baer investment advisory

What baer investment advisory does

Baer Investment Advisory LLC (BIA) is a boutique investment advisory firm founded in 2009 by Darel Baer and headquartered in Yuba City, California, with an additional operating presence in Marin County. The firm is registered with the SEC as an investment advisor and is also California state-registered. It provides personalized portfolio management services to high net worth individuals and families, constructing mandates across equities, derivatives, and fixed income using in-house research rather than outsourcing the investment process.

The firm's business model is the standard fee-based RIA structure, charging clients a percentage of assets under management. Asset custody is held at Charles Schwab, separating custody from advisory as a fiduciary safeguard. Legal counsel is provided by Shartsis Friese, compliance services by Cedar Mountain Consulting & Comply, and cybersecurity by Drawbridge. The investment team is small and named: Darel Baer serves as Founding Principal and CEO, Greg Smith joined in 2022 as Director of Research following a career that includes co-founding a hedge fund and training at Princeton and Columbia, and Robb Baer joined in 2021 from Goldman Sachs as an investment professional.

BIA's commercial positioning is built on direct principal involvement, customization, and skin-in-the-game alignment, with principals reportedly investing 100% of their personal assets alongside clients in firm strategies. The firm does not disclose AUM, revenue, client count, or marketing footprint, and there is no indication of institutional mandates, fund vehicles, or technology-platform distribution beyond its direct advisory relationships.

Name

baer investment advisory

Legal name

Baer Investment Advisory LLC

Website

https://baerinvestment.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Boutique SEC-registered investment advisory firm founded in 2009 that delivers personalized portfolio management across equities, derivatives, and fixed income to high net worth individuals and families from offices in Yuba City and Marin County, California.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory Fees: BIA charges investment advisory fees for managing client portfolios. Some client accounts bear a performance fee in addition to base advisory fees. Returns presented are net of BIA fees. The firm is required to disclose all fees and conflicts of interest under SEC fiduciary standards.
2. Performance Fees: Some BIA client accounts bear a performance fee. Performance shown for BIA client accounts is net of these performance fees with respect to the accounts that bear those fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Baer Investment Advisory (BIA) is a boutique investment advisory firm founded in 2009 that provides personalized, actively managed investment portfolios for high net worth individuals and families. The firm manages separately managed accounts across equities, derivatives, and fixed income markets, conducting all investment research and portfolio management in-house without outsourcing any part of the process. Operating under a fiduciary standard, BIA performs daily portfolio monitoring and structures accounts to remain in the client's own name.

Product overview

Baer Investment Advisory (BIA) is a boutique investment advisory firm offering a single unified service: personalized, actively managed investment portfolios. Founded in 2009 by Darel Baer, the firm manages high-conviction investments across equities, derivatives, and fixed income markets. All investment research and portfolio management is conducted in-house by the executive team, which brings decades of Wall Street experience. The core offering consists of customized separately managed accounts where principals' equity portfolios are 100% invested alongside clients, with daily portfolio monitoring and a fiduciary obligation to put client interests first.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Personalized Investment Portfolios

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Charles SchwabcoreOthersCharles Schwab serves as BIA's custodian for client assets. As the custodian, Charles Schwab holds client securities and assets, providing independent safekeeping and administrative services for managed accounts.
• Shartsis FriesecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerShartsis Friese serves as BIA's legal counsel, providing legal advice and representation for the firm.
• Cedar Mountain Consulting & ComplycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCedar Mountain Consulting & Comply provides compliance services to BIA, helping ensure regulatory adherence as a registered investment advisor.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Aspiriant: Independent fee-only RIA serving HNW individuals and families with personalized portfolio management and financial planning. Comparable to BIA in boutique fiduciary structure, HNW focus, and emphasis on customized portfolios.
• Fisher Investments: Large independent RIA serving high net worth and institutional clients with personalized, actively managed portfolios. Directly comparable to BIA in business model (fee-based discretionary management) and target market (HNW individuals), but operates at materially greater scale.
• Bessemer Trust: Multi-family office providing personalized investment management and wealth advisory to ultra-HNW families. Comparable to BIA in fiduciary, customized-portfolio approach and HNW focus, though with significantly deeper wealth planning capabilities.
• Hightower Advisors: National RIA platform serving HNW individuals and families through partner firms. Comparable to BIA in client segment (HNW households) and personalized advisory model, but operates via an aggregator/partner model with much greater scale.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: National wealth advisory firm offering personalized investment management and financial planning to HNW clients. Directly comparable to BIA in business model and HNW focus, with a similar emphasis on customized, advisor-led portfolios.
• Creative Planning: Large independent fee-only RIA providing comprehensive wealth management to HNW individuals. Comparable to BIA in fiduciary, fee-based model and personalized portfolio management, though at substantially greater scale and with broader service offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Brown Brothers Harriman: Long-established private bank and investment manager offering personalized wealth management to HNW and institutional clients. Comparable in fiduciary philosophy and personalized-portfolio approach, though operating as a much larger, multi-line financial institution.
• Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management: Wirehouse-affiliated wealth management division serving HNW individuals with personalized portfolios and financial planning. Comparable in HNW focus and personalized advisory, but with the brand, scale, and product breadth of a bulge-bracket bank.
• Merrill Lynch Wealth Management: Major wirehouse wealth management franchise offering investment advisory services to HNW individuals. Comparable in target market and personalized portfolios, but contrasting in scale, product breadth, and the brokerage-vs-RIA structure debate.

Emerging players

• Wealthfront: Leading robo-advisor offering automated, algorithm-driven portfolio management at low fees. Not a direct competitor for BIA's HNW, personalized-service segment, but represents the structural fee-compression pressure facing active boutique RIAs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/baerinvestment
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/baer-investment-advisory-llc

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 baer investment advisory