Foster & Motley

Foster & Motley

Foster & Motley opened in 1997, founded by CPA David Foster and CFA Mark Motley as a fee-only shop for families navigating retirement, legacy, and liquidity events. The firm remained in Cincinnati, serving a tri-state client base that later stretched across the US. The ownership sits with employees, not a bank or consolidator, which the firm argues keeps advisor turnover low and advice tied to client outcomes rather than product-distribution quotas. The firm does not publish a detailed asset-allocation model, but its three tiered-service bands — Prime ($2M–$5M), Premier ($5M–$10M), and Legacy ($10M+) — imply a concentrated private-client book dominated by high-net-worth households. Financial planning and investment management are bundled, and the firm charges only client-paid fees, avoiding commissions and third-party compensation. That fiduciary wrapper shapes how the team constructs portfolios: they will blend taxable and tax-deferred accounts, insurance, and estate documents into one plan, then manage the investment sleeve in-house. While the website lists no specific securities or fund names, the repeated emphasis on planning over products suggests a mix of individual bonds, equities, and low-cost pooled vehicles built around each household’s cash-flow needs. Foster & Motley reported managing $3 billion in client assets, a figure that fluctuates with markets. The firm was ranked in FA Magazine’s 2025 Top 170 firms and made CNBC’s FA100 for the seventh consecutive year. The professional team carries advanced designations — CFP, CPA, CFA — and the firm mandates continuing education and professional certification for its staff. The co-founders still operate in the business, with financial planner Lucas Hail serving as a named shareholder. No philanthropic foundation or separate private-investment vehicle is disclosed; the firm remains a single-entity RIA. What separates Foster & Motley from a wirehouse team that also calls itself a wealth manager is the employee-owned, independent RIA structure. There is no parent company pushing proprietary funds or lending targets, and equity inside the firm shifts over time to the next generation of advisors — a deliberate architecture that rewards tenure and keeps the AUM inside the same four walls. For a family assessing an advisor in the Midwest, that governance signal matters as much as the portfolio returns.