Guides › Financial Advisor Fees
Updated September 19, 2026. Quick answer: TIAA Wealth Management is less expensive at $500,000: $4,500 a year, versus $12,500 a year for UBS, 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 | TIAA Wealth Management (annual fee) | UBS (annual fee) |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $2,250 | $6,250 |
| $500,000 | $4,500 | $12,500 |
| $1,000,000 | $9,000 | $25,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $16,000 | $50,000 |
TIAA Wealth Management discloses a tiered schedule starting at 0.90% (TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC – Advice & Planning Services – Private Asset Management Disclosure Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), March 31, 2026); UBS discloses a maximum, individually negotiated rate of 2.5% (UBS Financial Services Inc. Form ADV Part 2A Brochure (PMP/AAP fee schedule), March 31, 2026).
What the fee includes, in each firm’s own words
TIAA Wealth Management (TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC – Advice & Planning Services – Private Asset Management Disclosure Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A), March 31, 2026): “The PAM Fee schedules for the discretionary accounts are provided below. They are subject to change with prior notice to materially impacted clients enrolled in PAM. … PAM Fee Blended Schedule Value Bracket Annual Fee as % First $1,000,000 of market value 0.90% Next $2,000,000 0.70% Next $2,000,000 0.50% Over $5,000,000 0.40%”
Marginal/tax-bracket-style tiers from the PAM Fee Blended Schedule (the Private Asset Management program run by TC Services, TIAA’s high-net-worth wealth-management arm, sub-advised by TIAA Wealth Investment Management LLC). $250k: 250,000 x 0.90% = $2,250. $500k: 500,000 x 0.90% = $4,500. $1M: 1,000,000 x 0.90% = $9,000. $2M: first $1,000,000 x 0.90% = $9,000, plus the next $1,000,000 (of the $1,000,001-$3,000,000 tier) x 0.70% = $7,000, total $16,000. TIAA Wealth Investment Management LLC (CRD 334925, SEC file 801-132296, the WIM sub-adviser entity) has no client-facing fee schedule of its own – it is paid a flat sub-advisory basis-point fee by TC Services/TIAA Trust; the PAM brochure sponsored by TC Services is the entity that actually bills clients and is the correct primary source for a buildable schedule. A separate ‘PAM Fee Exclusively Fixed Income Schedule’ (0.50%/0.35%/0.25%/0.20%/0.15% tiers) applies only to all-fixed-income accounts and was not used here.
UBS (UBS Financial Services Inc. Form ADV Part 2A Brochure (PMP/AAP fee schedule), March 31, 2026): “UBS Investment Advisory Fee Schedule, Maximum Fee: All Assets and strategy types (Equity, Balanced and Fixed Income Accounts): 2.50%.”
UBS’s core retail advisory programs (Portfolio Management Program, Advisor Allocation Program) disclose a flat 2.50% maximum, negotiable rate rather than a published breakpoint table. UBS does publish a genuine tiered dollar schedule for Institutional Consulting, but that program requires a $5,000,000 minimum and is not representative of a typical account.
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, TIAA Wealth Management runs $4,500 a year and UBS runs $12,500 a year: a difference of $8,000 a year at that balance.
Want the full breakdown for either firm on its own? Read the TIAA Wealth Management fee page or the UBS fee page for the complete tier table and source citations.
Thinking about leaving one of these firms instead of pricing what you would pay to stay? See what it costs to leave UBS, or read the general mechanics of switching financial advisors.
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- TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC – Advice & Planning Services – Private Asset Management Disclosure Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A) (March 31, 2026): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1028127
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC (d/b/a Advice & Planning Services, sponsor of the Private Asset Management Program) (CRD #20472): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/20472
- UBS Financial Services Inc. Form ADV Part 2A Brochure (PMP/AAP fee schedule) (March 31, 2026): https://www.ubs.com/us/en/wealth-management/about-us/disclosure-documents.html
- SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, UBS Financial Services Inc. (CRD #8174): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/8174
Methodology. This page was built September 19, 2026, re-pairing figures already archived and independently verified for TIAA Wealth Management and UBS 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.