Independent Wealth Management

What Independent Wealth Management does

Independent Wealth Management LLC (IWM) is a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) headquartered at 236 1/2 East Front Street, Traverse City, Michigan. The firm provides fiduciary investment management, retirement planning, estate planning, and broader financial planning services to individuals, with a stated emphasis on clients approaching retirement. Operations are led by three CFP® partners — Jay Berger, Steve Fisher, and Scott Hackney — supported by a financial planning/administrative analyst (Justin Knapp) and a client services coordinator/office manager (Darlene Rice), totaling five team members.

The firm delivers its services through a traditional advisor-led model, relying on third-party technology platforms for client-facing workflows: Right Capital and eMoney for financial planning and wealth management, and Fidelity for custody and investment account access. IWM supplements client work with a steady content cadence including quarterly Market Analysis reports, quarterly Investment Insights newsletters, quarterly Market & Economic Reviews (sourced from Vanguard Investment Strategy Group and Fidelity research), and monthly Planning News, alongside a YouTube channel for top-of-funnel education. There is no proprietary technology product, no AI/ML capability, and no platform business — the firm's "product" is personalized financial advice delivered by its CFP® partners.

IWM's business model is straightforward fee-only advisory: the only compensation it receives is the fee clients pay directly. The firm does not accept commissions, referral fees, or rebates, and has explicitly structured itself to be independent of brokerage firms, insurance companies, and banks. Its go-to-market is sales-led via direct advisory relationships, with content marketing as a top-of-funnel driver. Revenue is recurring in nature (AUM-linked or fixed advisory fees), but pricing is not publicly disclosed. Markets served are concentrated in the U.S. Midwest, with the firm operating from a single Traverse City office.

Name

Independent Wealth Management

Legal name

Independent Wealth Management

Website

https://iwmusa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Independent Wealth Management is a fee-only fiduciary RIA in Traverse City, Michigan, providing financial planning, investment management, and retirement planning services — primarily to individuals approaching retirement in the U.S. Midwest — through a five-person team of CFP® professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management / Financial Advisory Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Comprehensive/Full-Service RIAs & Independent Wealth Managers (FSAAACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) Wealth Management (FSAEABAA)

Keywords

• Fiduciary financial advisory
• Wealth management services
• Retirement planning
• Investment management
• Financial planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Traverse City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fee-Only Advisory Services: IWM is a Fee-Only advisory firm. The only compensation received is the fee clients pay directly to the firm. They do not accept commissions, referral fees, or rebates. The firm takes a fiduciary role in managing client wealth.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Independent Wealth Management is a Fee-Only fiduciary financial advisory firm providing personalized wealth management, financial planning, and investment management services. The firm delivers objective advice independent of brokerage firms, insurance companies, or banks, and serves individual clients from its Traverse City, MI office through a team of CFP® professionals.

Product overview

Independent Wealth Management is a Fee-Only financial advisory firm offering comprehensive wealth management services. The firm provides financial planning, investment management, and retirement planning through a team of CFP® professionals. IWM publishes quarterly market analyses (sourced from Fidelity and Vanguard), quarterly investment insights newsletters, and monthly planning news publications. The firm operates on a fiduciary basis, charging only client fees without accepting commissions or referral fees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Financial Planning Services
• Investment Management

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Carson Wealth: Independent fee-only RIA serving mass-affluent and near-retiree clients with comprehensive financial planning. Comparable in service offering and target customer base to IWM, with a national footprint.
• Ritholtz Wealth Management: Independent, fee-only RIA with strong media presence (Bloomberg, CNBC) and content-driven client acquisition. Closely comparable to IWM in business model, fee-only structure, and content marketing emphasis, though larger in scale.
• Buckingham Strategic Wealth: Fee-only RIA offering financial planning and wealth management to individuals approaching retirement. Similar fiduciary model, fee-only compensation, and target clientele to IWM; now part of Focus Financial Partners.

Broad incumbents

• Edelman Financial Services: Fee-only RIA offering comprehensive financial planning and wealth management. Competes directly with IWM in the retirement-planning segment but operates at a much larger scale with national brand recognition.
• Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium: Schwab's hybrid robo-advisor with access to CFP® professionals, targeting mass-affluent investors seeking financial planning. A scaled incumbent competitor in the same target segment as IWM.
• Personal Capital (Empower Personal Dashboard): Hybrid robo-advisor and human-advisory wealth management service serving mass-affluent and HNW clients. Competes for the same retirement-focused client demographic as IWM with a tech-forward, lower-cost model.
• Mercer Advisors: National fee-only RIA providing financial planning, investment management, and estate planning. Targets similar pre-retiree and retiree demographics to IWM, but operates at considerably larger scale.
• Creative Planning: Large independent, fee-only RIA providing wealth management, retirement, and estate planning. Operates in the same fee-only fiduciary space as IWM but at significantly greater scale with national reach.
• Vanguard Personal Advisor Services: Hybrid advisory service from Vanguard combining digital tools with human advisors at low fees. Represents a major incumbent competitive threat to small fee-only RIAs like IWM, particularly on price-sensitive clients.

Emerging players

• Facet Wealth: Tech-enabled fee-only RIA delivering financial planning virtually at accessible price points. Represents a digitally native, lower-fee competitive threat to traditional boutique RIAs like IWM.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/IWMUSA
• Facebookfacebook.com/iwmusa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/independent-wealth-management-usa

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Independent Wealth Management