Ruggaard & Associates

Ruggaard & Associates

Randy Ruggaard launched the firm in Hudson, Ohio, in 1993 after earning his MBA at Case Western Reserve and building decades of financial-planning, investment-management, and tax-planning experience. The practice operates as a Registered Investment Advisor, meaning it is held to a fiduciary standard and charges only fees — no commissions — to individuals, high-net-worth families, and corporate clients. The investment function leans on direct security analysis rather than packaged third-party products. Ryan Ruggaard, Director of Research, defines and implements the firm's investment strategy. He previously worked as an Equity Research Analyst on Driehaus Capital Management's international team, a Global Sector Specialist at Credit Suisse, and a Senior Research Analyst for the Micro-Cap strategy at Bard Associates. Co-Portfolio Manager David Sleeter, a CFA charterholder, spent the early part of his career as an equity stock analyst at Manning & Napier Advisors. The firm constructs custom portfolios and allocates across public equities, fixed income, and cash-equivalent instruments for clients across the Midwest, with offices in Hudson, Chicago, and Oak Brook. Ruggaard & Associates discloses no AUM and reports a team of fewer than ten professionals on its website, yet it carries the cost structure of three office locations and a dedicated tax-services department. The tax unit — staffed by a CPA and a tax accountant — prepares federal, state, and local returns alongside the firm's core financial-planning and investment-management work. The firm's website shows no philanthropic foundation, club membership, or adjacent operating business. Ruggaard operates without a traditional succession wall between generations: Randy Ruggaard remains President while his son, Ryan, runs investment research, and Margie Ruggaard, Randy's spouse, serves as Controller overseeing human resources, accounting, and marketing. This family-embedded design concentrates governance and investment authority inside a single household — a structure that differs materially from the institutionalized separation now common among growth-oriented RIAs.