Guides › Financial Advisor Fees
Updated September 19, 2026. Quick answer: Vanguard Personal Advisor is less expensive at $500,000: $1,750 a year, versus $12,500 a year for Kestra (Kestra Private Wealth Services / Kestra Advisory Services), computed from each firm’s own SEC-filed fee disclosure. See the full side-by-side table below for $250,000, $1 million and $2 million.
What each firm charges, side by side
| Account balance | Kestra (Kestra Private Wealth Services / Kestra Advisory Services) (annual fee) | Vanguard Personal Advisor (annual fee) |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $6,250 | $875 |
| $500,000 | $12,500 | $1,750 |
| $1,000,000 | $25,000 | $3,500 |
| $2,000,000 | $50,000 | $7,000 |
Kestra (Kestra Private Wealth Services / Kestra Advisory Services) discloses a maximum, individually negotiated rate of 2.5% (Kestra Advisory Services, LLC Wrap Fee Program Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1), August 20, 2026); Vanguard Personal Advisor discloses a published gross rate of 0.35% (Vanguard Digital Advisor and Vanguard Personal Advisor Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), 2026-08-20).
What the fee includes, in each firm’s own words
Kestra (Kestra Private Wealth Services / Kestra Advisory Services) (Kestra Advisory Services, LLC Wrap Fee Program Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1), August 20, 2026): “All fees are negotiable, subject to the maximum amount set forth below. FSP Fee Schedule Fee Type Assets Minimum Maximum Manager Fee $5,000+ 0.02% 0.45% Advisor Fee $5,000+ 0.00% 2.48% Client Fee $5,000+ 0.02% 2.50% … Client Fee is the sum of the Advisor Fee plus the Manager Fee. In instances where the maximum Advisor Fee plus the Manager Fee would exceed 2.5 percent, the Advisor fee is reduced so the Client Fee does not exceed 2.5 percent.” Fund Strategist Portfolios (FSP) Program – Client Fee (Advisor Fee + Manager Fee), $5,000+ accounts: 0.02% min – 2.50% max; Separately Managed Accounts (SMA) Program – Client Fee, $100,000+ accounts: 0.02% min – 2.50% max; Unified Managed Account (UMA) Program – Client Fee, $5,000+ accounts: 0.02% min – 2.50% max; APM-Wrap / most other AdvisorEnterprise programs – Maximum Client Fee: 2.50%; One passive/index-model program – Maximum Client Fee (lower cap): 1.50%.
Kestra’s advisory fee is entirely advisor-negotiated within a published floor/ceiling band; across its AdvisorEnterprise programs (FSP, SMA, UMA, APM-Wrap, etc.) the Client Fee ranges from about 0.02% up to a firm-wide Maximum Client Fee of 2.5% (one narrower passive-model program caps at 1.5%). No fixed dollar-bracket schedule is disclosed – the rate a given client pays is set individually by their Advisor within that band. dollar_at values apply the 2.5% ceiling uniformly as the worst-case maximum (250,000 x 0.025 = $6,250; 500,000 x 0.025 = $12,500; 1,000,000 x 0.025 = $25,000; 2,000,000 x 0.025 = $50,000). Kestra Private Wealth Services, LLC (CRD 155193, SEC file 801-71936), the second Kestra RIA entity, publishes an identical negotiable/2.5%-ceiling structure in its own Form ADV Part 2A/Appendix 1 brochures (also downloaded to sources/kestra/), so the two entities are not in conflict; Kestra Advisory Services was used as the primary citation as the larger/parent RIA (formerly NFP Advisor Services).
Vanguard Personal Advisor (Vanguard Digital Advisor and Vanguard Personal Advisor Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), 2026-08-20): “Personal Advisor’s annual gross advisory fee for Vanguard Brokerage Accounts is 0.35% for its all‐index investment options and 0.40% for the exclusive active/index mix. … Enrollments in Personal Advisor require an aggregate $50,000 balance or greater” All-index investment option (any enrolled balance; $50,000 aggregate minimum to enroll): 0.35%; Active/index mix investment option (any enrolled balance): 0.40%.
Flat (non-tiered) gross advisory fee applied to the entire enrolled Vanguard Brokerage Account balance regardless of balance size: 0.35% for the all-index investment option (used here as the base case) or 0.40% if the active/index mix is elected. Dollar figures = balance x 0.0035. This is Vanguard’s disclosed gross fee before the affiliate-revenue credit that Vanguard also applies (which further lowers the net fee actually charged, per the same brochure); the gross rate is used here because it is the stated contractual rate, not an estimate.
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, Kestra (Kestra Private Wealth Services / Kestra Advisory Services) runs $12,500 a year and Vanguard Personal Advisor runs $1,750 a year: a difference of $10,750 a year at that balance.
Want the full breakdown for either firm on its own? Read the Kestra (Kestra Private Wealth Services / Kestra Advisory Services) fee page or the Vanguard Personal Advisor fee page for the complete tier table and source citations.
Comparing these two against a full move? Read the general mechanics of switching financial advisors, or use a dated termination letter once you decide.
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- Kestra Advisory Services, LLC Wrap Fee Program Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A, Appendix 1) (August 20, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1055475
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (“Kestra AS”) (CRD #283330): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/283330
- Vanguard Digital Advisor and Vanguard Personal Advisor Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A) (2026-08-20): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1055528
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, Vanguard Advisers, Inc. (CRD #106715): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/106715
Methodology. This page was built September 19, 2026, re-pairing figures already archived and independently verified for Kestra (Kestra Private Wealth Services / Kestra Advisory Services) and Vanguard Personal Advisor from each firm’s own SEC-filed disclosure; sources linked above. Nothing here is personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.