Berman McAleer

Berman McAleer provides holistic financial planning and discretionary portfolio management to individuals (including high-net-worth clients), business entities, trusts, estates, and retirement plans. The firm also offers retirement-plan consulting and can act as an ERISA 3(38) investment manager, and it reported managing approximately $1.82 billion on a discretionary basis.

The firm’s process begins with a discovery-based planning phase and moves to implementation through an Investment Committee that structures portfolios into three segments—Long-Term (equity), Short-Term (fixed income), and Intermediate (alternatives)—with individual advisors selecting client-specific allocations. BMc combines fundamental and quantitative analysis in its research and executes asset management on a discretionary basis, with the investment team placing trades to implement advisor-determined allocations.

A notable operational feature is that certain professionals are separately licensed insurance brokers and may conduct insurance transactions that generate customary commissions, a conflict BMc discloses and says it mitigates through disclosure and its Code of Ethics. The brochure also discloses that the firm can serve as Advisor for Fidelity Charitable Giving Accounts and has received custodial transition and support payments from Fidelity (including reimbursement of account termination fees and assistance up to $900,000), arrangements the firm identifies and manages through best-execution reviews.