MagnifyMoney 
Your search for a financial advisor in Washington State doesn’t have to be a struggle on par with climbing Mt. Rainier. Finding a financial partner you trust to guide you through your goals and market concerns should be easier. A lot easier.
That’s why the MagnifyMoney team did that Rainier-style climb for you. We’ve gone through reams of publicly-available data to curate a list of the best financial advisors in Washington State.
We only considered firms that work with individuals and offer financial planning services – because you deserve a well-rounded financial strategy. We then ranked firms based on assets under management (AUM) from the list of firms that made the cut. There’s plenty more to our comprehensive methodology, too.
But for now, let’s get into the 10 best financial advisors in Washington State. And remember – these top Washington State advisors might be MagnifyMoney’s “best,” but only you can say who will be the best advisor for you.
| Firm | City | Minimum assets required | Fee structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fisher Investments | Camas | Varies by client type |
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| Brighton Jones, LLC | Seattle | None specified, but has a minimum quarterly fee of $2,500 to $3,500 |
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| Freestone Capital Management, LLC | Seattle | No set minimum, but prefers at least $1 million (or $500,000 for clients referred through Schwab) |
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| Coldstream Wealth Management | Bellevue | $2 million |
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| Columbia Pacific Wealth Management | Seattle | $5 million |
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| Saturna Capital Corporation | Bellingham | $1 million (except for separately managed accounts) |
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| Laird Norton Wealth Management | Seattle | Varies by portfolio, though average client has $5 million to $10 million |
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| Badgley Phelps Wealth Managers | Seattle | $1 million |
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| Pacific Portfolio Consulting, LLC | Seattle | $500,000 |
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| Financial Advocates Investment Management | Olympia | Varies depending on advisory program |
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Fisher Investments is a large, global investment advisor headquartered in Camas, Washington, with 14 additional offices throughout the U.S. Founded in 1979, the firm serves individual investors around the world, including high net worth individuals, who the SEC defines as those with at least $750,000 under management or a net worth of at least $1.5 million. It also works with institutional clients, such as businesses, multi-employer pension funds and governments.
Services offered by the firm include portfolio management, financial planning and annuity assessment. Fisher Investments is privately owned by its billionaire founder, Ken Fisher, and his family. Ken Fisher is known for writing 11 investing-related books, six of which were bestsellers, and his popular columns in USA Today and Forbes.
Fisher Investments believes that asset allocation is the most critical consideration for portfolio returns and that cyclical changes to the market are foreseeable, but short-term changes are not. Advisors at the firm also believe that no one type of investment is better than another. Instead, the best-performing securities tend to fluctuate with different market cycles.
Fisher Investments tailors client portfolios based on several factors, including time horizon, investment goals, income needs, tax considerations and assets not held at the firm. Clients can expect to be matched with an equities, fixed income or blended equity and fixed-income strategy account. The firm’s five-member investment policy committee, which includes Fisher, makes all investment decisions, while a dedicated investment counselor communicates with each client.
Fisher Investments has a clean slate with the SEC for the past 10 years. Neither the firm nor its advisors or affiliates report any regulatory, civil or criminal events – all of which require annual disclosure on a firm’s Form ADV.
You can check out the Fisher Investments IAPD page with the SEC for additional information.
Brighton Jones, LLC became a registered investment advisory firm in 2000 and is principally owned by Charles Brighton, the firm’s co-founder and managing director, and Jon Jones, who serves as CEO. The firm is headquartered in Seattle, with additional offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon and Texas.
Brighton Jones offers its clients comprehensive services, including investment management, tax and estate planning and retirement plan advisory. Their client list includes individuals across the net worth spectrum, along with trusts, estates, pooled investment vehicles, pension and profit-sharing plans and charitable organizations.
Brighton Jones believes in aligning its clients’ assets, passions and purpose in what it calls a “Personal CFO” approach to wealth management. When creating portfolios, Brighton Jones considers the full spectrum of financial planning concerns a client may have, such as retirement, tax, estate and philanthropic planning.
The firm emphasizes research in both traditional and behavioral finance in portfolio construction. The former advocates for diversity among and within asset classes, while the latter highlights the importance of overcoming the psychological biases that can arise during high-stakes moments.
In general, the firm allocates client assets among bonds and bond funds, fixed income securities, individual equities, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with the occasional use of real estate investment trusts (REITs) as well.
Brighton Jones does not have any disciplinary events to disclose, including any criminal, regulatory or civil judicial actions from within the last decade involving the firm or its employees.
Use the Brighton Jones IAPD page to learn more about the firm’s disclosure history.
Freestone Capital Management, LLC was registered with the SEC as a financial advisory firm in 1999. It was founded by Gary Furukawa, who serves as the firm’s chief investment officer and retains an ownership stake in the firm alongside other employees.
Clients of Freestone Capital Management are primarily individual investors with varying levels of net worth who seek wealth and asset management services. It also serves various institutional investors, including pension and profit-sharing plans, businesses, pooled investment vehicles and charitable organizations. Though the firm does not technically require a minimum account size, it generally aims to work with clients with at least $500,000 to invest if they are referred through the Schwab Advisor Network or at least $1 million if they are not.
The firm is headquartered in Seattle, with two additional offices in California – one in Santa Barbara and the other in San Francisco.
Common investment solutions offered to clients of Freestone Capital Management include portfolios combining equities, fixed income and alternative investments. In some cases, the firm may create customized portfolios for its clients.
The firm says it takes a hybrid approach to investment management and relies on h internal and external managers to help diversify insight and portfolio structure. Additionally, the firm may use traditional and alternative asset classes, including private equity, real estate, specialty niche opportunities and hedged strategies.
Freestone Capital Management has a clean disclosure history with the SEC for the past 10 years. The firm its employees and affiliates are free from any legal or disciplinary events that would be important to prospective clients evaluating the firm.
You can read Freestone Capital Management’s Form ADV and more on their IAPD page.
Coldstream Wealth Management is a 100% employee-owned, independent, comprehensive wealth management firm founded in 1996. Coldstream Wealth Management offers investment advisory services, financial planning, tax planning and estate design, risk management and private client services, such as family office tasks.
There’s generally a $2 million minimum investment for private portfolio management. However, the firm’s clients include individuals and families across the entire wealth spectrum, including corporate executives, business owners, professional athletes and those with multi-generational family wealth. It also works with private foundations, employer retirement plans, nonprofits and endowments.
Coldstream Wealth Management is headquartered in Bellevue, with branch Washington offices in Seattle and Mercer Island, and additional offices in Portland, Ore. and Boise, Idaho.
Coldstream Wealth Management offers clients customized asset allocation and portfolio construction for its clients. The firm’s investment strategies include customized tax-managed strategies and dividend growth individual stock strategies, alongside tailored municipal and corporate bond portfolios. Clients also have the opportunity to invest in portfolios focusing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
Advisors at Coldstream Wealth Management combine and balance non-correlated assets to increase diversification within client portfolios and, in turn, reduce risk and increase returns. The firm manages client portfolios as a team, including a wealth manager, portfolio manager, wealth management associate, wealth planner and client service associate, as well as input from the Chief Investment Officer & Investment Strategy Group.
The firm does not have any disclosures to report. Investment advisory firms registered with the SEC must disclose any events material to existing or potential clients’ evaluation of the company and the integrity of its management team.
Visit Coldstream Wealth Management’s IAPD page to review their disclosures history firsthand.
Columbia Pacific Wealth Management is an investment advisor with offices in Seattle and San Francisco. Officially formed in 2010, the firm traces its roots to 1989, when its parent company, Columbia Pacific Management, was founded. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CI Private Wealth US LLC, a subsidiary of CI Financial Corp., an independent public company based in Canada offering global wealth and asset management.
Today, Columbia Pacific Wealth Management primarily works with individuals and families of varying degrees of wealth, as well as foundations and endowments, pension and profit-sharing plans, pooled investment vehicles and businesses. Services offered include investment management, estate planning, employee benefits management, risk management, tax planning and financial reporting. The firm generally requires a minimum family account size of $5 million.
Investment advisors at Columbia Pacific Wealth Management believe that asset allocation is the primary driver of returns. The firm emphasizes diversification for risk reduction and builds portfolios to increase tax efficiency and reduce costs.
Columbia Pacific Wealth Management creates customized investment portfolios for its clients that are tailored to factors such as their risk tolerance and financial objectives. The firm’s clients also have the option to choose investments that address social and environmental issues with the firm’s ESG and impact investing offerings.
Columbia Pacific Wealth Management doesn’t have any disciplinary disclosures to report in its Form ADV paperwork filed with the SEC. For reference, the SEC requires that registered investment advisors disclose information regarding any civil, criminal or regulatory actions involving the firm, its employees and affiliates.
Visit Columbia Pacific Wealth Management’s IAPD page for more information about the firm.
Saturna Capital Corporation was founded in 1989 by Nicholas Kaiser, who remains the firm’s primary owner and also serves as chairman, director, portfolio manager and global strategist. Saturna is the owner of Saturna Brokerage Services, Inc., of which all of the firm’s employees are also registered representatives, and Saturna Trust Company, which can provide trust services to the firm’s clients.
For individual investors, Saturna Capital Corporation offers investment management and financial planning, and it can meet specific client needs, namely adhering to Islamic principles. Additionally, Saturna advises two mutual fund trusts and provides retirement plan consulting services to plan sponsors.
Clients of the firm include individuals of varying wealth levels, as well as trusts and estates, investment companies, pooled investment vehicles and charitable organizations. The firm’s only office location is in Bellingham, Wash.
Saturna Capital Corporation views investing as a business partnership and emphasizes value-based investing. The firm’s analytics process considers a company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and believes these criteria signal a company’s resilience.Further, Saturna describes itself as a long-term investor aiming to preserve and grow clients’ capital over time.
Saturna Capital Corporation offers a few different investment strategies with different emphases. Clients can choose from:
Saturna Capital Corporation has a disclosure-free history with the SEC for the past 10 years. Each year, the SEC requires that firms report any regulatory, civil or criminal actions taken against the firm, its affiliates or advisors on Form ADV and the firm’s form comes up clean.
You can verify the firm’s disclosure history on their IAPD page.
Laird Norton Wealth Management was founded in 2004 through the merger of the firm’s parent company, Laird Norton Trust Company, with Tyee Asset Strategies LLC. Today, the firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Laird Norton Trust Company, a state of Washington trust company whose roots date back to 1967.
Based out of Seattle, Laird Norton Wealth Management offers wealth planning, investment management and trust services, and services for nonprofit clients. It works with individuals and families and their trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, business entities, foundations and endowments. The firm doesn’t have a set investment minimum requirement, and it says that its clients have investments ranging from several hundred thousand dollars to over $100 million.
Laird Norton Wealth Management develops asset allocation strategies for each of its clients that aim to manage risk within a given client’s tolerance. In certain circumstances, such as increased market risk or identified market inefficiencies, the firm may recommend shorter-term shifts in its clients’ asset allocation strategies.
When investing, Laird Norton emphasizes tax efficiency and access to sustainable investing options. The firm also offers clients access to alternative and private market investments, such as real estate, hedge funds and private equity.
Laird Norton Wealth Management doesn’t report any disclosures on its Form ADV, meaning it has a disciplinary record free of any civil, criminal or regulatory events within the last decade.
Visit Laird Norton Wealth Management’s IAPD page for more information on their disclosure history.
Based in Seattle, Badgley Phelps serves individuals across the wealth spectrum, as well as businesses, foundations and pension and profit-sharing plans. It generally requires an investment portfolio of at least $1 million per client household. Badgley Phelps Wealth Managers offers its clients personalized wealth and investment management services.
The firm was created in 2021 after it acquired a firm of the same name founded in Seattle in 1996. Badgley Phelps is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus Operating, LLC and part of the Focus Financial Partners partnership, which offers support services to numerous RIA firms.
The firm’s advisors select client investment strategies based on financial goals, unique circumstances, risk tolerance, return objectives, tax profile and income needs.
Badgley Phelps Wealth Managers generally divides investment management into equity, fixed income and alternative investment management, or a combination of the three referred to as balanced portfolio management. A small percentage of client portfolios is generally kept in cash. It’s worth noting that the firm’s investment policy committee oversees all strategies.
Neither Badgley Phelps Wealth Managers has no disclosures on its record with the SEC for the past 10 years. The SEC requires that firms file a Form ADV annually, where they must report any regulatory, criminal or civil judicial events against the firm, its advisors and affiliates in the past decade.
You can review the Badgley Phelps Wealth Management IAPD page for more details on their
Founded in 1992, Pacific Portfolio Consulting, LLC is an independent investment advisory firm headquartered in Seattle. It’s primarily owned by Pacific Advisors, LLC, which also owns a trust company. The firm’s president, chief compliance officer and chief operating officer also own shares of the firm.
Pacific Portfolio Consulting offers investment advisory services and financial planning. The firm generally requires a $500,000 account minimum, though its automated investment program calls for just $5,000. Its clients include individuals, including high net worth individuals, as well as trusts and estates, charitable organizations, pension and profit-sharing plans and businesses.
Pacific Portfolio Consulting follows its in-house process called FOCUS-5 Investment Methodology: CARPE™ when building and managing client portfolios. The letters stand for the following core parts of the firm’s portfolio management approach:
Like most investment advisories on our list, the firm believes in globally diversified portfolios to help manage risk with less volatility, and it builds portfolios based on clients’ financial objectives, risk tolerance and time horizon. Along with diversification, the firm also believes in portfolio efficiency — in other words, aiming for the highest level of return for the given level of risk —as well as market efficiency, which translates to long-term investing.
Pacific Portfolio Consulting does not have any disclosures to report. This includes any civil, criminal or regulatory events within the past decade involving the firm, its employees or affiliates.
Visit Pacific Portfolio Consulting’s IAPD page to verify its disclosure history and learn more about the firm.
Headquartered in Olympia, Wash., Financial Advocates Investment Management is a network of advisors across the U.S., with nearly 80 office locations in total. The firm was founded in 2010.
Advisors associated with the network run their businesses independently and operate under different names but are still subject to supervision and oversight by Financial Advocates Investment Management. The firm is owned by Financial Advocates, LLC, a financial services company.
Services offered by advisors in the network include investment management, hourly consulting, financial planning and consultations and pension consulting services. Client types served by the advisory network include individuals with and without a high net worth, pension and profit-sharing plans, businesses and charitable organizations.
With every advisor in Financial Advocates Investment Management’s network conducting their own business, multiple investment strategies and philosophies are followed. Thus, clients should research the individual firm in the network they wish to work with to understand what investing strategies the advisor follows.
That being said, firms under the helm of Financial Advocates Investment Management generally offer asset management and several model portfolios and digital solutions. Typical asset management services involve an advisor working with a client to determine their investment goals and then creating a portfolio to achieve those goals. Portfolios may consist of individual stocks or bonds, ETFs, mutual funds and other securities and investments.
Additionally, clients within the network can use an online, algorithm-based program (a robo-advisor) called Guided Wealth Portfolios. This program assigns an investment allocation tract — fixed income, balanced or equity — based on a client’s risk tolerance level. The standard investment objectives for these model portfolios are:
Good news: Financial Advocates Investment Management has not been subject to any events falling under the SEC definition of disclosure in the past 10 years. What does that mean? Neither the firm nor its employees or affiliates have been subject to any civil, criminal or regulatory events.
Have a look at Financial Advocates Investment Management’s Form ADV paperwork on its IAPD page to verify the firm’s disclosure history for yourself..
Washington is among the handful of states in the U.S. that doesn’t have personal or corporate income tax. You won’t have to pay state taxes on your investment earnings, but you’ll still be subject to federal taxes, such as capital gains and income tax.
For those inheriting money, Washington does levy an estate tax. The size of the estate size will determine the amount owed. Washington residents may also be subject to federal taxes depending on the inheritance size.
Aspiring financial advisors in Washington State must register with the state using the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD), a national database operated by FINRA. Sole proprietors must submit proof of certifications and qualifying exams for certain licenses.
Advisors with less than $100 million in AUM, or who strictly provide financial planning must register with the state rather than the SEC.
The short answer is no. While some financial advisor firms specialize in retirement planning, others may focus more on pure investment management or alternative investment strategies. If getting assistance with retirement planning is a priority for you, make sure to look for an advisor who specializes in this area and has experience offering these services.
For many investors, fee-only financial advisors are attractive because they pose fewer potential conflicts of interest. Fee-only advisors earn money through their clients’ fees rather than commissions from selling financial products or services as fee-based financial advisors do. For some, working with a fee-based advisor can create concerns over whether your advisor is only thinking about their bottom line instead of your best interests. If this rings true for you, you may want to consider working with a fee-only financial advisor.
For our search for the best financial advisors in Washington State, we looked at firms throughout the state. All the firms considered are bound by fiduciary duty, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and offer individual account management and financial planning services. Information for our methodology criteria is taken directly from each firm’s most recent Form ADV filing and brochure, found in the IAPD database.
To localize our results for this list of the best financial advisors in Washington State, we exclusively looked at firms that met the above criteria and had their headquarters in Washington State, per the address provided in the Form ADV. We only considered those firms 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.
Our reviews 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 can help you compare firms, it does not indicate which firm may be best for you. All information here is accurate as of June 13, 2022, but don’t hesitate to check out any firm’s Form ADV for yourself on the SEC’s Investment Advisor Public Disclosure site..
Nina SemczukNina Semczuk is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance® (CEPF®), a member of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and an Army veteran with five years of active service.
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