Guides › Financial Advisor Fees
Updated September 28, 2026. Quick answer: Arete Wealth Advisors is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser (CRD #145488, confirmed ACTIVE this session via SEC IAPD). Per its own current fee brochure, a $500,000 account would run $13,750 a year under its published fee schedule. Already a client and thinking about leaving? Budget $150 at Pershing, or $50 at Schwab, depending on your custodian. This review covers what its own fee brochure and current SEC registration confirm today; it does not assess fiduciary status or account minimums.
Arete Wealth Advisors at a glance
| Fact | What Arete Wealth Advisors’ own pages say |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC |
| Registration | Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser (CRD #145488, confirmed ACTIVE this session via SEC IAPD). |
| Fee on a $500,000 account | $13,750 a year, per its own current brochure |
| Minimum to open an account | Not assessed in this review; see Item 5 of its Form ADV Part 2A |
| Cost to leave (exit fee) | $150 at Pershing, or $50 at Schwab, depending on your custodian |
What Arete Wealth Advisors’ own fee schedule charges
The registrant is Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC of Chicago, Illinois, the advisory affiliate of the broker-dealer Arete Wealth Management, and its advisers also operate under many branded names. The priced schedule is the standard assets under management schedule, which the brochure says applies to individual and non-individual clients, and the firm generally requires a $50,000 initial account minimum that may be waived.
“Arete’s standard fee schedule for both individual and non individual Clients is the following: ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT MAXIMUM ANNUAL FEE $0* $249,000 3.00% $250,000 $749,999 2.50% $750,000 $1,499,999 2.00% $1,500,000 $4,999,999 1.75% $5,000,000 and over 1.50%”
The brochure does not say whether the rates apply to the whole balance or stack by band, so the marginal reading is used here: each rate applies only to the dollars inside its band. The printed first band ends at $249,000 and the second begins at $250,000, and the band break is treated as $250,000. Under the whole-balance reading each figure would be lower at every balance above $250,000. The brochure discloses no minimum annual dollar fee, so no floor applies. The figures are maximums under a negotiable schedule, not typical charges.
The table below is the firm’s own advisory fee schedule. Fund expenses, custodian charges and any third-party manager or platform fees are generally separate from an advisory fee like this one; Item 5 of the brochure lists what applies to a given account.
| Account balance | Annual fee |
|---|---|
| $250,000 | $7,500 |
| $500,000 | $13,750 |
| $1,000,000 | $25,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $43,750 |
These figures come directly from Arete Wealth Advisors’ own current fee brochure, cited in Sources below.
Registration
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser (CRD #145488, confirmed ACTIVE this session via SEC IAPD).
This is a registration confirmation only, not a fiduciary-standard verdict (a registered investment adviser can still be a dual registrant with a broker-dealer, which changes which standard applies in each capacity).
What it costs to leave
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC’s Form ADV Part 2A states “Arete does not have a refund policy.” Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC names three possible custodians in its brochure, with no single default. Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC’s own published fee schedule states “Account Termination” Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.’s own published fee schedule states “Full transfer (out) of assets” Axos discloses no comparable line item (an honest gap).
The general mechanics of switching financial advisors and a dated termination letter apply regardless of firm.
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Source: WiserAdvisor’s service descriptionSources
- Form ADV Part 2A (January 30, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1007061
- SEC IAPD firm summary (CRD #145488, checked September 28, 2026): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/145488
Methodology. This page was built September 28, 2026, drawing directly on Arete Wealth Advisors’ own current fee brochure, cited in Sources below, and a fresh SEC IAPD registration check run the same day. Where exit-fee facts are cited, they trace to the named custodian’s own published schedule. Any fact we could not independently confirm is named as an honest gap rather than presented as verified. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice, and it is not a substitute for reading Arete Wealth Advisors’ own Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS. We have not used Arete Wealth Advisors as a client. Arete Wealth Advisors did not pay for, review, or influence this content. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.