuse a properly-submitted request — though they may attempt to call you, schedule a “retention conversation,” or offer fee reductions. We recommend declining those calls and letting the transfer proceed; once a transfer is initiated, the prior adviser’s retention efforts have no effect on the timeline.
You retain the right to terminate the relationship with Fintegrity at any time, without penalty, and either retain your assets at Interactive Brokers, transfer to a new adviser, or move to another custodian. Onboarding is designed to be reversible.
What happens if I already have accounts elsewhere?
How do I contact you?
Contact Fintegrity at 201-266-6829, jeff@fintegrity.com, or conveniently schedule an appointment through the Calendly link on Fintegrity.com. We look forward to connecting with you.
Services, Investment Philosophy & Portfolio Management
What we do for clients, how we invest, and how advice is customized.
What services do you provide?
What is your investment philosophy?
What types of investments do you recommend?
How do you customize your advice?
How can a financial plan help me?
Can you help with tax and estate planning?
Can you work with my existing CPA and estate attorney?
Fintegrity works directly with each client’s CPA, estate attorney, and insurance advisor as part of an integrated planning process — we do not require clients to change their existing professional relationships.
Most HNW households have a long-standing CPA and estate attorney whose institutional knowledge of the family’s history is valuable and not easily replaced. Fintegrity’s role is to serve as the investment quarterback — coordinating the tax, estate, and risk-management implications of investment decisions with the professionals already in place. Typical coordination includes year-end tax projections shared with the CPA, gain/loss reporting tied to specific lots, beneficiary designations reviewed against the estate plan, and trust-funding sequencing aligned with the attorney’s recommendations.
For clients without a CPA or estate attorney, Fintegrity maintains a referral network of qualified professionals in the Bergen County, NJ and broader NY metro area; we receive no referral compensation from any third party.
The practical outcome is a unified financial picture: tax-aware portfolio decisions, estate documents that reflect actual account titling, and a single point of accountability for the family balance sheet.
How often will we meet?
We typically meet with clients at least annually to review progress and update plans. However, we are available throughout the year upon request and whenever life changes or new opportunities arise.
Fees & Cost Transparency
How our fees are calculated, billed, and how they compare to alternatives.
How are you compensated?
How are fees calculated and billed?
Fintegrity’s investment management fees are calculated based on the daily value of your assets under management and are billed quarterly in arrears using a tiered fee structure:
- 1.00% annually on the first $1 million
- 0.75% annually on the next $4 million
- 0.50% annually on the next $5 million
- 0.25% annually on amounts over $10 million
For example, a $12 million portfolio would have an effective annual fee of 0.58%.
Our financial planning services are a separate service from investment management and start at $10,000. Investment management clients receive a $5,000 credit toward their investment fees. For ongoing support, continuous planning is available via a monthly retainer, with costs tailored to the scope of the engagement.
How does Fintegrity's 1.00% fee compare to a typical broker's commission-based pricing?
Fintegrity charges a transparent, declining advisory fee starting at 1.00% on the first $1M and dropping to 0.25% on assets above $10M — paid directly by the client, with no commissions, no product sales, and no revenue-sharing.
A typical commission-based broker is compensated through embedded product costs that are difficult to compare to a stated fee. Common sources include front-end mutual fund loads of 3.0% to 5.75%, 12b-1 trail fees of 0.25% per year, variable-annuity wrap costs averaging 2.0% to 3.5% per year (Morningstar), and proprietary-product placement incentives that are not always disclosed at the time of sale.
Industry research has estimated that the average wrap-fee account carries all-in costs of approximately 1.95% per year when commissions, fund expenses, and platform fees are combined.
For HNW clients, the practical comparison isn’t 1.00% advisory fee versus 0% commission — it’s the all-in cost of working with a fiduciary versus a salesperson. The latter is typically higher, less transparent, and structurally conflicted.
What is the all-in cost of working with Fintegrity, including custodian fees?
The all-in cost for a typical Fintegrity client is the advisory fee plus near-zero custodian fees — meaning a $2M household pays approximately 0.875% per year, or roughly $17,500, with no additional layers of cost.
This is meaningfully lower than the industry average. Custodian costs at Interactive Brokers are minimal for clients holding individual stocks, ETFs, and Treasuries — U.S. equity commissions typically under $1 per trade on the institutional IBKR Pro tier, no platform fee, no account-maintenance fee, and tight institutional spreads on bonds. We use IBKR Pro because the smart-order routing and execution quality it provides typically more than offset the modest per-trade commission. There are no mutual-fund expense ratios because Fintegrity does not use mutual funds for its core equity strategies; if a client holds an ETF or fund position, the underlying expense ratio is disclosed and typically below 0.10%.
Portfolio Value
Fintegrity Fee
Custodian Cost
Total All-In
Will my fees decrease over time as my portfolio grows?
Yes. Fintegrity uses a tiered fee schedule with breakpoints at $1M, $5M, and $10M — meaning your effective fee rate automatically declines as your portfolio grows, with no negotiation required.
The blended fee schedule is:
Portfolio Value (AUM)
Annual Fee on That Tier
At common asset levels, the blended effective rate is approximately:
- $2M household → 0.875% blended
- $5M household → 0.80% blended
- $10M household → 0.65% blended
- $20M household → 0.45% blended
Breakpoints are applied automatically at each quarterly billing cycle — no client request, application, or repricing meeting required. Fees are billed in arrears based on the average daily account value, which means clients pay on the actual portfolio value experienced during the quarter rather than a single point-in-time snapshot.
For multi-generational families building wealth across decades, this structure aligns the firm’s compensation with the client’s growth and avoids the friction common at large platforms where fee reductions require explicit negotiation or relationship escalation.
Whats a reasonable fee for a fee-only adviser managing a $10 million portfolio?
Kitces Research, synthesizing Bob Veres’ Inside Information fee survey, found that the median advisory fee for $5M+ portfolios is approximately 0.50%, and that more than 10% of advisers charge 0.25% or less at that level. The same research identified median all-in costs (advisory fee + underlying expense ratios + platform fees) of approximately 1.20% at the $5M+ level for the broader advisory industry, with fee-only RIAs typically running below the median because they lack the product-revenue and platform-cost layers common at dually-registered firms. For comparison, Charles Schwab Wealth Advisory charges 0.50% on assets between $5M and $10M and 0.30% above $10M (Schwab.com), while Vanguard Personal Adviser Wealth Management charges 0.20% between $5M and $10M (Vanguard.com) using model-portfolio mutual funds. Both programs separately charge the underlying expense ratios of the funds held in client portfolios — typically 0.05–0.10% for index-fund-heavy Vanguard portfolios and 0.05–0.20% for typical Schwab Wealth Advisory portfolios, with active-fund or alternatives sleeves pushing higher. A client’s all-in cost is therefore the stated advisory fee plus the asset-weighted underlying expense ratio.
Fintegrity’s tiered fee schedule produces a blended effective rate of approximately 0.65% on a $10M portfolio (1.00% on the first $1M + 0.75% on the next $4M + 0.50% on the next $5M = $65,000 per year, or 0.65% blended). At $20M, the blended rate declines to approximately 0.45%; at $25M, approximately 0.40%. Custodian costs at Interactive Brokers are extremely low and essentially offset by superior trade execution for individual-stock and ETF portfolios, meaning Fintegrity’s all-in cost at $10M is approximately 0.65% — versus a 1.20% industry-median all-in cost at the same asset level.
The practical evaluation framework for a $10M household: a “reasonable” fee is one that (1) is fully disclosed in writing in the advisory agreement and Form ADV, (2) declines at clearly-defined asset breakpoints without negotiation, (3) is paid only by you (no embedded product revenue), and (4) when added to underlying fund expense ratios, produces an all-in cost meaningfully below 1.00%. Any adviser charging materially above the Kitces median at the $5M+ level should be able to demonstrate specific differentiated services that justify the premium.
Custody, Technology & Client Privacy
Where assets are held, the technology we use, and how client information is protected.
What is Interactive Brokers' role as custodian?
Interactive Brokers serves as the independent safeguard of your assets, holding them separate from Fintegrity’s operations and from Interactive Brokers’ own business. The custodian arrangement provides multiple layers of protection:
- Legal segregation of your assets from both the adviser and custodian’s creditors
- Direct quarterly statements sent to you for independent verification
- Annual surprise examinations by independent public accountants under SEC Custody Rule 206(4)-2
- Regulatory capital requirements ensuring Interactive Brokers’ financial stability
- Insurance and indemnification protecting against custodian losses. This protects against a custodian’s insolvency, but not clients’ market losses. All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal.
- Transparent, zero-fee custody services that align costs with your interests
- Automated settlement and clearing ensuring accurate and timely transaction completion
When you work with Fintegrity, your assets are never “in” Fintegrity’s hands — they remain in your possession at Interactive Brokers. Fintegrity manages them as your discretionary adviser, but the ultimate safekeeping and control flow through a qualified custodian designed to protect you if either Fintegrity or Interactive Brokers encounters difficulties.