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Choosing a financial advisor in Richmond, Va., may feel like a challenge, given the number of financial advisors in the River City. Finding the right advisor in the Old Dominion’s capital is possible, however, by taking the time to do your research and consider the proper fit, which means understanding your financial needs and goals, and how much you’re willing to spend.
To expedite the research process, we compiled the most pertinent information on Richmond’s top advisory firms to help you more easily compare your choices and their data points. We determined the best advisors in Richmond by first narrowing down the list to only firms that manage individual accounts and offer financial planning services. We then ranked these firms based on assets under management (AUM), which serves as a general metric for a firm’s size. Although not formally part of our ranking, we encourage readers to take note of each firm’s client-to-advisor ratio, as this indicates how much attention you may get as a client. All data used in our methodology is taken from each firm’s most recent Form ADV filing with the SEC so as to ensure the accuracy and reliability of our rankings.
Our ranking can’t predict which firm will be the right fit for you, but it can make it easier for you to make that determination. Read on for our list of the top firms in Richmond and their highlights:
| Firm | Minimum assets required | Fee structure |
|---|---|---|
| Heritage Wealth Advisors | None |
|
| Cary Street Partners | Varies by program |
|
| Wealthcare Capital Management LLC | None, but there is a $500 minimum fee that may be waived |
|
| Kanawha Capital Management, LLC | $500,000 |
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| Godsey & Gibb Wealth Management | $500,000 |
|
| Alpha Omega Investment Advisors | Not specified |
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| Salomon and Ludwin | $2 million recommended, but not required |
|
For our search, we looked at firms across the city of Richmond. All of the firms considered are bound by fiduciary duty, registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and offer individual account management and financial planning services. Information used for our methodology criteria is taken directly from each firm’s most recent Form ADV filing and brochure, found on the IAPD database.
To localize our results for this list, we exclusively looked at firms that met the above criteria and had their headquarters in Richmond, as per the address provided in the Form ADV. Of those firms, we only considered those that offer financial planning services and portfolio management to individual investors. To be considered for this list, firms also could have no more than one disciplinary disclosure in the past 10 years. From there, the remaining firms that met all of the above stipulations were ranked in order of highest to lowest AUM, as this is an indication of a firm’s size and how many assets it has been entrusted to manage.
In our reviews, we have also listed several other key features that will help you determine which financial advisor may be most fitting for your investing style and financial needs. While our ranking system and methodology is designed to help you compare firms, it does not indicate which firm may be best for you. All information here is accurate as of April 19, 2021, but we urge you to also evaluate these firms on https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/.
After a career at the accounting firm KPMG, Dee Ann Remo launched Heritage Wealth Advisors in 2005. She remains the firm’s CEO and managing director, and owns it along with four other employees. The firm operates out of its headquarters in Richmond, Va.
Heritage Wealth Advisors offers investment management, financial planning, tax planning and preparation and charitable giving planning. The firm works with individual investors who both are and are not considered high net worth individuals, defined by the SEC as those with at least $750,000 under management or a net worth of at least $1.5 million. Its clients also include pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations and businesses.
Heritage Wealth Advisors creates a personalized target asset allocation model for each client, based on their time horizon, risk tolerance and other criteria. Portfolios created by the firm may include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), separately managed accounts, individual equities and private investments.
When selecting individual stocks, Heritage Wealth Advisors takes a long-term approach and primarily relies on fundamental analysis, which looks at factors such as industry dynamics, competitive positioning and profitability. When choosing mutual funds or separately managed accounts, the firm uses various screens, interviews fund managers and runs hypothetical scenarios to determine potential performance and risk.
Heritage Wealth Advisors reports no disciplinary disclosures. All registered investment advisors are required by the SEC to disclose any civil, regulatory or criminal actions against the firm, its advisors or its affiliates on its Form ADV, public documents filed with the SEC.
For more information, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Finance veterans Mark Gambill and Thomas H. Tullidge, Jr., founded Cary Street Partners in 2003. Tullidge serves as the firm’s chief strategy officer, while Gambill is chairman emeritus. The firm is owned by Cary Street Partners Financial LLC, an independent financial services firm formerly known as Luxon Financial LLC.
Cary Street Partners offers financial planning, research and portfolio advisory services, asset management, estate and life insurance management and retirement services. The firm works primarily with individual investors, including those who are considered high net worth individuals. Clients of the firm also include pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, insurance companies and businesses.
In addition to its Richmond headquarters, Cary Street Partners has 11 other offices, primarily located elsewhere in the commonwealth of Virginia (the other offices are located in Tennessee, Texas, New Jersey and North Carolina).
Cary Street Partners creates portfolios for clients that focus on growth, income or both growth and income, with a conservative, moderate or long-term approach. Portfolios include a range of investments in public and private companies and alternative investments, as well as with third-party managers.
The firm either provides investment programs directly, or connects clients to a third-party platform where they work with sub-managers, such as Wells Fargo Advisors.
Cary Street Partners has no disclosures, meaning it has a clean disciplinary record, free of any civil, criminal or regulatory actions against the firm, its advisors and its affiliates over the past 10 years. The SEC requires that all registered investment advisors disclose such events on their Form ADV paperwork.
For more information about Cary Street Partners, visit its IAPD page.
With roots as a software company launched in 1999 that offered a financial planning tool for advisors, WealthCare Capital Management LLC registered as an investment advisor in 2003. Today, it’s owned by fintech firms VMS Intermediate Inc. and Financeware LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Financeware Holdings LLC.
WealthCare Capital Management offers financial planning and asset management to individuals through its proprietary GDX360 Platform, which uses simulated market return analysis. Third-party financial advisors and firms also use Wealthcare Capital Management’s web-based software in their own practices. And while it doesn’t have a minimum account size requirement, the firm does charge a minimum fee of $500.
In addition to its Richmond headquarters, WealthCare Capital Management has a small office in West Chester, Pa., and a handful of single-advisor offices throughout the country.
Typically offered in conjunction with financial planning, WealthCare Capital Management’s investment services rely on algorithms to choose investments. It makes its selections based on clients’ preferences in the following criteria:
Based on client’s responses, WealthCare Capital Management aims to create a cost-effective portfolio that maximizes tax efficiency, using a model portfolio that may include mutual funds, ETFs and alternative investments. In some instances, the firm will also include individual stocks and bonds, if an advisor believes they would help a client meet their goals.
WealthCare Capital Management has no disciplinary disclosures on its record. That means that neither the firm, nor its employees or affiliates have faced any civil, regulatory or criminal issues over the past decade.
Visit WealthCare Capital Management’s IAPD page for more information.
Kanawha Capital Management began in 1982 as a subsidiary of a Richmond brokerage firm, and in 1989 it formally became Kanawha Capital Management. The firm is now owned by Hightower Advisors, an advisor network backed by private equity.
Kanawha Capital Management provides financial planning and investment management services. With a minimum account size requirement of $500,000, the firm works with individuals (including high net worth individuals), as well as pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations and businesses.
The firm has a single office location in Richmond, Va.
Kanawha Capital Management creates custom portfolios for its clients based on their goals, risk tolerance, time horizon and tax considerations. All portfolios the firm creates seek to find a balance between risk and return, using individual stocks to diversify across industries while also investing in ETFs and bonds.
To select stocks, the firm follows a “Growth at a Reasonable Price” approach, focused mainly on large-cap, established companies with both growth and value characteristics. Its fixed income investments typically include high-quality, taxable and tax-free securities, with a maturity that suits the client’s goals and the firm’s perspective on economic and interest rate trends.
Kanawha Capital Management has no disciplinary disclosures on its record. For reference, all registered investment advisors must disclose any civil, regulatory or criminal actions against the firm, its advisors or its affiliates on their Form ADV filed with the SEC.
You can learn more about Kanawha Capital Management by visiting its IAPD page.
Frank B. Gibb III and Joseph C. Godsey Jr, founded Godsey & Gibb Wealth Management in 1985. Gibb remains as chairman emeritus and a consultant to the firm, which is primarily owned by the Gibb Family Stock Trust.
Godsey & Gibb offers investment management, financial planning and tax services, primarily to individuals and high net worth individuals. In addition, the firm also works with a range of institutional investors. A minimum of $500,000 is required for investment management services.
In addition to its Richmond headquarters, Godsey & Gibbs has two South Carolina offices, in Greenville and Columbia.
Godsey & Gibb Wealth Management actively manages investments for its clients, taking a moderately conservative approach that emphasizes capital preservation. Strategies used by the firm include long-term purchases (securities held for a year or longer), short-term purchases (securities bought and sold within a year) and option writing (a contract that gives the right to buy or sell an asset on or before a specified date).
The firm invests client portfolios gradually after establishing their goals and investment objectives, based on current market conditions and the client’s existing portfolio structure. After a client’s funds are invested, Godsey & Gibb monitors their portfolio and makes adjustments as needed to ensure that it continues to meet the client’s objectives.
Godsey & Gibb has no disciplinary disclosures on its record. All registered investment advisors must disclose any civil, regulatory or criminal actions against the firm, its advisors or its affiliates that may be material to a client evaluating the company or the integrity of its management team.
For more information on Godsey & Gibb, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
Portfolio managers W. Arthur Washburn and Craig T. Forbes founded Alpha Omega Investment Advisors in 2009, along with another former colleague, LeAnn Mitchell. Mitchell remains the firm’s chief compliance officer and director of client services, while Forbes is chairman emeritus and the principal owner of the firm.
Alpha Omega Investment Advisors provides financial planning and investment management services to individuals and families, as well as to businesses and nonprofits. In addition to its Richmond headquarters, the firm also has an office in Staunton, Va.
Client portfolios built by Omega Investment advisors emphasize asset allocation, diversification and security selection. Typically, portfolios include a mix of stocks, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds chosen by a six-member investment committee that meets biweekly to discuss strategy.
The firm uses several methods of analysis to determine which investments to include in client portfolios, including the following:
Alpha Omega Investment Advisors may implement its advice to clients via long-term purchases, short-term purchases and option writing.
Alpha Omega Investment Advisors does not disclose any disciplinary issues. This means that neither the firm nor its employees or affiliates have faced any issues within the last 10 years that a prospective client may find relevant when evaluating the firm or its management.
You can learn more about Alpha Omega Investment Advisors by visiting its IAPD page.
After decades working in financial services, Dalal Salomon and Daniel Ludwin launched Salomon and Ludwin in 2009. Salomon is the firm’s CEO, while Ludwin serves as president. They are the firm’s primary owners.
The firm provides financial planning and investment management services to both individuals and high net worth individuals, and touts an affluent clientele that includes entrepreneurs, doctors and business executives. Though Salomon and Ludwin does not technically have an account minimum requirement, it recommends that clients have at least $2 million in total manageable assets with the firm, in order to get the most out of the relationship. However, the number of high net worth individuals the firm currently serves is only slightly higher than that of individuals who are not considered high net worth.
Salomon and Ludwin’s sole office location is in Richmond.
Salomon Ludwin has a patented strategy called “TriggerPoint,” which it customizes based on each client’s income needs and risk appetite. With this strategy, the firm aims to maintain an investment process that it describes as “unemotional” and “systematic” — it bases decisions on the information it has about markets’ current state and past performance, rather than attempting to predict where they may head.
The firm aims to use low-cost, tax-efficient investments. In general, its portfolios generally include mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, bonds, real estate and insurance, as well as other types of securities. Salomon and Ludwin also typically aims to limit investments in individual stocks in order to avoid unnecessary investment risk, due to over-concentration.
Salomon and Ludwin does not disclose any disciplinary actions on its Form ADV. This means that neither the firm nor its employees or affiliates have faced any civil, criminal or regulatory actions in the past decade.
For more information about Salomon and Ludwin, visit the firm’s IAPD page.
The best financial advisor in Richmond for you will depend on the type of services you want, your budget to pay for those services and whether your account balances meet an advisor’s minimum requirements. Start your search by getting referrals from family or friends, or by using our advisor search tool. Then, interview potential candidates to find the one with whom you feel most comfortable.
Financial advisors can earn money from a variety of different fee arrangements, but the most popular method is to charge clients a percentage of their assets under management. Others charge by the hour or a flat rate per project. Some advisors may also earn commissions for products sold, which can pose potential conflicts of interest.
No. While many financial advisors offer retirement planning services, it’s not a focus for every firm. If you’re interested in getting help with a specific area of your finances, including retirement planning, ask potential advisors whether it’s an emphasis for their firm.
Virginia has a graduated state income tax that begins at 2% on the first $3,000 earned and goes up to 5.75% on earnings over $17,000. The state does not have an estate or an inheritance tax — however, residents may be subject to federal estate taxes depending on the size of the estate.
Beth BravermanBeth Braverman is a freelance writer covering personal finance, careers and parenting. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications, including CNN Business, CNBC.com and USNews.
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