Creative Planning: Platform Profile

Overview

Creative Planning is a large SEC-registered investment adviser providing portfolio management and broad financial-planning services.

Current services include:

• investment management;
• financial planning;
• retirement planning;
• tax planning;
• estate planning;
• insurance;
• business-owner planning;
• trust-related services;
• direct and private-market investment exposure for eligible clients.

The current general new-client minimum is:

• General new client minimum: $200,000

The standard current AUM fee schedule is progressive, beginning at:

• First 500k: 1.20%

and declining to:

• Over 100m: 0.25%

The progressive structure is important.

A $5 million client does not pay 0.85% on the entire $5 million.

May fit better for

• households seeking integrated planning plus discretionary investment management;
• investors with at least approximately $200,000 under management;
• high-net-worth households;
• clients who want a progressive AUM schedule;
• taxable investors who may benefit from tax-loss harvesting;
• eligible investors seeking private equity, private credit, real estate or other alternative exposure;
• clients who want a national firm with broad specialist resources.

May fit less well for

• very small investors;
• clients seeking a free robo account;
• active self-directed traders;
• investors who want a flat-dollar subscription;
• clients who want no private-fund or sub-adviser complexity;
• investors who assume the AUM fee is the complete cost;
• users who confuse Creative Planning International's eligibility threshold with the ordinary U.S. domestic minimum.

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Creative Planning, LLC is the adviser

Current IAPD information identifies:

• Investment adviser: Creative Planning, LLC
• CRD: 105348
• SEC number: 801-18564
• SEC registration status: Approved

Current Form CRS is dated March 31, 2026.

Current SEC-derived firm data was updated in July 2026.

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General new-client minimum is $200,000

Current Form CRS and Form ADV state:

• General new client minimum: $200,000

Creative Planning can waive or vary minimums under applicable circumstances and separate service lines can use different thresholds.

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Do not use the international $500,000 reference as the domestic minimum

Creative Planning International has separate marketing and eligibility references.

A $500,000 U.S.-based investable-asset reference used for an international service should not replace the general domestic:

$200,000

minimum.

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Current standard fee schedule is progressive

Current 2026 brochure:

• Standard fee schedule:
• First 500k: 1.20%
• 500001 to 2m: 1.00%
• 2m to 5m: 0.85%
• 5m to 10m: 0.80%
• 10m to 25m: 0.70%
• 25m to 50m: 0.40%
• 50m to 100m: 0.30%
• Over 100m: 0.25%
• Fee schedule progressive: Yes
• Billing: quarterly in arrears

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Progressive fee math

$1 million

First $500,000:

$500,000 × 1.20% = $6,000

Next $500,000:

$500,000 × 1.00% = $5,000

Total:

$11,000/year

Average:

1.10%

$5 million

First $500,000:

$6,000

Next $1.5 million:

$1,500,000 × 1.00% = $15,000

Next $3 million:

$3,000,000 × 0.85% = $25,500

Total:

$46,500/year

Average:

0.93%

$10 million

First $5 million:

$46,500

Next $5 million:

$5,000,000 × 0.80% = $40,000

Total:

$86,500/year

Average:

0.865%

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The fee applies broadly to assets inside the investment account

Current brochure states that, unless expressly excluded, Creative Planning calculates its management fee against assets in the account, including:

• cash;
• money-market holdings;
• ETFs;
• mutual funds;
• margin-related assets;
• short positions where applicable;
• private-fund investments;
• other holdings.

A client should ask what assets are excluded under the actual agreement.

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Additional sub-adviser and product expenses can apply

Current Form CRS states that separate costs can include:

• mutual-fund expense ratios;
• ETF expenses;
• transaction charges;
• custodian fees;
• sub-adviser fees.

Creative Planning's 1.20%-0.25% schedule is the client's total investment cost.

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Creative Planning can use discretionary and non-discretionary accounts

Current Form CRS supports:

• Discretionary accounts: Yes
• Non discretionary accounts: Yes

Regulatory data shows the overwhelming majority of accounts are discretionary, but non-discretionary accounts exist.

Every Creative Planning account is discretionary.

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Tax-loss harvesting is available but not guaranteed to help

Current Form CRS states that Creative Planning can use tax-loss harvesting where appropriate.

Whether harvesting improves after-tax results depends on the client's facts.

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Private-market exposure is substantive

Creative Planning's current alternatives material discusses asset classes including:

• private equity;
• private credit;
• private real estate;
• infrastructure;
• other private investments.

Current Form ADV also identifies Creative Planning as investment manager for certain private investment vehicles.

Private markets can impose:

• high expenses;
• capital lockups;
• limited redemption rights;
• manager concentration;
• leverage;
• valuation uncertainty.

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Private-market fees can be layered

Where a client invests in a private fund, the client can pay:

• Creative Planning's advisory fee;
• the private fund's management fee;
• incentive allocation/carry if applicable;
• administration expenses;
• transaction/operating expenses.

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Custody is external

Current Form CRS references unaffiliated custodians such as:

• Charles Schwab;
• Fidelity.

The adviser can recommend a custodian while the broker/custodian remains the legal account holder.

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Regulatory AUM and broader public asset figures are different metrics

Current July 2026 SEC-derived regulatory AUM is approximately:

• Regulatory AUM: $295.6 billion
• Regulatory AUM source date: 2026-07-10

Creative Planning's broader organization markets more than:

• Combined assets under management or advisement: $780 billion+
• Combined assets as of: 2026-06-30

Those are not necessarily the same regulatory metric.

Assessment

Creative Planning has the cleanest standardized AUM schedule in Batch 47.

The firm's published tiers are progressive, transparent and easy to model.

The tradeoff is that a standardized schedule does not mean a simple overall relationship.

A client can add:

• sub-advisers;
• private funds;
• alternatives;
• custodial costs;
• fund expenses;
• tax and estate complexity.

The $200,000 general new-client minimum makes the core wealth service more accessible than some private-wealth firms, while the broad private-market and specialist infrastructure targets much larger households as well.

The most important stale-data guard is the minimum:

$200,000 general domestic minimum

should not be overwritten by a separate $500,000 international-service reference.