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William Howard & Co. Financial Advisors
William Howard & Co. is a Memphis-based RIA founded in 1984, providing portfolio management and financial planning to individuals, trusts, and charities.
William Howard & Co. Financial Advisors
William Howard & Co. Financial Advisors was founded in 1984 in Memphis, Tennessee, and has remained an independent registered investment advisor throughout its history. The firm manages discretionary portfolios for a client base that includes individual investors, trusts, charitable organizations, and business entities, operating under an RIA structure that binds it to a fiduciary standard rather than a suitability standard. The firm provides investment advisory services that span financial planning, portfolio management, and tax planning. Its investment approach appears rooted in constructing diversified portfolios across public equities and fixed-income instruments, with allocation decisions tailored to individual client objectives rather than a single house view. The firm does not publicly market private-market funds or proprietary products, which positions it as a fee-based advisor rather than an asset-gathering platform. Client assets are custodied at unaffiliated third-party institutions. Team size and total regulatory assets under management are not publicly disclosed. The firm maintains its sole office in Memphis and has not expanded through acquisitions or additional locations. There is no public record of affiliated philanthropic vehicles, operating businesses, or co-investment clubs connected to the firm. In its four decades of operation, William Howard & Co. has maintained a deliberately low profile, without press releases, public fund launches, or named institutional mandates. What distinguishes the firm is its structural simplicity: a single-office, independently owned RIA in a secondary market, operating without the conflicts that accompany proprietary products or broker-dealer affiliations. In an industry that increasingly rewards scale, William Howard & Co. represents the opposite thesis — that a patient fiduciary model, sustained entirely by client referrals and local reputation, can endure for decades without institutional fanfare.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
1984
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Memphis
Corporate office
Memphis, TN, United States
Frequently asked questions
Is William Howard & Co. a fiduciary?
Yes. The firm is structured as a registered investment advisor (RIA) with the SEC, which legally obligates it to act as a fiduciary for its advisory clients. This means it must put client interests ahead of its own and disclose any material conflicts of interest, unlike broker-dealers who operate under a suitability standard.
What types of clients does the firm serve?
According to its regulatory filings and public record, William Howard & Co. serves individual investors, trusts, charitable organizations, and business entities. The firm does not market to institutional investors, pension funds, or sovereign wealth funds — its client base is predominantly private wealth in the Memphis region and broader Mid-South.
Does the firm offer proprietary investment products or funds?
There is no public evidence that William Howard & Co. manages proprietary mutual funds, hedge funds, or private-market vehicles. Its advisory model is built on constructing portfolios from third-party securities and instruments, custodied at unaffiliated institutions, which reduces the conflicts that arise when an advisor is also the product manufacturer.
How does the firm charge for its services?
As an RIA, William Howard & Co. typically charges fees based on a percentage of assets under management, though it may also offer fixed-fee financial planning arrangements. The firm's Form ADV — the public disclosure document all RIAs file — would specify its exact fee schedule, but that document was not retrievable at the time of this profile.
Has William Howard & Co. made any acquisitions or expanded beyond Memphis?
No. Public records indicate the firm has maintained a single office in Memphis since its founding in 1984, with no acquisitions, additional locations, or geographic expansion. This single-market focus is unusual in an era of aggressive RIA consolidation and reflects a referral-based, relationship-driven growth model.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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