# McKinley Carter Wealth Services

McKinley Carter Wealth Services is a Bank / Wealth / Trust based in Wheeling, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Bank / Wealth / Trust
- **Headquarters:** Wheeling, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Wheeling, WV, United States
- **Founded:** 2003
- **Assets under management:** $1.8B
- **Website:** mckinleycarter.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/mckinley-carter

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 135184
- **SEC file number:** 801-64584
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** No
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/135184

## About

MCKINLEY CARTER WEALTH SERVICES, INC. is an SEC-registered investment adviser in WHEELING, WV, registered since 2005. The firm manages $2.3 billion in assets, with $2.2 billion managed on a discretionary basis. It employs 32 staff and 27 investment advisers.

## Sectors

- Wealth Management
- Retail Financial Services

## People

- David B. McKinley — President

## Questions

### Is McKinley Carter a broker-dealer or a fiduciary?

McKinley Carter operates as a registered investment advisor (RIA), which holds it to a fiduciary standard requiring it to put client interests ahead of its own. This is distinct from broker-dealers, who operate under a suitability standard. The firm's origin as an accounting practice, where the standard of care is inherently fiduciary, logically extended into its investment-advisory structure. Clients receive an ADV Part 2A brochure that explicitly documents this duty and the firm's compensation model.

### How does the firm's tax background influence its investment decisions?

Tax planning is not a bolt-on service but the intellectual foundation of the firm. Portfolio managers collaborate with in-house CPAs to execute asset location strategies that place tax-inefficient assets in retirement accounts and more tax-efficient assets in taxable accounts. The team actively manages capital gains realization through tax-loss harvesting and coordinates portfolio withdrawals with clients' broader income needs to avoid bracket creep. This joint approach is most visible in concentrated stock positions where a sale requires sophisticated planning around Qualified Small Business Stock exclusions or charitable remainder trusts.

### Who runs investment decisions at McKinley Carter?

President David B. McKinley chairs an internal investment committee that sets the tactical and strategic asset allocation models the firm's advisors use across client accounts. The committee meets on a recurring basis to review macroeconomic data, interest-rate forecasts, and equity-market valuations, with the output being a model portfolio that individual advisors can tilt based on specific client liquidity needs or concentrated positions. The structure centralizes research while decentralizing delivery, a scalable framework for a firm that prides itself on bespoke service.

## Related profiles

- [Servant Financial](https://altss.com/profile/servant-financial-ltd)
- [Dawson James Asset Management](https://altss.com/profile/dawson-james-asset-management-inc)

---

Last updated: 2026-07-08T23:50:33.154Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/mckinley-carter-wealth-services-inc

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology