Willow Creek Wealth Management

Larry K. Kees serves as CEO and has led the firm since its founding in 1983. Willow Creek operates as a Registered Investment Advisor, and investment decisions are made by the firm's internal advisory team rather than centralized in a single CIO role. The firm's Form ADV filings describe a committee-driven process that integrates portfolio management with tax and estate considerations.

The firm's client base is concentrated in Northern California — particularly Sonoma County, Marin County, and San Francisco. Its clientele includes technology executives, vineyard-owning families, and multi-generational households that have experienced liquidity events. Willow Creek markets itself on its fiduciary, fee-only model rather than through any proprietary sourcing channel.

Willow Creek is a multi-family office and Registered Investment Advisor. It is not anchored to a single source of wealth. The firm serves multiple unrelated families from its single office in Sebastopol, California, providing wealth management, tax preparation, and estate planning services.

Willow Creek portfolios include private investment vehicles alongside traditional asset classes like equities and fixed income. The firm has not disclosed the specific composition of its alternatives allocation. Given its Northern California client base, it has developed expertise around concentrated stock positions, liquidity-event planning, and private company equity diversification strategies.

The firm operates on a fee-only basis, charging clients directly for advisory services rather than earning commissions on product sales. This fiduciary structure is central to its marketing. Fees are typically calculated as a percentage of assets under management, with tax preparation and planning services included in the bundled offering rather than billed separately.

Willow Creek embeds tax preparation and estate planning directly within its advisory offering. Unlike many RIAs that refer clients to outside CPAs and attorneys, the firm maintains these capabilities as integrated services. This structure creates a single point of coordination for financial, tax, and legacy decisions.

The firm emphasizes retirement-income planning, after-tax portfolio management, and multi-generational wealth transfer. Its investment approach is oriented toward capital preservation and sustainable withdrawal strategies rather than aggressive growth. This positions Willow Creek as a steward for late-career executives and retired families managing concentrated wealth.