Elevate Financial Planning and Wealth Management

Elevate employs an evidence-based, passive investment strategy grounded in the academic research of Eugene Fama and Kenneth French. The firm constructs globally diversified portfolios exclusively using Dimensional Fund Advisors mutual funds, which apply factor tilts toward small-cap and value stocks. Elevate does not pursue active stock selection, market timing, or alternative assets, and its client portfolios are custodied at Charles Schwab for independent third-party asset safekeeping.

Elevate operates strictly as a fee-only fiduciary. For traditional wealth management clients, the firm charges a percentage of assets under management, billed quarterly in arrears. For its financial planning subscription tier, clients pay a flat monthly or annual retainer fee that does not vary with net worth or investment returns. Michael LoVallo explicitly left Morgan Stanley's commission-based model in 2014 to avoid compensation conflicts, and the firm's CEFEX fiduciary certification requires documented third-party verification of this standard.

Michael LoVallo, as the firm's founder and lead advisor, has final authority over portfolio design and investment policy. The firm's investment committee structure is small, reflecting its boutique scale. Elevate does not delegate discretionary authority to external managers beyond allocating to Dimensional Fund Advisors funds, and advisors at the firm are not compensated based on the performance of recommended strategies, which reinforces the fiduciary separation between advice and asset management outcome.

No. Elevate limits its investment scope to publicly traded equity and fixed-income markets through Dimensional Fund Advisors mutual funds. The firm does not offer or recommend private equity, venture capital, direct real estate syndications, or hedge fund allocations to clients. This intentional line-drawing aligns with its evidence-based investing philosophy and avoids the liquidity, valuation, and fee-structure complexities of private vehicles.

CEFEX certification, awarded in 2022, is an independent verification of fiduciary practices administered by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence. The certification requires an external audit of the firm's advisory processes, client communication protocols, and adherence to a defined fiduciary standard of care. For allocators and families evaluating smaller RIAs, CEFEX provides an objective governance signal separate from marketing claims and regulatory registration. Elevate is one of a minority of independent advisory firms in the Southeastern United States that maintains this certification.