Top Financial Advisors in Vancouver, WA

Find an Advisor

First Pacific Financial leads our Vancouver list. The firm charges asset-based, hourly and fixed fees for its advisory services. First Pacific’s client base consists of non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates and charitable organizations. 

Its advisors offer a range of specialties, including the accredited investment fiduciary (AIF), certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified public accountant (CPA), a certificate in investment performance measurement (CIPM), personal financial specialist (PFS) and chartered financial consultant (ChFC) designations. 

The firm is fee-only, so advisors are compensated based on a percentage of assets under management, not from commissions that insurance companies pay to advisors who sell their products. First Pacific has no set account minimum. 

First Pacific Financial Background

Founded in 2016, First Pacific offers wealth management, financial planning and consulting and pension consulting services. First Pacific’s financial planning services also include insurance planning, charitable giving, retirement planning, trust and estate planning and tax planning. 

The firm’s owners are Todd Engblom-Stryker, Darren Farrell and Adam Wishard, Taryn McCauley, Julienne Valois and Lori Vaandering.

First Pacific has other offices in Juneau, Alaska; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon.

First Pacific Financial Investment Strategy

First Pacific generally allocates client assets across mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and the firm says it develops portfolios using asset class return assumptions and historical asset class correlations. Advisors also analyze securities by considering a range of qualitative and quantitative factors.

The firm takes a long-term approach to investing, and its key strategies include strategic asset allocation, portfolio diversification and regular portfolio rebalancing.

Find an Advisor

Martel Wealth Advisors is second on our Vancouver list. Its clients include non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, corporations, pensions, profit-sharing plans, estates, trusts and charitable organizations. The firm’s advisors have various backgrounds and qualifications, namely the certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial analyst (CFA) and financial paraplanner qualified professional (FPQP) designations. 

The firm’s fee structure is fee-based in that firm advisors can earn commissions from the sale of insurance products. This can create a conflict of interest if advisors favor these products, but the firm must prioritize client needs since it has a fiduciary duty. 

Martel Wealth charges asset-based fees for its advisory services, and the firm doesn’t have a set account minimum. 

Martel Wealth Advisors Background

Martel Wealth was formed in 1982 by firm owner Mark S. Martel. The firm became registered as an investment advisor in 2018. Its services include investment management, financial planning and consulting, pension consulting and educational seminars. 

The firm’s financial planning and consulting services also include:

• Business planning
• Charitable giving
• Cash flow forecasting
• Insurance planning
• Tax planning
• Risk management
• Trust and estate planning

Martel Wealth Advisors Investment Strategy

Martel Wealth describes on its website that it takes a long-term approach to wealth management and strives to implement environmentally conscious considerations across investment disciplines and asset classes. The firm says it has diversified portfolios that cater to investors seeking an environmentally conscious approach. 

The firm primarily allocates assets across mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Martel Wealth also employs portfolio diversification and strategic asset allocation when making investment decisions. 

Find an Advisor

Baker Ellis is a fee-only firm requiring at least $1 million in investable assets from clients. Advisors at the firm have earned various certifications, including chartered financial advisor (CFA) and certified public accountant (CPA).

Most of the clients at the firm are individuals, with more than half not having a high net worth. The only institutional clients at Baker Ellis are charitable organizations and corporations.

Fees are generally charged based on a percentage of assets under management.

Baker Ellis Background

Baker Ellis was founded in 2002 by Brian C. Baker and Barnes C. Ellis. The two still split ownership of the firm equally.

Services include investment management and financial planning.

Baker Ellis Investment Strategy

The firm describes itself as a long-term value investor, seeking to participate in the growth of companies through various economic cycles. We do not try to time the market, although we constantly seek to lean in the direction of opportunity and away from areas of greatest risk. We believe in balance and diversification. Our accounts generally have a wide range of equities and fixed-income exposure, including equities of various market capitalizations, industries and countries.

Stocks and investment company-issued securities (such as mutual funds) both make up around 40% of the money managed at Baker ellis. the rest is split between various types of bonds and cash holdings.

Find an Advisor

Johnson Bixby & Associates is next on our list of the top financial advisory firms in the city of Vancouver, Washington. This firm's client base is made up almost entirely of individuals. Of those individuals, about two-thirds are non-high-net-worth individuals. However, most of the firm's assets under management (AUM) come from its high-net-worth clients. While the firm doesn't have many institutional clients, it does work with a few charitable organizations. The firm doesn't have a set account minimum, but some programs require an investment of at least $5,000.

Johnson Bixby is a fee-based firm. Some advisors are registered broker-dealers who can earn commissions from selling financial products to clients. This is a potential conflict of interest, but the firm is still a fiduciary, making it legally obligated to act in the best interest of clients at all times.

Certifications at the firm include chartered financial analyst (CFA) and certified financial planner (CFP).

Johnson Bixby & Associates Background

Johnson Bixby & Associates was founded in 1998. However, it only became officially registered as an investment advisor with the SEC last year, in 2020. The firm was founded by and is currently owned by namesake Heidi Johnson Bixby. She currently serves as CEO and president of the firm. 

Johnson Bixby works with clients to provide asset management services as well as financial planning and consulting services. The firm also provides access to Institutional Intelligent Portfolios, a Schwab robo-advisor program.

Johnson Bixby & Associates Investment Strategy

When it comes to developing investment strategies, Johnson Bixby & Associates looks to tailor its services to the needs of its clients. This process involves getting to know clients and their financial situations, learning things like a client's tolerance for risk, liquidity needs, overall investment goals and any other relevant investment information.

Advisors at Johnson Bixby & Associates populate client portfolios using stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, mutual funds and other mainly public securities. They may use other investments as they make sense for any given client. They use a wide range of analysis methods to inform investment decisions, such as fundamental and cyclical analysis.

Find an Advisor

Fee-only financial advisor firm James R. Martin Consulting serves individuals and high-net-worth individuals plus institutional clients including pension/profit-sharing plans, charitable institutions and foundations. 

James’ advisors present various qualifications, including the certified public accountant (CPA) and certified financial planner (CFP) designations. The firm doesn’t have a set account minimum for its services, and clients pay advisory fees based on a percentage of AUM. 

James R. Martin Consulting Background 

James has provided portfolio management, financial planning and advisor referral services since 1992. The independent investment management firm also offers services related to liquidity, risks, tax reporting, diversification and cash flow. 

James R. Martin, Jill A. Foreman and Daniel L. Koerner are the firm’s owners.

James R. Martin Consulting Investment Strategy

The firm says on its website that it reviews client accounts on a rotating basis, and advisors alter investment funds and asset allocations depending on each client’s unique risk tolerance. 

James uses a variety of sources for its security analysis, including securities rating services, commercially available software, securities rating services, general market and financial information and due diligence reviews.

Find an Advisor

Sustainable Wealth Management functions as a fee-based firm. The firm serves non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, pension and profit-sharing plans and corporations or other business types. The firm charges clients asset-based and fixed fees. 

The firm has multiple advisors with a range of specialties, including the certified financial planner (CFP) and accredited asset management specialist (AAMS) designations. Some of Sustainable Wealth’s advisors are licensed as insurance agents, so they can earn commission-based compensation by selling insurance products. This can incentivize advisors to favor commissions over client needs, but the firm’s fiduciary obligation prevents this. 

The firm requires a minimum account balance of $250,000 for ijts Comprehensive Portfolio Management services. However, its automated, online investment management platform comes with a minimum investment size of $5,000.

Sustainable Wealth Management Background

Founded in 2004, Sustainable Wealth primarily provides investment management and financial planning and consulting services. The firm’s financial planning and consulting services encompass other areas of finance, including:

• Investment planning
• Retirement planning
• Estate planning
• Charitable planning
• Education planning
• Insurance planning
• Tax planning

The firm also offers portfolio management through its online investment management platform, Institutional Intelligent Portfolios™.

Sustainable Wealth Management Investment Strategy

Sustainable Wealth typically invests in stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds and public and private securities. Advisors employ several investment strategies, including strategic, dynamic, tactical and core-satellite asset allocation. The firm also utilizes margin transactions and fixed income investment strategies. 

Sustainable Wealth also employs multiple securities analysis methods, namely charting, technical, cyclical and fundamental analysis.

Find an Advisor

Fort Vancouver Investment Management is a fee-only firm. The firm’s clients are non-high-net-worth individuals and high-net-worth individuals, trusts, pensions, profit-sharing plans and non-profits. The firm’s advisors offer various skill sets, with qualifications such as the certified financial planner (CFP) designation. 

Fort Vancouver imposes a minimum account size requirement of $1 million, and it charges asset-based and hourly fees for its advisory services. 

Fort Vancouver Investment Management Background

The independent, Vancouver-based firm was established in 2010 by Robert Pool. The firm specializes in investment management and financial planning services, but advisors also provide retirement planning services for a fixed fee. 

Fort Vancouver Investment Management Investment Strategy

Fort Vancouver says on its firm brochure that it strives to reduce the long-term impact of taxes by utilizing tax-favored investments. In addition to investing in mutual funds and ETFs, the firm says it also utilizes investments that have lower overall costs and higher tax efficiency. 

Advisors generally focus on long-term investments, and the firm reviews client portfolios quarterly.

Find an Advisor

Vita Planning Group is a fee-based firm with no minimum account size. The firm works with individuals almost exclusively, with more than half qualifying as high-net-worth. The only institutional client at the firm is a pension/profit sharing plan.

As a fee-based firm Vita can earn commissions on the sale of insurance products, creating a potential conflict of interest. However, as a fiduciary the firm is obligated, at all times, to act in its clients' best interests. Fees for asset management are based on a percentage of assets under management. Financial planning fees are generally charged hourly. 

Certifications earned by advisors at Vita include chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC) and accredited asset management specialist (AAMS).

Vita Planning Group Management Background

Vita is principally owned by Karl E. Hansen and Erik H. Hansen. The two are also principal owners of Vita Insurance Associates, which operates in the employee benefits industry and shares some of its employees with Vita Planning Group.

Vita offers advisory services to retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), that are participant-directed defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans covered under ERISA. The firm also offers advisory services to non-ERISA plan clients. These services can be offered on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis.

advisory services, investment management, investment advisory and financial planning.

Vita Planning Group Investment Strategy

Most of the money at Vita is invested in mutual funds and similar products, with some put into individual stocks, bonds and cash holdings. The firm also may, from time to time, suggest clients invest in warrants, options and futures.

Find an Advisor

My Personal CFO is a fee-only advisory firm that has no minimum account size to open an account, but the minimum advisor fee is $4,000 annually. My Personal CFO works with individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, other business entities, and pension and profit-sharing plans.

Certifications earned at the firm include certified financial planner (CFP), certified public accountant (CPA), chartered financial consultant (ChFC) and the retirement income certified professional (RICP). 

My Personal CFO Background

The firm was founded in 2018 by Mark Bernazzani and Nathan Brown -- who are also the only advisors at the firm.

The firm offers a variety of financial consulting and planning services that include: 

• Portfolio consulting

• Tax planning

• Retirement planning

• Education planning

• Trust and estate planning

• Equity compensation

• Business succession

• Philanthropic advisory

My Personal CFO Investment Strategy

My Personal CFO uses a variety of investment strategies that include both short-term and long-term investments. The firm’s analysis takes both micro and macro analysis into consideration when crafting the right portfolio strategy for each individual client. Some of the investments clients can expect to see in their portfolios include: 

• Equities

• Emerging markets

• Bonds

• Real estate

• Mutual funds

• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

Find an Advisor

In the next spot on our list of the top financial advisor firms in Vancouver, Washington is Columbia River Financial Group. This small firm's client base is almost entirely made up of non-high-net-worth individuals. However, it also works with high-net-worth individuals. These high-net-worth individual clients make up about a third of the firm's total assets. When it comes to institutional clients, the firm works with a few charities and other businesses.

Columbia River is a fee-only firm, so you won't need to worry about a conflict of interest stemming from any advisor receiving commissions for the sale of financial products to clients. The firm does not have a set account minimum, but there is a minimum annual fee of $1,500 per household.

Columbia River Financial Group Background

Columbia River Financial Group was founded in 2017. While it was first registered as an investment advisor on a state level, the firm became SEC registered in 2020. The firm is owned by Chad Peterson, founder, managing member and senior financial advisor. Peterson is also a certified financial planner (CFP).

Columbia River's available advisory services include investment portfolio management and financial planning services. Investment management is typically a comprehensive service. Accounts may be managed on either a discretionary or non-discretionary basis.

Columbia River Financial Group Investment Strategy

Columbia River Financial Group, like many other financial advisory firms, provides investment portfolio management services that are tailored to the financial needs and objectives of its clients. As a result, not a single investment strategy reigns supreme, as different strategies are better for different people. Advisors provide ongoing and continuous support to help clients meet their goals.

Advisors at Columbia River use a wide variety of different securities to populate client portfolios. Clients may impose reasonable restrictions on the type of investments used in their portfolios. When it comes to evaluating investments and markets, advisors tend to use quantitative and qualitative analysis as well as charting. They also tend to adhere to modern portfolio theory.