Top Financial Advisors in St. Paul, MN

Founded around 80 years ago, Fiduciary Counselling continues providing investment advisory services in St. Paul and tops our list this year for the area. The firm does not have an account minimum, and advisors consult the following types of clients:

• Individuals with and without a high net worth
• Trusts
• Charitable organizations
• Businesses
• Investment advisors

In providing a wide range of financial planning services, Fiduciary Counseling may recommend the services of professionals from other firms. In such cases, you would need to pay the outside money manager on top of your Fiduciary Counselling advisor. Also, Fiduciary Counseling is a fee-only firm, which means it does not earn compensation from anything but client-paid fees.

Fiduciary Counselling Background

Fiduciary Counseling has been around since 1941. The firm’s principal owner is president and CEO M. Julie McKinley. She has been active in the financial services industry for more than three decades. She leads a team that can provide investment management and advice on numerous topics including trust planning, estate planning and tax planning.

Fiduciary Counselling Investment Philosophy

Fiduciary Counselling believes in investing for the long term. It seeks to design portfolios tailored to a specific client’s risk tolerance and goals. The firm may diversify your portfolio by investing your assets across the following security types:

• Equity securities
• Fixed income securities
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) 
• Mutual funds
• Private funds
• Private equity investments

Find an Advisor

Mairs & Power is a high-net-worth individual-centric firm, as most of its client base is comprised of these types of clients. It also works with non-high-net-worth individuals, investment companies, pension plans, charitable organizations, government entities, insurance companies and businesses. Minimums are equally exclusive, as the various investment strategies have minimums from $2 million up to $5 million.

Just about every advisor at this firm holds some kind of advisory certification. Some of them are chartered financial analysts (CFAs), chartered investment counselors (CICs) and certified financial planners (CFPs). This is a fee-only firm.

Mairs & Power Background

Mairs & Power is the oldest firm on this list, having been founded in 1931. The firm is independent and entirely employee-owned.

All financial planning and investment services at this firm are customizable to your needs. However, financial plans often cover retirement planning, estate planning, cash flow planning, net worth analysis and more.

Mairs & Power Investing Strategy

Mairs & Power uses specific investment strategies when investing clients' assets. These revolve around three major investment styles: equities, fixed-income securities and balanced. Each client's risk tolerance, time horizon, income needs and financial goals are taken into account throughout the client-advisor relationship. This not only comes into play during the construction of your portfolio, but also throughout its management.

Find an Advisor

Stonebridge Capital Advisors, a fee-only firm, does not require a specific minimum investment from incoming clients. This has caused its individual client base to see quite a bit of variation, as it serves thousands of individuals with and without a high net worth. The firm's institutional client base consists of banks, investment companies, pension plans, charitable organizations, insurance companies, investment advisors and businesses.

Stonebridge has a sizable advisory staff, and most of its portfolio managers hold the chartered financial analyst (CFA) designation.

Stonebridge Capital Advisors Background

Stonebridge Capital Advisors can trace its history back to 1997. Besides its St. Paul headquarters, the firm also operates branches in Denver, Colorado; Traverse City, Michigan; and Hendersonville, Tennessee. The firm is independently owned by its employees.

Investment management and financial planning services are both available at Stonebridge.

Stonebridge Capital Advisors Investing Strategy

Stonebridge Capital Advisors invests client assets in one of three main ways: equity, balanced or fixed-income. This is a somewhat standard approach, as equity portfolios are typically riskier, fixed-income portfolios are typically safer and balanced portfolios combine both of them. As your goals change, the firm will adjust your portfolio accordingly.

To create the portfolios above, Stonebridge uses a number of different investment types, including:

• Common and preferred stocks
• Corporate and municipal bonds
• ETFs
• Mutual funds
• Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
• Options
• Master limited partnerships (MLPs)

Find an Advisor

As a fee-only firm, PrairieView Partners earns all of its compensation from client-paid fees. The firm only works with individual clients, with high-net-worth individuals outnumbering their non-high-net-worth counterparts by about a 2-to-1 ratio. While the firm generally calls for a $500,000 minimum investment, it may be willing to waive this under certain circumstances.

Despite not having a huge team of advisors, PrairieView staff has quite a few certifications to their name. These include certified financial planner (CFP), certified public accountant (CPA), personal financial specialist (PFS) and certified private wealth advisor (CPWA).

PrairieView Partners Background

PrairieView Partners has been around for a decade, having been founded in 2007. The firm's founders and partners still own it. This group includes Jonathan Jaranson, Thomas Irwin, Kristy Schaffer and Robert Aylin III.

Financial planning services at PrairieView are quite extensive, as they can cover everything from tax planning to retirement planning to estate planning. Custom investment management services are also available.

PrairieView Partners Investing Strategy

PrairieView Partners builds portfolios based on each client's unique situation and needs. When coming up with an investor profile, the firm will especially value certain factors, such as risk tolerance, liquidity needs, financial goals and time horizon. Your advisor will determine these needs by meeting personally meeting with you to discuss everything.

When it comes time to actually invest, the firm will follow the principles of modern portfolio theory. This Nobel prize-winning investment ideology attempts to maximize returns for a given risk level.

Find an Advisor

Winter & Associates is a individual-centric firm that serves primarily non-high-net-worth individuals. Other clients of the firm include high-net-worth individuals and a single pension plan. The firm does not have a minimum investment requirement for new clients.

The advisory team here includes one life underwriter training council fellow (LUTCF). Certain advisors can also sell financial products on a commission basis, which is a potential conflict of interest. Despite this, the firm's fiduciary duty requires it to act in clients' best interests.

Winter & Associates Background

Winter & Associates can trace its history all the way back to 1908, making it the oldest firm on this list. The firm is owned by president and chief compliance officer (CCO) Nicole Winter Tietel.

The services available at this firm include investment management, retirement planning, insurance planning, risk management, annuity management, college fund planning and more.

Winter & Associates Investing Strategy

According to Winter & Associates' website, the firm offers "highly personalized investment advice based on your unique financial needs, goals and risk tolerance." Advisors will work with clients directly to determine what type of investor they are, meaning your portfolio will be built according to your unique situation. The firm tends to invest in some combination of bonds, stocks, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Find an Advisor

TruNorth Wealth Partners is fairly small in terms of its advisory staff and client base. In fact, the firm only has about 200 clients, almost all of whom are individuals either above or below the high-net-worth threshold. Charitable organizations and pension plans are also clients of TruNorth. The firm's website list advisory certifications on its staff like certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial consultant (ChFC) and chartered life underwriter (CLU).

There is no set account minimum at this firm. It's also a fee-only operation, which means its compensation structure doesn't include any third-party sales compensation for things like insurance and securities.

TruNorth Wealth Partners Background

TruNorth Wealth Partners was established in 2013 by Peter Rekstad, who has about 30 years' experience in the financial services industry. Today, Rekstad, the firm's current CEO, still owns it, along with lead wealth partner Travis Gleason.

The main categories of services at TruNorth are financial planning, investment management, foundation fiduciary and plan trustee support and independent manager selection.

TruNorth Wealth Partners Investing Strategy

TruNorth Wealth Partners builds a custom asset allocation for all of its clients. This is meant to designate the composition of your portfolio, including what types of investments it'll include and how much of each there should ideally be. As your portfolio ages and returns skew this plan, the firm may rebalance your portfolio back to its intended allocation.

In most cases, TruNorth advisors will invest in some combination of the following: mutual funds, ETFs and separately managed accounts (SMAs). Third-party analysis is used to choose investments.

Find an Advisor

HighMark Wealth Management does not have a minimum investment requirement for new clients, meaning technically anyone can join the firm's client ranks. This is reflected in the firm's client base, as it works mostly with non-high-net-worth individuals, in addition to high-net-worth individuals.

A few of the firm's advisors hold at least one certification. In fact, there are two accredited investment fiduciaries (AIFs), one chartered retirement plan specialist (CRPS) and one certified financial planner (CFP).

As a fee-based firm, certain advisors at HighMark can sell insurance products and securities on a commission basis. Although this presents a potential conflict of interest, the firm's fiduciary duty means it must act in clients' best interests at all times.

HighMark Wealth Management Background

Founded in 2012, HighMark Wealth Management has two owners: president and CEO Todd Arens and partner/lead wealth strategist Patrick Sullivan. The duo has around 40 years of experience between them.

Investment management services at HighMark are offered on a wrap fee basis, meaning all charges are combined into a single rate. Financial planning can cover topics like retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning and more.

HighMark Wealth Management Investing Strategy

HighMark Wealth Management uses three main types of investment analysis when researching potential investments for client portfolios: charting, fundamental analysis and technical analysis. When investment decisions are actually made, the firm either keeps them on a long-term basis (more than a year), short-term basis (less than a year) or for less than 30 days.

The firm will look to diversify your assets as much as possible in an effort to protect it from being overly reliant on specific areas of the market. Investments are often comprised of ETFs, mutual funds and tactical managers.

Find an Advisor

Quarry Hill Advisors is a fee-only firm, meaning all of its compensation comes solely from client-paid fees, avoiding all sales commissions in the process. The firm does not have a minimum investment requirement.

The vast majority of Quarry Hill's client base is composed of individuals with and without a high net worth. Its lone institutional client is a pension plan. The firm's team of advisors also includes three certified financial planners (CFPs) and one accredited investment fiduciary (AIF).

Quarry Hill Advisors Background

Quarry Hill Advisors has been in business since 2017 when it was founded by Kyle Moore. Moore remains one of the firm's principal owners, along with Bjorn Amundson, another advisor at Quarry Hill.

The firm's website doesn't list a ton of specific services it offers. Instead, many of its offerings appear to be fairly open-ended, meaning they're largely customizable to clients' needs.

Quarry Hill Advisors Investing Strategy

As we state above, Quarry Hill Advisors works with clients on a personal level when investing their assets. This involves discussing how clients view their financial future, as well as what the state of their current finances looks like. From this conversation, your advisor will look to determine your risk tolerance, time horizon, income and liquidity needs and long-term financial goals.

Generally speaking, Quarry Hill invests client assets in mutual funds, index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).