Echo Wealth Management, LLC (hereinafter “EWM” or “firm” or “we”) is an SEC-
registered investment adviser with its principal place of business located in
Minnesota. EWM is owned by Fang Echo Huang and has been providing
comprehensive wealth management services since March 2015. EWM provides
wealth management services including investment management services to
individuals, high net worth individuals, trusts and foundations. As a registered
investment adviser, EWM is held to the highest standard of client care – a fiduciary
standard. As a fiduciary, EWM always puts clients’ interest first and must fully
disclose any potential conflict of interest.
We offer the following advisory services to our clients:
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Clients can engage EWM to manage all or a portion of their assets on a discretionary
basis. We tailor investment management services to the individual needs of clients.
We consult with clients initially and on an ongoing basis to determine the client’s
individual objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, and liquidity needs.
Clients are advised to promptly notify EWM if there are changes in their financial
situation or investment objectives or if they wish to impose any reasonable
restrictions upon EWM’s management services. Clients may impose reasonable
restrictions or mandates on the management of their accounts (e.g. holding onto a
certain stock longer or maintaining higher cash balance than usual) if, in EWM’s sole
discretion, the conditions will not materially impact the performance of a portfolio
strategy or prove overly burdensome to its management efforts.
Our investment recommendations are not limited to any specific product or service
offered by a broker-dealer or insurance company and will generally include advice
regarding the following securities: no-load mutual funds, exchange traded funds,
individual fixed income securities, individual equity securities and/or option as well
as the securities components of no-load variable annuities and variable life insurance
contracts in accordance with the investment objectives of the client.
Additional Service for Held Away Accounts
We offer an additional investment management service for “Held Away accounts,”
such as 401(k), 403(b), and 529 plan accounts. These accounts are not opened at
Charles Schwab. We use a third-party platform, Pontera (formerly FeeX), to leverage
an Order Management System to implement asset allocation and opportunistic
rebalancing strategies on behalf of clients. We regularly review the available
investment options in these accounts, monitor them, and rebalance and implement
our strategies in the same way we do other accounts, though using different tools as
necessary.
A link will be provided to Clients allowing them to connect account(s) to the platform.
Once a client’s account is connected to the platform, we will review the current
account allocations. When deemed necessary, we will rebalance the account
considering the Client’s investment goals and risk tolerance, and any change in
allocations will consider current economic and market trends. The goal is to improve
account performance over time, minimize loss during difficult markets, and manage
internal fees that harm account performance. Client account(s) will be reviewed at
least quarterly and allocation changes will be made as deemed necessary.
Pontera’s platform allows us to avoid having custody of Clients’ funds since we do
not have direct access to Client log-in credentials. We are not affiliated with Pontera
and receive no compensation from Pontera for using their platform.
Pontera charges EWM an annual fee of 0.25% of the assets on their platform.
PENSION CONSULTING SERVICES
EWM also provide advisory services to participant-directed retirement plans through
third-party administration services, which are online bundled service providers
offering an opportunity for plan sponsors to provide their participants with daily
account access, valuation and investment education.
EWM will analyze the plan’s current investment platform and assist the plan in
creating an investment policy statement defining the types of investments to be
offered and the restrictions that may be imposed. We will recommend investment
options to achieve the plan’s objectives, provide participant education meetings, and
monitor the performance of the plan’s investment vehicles.
EWM will recommend changes in the plan’s investment vehicles as may
be
appropriate from time to time. We generally will review the plan’s investment
vehicles and investment policy as necessary.
We will continue to work with plans to monitor plan investments, provide fiduciary
plan advice including regular considerations of the goals and objectives of the plan,
and provide participant education services to the plan.
FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES
We provide financial planning services. Financial planning is a comprehensive
evaluation of a client’s current and future financial state by using currently known
variables to predict future cash flows, asset values and withdrawal plans. Through
the financial planning process, all questions, information and analysis are considered
as they impact and are impacted by the entire financial and life situation of the client.
Clients purchasing this service receive a written report which provides the client with
a detailed financial plan designed to assist the client achieve his or her financial goals
and objectives. In addition, each client is given access to their personal financial
homepage (called Echo Dashboard) that consolidates all account
data every night in one secure location, accessible whenever desired from anywhere
internet is available. Clients can see updated financial projections such as cash flow
and balance sheet year by year any time, on their own time.
In general, the financial plan can address any or all of the following areas:
• Cash Flow/Budget Planning: We analyze the client’s spending and help them
plan for current and future years to increase savings for various goals.
• Investment Planning: We analyze the ownership and maintenance of any
assets reflected on an individual’s balance sheet as well as the appropriate
investment management for the individual’s portfolio of assets. This includes
individual savings, managed investment accounts, qualified retirement plans,
business ownerships, home ownership, stock options, and non-traditional
assets.
• Asset Protection: This area covers wealth management strategies that
intend to preserve an individual’s wealth and protect it from potential risks.
This consists primarily of various types of insurance: Life insurance, health
insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance, property and
casualty insurance.
• Retirement Planning: We analyze current strategies and investment plans to
help the client achieve his or her retirement goals including retirement cash
flow planning.
• Tax Planning: We mainly focus on creating strategies to help clients save
income taxes based on their projected income in current and future years.
We coordinate with your tax accountants to implement the tax strategies.
• Estate Planning: We assist the client in strategic planning for asset transfer at
death as well as the tracking of any documents that may be relevant to an
individual’s estate. It also involves charitable planning and gifting strategies.
This includes beneficiary designations, legal documents such as trusts and
wills, and the assignment of legal representatives. We coordinate with estate
attorneys to serve clients.
• Employer Benefit Planning: We analyze your employer’s benefits including
401(k) plan, medical insurance, equity compensation (stock options,
restricted stock awards), pension, and/or Deferred Compensation Plan to
help you maximize the benefits. This may involve assistance in helping
corporate executives in setting up 10b(5)-1 predetermined trading plan and
stock option exercise strategies.
• Education Planning: We help clients establish education funding goals and
analyze the funding methods including using 529 plans and other accounts.
• Business Planning: Once an entrepreneur’s new business venture is up and
running, a well-structured financial plan should be put in place to meet
business and personal goals by incorporating cash flow, tax planning,
compensation and benefits, risk management and exit strategy.
Typically the financial plan is presented to the client within six months of the contract
date, provided that all information needed to prepare the financial plan has been
promptly provided. Financial Planning recommendations are not limited to
any specific product or service offered by a broker-dealer or insurance company. All
recommendations are of a generic nature.
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT
As of December 31, 2023, EWM was managing $185,408,710 of client assets on a
discretionary basis and $4,551,518 of client assets on a non-discretionary basis.