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Drake & Associates
Drake & Associates, led by Tony Drake in Waukesha, WI, provides fiduciary retirement-income planning and tax-aware portfolio management for Midwestern...
Drake & Associates
Drake & Associates operates as a wealth-management firm from its headquarters in Waukesha, Wisconsin. CEO Tony Drake established the practice with a focus on financial planning for individuals and families navigating the transition from accumulation to distribution. The firm structures its client engagements around retirement-income modeling, Social Security optimization, and tax-sensitive withdrawal sequencing, positioning itself as a planning-led rather than product-led advisory. The firm's investment approach emphasizes risk-managed portfolio construction, incorporating equities, fixed income, and insurance-based solutions to generate reliable retirement cash flows. Drake & Associates integrates tax planning directly into portfolio design — coordinating asset location across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts to minimize lifetime tax drag. Client portfolios are typically implemented through third-party custodians, with the firm acting as a fiduciary advisor rather than a discretionary asset manager. The practice serves a concentrated client base in southeastern Wisconsin. Drake & Associates operates a single office in Waukesha, maintaining a lean team of financial planners and support staff. In 2024, the firm continued its educational outreach through local seminars and media appearances focused on retirement-readiness topics. Tony Drake serves as the public face of the practice, delivering commentary on retirement-income strategies through regional broadcast segments and the firm's own content channels. Structurally, Drake & Associates distinguishes itself through a planning-intensive model uncommon among commission-based wealth practices. The firm's fiduciary commitment — acting under the Investment Advisers Act rather than a broker-dealer suitability standard — means its advisors bear a legal obligation to prioritize client interests in portfolio and income-planning decisions. This regulatory posture shapes the firm's product selection, fee transparency, and long-term client retention dynamics.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Waukesha
Corporate office
Waukesha, WI, United States
Principals
Tony Drake
CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What is Tony Drake's investment philosophy?
Tony Drake emphasizes retirement-income reliability over benchmark-relative performance. His approach prioritizes capital preservation, inflation-hedged withdrawal strategies, and tax-efficient distribution sequencing. Portfolio construction integrates equities for growth, fixed income for stability, and insurance products where guaranteed income floors are appropriate — all coordinated to meet specific client retirement-liability schedules rather than generic risk-tolerance models.
Does Drake & Associates operate as a fiduciary?
Yes. Drake & Associates is structured as a registered investment adviser, which imposes a fiduciary duty requiring the firm to act in its clients' best interests at all times. This legal standard means the firm's advisors must disclose conflicts, avoid self-dealing, and recommend only those products and strategies that serve client goals rather than generating commissions or sales incentives.
What types of clients does Drake & Associates serve?
The firm primarily works with individuals and families in southeastern Wisconsin who are near or in retirement. Its client base includes corporate retirees, small-business owners, and professionals seeking coordinated retirement-income planning. Drake typically engages clients on a holistic basis, integrating investment management with Social Security claiming strategies, Medicare guidance, and estate-planning coordination.
How does the firm charge for its services?
Drake & Associates typically charges fees based on a percentage of assets under management, aligning its compensation with client portfolio performance rather than transaction volume. As a fee-based advisory practice, the firm avoids commission-driven conflicts common in broker-dealer models. Specific fee schedules are disclosed to clients during onboarding and vary based on account size and service complexity.
Does Drake & Associates manage assets in-house or use third-party managers?
The firm constructs portfolios using a combination of individual securities, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and insurance products, typically custodied at independent third-party platforms. This custodial separation provides an additional layer of client protection, as Drake does not hold client assets directly. The firm's value proposition centers on the planning overlay — asset allocation, tax coordination, and income sequencing — rather than proprietary fund management.
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