Overview of Alight Financial Advisors
Alight Financial Advisors (AFA) is a firm that gives investment advice and manages portfolios for people who have 401(k) plans through their employer. The company’s service is low-cost compared to many full-service advisory options, but it is limited to workplace retirement plans and does not offer every feature found at a regular brokerage firm. A related company offers more self-directed brokerage options, but at a higher price.
AFA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alight Solutions LLC, which is a subsidiary of Alight, Inc., a company that works in benefits administration, technology, and human resources. The Alight brand is newer, but its predecessor history traces back to Hewitt Associates, which was founded in 1940. AFA itself has operated since 2011 and manages about $35.05 billion in assets across roughly 196,000 client accounts.
AFA is not a public company, but its parent company, Alight, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol ALIT.
AFA works with Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C., part of Edelman Financial Engines, to help set target investment mixes and provide other sub-advisory services.
Services Available through Alight Financial Advisors
AFA does not offer its services to everyone. Only participants in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans that offer AFA’s services can sign up for them.
Alight Financial Advisors is an investment adviser. When it gives advice or recommendations for retirement plan accounts, it acts as a fiduciary under federal retirement-account rules. AFA is not a broker-dealer and does not offer regular self-directed brokerage accounts. The main focus is in three areas:
- Financial planning
- Portfolio management
- Financial education
There are different services in each area. Some of these are:
- Help with Social Security
- Online advice (non-discretionary investment advice)
- Planning for income
- Asset management (managing your 401(k) account directly)
- Retirement advice, including for accounts outside of work
- Ongoing review of your portfolio
Within 401(k) plans managed by AFA, investment choices are limited to the menu selected by the plan or plan sponsor. AFA’s Professional Management service generally excludes brokerage-window options and other plan-restricted investments. Depending on the plan lineup, recommended or managed investments may include mutual funds, commingled funds, separate accounts, ETFs, individual equities, certificates of deposit, and fixed-income investments.
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Alight Financial Solutions
Alight Financial Solutions, a part of Alight, offers brokerage services, including self-directed brokerage-window services for eligible workplace retirement plans. These services let eligible participants trade investments on their own. This brokerage service is not the same as AFA’s managed-account advisory service.
Alight tells clients that the self-directed service is meant for people “who have a strong knowledge of the investment marketplace, want greater flexibility to create a more customized portfolio, and have the ability, time, and desire to personally research and evaluate different investments.”
Eligible clients get access to many more types of investments. These include options, stocks, Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), corporate and municipal bonds, U.S. Treasuries, brokered CDs, and more. With a self-directed account, you can also use features like:
- Check writing
- Dividend reinvesting
- Automatic mutual fund purchases
- Real-time quotes (if your balance is at least $10,000)
- Debit card
- Margin trading
You can move money from an eligible workplace retirement account to a brokerage account on the Alight website. Cash is generally placed into the Alight Money Market Fund (HEWXX) and is usually available for trades the next business day.
Alight Financial Solutions uses third-party clearing arrangements. FINRA BrokerCheck lists Apex Clearing Corporation and Pershing LLC in connection with Alight Financial Solutions’ clearing and customer-account arrangements.
Margin
Margin may be available in eligible Financial Solutions accounts. Alight Financial Solutions publishes margin rates as a spread over the Pershing Base Lending Rate (PBLR). The rates are as follows:
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Average Margin Balance
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Margin Interest Rate
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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
As mentioned, Alight Financial Advisors is not a broker-dealer. For this reason, it is not registered as a broker-dealer with securities regulators. It is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser.
Alight Financial Advisors’ CRD number is 158744, and its SEC number is 801-72679. It is not registered in Wyoming.
Alight Financial Solutions is separately registered with FINRA and the SEC as a broker-dealer (#36509 and #8-47344). It is not registered as an investment adviser.
The brokerage business at Alight has been registered with these regulators since 1994. It has 4 disclosures on its FINRA profile, which is a relatively small number for a brokerage firm with roughly three decades of registration history.
Alight Financial Advisors Pricing
Alight Financial Advisors charges a percentage of the money it manages. For most clients, this is up to 0.60% per year. Accounts with more than $100,000 generally pay a lower rate. Online advice fees may be up to $10 per eligible participant per year, although the 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 structure. Traditional, SEP, Roth, and Education IRA accounts have a $40 annual custodial or maintenance fee, while qualified retirement plan accounts have a $50 annual fee. There is also a $75 account termination fee and a $75 outgoing full account transfer fee.
Online stock and ETF trades currently cost $0. Options trades cost $0 plus $0.65 per contract. Option exercises and assignments cost $0. Representative-assisted trades cost the online fee plus $25.
Some mutual funds have a $46.75 transaction fee. Systematic mutual fund purchases cost $2 each, and exchanges between funds cost $10.
Cash management features like check reorders, stop payments, debit cards, and premium cash-management tiers have their own fees, depending on the service level and account type.
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Customer Service
For Financial Advisors accounts, customer service goes through your workplace. For Financial Solutions accounts, help is available from the brokerage department at Alight. It is open Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm EST. The phone number is 800.890.3200. There is also a customer service email address you can use at any time: afscustomerservice@alight.com.
Alight Financial Advisors Review Judgment
Alight Financial Advisors offers an investment-advisory service at a low price that will work for many employees and employers. Clients can also get help with outside retirement accounts, like IRAs, which may have lower trading costs than accounts at Alight Financial Solutions.
Updated on 6/4/2026.
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