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Paul Joseph Hynes

Paul J. Hynes

ASPIRIANT | Director in Wealth Management, Partner
San Diego, CA 92130
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CRD#: 1314096
Paul Joseph Hynes

Professional summary


Paul Joseph Hynes, CFP®, who also goes by Paul J Hynes, is a registered financial advisor currently at ASPIRIANT, LLC located in San Diego, California.

Paul is registered as an IAR (Investment Advisor Representative) and started their career in finance in 1984. Paul has worked at 6 firms and has passed the Series 65, Series 63, Series 3, Series 7 and Series 8 exams.

Biography


Paul joined Aspiriant in 2021 via a merger with HearthStone Private Wealth Management, the San Diego firm he co-founded with business partner, Wendy Wildey. Paul serves as a Director in Wealth Management and Aspiriant partner. Paul also directs the fiduciary investment services team at Aspiriant. He brings more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining the firm, Paul served 11 years as president and CEO of HearthStone. Before that, he spent 22 years with a large Wall Street brokerage firm. During that time, the firm changed its name 13 times and is currently known as Morgan Stanley. Paul earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Virginia. He earned the right to use the Certified Financial PlannerTM Professional designation in 2012. Paul founded Senior Safe & Sound, a non-profit educational resource and video library that seeks to educate and empower senior citizens and those they love to prevent elder fraud and abuse. He serves on the Investment Advisory Board of United Way of San Diego, as well as several other non-profit boards and committees. Paul and his wife of over 40 years, Joanie, are empty nesters after raising two incredible and wonderful humans, Chris and Lauren. Together they enjoy sports of all kinds — currently golf, tennis and pickleball are favorites. They also enjoy travel, wine tasting and reading.
top-8-questions

Question & Answer


What are your service offerings?
Insurance Planning
Retirement Income Management
Estate Planning
Comprehensive Financial Planni...
Investment Planning
Tax Planning
Retirement Planning
Education Planning
Do you have an area of expertise or specialization?
Budget & Debt Management
Comprehensive Financial Planni...
Charitable & Planned Giving
Estate Planning
Investment Management
Getting Divorced
Insurance
Retirement
Succession Planning
Long-term Care
Sudden Wealth
Nontraditional Households
Special Needs
Personal Taxes
Women's Finances
Are you a "fiduciary"?
Yes

Aliases


Paul J Hynes

Other business activities


Outside business activity is any business or activity undertaken by an advisor that is outside the scope of their relationship with their firm (e.g., consulting services, real estate, freelance work, teaching, etc.). Investors should stay informed about these activities to ensure no conflicts of interest.
The advisor shows no other business activity.

Blog Corner


CRS (Client Relationship Summary) - RIA


ASPIRIANT, LLC - Registered Investment Advisory firm

Version Date: Tue Jun 25 2024

Aspiriant, LLC is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor. Investment advisors and brokerage firms charge fees differently for the services they provide, and it is important that you understand the differences. Free and simple tools are available to research firms and financial professionals at investor.gov/CRS, which also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisors and investing.

Types of Services Offered:

We offer both investment management (also referred to as investment advisory services) and wealth planning services, family office services and specialty services to retail clients. Our investment management services include the development and implementation of your personal investment policy followed by ongoing advice and management of your investment portfolio. We continuously monitor your managed investments, as well as buy and sell securities on your behalf. You can select whether we are allowed to buy and sell investments on your behalf without asking you in advance (“discretion”) or only buy and sell investments after receiving your approval (“non-discretion”). You may impose reasonable restrictions on our authority. Our wealth planning services include advice about your financial goals, taxes, estate planning, risk management, philanthropy, retirement and education, depending on what you engage us to do. We do not have an absolute minimum account size. We typically provide services to clients with investment portfolios of $1.5 million or more. We are also the investment advisor to the Aspiriant Mutual Funds, which are available solely to our clients.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • Given my financial situation, should I choose an investment advisory service? Why or why not?
  • How will you choose investments to recommend to me?
  • What is your relevant experience, including licenses, education and other qualifications?
  • What do these qualifications mean?
  • Investment Management Services — We charge a percentage of assets under management for investment management services for most clients. These fees are assessed quarterly, in arrears, based on the average daily value of your investments. You should understand that the greater the investment value in your account, the more you will pay in fees. This means we have an incentive for you to increase the investments under our management. If the value of your investments increases or decreases, our fees go up or down, aligning our interests. Our investment management fees can also be charged as a fixed fee in some client situations. We charge separate fees for additional services provided.

  • Wealth Planning Services — We charge a quarterly retainer, in advance, for agreed-upon wealth planning services. We also charge you hourly or fixed fees, in arrears, for services beyond the scope of those covered by the retainer.

  • Additional Miscellaneous Fees — In addition to our fees, you may incur additional fees and costs related to the investments in your account, such as asset custody fees, transaction and trading costs, surrender charges, and other product-related fees such as redemption fees. You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. Fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments? If I give you $1.5 million to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?

When we act as your investment advisor, we must act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. We are fiduciaries when we provide investment advice to you. We are a fee-only advisor, and therefore only make money from the fees you pay us. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the investment advice we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means:

We are the investment advisor to the Aspiriant Mutual Funds (Fund), both open-end and interval funds (a version of a closed-end mutual fund). These Funds pay fees to us, creating a conflict because our revenue increases as the Funds grow. We mitigate that conflict by rebating your fees that exceed our costs of operating the Funds. Additionally, we value certain investments held in these funds.

We receive soft dollars from custodians and investment managers in the form of research tools and other services provided at no charge to us. This is a conflict of interest because it can cause us to favor a relationship with those companies.


Questions to ask your Professional:
  • How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?

Our financial professionals receive a salary, an incentive bonus and profit sharing. The incentive pay for our professionals is primarily a result of business development generated by the exceptional client service we provide to our existing clients. The incentive bonus may include amounts based on new clients and/or assets added by existing clients. This creates a conflict of interest because our financial professionals have an incentive to increase the amount of investments we manage for you.

Certified licenses


Advisors may have various certifications and credentials from different organizations. AdvisorCheck highlights these seven certifications - AIF®, CFP®, ChFC®, CFA, CLU®, CIMA®, CPWA®
CFP®

Start date: 2012

Education


University of Virginia

BA - Psychology

Experience


Current

December 3, 2021 - Present

ASPIRIANT, LLC

Office #1: 12481 High Bluff Ridge Suite 110, San Diego, CA 92130
RIA
CRD#: 146720
San Diego, CA
Past

November 9, 2010 - December 31, 2021

HEARTHSTONE | PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT

RIA
CRD#: 154890
SAN DIEGO, CA
Past

May 8, 2006 - December 15, 2010

EXENCIAL WEALTH ADVISORS

RIA
CRD#: 130475
SAN DIEGO, CA
Past

May 5, 2006 - March 10, 2008

CAMBRIDGE INVESTMENT RESEARCH, INC.

BD
CRD#: 39543
SAN DIEGO, CA
Past

July 8, 1997 - May 13, 2006

CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INC.

RIA
CRD#: 7059
SAN DIEGO, CA
Past

July 31, 1993 - May 13, 2006

CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INC.

BD
CRD#: 7059
SAN DIEGO, CA
Past

November 21, 1984 - July 31, 1993

LEHMAN BROTHERS INC.

BD
CRD#: 7506
NEW YORK, NY

Primary Firm SEC Registration


This SEC-registered firm can serve clients nationwide. Some states may require the firm to submit a notice filing if the firm has more than 5 clients or a physical office there. You can view these state-level filings under the section titled "State Registrations and Notice Filings".
ASPIRIANT, LLC
ASPIRIANT, LLC
ASPIRIANT, LLC | KOCHIS FITZ/QUINTILE LLC

CRD#: 146720 / SEC#: 801-68987

RIA
Registered Investment Advisory firm - (4/8/2008 Approved)

State Registrations and Notice Filings


Listed states reflect where the advisor is authorized to serve clients under state regulations.

IAR
means the advisor is registered as an Investment Advisor Representative in this state and is authorized to provide investment advice to clients there.

Highlighted states indicate IAR registrations

IAR
California
(12/3/2021)
IAR
Texas
(12/3/2021)

Exams


State Security Law Exam
IAR
Series 65
Date: 7/20/1992
Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination
State Security Law Exam
General Industry/Product Exam
RR
Series 3
Date: 12/17/1984
National Commodity Futures Examination
General Industry/Product Exam
Principal/Supervisory Exam
RR
Series 8
Date: 2/20/1996
General Securities Sales Supervisor Examination (Options Module & General Module)

Current Firm


ASPIRIANT, LLC
ASPIRIANT, LLC
ASPIRIANT, LLC | KOCHIS FITZ/QUINTILE LLC

CRD#: 146720 / SEC#: 801-68987

RIA
Registered Investment Advisory firm - (4/8/2008 Approved)
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Contact information


Main Address
11100 Santa Monica Blvd Suite 600, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Mailing Address
201 E Fifth Street Suite 1430, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone number
(310) 806-4000
Established
Firm type
Fiscal year end
# of Employees
212

SEC notice filing (37 States and Territories)


Blank US states mapAlaskaHawaiiAlabamaArkansasArizonaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIowaIdahoIllinoisIndianaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMassachusettsMarylandMaineMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMississippiMontanaNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNevadaNew YorkOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVirginiaVermontWisconsinWest VirginiaWyoming

Documents


Customer Relationship Summary (CRS / SEC)Latest Form ADV

Part 2 Brochures

09222025 (9/22/2025)

Regulatory assets under management


Total Number of Accounts11,731
AUM (Assets Under Management)$ 15,532,934,000

Accountant surprise examination report


Filing DateForm ADV-E CoverForm ADV-E Report
11/22/2024
Cover Page
12/20/2023
01/27/2023

Red Flags


Disclosures can be potential red flags, including customer disputes, regulatory fines, employer terminations, bankruptcies, judgments, liens, or certain criminal activities.

Check for any disclosures as part of your thorough research when choosing an advisor.

Company Information


ASPIRIANT, LLC

ASPIRIANT, LLC

Director in Wealth Management, PartnerCRD#: 146720San Diego, CA 92130

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