Titan Wealth:Titan is a 21st-century Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) focusing on financially successful professionals and their families. It provides advisory services (tax, retirement, compensation planning) and investment management (public equity, fixed income, alternative assets).
Table of Contents
Titan’s differentiators
1. Access to alternative investments
Titan Wealth: Unlike many robo-advisors, Titan gives clients access to venture capital, private credit, real estate, and crypto strategies (if you’re a qualified client).
2. Smart Cash / cash optimization
Uninvested cash in users’ accounts are automatically pushed into higher-yield money market funds for cash to work to maximize returns.
3. Low underlying fund expenses on passive components
Titan’s stock and bond portfolios (the passive portion) are built with index funds, minimizing expenses and thereby reducing the drag of expenses as they grow.
4. Regulatory and custodian protections
Titan is registered as an RIA, and client assets are held through a third-party custodian to insulate client accounts and prevent co-mingling.
Challenges and criticisms
1. Increased risk / volatility associated with active strategies
Active and alternative strategies entail concentrated positions with increased risk relative to broadly diversified index funds. Possibility of underperformance exists.
2. Fees might accumulate significantly
While it is relatively inexpensive to hold the passive parts, uniquely managed strategies and alternative funds can have more significant fees (0.7 % – 0.9 % or higher). In addition, exit/transfer fees can be potentially sizable (e.g., IRA transfer going out $100).
3. Limited additional services / features
Titan does not have some broader features as some competitors (e.g., good financial planning, some banking services, socially responsible investing options).
4. Mixed reviews and transparency issues
- Titan maintained an average of approximately 3.5 / 5 on Trustpilot and was praised and criticized in the reviews for customer service, responsiveness, and investment performance issues.
- Some users argue that in Reddit they had issues with withdrawing or additional documentation.
- In 2023, SEC fined Titan $1 million related to misleading advertising about hypothetical performance (they did not admit wrongdoing).
ConsumerAffairs
Relative history / short record of performance
Some argue that Titan’s claims about performance are based on a relatively short period (2018+) and that much of the success in returning is market oriented as well.
Transparency / no information about ownership
Scamadviser pointed out that the WHOIS of the domain is partially hidden which adds to the polarized reviews.
Summary
Titan is an audacious blend of a robo-advisor and a wealth manager. Its offering — access for “institutional-style” alternative strategies to more typical investors — is enticing. For the right investor (one that embraces risk, wants to diversify beyond vanilla ETFs and has a willingness to pay for active management), Titan can be a sensible option.
With that said, it is not the best option for conservative investors and/or cost-conscious investors. The active strategy may lag the overall market, and fees eat up any potential gains. Lastly, investor feedback regarding withdrawing friction and transparency can’t be dismissed.
