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Rather & Kittrell
Rather & Kittrell was founded in 2000 by Chris Kittrell and his partners as a Knoxville-based registered investment advisor.
Rather & Kittrell
Rather & Kittrell was founded in 2000 by Chris Kittrell and his partners as a Knoxville-based registered investment advisor. The firm operates as a multi-family office for individuals, high-net-worth families, and business owners navigating financial complexity, with a stated emphasis on coordinating advisory functions that clients would otherwise source from separate tax, legal, and investment professionals. The firm deploys client capital across a mix of publicly traded securities, fixed income, and alternative investments, using a fee-based advisory model. Rather & Kittrell also structures corporate retirement plans for business clients, a second revenue line distinct from its private-wealth practice. While the firm does not market a proprietary fund lineup or publish specific portfolio-company holdings, its literature positions asset allocation, tax efficiency, and risk management as the central levers of its investment process. Geographic concentration is in the Southeastern United States, with clients concentrated around the Knoxville metropolitan area. Rather & Kittrell was included in the 2025 CNBC Financial Advisor 100 ranking, an annual listing compiled from data on 40,563 RIA firms. The firm operates a single office in Knoxville and has not publicly disclosed total assets under management or precise headcount. Client-facing materials and the firm's website emphasize life-transition planning — retirement, inheritance, divorce, business sales — as a core service category. The firm maintains a fee-schedule page on its website, posting its blended annual advisory fee for transparency. Rather & Kittrell's structural position as a fiduciary RIA gives it a statutory obligation to act in the best interest of its clients, a legal standard that differentiates it from broker-dealers operating under the suitability standard. The firm's narrow geographic footprint in Knoxville and its independence from a larger wirehouse or bank platform remain its operational differentiators, making it a locally concentrated rather than nationally scaled practice.
General information
Firm type
Multi Family Office
Year founded
2000
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Knoxville
Corporate office
Knoxville, TN, United States
Principals
Chris Kittrell
Advisor
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Is Rather & Kittrell structured as a single-family office or does it manage assets for multiple client families?
Rather & Kittrell operates as a multi-family wealth manager, serving individuals, high-net-worth families, business owners, and executives rather than a single founding family. The firm brings together investment management, tax planning, retirement income planning, and estate coordination under a single advisory relationship, positioning itself as an outsourced family-office function for clients in the Knoxville region.
How does Rather & Kittrell charge for its services?
The firm charges a blended annual fee based on assets under management and publishes its fee schedule on its website at rkcapital.com/our-services/wealth-management/fees/. This fee covers ongoing planning, investment management, and collaboration with a client's other professional advisors as life circumstances change.
What investment products or fund structures does Rather & Kittrell use?
Rather & Kittrell's public materials describe an integrated approach combining portfolio management, tax-efficient strategies, and risk analysis rather than a proprietary family of funds. The firm does not disclose specific product structures or third-party manager relationships on its website, but its 2025 CNBC FA 100 inclusion signals that a portion of its assets are discretionary.
Does Rather & Kittrell maintain any philanthropic or legacy-planning structures?
The firm coordinates estate and legacy planning as a standard component of its financial-planning engagements. Rather & Kittrell helps clients design tax-efficient strategies for wealth transfer and coordinates beneficiary planning with outside legal and tax professionals. It does not operate a separate donor-advised fund or philanthropic foundation.
What is Rather & Kittrell's fiduciary obligation, and how does it affect client relationships?
As a registered investment advisor, Rather & Kittrell is bound by a legal fiduciary duty to act in its clients' best interest on all recommendations. This standard differs from the suitability obligation that governs broker-dealers, meaning the firm's advisors must prioritize client outcomes ahead of product commissions or firm revenue, according to its published client communications.
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