ESI Financial Advisors Fees (2026): What You Pay in Dollars at $250k, $500k, $1M

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Updated September 28, 2026. Quick answer: ESI Financial Advisors discloses a maximum, individually negotiated rate of 2.0% in its Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1 (July 1, 2026). Converted to dollars, that runs $10,000 a year on a $500,000 account; see the full table below for $250,000, $1 million and $2 million.

The published numbers

From the Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1 (July 1, 2026): “Investor Fees Under ABP, the total Investor Fee is comprised of: 1) the Platform Fee; 2) the Intermediary, or “Advisory”, Fee (negotiated between the client and the IAR); 3) the third-party Manager’s Fee (if using a Strategist manager). The Platform Fee to use asset-based pricing ranges between 0.08% and 0.26%, based on the assets under management and the selected program. EFA retains the Platform Fee. Accounts on the Illuminations platform are subject to a minimum annual platform fee which ranges between $15-$50, depending on the selected program. In the event an account balance falls below the initial minimum investment, the minimum annual platform fee can represent more than 2.00% (the Firm’s maximum allowable Advisory Fee) of the account’s billable assets, depending on the actual account balance at the time of billing. If the account balance falls to a level at which the annual platform fee represents more than the Firm’s maximum Advisory Fee, clients should consult with their advisory representative to consider their options.”

Note: CRD 265 is ACTIVE and SEC registered per a live IAPD lookup performed this session (isSECRegistered: Y, iaScope: ACTIVE). The firm’s current registered legal name is Equity Services, Inc, doing business as ESI Financial Advisors, an insurance-affiliated broker-dealer and investment adviser owned by National Life Group. The firm’s own main Form ADV Part 2A brochure states it managed approximately $1.6 billion in non-discretionary and approximately $1.1 billion in discretionary assets, for total assets under management of roughly $2.7 billion, as of December 31, 2025. The priced fee schedule comes from the firm’s separate Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1 wrap-fee brochure for its ESI Illuminations platform (Fidelity’s FMAX advisory platform), which the main brochure directs clients to for Illuminations fees; two other individual-facing co-advised programs named in the main brochure, AssetMark and Saratoga Advantage Trust, are both explicitly disclosed there as closed to new investors and so are not priced here.

The published maximum: 2.0% per year (The 2.00% priced here is only the Advisory (Intermediary) Fee component of the total Investor Fee. Illuminations clients also pay a separate Platform Fee of between 0.08% and 0.26% of assets, and clients who use a Strategist, UMA, or SMA program pay an additional third-party manager’s fee on top of the Advisory Fee; both are explicitly disclosed as additive components of the total Investor Fee, not included in the 2.00% figure priced here.).

What you would pay

The Illuminations platform brochure states the Advisory Fee component can range up to a firm-wide maximum described in the brochure as the Firm’s maximum allowable Advisory Fee of 2.00%; that ceiling is applied directly to each balance shown, running from $5,000 at $250,000 to $40,000 at $2,000,000. No single dollar minimum fee is disclosed for the Advisory Fee itself, only a small minimum platform fee of $15 to $50 that applies to a separate fee component, so no floor is applied to these figures.

How this compares

Our benchmark of published adviser fee schedules puts the weighted median annual cost near $2,000 to $2,500 on $250,000 (the benchmark). At $500,000, ESI Financial Advisors’s own published maximum rate runs up to $10,000 a year.

Comparing ESI Financial Advisors against a full move? Read the general mechanics of switching financial advisors, or use a dated termination letter once you decide.

Sources

• Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1 (July 1, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1050359
• SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Equity Services, Inc. (CRD #265): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/265
• Equity Services, Inc., SEC Form ADV filing: https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/265/PDF/265.pdf

Methodology. This page was built September 28, 2026, drawing on ESI Financial Advisors’s own SEC-filed disclosure and, where cited, its published fee schedule, with sources linked above; any figure we could not independently confirm this session is named as an honest gap rather than presented as verified. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.