"Your advisor's fee shouldn't grow forever. Ours doesn't."
The Vaultis Dynamic Advisory Fee is built around a simple idea. The value we provide is real, but it isn't infinite. Most advisors charge a percentage of your assets that climbs with every market gain, every deposit, every transfer, without a corresponding increase in the work being done. We took a different approach. Our advisory fee is tiered, capped, and transparent. As your wealth grows, your effective fee declines. There are no hidden markups, no third-party manager fees, no opaque platform charges.
This is what fee alignment looks like.
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Where traditional fee models fall short
The standard advisory fee model has not changed much in decades. An advisor charges a percentage of the assets they manage, typically between 0.75% and 1.50%, often with a tiered schedule that declines slowly as assets grow. The structure is familiar, but it has a quiet problem at higher asset levels.
A $5 million portfolio does not take five times more work to manage than a $1 million portfolio. The financial plan is more complex, the tax situation has more moving parts, the estate considerations are deeper. Traditional fees do not reflect that proportion. Even with tiered schedules that decline slowly, advisory costs tend to grow much faster than the complexity of the underlying work.
The result is a slow drift. Advisory fees that were reasonable at the start of the relationship can become disproportionate over time, especially as portfolios grow through market performance, deposits, or liquidity events. Many clients do not notice because the percentage stays the same. The dollar amount, compounded over decades, tells a different story.
We built the Dynamic Advisory Fee to reflect the work being done, not just the size of the account.
How the Dynamic Advisory Fee works
The Dynamic Advisory Fee has two parts. The first is a tiered advisory fee that starts at 1.00% and caps at fixed dollar amounts as assets grow. The second is a direct cost that covers trading, investment management, operations, back-office support, and reporting. Both are fully disclosed, and both decline as your assets grow.
The advisory fee is where the structure does its most distinctive work. Most fee schedules continue to climb as assets grow, slowed by tiered breakpoints but never stopping. Ours stops. Once your assets reach the first cap at $2.5 million, the advisory fee holds steady at $25,000 per year until you cross the next tier. The same logic repeats through each subsequent tier. Your effective fee rate declines as your wealth grows, because the dollar amount is fixed while the asset base continues to compound.
The direct cost is the second piece of the structure. It covers the operational infrastructure behind every client relationship: trading, investment management, operations, back-office support, and reporting. It starts at 0.25% at the entry tier and steps down to 0.10% at the highest tier. Unlike the advisory fee, the direct cost applies to the full balance and is not capped, because the underlying costs scale modestly with the relationship over time. We disclose it openly rather than burying it inside the advisory fee, which is how most firms handle it.
The result is a fee structure that gets more efficient as your portfolio grows. There are no third-party manager fees, no embedded platform charges, no commissions on products. The only additional costs are the expense ratios on the ETFs and funds in your portfolio, which apply to any advisor relationship. We use a combination of ETFs and individual stocks specifically to keep that drag low.
The schedule, in full
| Assets | Maximum Advisory Fee | Direct Cost | Effective Fee Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 – $2.5M | 1.00% (uncapped) | 0.25% | 1.25% |
| $2.5M – $5M | $25,000 cap | 0.25% | 1.25% to 0.75% |
| $5M – $7.5M | $35,000 cap | 0.20% | 0.90% to 0.67% |
| $7.5M – $10M | $45,000 cap | 0.15% | 0.79% to 0.60% |
| $10M+ | Custom | 0.10% | Custom |
Industry data tells a consistent story. The typical all-in cost for advisory clients at $5 million and above runs around 1.20%, and that number barely declines as portfolios grow further.1 The Dynamic Advisory Fee is structured to do what most fee schedules do not: get materially more efficient as your wealth grows.
At $2 million, before the cap engages, your all-in fee is approximately $25,000 in advisory plus $5,000 in direct cost, or $30,000 total, an effective rate of 1.25%.
At $4 million, your advisory fee is $25,000 (an effective advisory rate of 0.63%) and your direct cost is $10,000 (0.25%). Your all-in fee is $35,000, or 0.88%.
At $6 million, your advisory fee is $35,000 (an effective advisory rate of 0.58%) and your direct cost is $12,000 (0.20%). Your all-in fee is $47,000, or 0.78%.
At $10 million, your advisory fee is $45,000 (an effective advisory rate of 0.45%) and your direct cost is $15,000 (0.15%). Your all-in fee is $60,000, or 0.60%.
¹ Industry fee benchmarks based on Kitces Research on all-in advisory costs and the 2024 Kitces Research on How Financial Advisors Actually Do Financial Planning.
See what this looks like at your asset level
Enter your portfolio size and your current advisor's approximate fee to see the comparison.
How the Dynamic Advisory Fee compares
The wealth management industry uses several different fee structures, each with its own logic and tradeoffs. Understanding the landscape helps clarify why the Dynamic Advisory Fee exists and what it was designed to address.
Percentage of Assets Under Management
The most common model. The advisor charges a percentage of the assets they manage, typically between 0.75% and 2.00%, often using a tiered schedule that declines as assets grow. The structure has a clear logic: when the portfolio grows, the advisor's compensation grows with it, which aligns incentives around long-term performance.
The structural weakness is the one we have already discussed. The work of managing a portfolio does not scale in proportion to its size, but the fee does. As assets grow, the disconnect between fees paid and value delivered widens. Even tiered schedules rarely decline steeply enough to keep pace with how slowly the actual work scales.
Flat Fee
A fixed annual dollar amount, regardless of portfolio size or market performance. Flat fee models are typically marketed as the most transparent option, and at very high asset levels they can be the most cost-efficient.
The weakness is that flat fees can disengage the advisor from the client's outcomes. When compensation does not change whether the portfolio grows or stalls, the incentive to remain proactive can weaken. Flat fee structures also tend not to reflect the evolving complexity of a client's financial life. The dollar amount that made sense at the start of the relationship may not reflect what is required years later.
Commission-Based or Hybrid
Advisors are compensated through product sales, earning commissions on the investments, annuities, or insurance products they recommend. This model is common at broker-dealers, where advisors may operate under different standards depending on the account or product.
The structural concern is incentive alignment. When compensation is tied to specific products, the advisor's recommendations can be shaped by what generates revenue rather than what fits the client's needs. The model is legal, regulated, and not inherently harmful, but the conflicts of interest it creates are real and often invisible to the client.
Dynamic Advisory Fee
A tiered advisory fee capped at fixed dollar amounts, paired with a separate, declining direct cost. The advisory fee scales with assets up to each cap and then holds steady. The direct cost continues to decline at higher tiers.
This structure was designed with the goal of aligning fees with the work being done rather than the size of the portfolio. It preserves the incentive alignment of the AUM model at lower asset levels while removing the misalignment at higher levels, where the cap prevents fees from drifting upward without corresponding increases in value delivered. It also names the operational cost openly rather than embedding it in the advisory fee.
The Dynamic Advisory Fee is not the cheapest option in every scenario. At very high asset levels, a flat fee model might cost less in absolute dollars. The Dynamic Advisory Fee is the structure we believe best balances fairness, transparency, and alignment across the range of client relationships we serve.
Request a fee analysis
If what you've read on this page has prompted any question about what you're actually paying your current advisor, we can help you answer it.
The Vaultis fee analysis is a written, account-by-account review of your current advisory costs, compared to what you would pay under the Dynamic Advisory Fee. It includes:
A breakdown of the fees, commissions, and underlying product expenses in your current portfolio
A blended effective rate, calculated across all of your accounts and holdings
A side-by-side comparison with the Vaultis Dynamic Advisory Fee at your asset level
A 20-year projection showing how each structure affects long-term portfolio value
There is no obligation and no cost. Most clients are surprised by what they find.
To begin, send us a brief inquiry below. We will follow up to schedule a short introductory call before any analysis begins, so we can confirm fit and walk you through what to expect.
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Frequently asked questions
Why does my fee change when my assets cross a tier threshold?
The Dynamic Advisory Fee uses a cap structure rather than a marginal rate structure. We chose this deliberately, prioritizing a model that can be understood in a few lines over one that requires twenty tiers to perfectly smooth the math at every threshold. When your assets cross a tier boundary, the advisory cap steps up and the direct cost steps down. These two adjustments offset partially but not perfectly, which means crossing a threshold produces a modest increase in your all-in fee at that exact transition point.
We accepted this tradeoff in the name of clarity. Within each tier, your effective rate continues to decline as your assets grow, and the larger your portfolio, the faster that decline happens. Over the long arc of a client relationship, the structure remains meaningfully more efficient than traditional uncapped percentage-based fees.
What is included in the fee, and what is not?
The Vaultis advisory fee and direct cost together cover the full scope of our service: investment management, financial planning, tax oversight, estate coordination, custody-related operations, trading, reporting, and ongoing client support. There are no separate planning fees, third-party manager fees, or commissions on products.
The one cost not included is the underlying expense ratio on the ETFs and funds held in your portfolio. These are charges paid to the fund issuer, not to Vaultis, and they apply to any investment portfolio regardless of advisor. We use a combination of ETFs and individual stocks specifically to keep these costs low.
What happens if my assets fluctuate across a tier boundary?
Fees are calculated based on your portfolio value at the end of each billing period. If your assets move above or below a tier threshold between billing periods, your fee for the next period adjusts accordingly. This is standard practice and ensures the fee you pay reflects your actual asset level over time.
What does the fee analysis involve?
The Vaultis fee analysis is a written deliverable, not a sales call disguised as one. After a short introductory conversation to confirm fit, you provide us with copies of your current account statements. We produce a written analysis that includes a line-by-line breakdown of your current advisory costs (including any commissions or product-level expenses), a blended effective rate across all accounts, and a side-by-side comparison with the Dynamic Advisory Fee at your asset level. We walk you through the analysis on a follow-up call. There is no cost and no obligation to continue beyond that point.
Disclosures
This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or investment product. It is not intended as investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The views expressed are those of Vaultis Private Wealth and are subject to change without notice.
Vaultis Private Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Vaultis operates under a fiduciary standard and is obligated to act in the best interest of its clients. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Vaultis Private Wealth and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Additional information about Vaultis, including disclosures about potential conflicts of interest, is available in our Form ADV brochure, which is available upon request.
The fee calculator and any projections shown on this page are illustrative only. They are based on stated assumptions, including a 7% annual return, fees deducted annually, and the inputs provided by the user. These figures are not predictions, guarantees, or recommendations. Actual results will vary based on market performance, portfolio composition, contributions, withdrawals, tax events, and other factors. The calculator does not model the tiered structure of most external advisory fee schedules and applies the user-entered fee rate as a flat percentage. Underlying expense ratios on ETFs and funds held in client portfolios are paid to fund issuers, not to Vaultis, and apply to any investment relationship regardless of advisor.
Industry fee benchmarks referenced on this page are drawn from third-party research, including the Kitces Research on How Financial Advisors Actually Do Financial Planning and related Kitces Research on all-in advisory costs. These benchmarks reflect industry medians and ranges, not the fees charged by any specific firm. Individual advisor relationships vary, and the figures shown are intended for illustrative comparison only.
The Vaultis Dynamic Advisory Fee schedule shown on this page is current as of publication and may be revised in the future. Any changes apply prospectively. Specific fee terms for each client relationship are governed by the executed advisory agreement, which controls in the event of any conflict with information presented on this page.