First American Financial Advisors, Inc.

First American Financial Advisors provides discretionary portfolio management and periodic financial planning and consulting to individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, corporations and retirement accounts. Like many investment-advisory teams, the firm primarily charges asset-based fees and manages portfolios across stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

The firm employs both technical and fundamental analysis and generally accepts full discretionary authority to select and trade securities, with accounts reviewed at least annually for concentration, suitability and performance. Advisers are required to be registered with an affiliated broker-dealer, and advisory assets are custodied through an established clearing firm while some transactional business is executed through the affiliated broker-dealer.

Noteworthy aspects include a governance structure centered on a single supervisory principal who oversees both the adviser and its broker-dealer affiliate, and a client roster concentrated in a relatively small number of accounts with modest total assets under management. The brochure discloses regulatory and arbitration matters involving the affiliated broker-dealer rather than the adviser itself, and the affiliation creates arrangements for mutual fund distribution/service fees to be paid to the broker-dealer and shared with advisers in certain cases.