No: Goldman Sachs’s two wealth businesses for individuals are paid through commissions, insurance compensation and referral fees as well as advisory and planning fees. Goldman Sachs Ayco (legally Goldman Sachs Wealth Services, L.P.) is registered only as an investment adviser and charges fees, but its advisors are generally also brokers for Goldman Sachs & Co. and can be paid on commissions and insurance. Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management is part of Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, which is both a broker-dealer and an adviser. Ayco’s individual planning fees run $2,500 to $100,000 a year.
Neither meets the CFP Board’s fee-only test. Here’s what each one’s filings say.
How Goldman Sachs Ayco is paid
Ayco (CRD 106693) offers financial planning and investment management, mostly through employers. Its brochure says clients come through “corporate/employer-sponsored programs” and other partners, and it calls those employers “Corporate Partners.”
Fees. Its Form CRS, dated May 5, 2026, says that for planning “typically you or your employer pay an annual fee,” and for investment management “you pay an advisory fee calculated as a percentage of assets.” On its Form ADV Part 1, filed October 30, 2026, it reports being paid by a percentage of assets, hourly charges, subscription fees and fixed fees. It doesn’t check commissions or any other business, such as broker-dealer or insurance agent.
Its advisors are also brokers. The Form CRS says Ayco personnel “are also registered representatives of our affiliated broker-dealers, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC” and Mercer Allied Company. Their pay is “based on revenues generated by financial planning and client accounts including advisory fees, commissions, and other revenues related to the purchase and sale of securities, insurance and banking products, client referrals.”
Insurance. The brochure says “certain Wealth Advisors are also licensed as insurance agents” with The Ayco Services Agency, L.P., an affiliate, “and receive compensation related to fixed life insurance policies and annuity” products. Mercer Allied places variable insurance products, and advisors “are generally compensated” for insurance referrals.
Referrals and commissions. The brochure says “the Adviser will receive commissions, referral fees or other compensation,” subject to applicable law. It refers people it decides aren’t a fit to outside investment advisers and receives up to 0.225% a year of the referred assets.
The CFP Board’s standards allow “fee-only” only when neither the advisor nor a related party receives sales-related compensation, including commissions and pay for referring a client elsewhere. Ayco charges clients fees, but its advisors’ commission, insurance and referral pay falls outside that test.
How Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management is paid
Private Wealth Management is a business unit of Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (CRD 361). Its Form CRS, dated June 30, 2026, describes both roles.
Advisory accounts. You pay a fee “calculated as a percentage of assets in your account,” either per strategy or one fee across all strategies, plus “an annual custody fee” in many cases. Some strategies are offered as a wrap fee.
Brokerage accounts. Costs “generally include commissions, commission equivalents, mark-ups, mark-downs, spreads, and sales charges.” Goldman Sachs & Co. doesn’t monitor your individual brokerage investments.
On its Form ADV Part 1, filed July 27, 2026, it reports being paid by a percentage of assets, fixed fees, commissions, performance-based fees and other charges, and reports a broker-dealer business among several others. It doesn’t report an insurance business.
What else the filings disclose
Its own products. Both Form CRS documents say “Goldman Sachs earns more compensation and other benefits when you invest in products that Goldman Sachs issues, sponsors, or manages.” Ayco’s adds that “we might not always consider available unaffiliated products when an affiliated product is available.”
Trading. Both say Goldman Sachs may trade with you as principal and “is incentivized to perform principal trades because it will typically earn more compensation.”
Third-party payments. Private Wealth Management receives compensation from third parties “for sales of certain third-party managed alternative investment funds.”
How advisors are paid. Private Wealth Advisors are paid on “revenues generated on client accounts, including asset management fees, commissions and other revenues.”
Disciplinary history. Both Form CRS documents answer “Yes” and point to Investor.gov. Details for Goldman Sachs & Co. are on BrokerCheck, and for Ayco on its SEC record.
What Goldman Sachs costs
Ayco financial planning. The March 31, 2026 brochure lists:
| Service | Published range |
|---|---|
| Individual financial planning | $2,500 to $100,000 a year |
| Personal Planning (often through an employer) | $2,500 to $7,500 a year, can be waived |
| Hourly planning (limited cases) | $280 to $600 an hour |
| Private Family Office | Minimum $125,000 a year |
An employer may pay part or all of it, and the brochure says negotiated rates “are generally not available if an individual client is no longer affiliated with a Corporate Partner.” Clients in its Personal Wealth offering who only receive investment planning don’t typically pay a separate planning fee.
Ayco investment management. Fees are maximums set per strategy and tier. The Ayco Portfolio Solution Traditional strategy lists 0.85% a year on $0 to $10 million, with a $50,000 minimum. Under the Comprehensive Pricing Program, “the maximum advisory fee for CPP is generally 1.50%,” plus manager fees and charges. Personal Planning clients with accounts under $500,000 pay 0.85% on every strategy.
Private Wealth Management. The March 31, 2026 brochure says the first-tier rates “represent the maximum advisory fees clients may be charged for new Advisory Accounts.” For accounts managed by Private Wealth Advisors, the single advisory fee is 1.40% on the first $10 million and 0.80% from $10 million to $25 million. The Form CRS says you must meet asset minimums but doesn’t give a figure.
At those ceilings:
- Ayco Traditional, 0.85%: up to $4,250 a year on $500,000, up to $8,500 on $1 million
- Private Wealth Management, 1.40%: up to $14,000 a year on $1 million
These are maximums, not quotes, and fund expenses, custody and execution charges can apply on top.
For comparison, 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), hourly planners a median $300 an hour, and fee-only firms that publish a percentage fee a median 1% of assets. Our guide to flat-fee vs percentage-of-assets pricing explains the trade-off.
Who Goldman Sachs may suit
Ayco may suit an employee whose company offers it as a benefit, especially an executive with stock options, deferred pay or a complex benefits package, since its planning covers “employment benefits and compensation.” If your employer pays the fee, the cost to you can be low or nothing. Private Wealth Management suits someone with substantial assets who wants Goldman Sachs’s own strategies, private investments and lending.
Someone who wants advice from a firm whose advisors are paid only by clients, or who will lose an employer’s subsidy on leaving the job, may want to compare a fee-only planner first. Our guides to equity compensation advice, workplace advice vs an independent advisor and private banker vs fee-only advisor go further.
How to check it yourself
- Read both Form CRS documents. Ayco’s is on its SEC record, and Goldman Sachs & Co.’s on its record. See what a Form CRS tells you.
- Ask who pays the planning fee and what happens to it if you leave your employer.
- Ask whether your advisor is also acting as a broker or insurance agent on any recommendation, and how they’re paid for it.
- Ask for your total cost in dollars, including planning, advisory, manager, custody and fund fees.
- Look up your advisor on BrokerCheck.
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.
Compare similar firms
Other wirehouses and investment banks we’ve checked against the fee-only definition: Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wells Fargo Advisors, J.P. Morgan. See all 50 firms.