Factor Financial

The firm is an independent fiduciary compensated directly by clients, not through product commissions or sales quotas. Its website states it does not push products and instead charges for advice. The specific fee schedule—whether asset-under-management fees, flat retainers, or hourly charges—is not itemized on the public site, but the structure is designed to eliminate the conflicts common in commission-based brokerage models.

Zach Chiara, the founder and sole named CFP® professional on staff, is responsible for building and managing client plans. The firm emphasizes that clients work directly with the advisor who constructs their financial strategy. There is no investment committee, analyst team, or external investment consultant named in public disclosures.

The Factor Framework™ is the firm’s proprietary five-step planning process that coordinates tax strategy, retirement income, investments, insurance, and estate planning. It is designed to unify these disciplines under one plan rather than leaving clients to manage multiple disconnected providers. The firm positions this integration as a direct alternative to advisors who only manage investment accounts without addressing tax or estate implications.

Factor Financial is a virtual, independent registered investment advisor, not a single-family or multi-family office. It serves a niche of mass-affluent retirees and near-retirees. Some clients describe the experience as having a “family office feel,” but the firm does not offer the tax structuring, trust administration, or private-investment capabilities characteristic of a traditional family office.

The firm’s website asks and answers this question generically, stating that client money is held with a qualified third-party custodian, not by Factor directly. However, the specific custodian—such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity, or Pershing Advisor Solutions—is not named in publicly scraped materials.