A fiduciary is a financial advisor who is legally required to put your interests ahead of their own, rather than recommending products that earn a commission. This matters because advisors who are not fiduciaries can be paid more for steering you toward certain investments, even when a lower-cost or better-suited option exists. Cutler Investment Group (Cutler) is a fee-only fiduciary registered investment adviser, and we structure our advice to stay aligned with your goals rather than with product sales.
"Fee-only" means an advisor is paid solely by client fees and earns no sales commissions, which reduces a common source of conflict. "Fee-based," confusingly, means an advisor can charge fees and also earn commissions — so the two terms are not the same, and the difference is one of the clearest signals of how aligned an advisor's incentives are with yours. Cutler is fee-only: our compensation comes from client advisory fees, not from sales commissions.
A Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) is held to a fiduciary standard and is required to act in your best interest throughout the relationship. A broker is held to a "best interest" standard at the time a recommendation is made and may earn commissions on the products sold. The practical difference is ongoing duty: a RIA's advice is meant to reflect what is right for you over time, not what pays the firm more on a given transaction.
Yes. Cutler Investment Counsel, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. We also do business as Cutler Investment Group. Cutler is held to a fiduciary standard that requires it to act in clients' best interests. As of December 31, 2025, Cutler managed approximately $1.5 billion in client assets. You can verify our registration anytime and review our Federal disclosure document, called our Form ADV, on the SEC's public adviser lookup at adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Cutler's professionals have served clients since 1977 and have been guided by a family-led philosophy for more than 40 years. In practice this means continuity: many client relationships span decades and generations, and the firm is built to serve clients over the long term rather than to be sold.
Most financial advisors who manage your investments charge a percentage of the assets they manage, and rates vary by firm and account size. We do not earn commissions or charge performance fees, and basic financial planning is included for many wealth management clients at no additional cost.
Cutler Investment Group has employees with tiered client segments, allowing us to serve a variety of client sizes. Advisors generally work with households starting at around $250,000 in investable assets, while some Advisors may have minimums significantly higher. Once we have a full understanding of your situation, we will determine who the best fit at Cutler will be or whether another firm would be better suited for you. But, don't let that be a prohibiting factor. Let us know you are interested and the best next step is a brief, no-pressure call.
Start by confirming whether the advisor acts as a fiduciary, how they are paid, the strength of their credentials and team, the firm's history, and any regulatory disclosures in Form CRS and Form ADV.
Investment management handles the portfolio itself, while wealth management is broader — coordinating financial planning, income strategy, tax considerations, retirement, and your overall goals around the investments.
Cutler is headquartered in Jacksonville, Oregon, with offices in Bellevue, Washington; Newport Beach, California; and Anchorage, Alaska. We have clients all over the United States, and some internationally as well. Many clients work with Advisors that are not in their area, but selected them based on expertise, personality fit, or relationship. We meet with clients both in person and by video, so you do not need to live near an office to become a client.
Cutler works with clients focused on building their legacy. We work with retirees seeking a plan to get them through retirement. Business owners who want to use us as a sounding board for managing their business, letting them focus on what they do best. We work with companies that want an open-architecture 401(k) plan, focused on minimizing investment fees; a firm engaged as a 3(38) fiduciary advisor. We create and implement investment policies for foundations, non-profits, trusts, and companies. Cutler's team of Advisors and investment personnel tailors our approach to each of these groups, since their needs differ.
Your money is held by an independent, qualified custodian and not by Cutler. The firm uses well-known custodians such as Charles Schwab and Fidelity to hold client assets and process transactions; Cutler manages the investments, and the custodian safeguards the money and sends you your own statements. We do not hold your assets.
Client assets at Cutler are held at qualified custodians that are members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers if a brokerage firm fails. SIPC does not protect against investment losses from market movements; it protects the custody of your assets.
It depends on your goals. Many Cutler clients are invested in the firm's Equity Income strategy, which focuses on large U.S. companies with a long, consistent history of paying dividends. Others are in the firm's Lifestyle Portfolios — diversified, risk-based portfolios ranging from conservative to growth-oriented, built from a mix of stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs. As with any investment approach, all of these carry market risk, and dividends are not guaranteed.
Dividend investing focuses on owning companies that pay consistent, ideally growing, dividends, producing income on top of any price appreciation. It tends to suit investors who want income, such as retirees, foundations and endowments, and corporate cash accounts. Dividends are not guaranteed, however — companies can reduce or suspend them, and dividend strategies still carry market risk.
The Cutler Equity Fund (ticker DIVHX) is a mutual fund managed by Cutler Investment Group that follows the firm's Equity Income strategy — investing in large U.S. companies with a defined history of paying dividends.
Yes. Socially responsible and ESG-oriented investing lets you align a portfolio with personal or organizational values — using environmental, social, and governance screens — while still pursuing returns. Cutler offers a values-based approach and, if it is your preference, will discuss socially responsible investments with you as part of building your financial plan, rather than treating it as an afterthought.
No. Cutler Investment Group does not provide tax or legal advice. The firm does, however, consider taxes in its planning and will coordinate with your CPA, estate attorney, and other professionals so that everyone is working from the same plan. This is standard practice for a fiduciary advisor and keeps your investment, tax, and estate decisions aligned.
Cutler does both. Alongside managing investments, the firm helps with the bigger picture: deciding when to claim Social Security, reviewing your estate plan, planning around taxes, funding college, and mapping out income in retirement. For most wealth management clients, this planning is included in the advisory relationship at no separate charge.
Your account at Cutler Investment Group is reviewed on an ongoing basis, and you receive statements from your custodian at least quarterly. The firm's investment team reviews most client accounts, and your advisor stays in regular contact. You do not have to wait for a scheduled review to talk to your advisor.
Yes. Timing Social Security is one of the most important retirement decisions, and it is part of the planning Cutler Investment Group does with clients. The firm looks at your full picture — other income, taxes, your health, and your spouse — to help you weigh the trade-offs.
Generating dependable income is one of the main reasons people come to Cutler Investment Group. The firm's Equity Income strategy focuses on large U.S. companies with a long history of paying dividends, which can provide a stream of income alongside the rest of your portfolio — though dividends are not guaranteed and can change. Cutler also helps coordinate the bigger income picture — Social Security timing, withdrawals from your accounts, and taxes — so the pieces work together.
Yes. Cutler Investment Group helps clients weigh 401(k) rollover options. In some cases, moving an old 401(k) into a Cutler-managed IRA makes sense, while in others, leaving the account where it is may be the better choice. Cutler will only recommend a rollover when it believes the move is genuinely in your best interest and will explain why.
Business owners face overlapping personal and business finances — succession planning, wealth concentrated in the company, and eventual liquidity events — that generic individual planning often misses. Cutler has a dedicated practice for business owners within its wealth management division to address these layered needs, coordinating your personal wealth with what is happening in your business.
Yes. Through its retirement plans group, Cutler Investment Group helps employers design, set up, and manage retirement plans such as 401(k)s, including plan design, ongoing maintenance, and managing the vendors involved. For certain plans, the firm also handles participant education to help your employees get the most from the plan.
Under federal retirement law (ERISA), a 3(38) investment manager takes on the legal responsibility for selecting and monitoring the investments in a retirement plan, shifting that specific responsibility to a professional held to a fiduciary standard. The employer still has a duty to prudently select and monitor the 3(38) manager, but is relieved of the day-to-day investment-selection liability.
Foundations and non-profits often have spending policies, donor restrictions, board oversight, and longer time horizons, so their investment approach differs from that of an individual investor. Cutler Investment Group offers services tailored to foundations and non-profits, supported by institutional asset-management experience for organizations that need disciplined, policy-driven oversight.
Yes. Cutler works with foundations, endowments, and non-profit organizations to build portfolios around an organization's investment policy statement, spending needs, and any restrictions set by the board or donors.
