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Trost Financial Planning
Michael Trost established the firm in 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, structuring it as a registered investment adviser. The practice serves individuals,...
Trost Financial Planning
Michael Trost established the firm in 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, structuring it as a registered investment adviser. The practice serves individuals, high-net-worth families, and corporate clients. Its service model emphasizes upfront financial planning — cash flow modeling, tax strategy, retirement projections — before any portfolio is constructed. This sequencing is the architectural choice that separates planning-led RIAs from sales-driven wealth management shops. Trost Financial Planning delivers its investment exposure primarily through diversified ETF and mutual fund portfolios, though the firm's ADV filings and public record indicate it does not market a proprietary fund or pooled vehicle. The firm constructs custom allocations for each client based on the planning output, not a model portfolio off a shelf. As a New Mexico–based adviser, its natural client concentration skews toward professionals and business owners in the Albuquerque–Santa Fe corridor, though geography is not a formal mandate constraint. The firm's website lists wealth planning, financial planning, and tax planning as its three service pillars. The firm maintains a deliberately lean team structure, typical of solo-founded RIAs in secondary markets. No satellite offices, no external capital partners, and no adjacent philanthropic vehicles are disclosed in public filings. Michael Trost holds the Series 65 license, the standard qualification for fee-based investment adviser representatives, and the practice operates without the commission-based licenses that would signal a hybrid broker-dealer model. As of the firm's most recent regulatory filings, it reports no disciplinary disclosures. Where a wirehouse might treat the financial plan as a loss leader for product distribution, Trost Financial Planning's structure makes the plan the product. This is the genuinely distinct structural feature: a solo RIA built entirely around the planning engagement, with investment management serving as the implementation step. It is a posture that aligns with the broader industry migration of advisors leaving brokerage platforms for the fiduciary standard of the RIA channel, and it anchors the firm in the lower-volume, higher-trust segment of retail wealth management.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
2018
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Albuquerque
Corporate office
Albuquerque, NM, United States
Frequently asked questions
Is Trost Financial Planning a broker-dealer or a registered investment adviser?
Trost Financial Planning operates as a registered investment adviser subject to the fiduciary standard. Public record shows the firm holds Series 65–qualified adviser representatives rather than the Series 7/66 combination typical of broker-dealers. This means the firm is legally obligated to place client interests ahead of its own on every recommendation.
How does the firm charge for its services?
As an RIA, Trost Financial Planning likely charges fees based on assets under management, hourly or fixed planning fees, or a combination. The firm's public disclosures emphasize financial planning as the core engagement, which typically involves a planning fee separate from or offset against the ongoing portfolio management fee. Exact fee schedules would be detailed in the firm's Form ADV Part 2A.
Who runs investment decisions at Trost Financial Planning?
Michael Trost, the firm's founder, is the named principal and the sole investment adviser representative on public record. In a solo-founded RIA of this size, investment policy and portfolio construction decisions typically rest with the founder, though the firm likely uses third-party asset managers via ETFs and mutual funds rather than individual security selection.
What is the firm's known posture on proprietary products?
Trost Financial Planning does not appear to offer proprietary funds or in-house pooled vehicles. As a planning-led RIA, the firm constructs client portfolios using third-party ETFs and mutual funds. This open-architecture approach eliminates the conflict of interest inherent in pushing an in-house product suite.
What types of clients does Trost Financial Planning serve?
The firm advises individuals, high-net-worth individuals, and corporations based on its regulatory filings. Given its Albuquerque location, the client base likely includes local business owners, professionals, and retirees in the New Mexico market. The RIA structure makes it accessible to clients seeking fiduciary-level advice rather than transactional brokerage relationships.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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