Waterford Advisors

What Waterford Advisors does

Waterford Advisors is a fee-only registered investment advisory firm headquartered in Orchard Park, New York, that provides comprehensive financial planning services to a deliberately limited number of individuals, families, and business owners in Western New York. Founded in 2000 by Gregory L. Kozerski and Dave Hore, the firm operates as an independent, conflict-free advisor across five core service lines: retirement planning, investment advisory, tax and estate planning, risk management, and business services, supplemented by education planning, Social Security optimization, debt management, and bookkeeping. The firm's stated value proposition rests on independence from proprietary products, deep local roots in WNY, and long-term collaborative planning rather than short-term market timing.

The firm is staffed by nine professionals holding CPA, CFP, EA, and QPFC credentials, including a President, three Principals, a Lead Advisor, two Associates, a Tax Manager, and a Client Service Associate. Technology is assembled from third-party integrations rather than proprietary systems: Charles Schwab serves as custodian for client advisory accounts, Tamarac provides the secure client portal for account and performance viewing, and ShareFile (Citrix) handles encrypted document exchange. The firm does not offer standalone software products and does not disclose any AI or automation capabilities.

Revenue is generated primarily through AUM-based advisory fees applied on a regressive breakpoint schedule, ranging from 1.20% annually on assets up to $499,999 down to 0.35% on assets above $5,000,000, billed quarterly in advance based on prior quarter-end market values. Tax preparation and planning services are billed separately as a professional services stream with contact-based pricing. The go-to-market motion is consultative and relationship-led: free confidential consultations, detailed intake questionnaires, content marketing through weekly market commentary and quarterly newsletters (produced with Carson Coaching), active community involvement in WNY, and a heavy reliance on client and professional referrals supported by leadership roles in the FPA and the Western New York Estate Planning Council.

Name

Waterford Advisors

Legal name

Waterford Advisors, LLC

Website

https://waterfordadv.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Waterford Advisors is a fee-only registered investment advisory firm in Orchard Park, New York, providing retirement, investment, tax, estate, and risk management planning to a limited number of individuals, families, and business owners in Western New York.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management & Financial Advisory Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Fee-Only Advisory (FSAEAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Advisory Portfolio Management (Non-Discretionary) (FSAAABAD), Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension) (FSAEABAE), Fee-Based Advisory (FSAEAAAM)

Keywords

• Financial planning services
• Retirement planning
• Investment advisory
• Tax estate planning
• Wealth management advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Orchard Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. AUM-based Advisory Fees: Compensation based on a percentage of investable assets managed. Fees cover ongoing comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services. Applied on a regressive breakpoint schedule with lower percentages for higher asset levels.
2. Tax Preparation Services: Tax preparation and planning services offered with separate billing rates. Fees are quoted upon contact based on specific client needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Waterford Advisors is a fee-only registered investment advisor providing comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services to individuals, families, and business owners in Western New York. Its core offerings span retirement planning, investment management, tax and estate planning, risk management, and business owner services, delivered through a personalized, plan-driven approach with no proprietary product sales.

Product overview

Waterford Advisors offers a comprehensive suite of financial planning and advisory services organized around five core areas: Retirement Planning, Investment Advisory, Tax & Estate Planning, Risk Management, and Business Services. The firm operates as a traditional financial advisory practice rather than a technology platform, providing personalized human-driven financial guidance. Additional supplementary services include Education Planning, Social Security Optimization Analysis, Debt Management, and Budgeting/Bookkeeping. The firm does not offer standalone software products but rather integrates client account access through third-party platforms (Charles Schwab, Tamarac client portal, ShareFile) for viewing account information, performance, and secure document sharing. Fee structure is based on a percentage of assets under management with a regressive breakpoint schedule ranging from 1.20% (up to $499,999) to 0.35% ($5,000,000+).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Retirement Planning

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Charles SchwabcoreTechnology or IntegrationCharles Schwab serves as the custodian for client advisory accounts. Clients can access their Charles Schwab accounts through the client portal for viewing account information and performance data.
• Tamarac (Advisor Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationTamarac provides the client portal platform used by Waterford Advisors for clients to view advisory account information, performance, and securely share documents with the firm.
• Financial Planning Association (FPA)minorOthersProfessional membership organization for financial planners. Team members serve on FPA board and participate in local chapter events and education.
• Western New York Estate Planning CouncilminorOthersProfessional association for estate planning professionals. Dan Byles-Smith serves as President. The firm collaborates with attorneys on client estate planning matters.
• Carson CoachingminorOthersMarket commentary newsletters are prepared by Carson Coaching. The firm uses Carson Coaching content for market insights distributed to clients.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Dopkins Wealth Management, LLC: WNY-based wealth management firm providing financial planning, investment advisory, and tax-adjacent services. Direct competitor for the same Western New York client base and a former employer of current Waterford Associate Ryan Smith.
• Sequoia Financial Group: Fee-based RIA offering comprehensive financial planning, investment management, and tax services to HNW individuals and business owners. Comparable integrated service model and similar HNW client focus to Waterford.
• Buckingham Strategic Wealth: Fee-only RIA focused on evidence-based financial planning and investment management for HNW individuals. Comparable service model, fee structure philosophy, and client demographic.
• Savant Wealth Management: Mid-market fee-only RIA offering comprehensive financial planning, investment advisory, tax, and estate services. Similar integrated practice model with comparable HNW and business-owner client focus.

Broad incumbents

• Hightower Advisors: National RIA platform serving HNW clients with comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory. Provides partnership and succession pathway options that small RIAs like Waterford could leverage or compete against.
• Creative Planning: Large national RIA offering unified financial planning, investment, tax, and estate services for HNW households. Represents the scale incumbent that small regional firms increasingly compete with or are acquired by.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: National RIA consolidator offering integrated financial planning, investment advisory, tax, and estate planning. Active acquirer of small/mid RIAs and a structural threat or acquirer of choice for firms like Waterford.
• Wealth Enhancement Group: Acquisitive national RIA platform serving HNW individuals with integrated financial planning. Active consolidator competing for the same small/mid RIA acquisition targets as Waterford represents.

Emerging players

• Carson Group: RIA support platform providing coaching, marketing, and back-office services to independent advisors. Direct relationship through Carson Coaching (Waterford's market commentary content provider), making it both a vendor and a peer-coaching network.
• Personal Capital: Tech-enabled RIA combining digital planning tools with human advisors for HNW households. Represents the technology-enabled advisory model that traditional firms like Waterford must increasingly differentiate against.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/waterfordadv
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/waterford-advisors-llc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Waterford Advisors