Overview of Alight Financial Advisors
Alight Financial Advisors (AFA) provides investment advice and manages accounts for people who have 401(k) plans through their employer. The service is low-cost compared to many full-service advisory options, although it does not include every feature. Another Alight company offers more choices, but those come with higher costs.
AFA is owned by Alight Solutions LLC, which is a subsidiary of Alight, Inc. Alight’s roots go back to 1940 through Hewitt. AFA began in 2011 and now manages 195,957 client accounts, with about $35.1 billion in regulatory assets under management.
AFA is not a public company, but its parent company, Alight, remains listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ALIT.
AFA works with Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. to create investment plans and provide additional guidance. Alight has also announced a newer wealth-solutions collaboration in which Goldman Sachs Asset Management serves as a sub-advisor for AFA defined contribution and Alight IRA solutions.
Services Available through Alight Financial Advisors
AFA is not open to the general public. Only participants in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans that offer AFA’s services can access these services.
Alight Financial Advisors provides advisory services only. Under U.S. retirement-account rules, AFA acts as a fiduciary when it provides advice or management for eligible retirement plan accounts. AFA is not a broker-dealer and does not offer regular self-directed brokerage accounts. It focuses on three main areas:
- Financial planning
- Portfolio management
- Financial education
There are several services within these categories, including:
- Social Security help
- Online investment advice (without discretionary management by AFA)
- Income planning
- Account management (AFA manages your 401(k) for you)
- Retirement advice, including for accounts outside of work
- Portfolio reviews
Inside 401(k) plans served by AFA, available investments depend on the menu selected by the plan or plan sponsor. Online Advice recommendations generally focus on mutual funds, commingled funds, separate accounts, and, in some cases, plan-sponsor stock. AFA may also consider closed-end funds and ETFs when it has access to that information. With Professional Management, AFA generally excludes brokerage-window options and other plan-restricted investments.
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Alight Financial Solutions
Alight Financial Solutions, another Alight company, offers brokerage services, including self-directed brokerage-window accounts for eligible workplace retirement plans and self-managed IRA accounts in some situations. These brokerage accounts are separate from AFA’s advisory service, and availability depends on the plan, account type, or Alight IRA access.
Alight explains that its self-directed service is designed for people who know the investment market well, want more freedom to build a custom portfolio, and have the time and ability to research investments on their own.
Eligible clients can invest in a wider range of products, including options, stocks, Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), corporate and municipal bonds, U.S. Treasuries, brokered CDs, and more. You can also use features like:
- Check writing
- Dividend reinvestment
- Automatic mutual fund purchases
- Real-time quotes (for balances of $10,000 or more)
- Debit card
- Margin trading
It’s easy to move money from an eligible workplace retirement account to a brokerage-window account on Alight’s website. Cash is placed into a money market mutual fund (HEWXX) and is ready for trading the next business day.
Alight Financial Solutions uses third-party brokerage and clearing arrangements. Current BrokerCheck records list Pershing LLC and Apex Clearing Corporation in connection with Alight Financial Solutions’ customer-account and clearing arrangements.
Margin
Margin trading may be available in eligible Financial Solutions accounts. Here is the current schedule:
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Average Margin Balance
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Margin Interest Rate
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Rate basis
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Pershing Base Lending Rate (PBLR)
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$0–$24,999
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PBLR + 1.50%
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$25,000–$49,999
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PBLR + 1.00%
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$50,000–$99,999
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PBLR + 0.50%
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$100,000–$249,999
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PBLR + 0.25%
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$250,000 and over
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PBLR + 0.00%
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Regulations
Alight Financial Advisors is not a broker-dealer, so it is not registered as one. It is registered as an investment adviser with the SEC.
Alight Financial Advisors’ CRD number is 158744, and its SEC number is 801-72679. It became registered with the SEC in 2011.
Alight Financial Solutions is separately registered as a broker-dealer with FINRA (#36509) and the SEC (#8-47344). It is not registered as an investment adviser.
The brokerage at Alight has been registered since 1994 and has 4 disclosures on its FINRA record, which is not many for a firm with such a long operating history.
Alight Financial Advisors Pricing
Alight Financial Advisors charges a percentage of the money it manages. Professional Management fees are generally up to 0.60% of managed assets per year and usually decline for account balances above $100,000. Online Advice fees may be up to $10 per eligible participant per year, although the plan or plan sponsor may pay some or all of the cost. AFA does not receive commissions for the recommendations it makes through Online Advice or Professional Management.
Alight Financial Solutions has its own fee schedules. In its retail and IRA schedule, Traditional, SEP, Roth, and Education IRA accounts have a $40 annual custodial or maintenance fee, while QRP and SIMPLE plan accounts have a $50 annual fee. There is also a $75 account termination fee and a $75 outgoing full account transfer fee. Plan-specific self-directed brokerage account schedules can differ.
There is no annual fee based on assets, but some trades still carry charges. Online stock and ETF trades cost $0. Online options trades cost $0 plus $0.65 per contract. Exercises and assignments are $0. U.S. Treasury trades at auction cost $20 per transaction, and many secondary-market fixed-income trades also cost $20.
Some products still have set charges. Commercial paper trades cost $44.95 with a $100,000 minimum, and sales of Unit Investment Trusts (UITs) cost $34.95. Representative-assisted options trades add $25 to the online fee, and an Options Regulatory Fee also applies.
Some mutual funds have a $46.75 transaction fee. Automatic mutual fund purchases cost $2 each, and exchanges between funds cost $10.
Cash management services, like check orders and stop payments, have different fees depending on the account type and cash-management service level.
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Customer Service
If you have a Financial Advisors account, customer service is through your workplace. For Financial Solutions accounts, you can contact the brokerage department at Alight, Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm EST, at 800.890.3200. You can also email afscustomerservice@alight.com.
Alight Financial Advisors Review Judgment
Alight Financial Advisors offers a low-cost investment advisory service that can work well for many employees and employers. Clients can also get help with outside retirement accounts, such as IRAs, which may have lower trading costs than accounts at Alight Financial Solutions.
Updated on 8/20/2026.
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