Fisher Investments’ clients pay it fees only, but its brochure discloses one other source of pay that sits outside a strict fee-only test: Fisher “receives compensation to refer prospective clients and clients to non-affiliated investment advisers.” Its fee is 1.25% a year on the first $1 million it manages, falling to 1% above $5 million, and 1.50% on smaller relationships. Its Form ADV reports no commissions, no broker-dealer and no US insurance business.
So the advisory fee is the only charge Fisher bills you, and it doesn’t earn commissions on what it buys for you. Whether the referral pay matters to you is a judgment the filings let you make.
How Fisher Investments is paid
Fisher Asset Management, LLC, doing business as Fisher Investments, is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser. Its Form ADV Part 1, filed October 7, 2026, is where a firm states how it’s paid. In Item 5E, Fisher checks two boxes: a percentage of assets under management, and performance-based fees. It doesn’t check commissions, hourly charges or fixed fees.
The performance-fee box isn’t for individuals. The brochure says Fisher “does not typically charge performance-based fees for private client accounts” and may charge them to institutional clients who ask.
Its Form CRS, the short relationship summary dated February 5, 2025, says you’ll pay “an annual fee based on the value of the assets we manage for you,” billed quarterly. It also says, plainly: “we have an incentive to encourage you to increase the amount of assets under our management.” That’s true of any percentage fee.
How Fisher’s people are paid follows the same line. The Form CRS says the staff who bring in new clients “are compensated based on the total value of assets you entrust to our management,” and some service staff get extra pay tied to your assets. Investment decisions are made by a five-member Investment Policy Committee paid salary and discretionary bonus.
What else the filings disclose
No brokerage or insurance business in the US. In Item 6A of Form ADV, Fisher checks none of the other businesses, including broker-dealer and insurance broker or agent. Item 5B reports 0 employees registered as brokers and 0 licensed as insurance agents. In Item 7A, the related companies it lists are other investment advisers, commodity pool operators or trading advisors, and sponsors of pooled funds. It doesn’t check broker-dealer or insurance company or agency. The brochure notes one foreign affiliate, Fisher Investments Luxembourg, “also engages in insurance brokerage activities in France.”
Annuities. Fisher doesn’t report selling them. Its brochure says it “will credit a portion of its management fees to certain investors who incur charges to surrender annuities” to have Fisher manage the money. If that applies to you, our guide on whether to keep an annuity covers the tax and surrender math.
Its own funds. Fisher advises a US mutual fund, the Tactical Multi-Purpose Fund, and may use its discretion to put client money in it as a defensive investment. You can restrict that in writing. On money placed in a fund Fisher manages, it says it waives its separate account fee or reduces the fund’s fee, so you aren’t charged twice.
Referral money both ways. Besides the pay it receives for referring clients to other advisers, Fisher pays outside vendors and solicitors for referrals, which the brochure says doesn’t raise your fee. It also pays some custodians an ongoing fee for certain accounts, with a higher one-time fee if the account moves, which it says gives it “an incentive to maintain the account at the existing custodian.”
Disciplinary history. The brochure states “no disciplinary events and no material legal events related to FI or any management person.”
The CFP Board’s standards allow a planner to describe their pay as fee-only only when neither they nor their firm receives sales-related compensation, and that definition includes money from “the referral of a Client to any person or entity other than” the firm. Fisher doesn’t describe itself as fee-only in these documents. On the commission and insurance checks alone, its filings report nothing.
What Fisher Investments costs
The brochure dated February 11, 2026 lists these basic rates for equity and blended accounts, applied in tiers to your combined accounts:
| Assets | Yearly rate |
|---|---|
| First $1 million | 1.25% |
| Next $4 million | 1.125% |
| Above $5 million | 1.00% |
| Relationships under $1 million (accepted at Fisher’s discretion) | 1.50% |
Fisher bills after each quarter, not in advance, and says it “may negotiate rates other than specified.” A client whose balance falls below $900,000 through withdrawals moves to 1.50%. On top of the fee you pay trading commissions or custodian fees to the outside brokerage holding your account, plus the expense ratio of any exchange-traded fund or note. The Form CRS says estate or tax planning through third parties may be charged separately.
Worked out on the published rates:
- $500,000: 1.50%, or $7,500 a year
- $1 million: 1.25%, or $12,500 a year
- $2 million: $12,500 on the first million plus $11,250 on the second, or $23,750 a year (about 1.19%)
For comparison, fee-only firms that publish a percentage fee charge a median 1% of assets. Fee-only planners who charge a flat fee for ongoing planning charge a median $4,500 a year (middle half $2,400 to $7,200), whatever your balance, and a one-time plan has a median of $2,000. Note that a flat-fee planner may not manage your investments for that price, while Fisher’s fee covers discretionary management. Our guides to what an advisor costs on $1 million and whether 1% is too much go further.
Who Fisher Investments may suit
Fisher is built for people who want to hand over investment decisions entirely. It’s a discretionary manager: its Form CRS says it will “make investment decisions in your portfolio on your behalf and on an ongoing basis.” Every private client gets a dedicated contact, quarterly statements and written reviews. It reports no product sales, and the advisory fee is the only charge it bills you.
It may suit someone with $1 million or more who wants an active manager with a stated market view and regular contact. Someone who mainly wants tax, retirement income or estate planning, or who has under $1 million and would pay 1.50%, may want to compare a flat-fee or hourly planner first.
How to check it yourself
- Read the Form CRS. It’s two pages and covers fees, conflicts and how staff are paid. Fisher’s is linked from its SEC record. See what a Form CRS tells you.
- Open Form ADV Part 1. Item 5E shows how the firm is paid, Item 6A shows other businesses such as insurance sales, and Item 7A shows related companies such as broker-dealers.
- Read the brochure sections titled “Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations” and “Client Referrals and Other Compensation.”
- Ask in writing what you’ll pay in dollars each year, including trading costs and fund expenses, and whether anyone at Fisher is paid if you’re referred elsewhere.
Our guide to telling whether an advisor is fee-only walks through each check, and questions to ask a financial advisor gives you the rest. For how this compares with commission and fee-based advisors, see fee-only vs fee-based vs commission.
Compare similar firms
Other large advisory firms we’ve checked against the fee-only definition: Creative Planning, Edelman Financial Engines, Mariner Wealth Advisors, CAPTRUST, Wealth Enhancement Group, Mercer Advisors, Hightower. See all 50 firms.