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Is Coastal Bridge Advisors a Fiduciary? What Its Own Form CRS Says (2026)

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Updated September 28, 2026. Quick answer: Mostly yes, with one carve-out. Coastal Bridge Advisors is registered with the SEC only as an investment adviser, so on your advisory account it owes you a fiduciary duty under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Its own Form CRS states: “When we act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours.” Some of Coastal Bridge Advisors’ financial professionals earn insurance commissions in their individual capacity, not as financial professionals of the firm, which its own Form CRS names as a conflict of interest; that insurance capacity is not covered by the Investment Advisers Act fiduciary duty.

How it’s registered

From Form CRS, Customer Relationship Summary, Coastal Bridge Advisors (March 2025): “We are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser.”

The standard of conduct, in its own words

“When we act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours.”

On commissions: “Insurance commissions in their individual capacity. Insurance commissions, while not earned as financial professionals of our firm, result in an incentive to sell certain products and potentially more frequent purchases.”

Fiduciary status by capacity

CapacityRegistrationStandard you’re owedCan earn commissionsSource
As your investment adviser (most clients)SEC-registered investment adviserFiduciary duty (Investment Advisers Act of 1940)No (asset-based advisory fee: $6,250 a year, 1.25% on a $500,000 account)Form CRS, Customer Relationship Summary, Coastal Bridge Advisors, March 2025
As a licensed insurance agent, individual capacity (limited)Insurance commissions earned in an individual capacity (not a broker-dealer)Not the Investment Advisers Act fiduciary dutyYes (insurance commissions)Form CRS, Customer Relationship Summary, Coastal Bridge Advisors, March 2025

What this means for what you pay

Fiduciary status is one input, not the whole picture. Coastal Bridge Advisors discloses a published fee that runs $6,250 a year on a $500,000 account; see the full dollar breakdown from Coastal Bridge Advisors’ own fee disclosure before deciding whether the standard of conduct here changes your answer.

If the answer above changes your mind about staying, read the general mechanics of switching financial advisors, or use a dated termination letter once you decide.

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Sources

Methodology. This page was built September 28, 2026, quoting directly from Coastal Bridge Advisors’ own current Form CRS, with the source linked above; any distinction 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, and it is not a substitute for reading the firm’s own Form CRS. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.