Top Financial Advisors in Seattle, WA

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Brighton Jones is the top-rated advisory firm in Seattle, as well as in the state of Washington. This fee-only practice has more individual clients and assets under management (AUM) than any other firm on this list. 

Brighton Jones typically works with high-net-worth individuals. However, the firm does have some individual clients who are not high-net-worth. Brighton Jones also advises institutional clients, including pooled investment vehicles, pension and profit-sharing plans and charitable organizations. The firm does not set a minimum account size, but its does have a minimum quarterly fee of $2,500.

The firm offers the services of wealth management, retirement plan consulting, financial planning and financial wellness consutling. Brighton Jones has a large team of advisors who hold a range of professional certifications, including the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®), chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified public accountant (CPA) and chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA) designations.

Advisors at Brighton Jones use both long- and short-term purchases as part of a client’s investing strategy. This means securities may be bought and held for more than a year or may be sold within a year of purchase. Margin transactions and options may also be used. The firm uses fundamental, technical and cyclical analysis to determine which securities in which to invest. The firm also may reccomend certain clients invest in affiliated and unaffiliated private funds.

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Freestone Capital Management is a fee-based firm that primarily serves high-net-worth and non-high-net-worth individuals and families. It also works with pooled investment vehicles, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations and businesses. The firm is headquartered in Seattle, but it operates secondary branches in Anchorage, Alaska, Santa Barbara, California, San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

Though there is technically no minimum investment for new clients, the firm seeks to work with clients who can invest at least $1 million ($2 million for clients referred through the Schwab Advisor Network). Additionally, some advisors at Freestone may earn commissions for selling insurance products to clients. This represents a potential conflict of interest, but the firm is bound by fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of clients at all times. 

Services offered by this firm include financial planning, retirement plan solutions, investment management, estate planning, tax planning and more. 

Advisors at Freestone Capital Management seek to build a portfolio with a proper balance of risk and reward, based on what the client wants and what the client's financial goals are. Long-term investments are the hallmark of the investing strategy at Freestone. Still, other strategies, including short-term purchases, trading, concentrated positions, private funds, short sales and other techniques, could be used.

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Empirical Wealth Management is a fee-based advisory firm whose client base is composed almost entirely by individuals and high-net-worth individuals. However, the firm does have a number of institutional clients, including businesses, government entities, charitable organizations, pooled investment vehicles and pension and profit-sharing plans. 

Empirical Wealth Management offers customizable investment management services through both a wrap fee program and a more traditional advisory fee arrangement. The former bundles together all transactional and outside fees with advisory fees into a single flat rate, whereas the latter only includes advisory fees, with transactional charges being separate. Financial planning services include retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning and more.

Advisors may also be insurance agents and/or real estate agents who can earn commission when providing certain products and services (in addition to advisory fees). While this is a conflict of interest, Empirical Wealth Management has a fiduciary duty to always act in clients' best interests and disclose such conflicts. 

In general, Empirical Wealth Management tends to invest with a long-term time horizon in mind. However, on occasion, the firm may decide to include some short-term investments in your portfolio for the purpose of meeting a specific goal you might have. Generally, you'll need to invest at least $3 million, although the firm may waive this minimum requirement.

The firm looks to invest in between 12 and 21 asset classes within any one portfolio. It does this to ensure your portfolio's asset allocation is well diversified. Empirical Wealth Management tends to invest in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), though stocks, bonds, futures, options and other investments may be utilized as well.

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Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management (LNW) is the next firm on this list. It has a large team that includes advisors who hold the CFP®, CFA, CPA, CDFA and CTFA designations, among others. The firm works with high-net-worth individual, non high-net-worth individuals, those with pooled investment vehicles and charitable organizations.

LNW is a fee-only firm, so you won't have to worry about conflicts arising from an advisor receiving commissions. And while there is a $3 account minimum, LNW does serve families "with fewer investable assets and also those with investable assets in excess of $450,000,000."

LNW generally manages client assets using a strategic asset allocation approach centered on global diversification, periodic rebalancing and tax-aware portfolio management. The firm may also make tactical adjustments, use core-satellite portfolio construction and review third-party managers.

Portfolios may include ETFs, mutual funds, separately managed accounts, individual securities and alternative investments, depending on the client. LNW also offers impact investing strategies that may incorporate ESG factors, values-based screens and sustainability themes. Allocations are based on each client’s goals, financial profile, time horizon and risk tolerance.

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Badgley Phelps Wealth Managers, founded in 1966, is the oldest firm on this list. This fee-only practice has a team of credentialed advisors who hold a range of designations, including the CFP, CFA, ChFC, CPWA and CDFA, among others. To be a client of this firm, which primarily serves high-net-worth individuals, you’ll need at least $1 million in investable assets. The firm also maintains advisory relationships with non-high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans, charities and businesses.

Badgley Phelps Wealth Management provides an array of wealth management-related services, including wealth transfer planning, asset protection, investment management, cash flow planning, college planning, retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning, foundation management, risk management, legacy planning, philanthropic planning and investment policy development.

Badgley Phelps Wealth Management invests its clients’ assets in a mixture of growth stocks, value stocks, international stocks, small and midcap stocks, taxable bonds, municipal bonds, short-term bonds and multi-strategy alternative funds. The exact allocation depends on the portfolio strategy, as well as a client’s financial situation and goals and risk tolerance. Badgley Phelps offers three investment strategies: equity-only, fixed-income only and balanced portfolio management.

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Aspire Capital Advisors is a fee-based firm that also conducts business as Kirkland Financial Advisers, AFG Financial and Sound Financial Investments, Inc. The firm works with individuals, high-net-worth individuals, trusts, estates, businesses, nonprofits, charities and retirement plans. The firm generally does not have a set account minimum.

Services offered by this firm include investment management, financial planning, retirement plan advisory services and oversight of independent managers. Its financial planning services may cover investment planning, retirement planning, personal savings, education savings, insurance needs and related planning topics. The firm also provides advisory services to company retirement plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans.

The firm's team may be small, but it's advisors hold a wide variety of certifications, including the ChFC, CFP®, CLU, AIF and CPA designations. 

In general, Aspire Capital Advisors tends to invest with a long-term time horizon in mind. The firm relies mainly on fundamental analysis and typically builds portfolios with diversified mutual funds and ETFs. However, portfolios may also include individual stocks, individual bonds or other investments when appropriate. The exact allocation depends on a client’s objectives, time horizon, financial situation and risk tolerance.

As a fee-based firm, certain advisory personnel may earn commission-based compensation through broker-dealer, insurance or real estate-related activities. This represents a potential conflict of interest, but the firm has a fiduciary duty to act in clients' best interests.

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Moss Adams Wealth Advisors is a subsidiary of a company owned by Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP, one of the nation's largest public accounting and advisory firms. This fee-based wealth management firm does not have a set account minimum, although certain private or alternative investments may have minimums that typically range from $100,000 to $500,000 per fund.

The firm works with high-net-worth clients, individuals below the high-net-worth mark, charitable organizations, as well as pension and profit-sharing plans.

Services offered at Moss Adams include discretionary and non-discretionary investment management, financial planning, investment consulting, non-investment consulting and additional reporting services. Its financial planning work may cover estate planning, cash flow analysis, asset allocation, life insurance review and strategic asset allocation. 

Advisors on staff hold a range of professional credentials, including the CFP®, CFA and CPA marks. Those advisors generally use a long-term strategic asset allocation approach diversified across multiple asset classes. Portfolios may include mutual funds, fixed income, ETFs, separately managed accounts, private or alternative funds and other investments, depending on client circumstances. The firm may also use a core/satellite structure, ESG-focused portfolios, options strategies, covered call writing and concentrated position collar hedging when appropriate.

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Garde Capital is a fee-only advisory practice that provides investment advisory services to clients on either a discretionary and nondiscretionary basis. Advisory services include asset allocation and asset selection, financial planning and additional wealth management services that may encompass insurance planning, coordination with estate attorneys or tax advisors, as well as real estate planning.

Garde Capital works with individuals and high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans, charities, corporations and other businesses. THe firm doesn't have a set account minimum, but it charges a minimum annual fee of $15,000. The team at Garde Capital features advisors who hold the CFP®, CFA, CPA, CDFA and CPWA designations. 

In order to help manage risk, the firm believes that a portfolio must be properly diversified at all times. Consistent with modern portfolio theory, diversification involves more than holding a broad mix of stocks and bonds. It means allocating assets across categories that may respond differently to changing market and economic conditions. By combining asset classes that do not move in perfect sync, the firm seeks to build more efficient portfolios that either reduce risk for a targeted return or improve return potential for a given level of risk.

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Hohimer Wealth Management is a fee-based firm that works with individuals, high-net-worth individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, family entities, charitable institutions, foundations, corporations, other business entities and private investment funds.

The firm generally requires a $1 million minimum account to open a portfolio. It also has a minimum annual fee of $8,000 for investment and wealth management services, billed quarterly per household. Hohimer Wealth Management may accept smaller accounts at its discretion and may aggregate related household accounts to meet the minimum.

Some advisors at Hohimer Wealth Management may earn commissions through affiliated insurance and lending entities. The firm may also charge performance-based fees for private funds. This represents a potential conflict of interest, but the firm is bound by fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of clients at all times.

The firm offers wealth management, financial planning and investment management services, along with business planning, cash flow forecasting, risk management and retirement plan consulting. Additional services include trust and estate planning, charitable planning, tax planning, insurance planning, tax and accounting services, private fund management and advice on certain held-away assets.

Hohimer Wealth Management uses both active and passive investment strategies, depending on client needs. Portfolios may include individual stocks and bonds, ETFs, institutional mutual funds, structured notes, alternative investments and separately managed portfolios. The firm may also use third-party managers, short-term purchases, trading, short sales, margin transactions, options, structured products and other derivatives when appropriate.

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Greene Wealth Management rounds our list of the top financial advisors in the Emerald City. This fee-only firm primarily works with individuals above and below the high-net-worth threshold. It also advises pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations and other business entities. 

The firm generally requires a minimum portfolio size of $1 million, though it may accept smaller accounts at its discretion. Family member portfolios may also be aggregated to meet the minimum. The Greene Wealth Management team includes several advisors who hold the CFP® and/or CFA designations. 

Services offered by this firm include financial planning and consulting, discretionary and non-discretionary investment management, portfolio management, written investment policy statements and Monte Carlo stress-testing. The firm may also provide non-discretionary advice on variable life and annuity products, employer-sponsored retirement plans and other assets not held with the primary custodian.

Advisors at Greene Wealth Management seek to build globally diversified portfolios across multiple asset classes, investment styles and independent managers. The firm uses both active and passive strategies and may invest client assets in mutual funds, ETFs, individual stocks and bonds, CDs, money market funds and options. Its process generally includes asset allocation, long-term capital market assumptions, tax-sensitive management for taxable accounts and periodic rebalancing.