Top Wealth + Best-in-State · rank 1 · Whitefish, Montana · listed firm: Stack Financial Management
Identity & firm
- Firm — Stack Financial Management (high)
- “Legal name of custodian: CHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC.” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “Stack Financial Management (SFM) is privately-owned and independent.” — firm_official
- Parent company — independent (high)
- “Stack Financial Management (SFM) is privately-owned and independent. Our client-centric focus and disciplined approach to active risk management define our business.” — firm_official
- “Stack Financial Management is independently owned and operated. Schwab neither endorses nor recommends Stack Financial Management.” — firm_official
- Firm type — independent_ria (high)
- “"ind_ia_scope":"Active","ind_ia_disclosure_fl":"N","ind_approved_finra_registration_count":0,"ind_employments_count":1,"ind_industry_cal_date_iapd":"1994-05-04","ind_ia_current_employments":[{"firm_id":"106785","firm_nam” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “"firm_ia_full_sec_number": "801-45724", "firm_name": "STACK FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INC", "firm_ia_scope": "ACTIVE"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Team name — gap: not_applicable
- Team size — 14 (high)
- “Established In 1994 Assets Under Mgmt $2.1 Billion Barron's Top 100 Awards 18 Clients States 47 Employees 14 Founded By James Stack” — firm_official
- CRD — 2458324 (high)
- “"ind_source_id":"2458324","ind_firstname":"JAMES","ind_middlename":"BRYAN","ind_lastname":"STACK","ind_other_names":["JAMES STACK","JIM STACK"]” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Years experience — 47 (medium)
- “In 1979, Jim left IBM to start InvesTech Research, a financial research firm that he continues to lead today.” — firm_official
- “"ind_industry_cal_date_iapd":"1994-05-04"” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Designations — other:Series 65 (high)
- “Credentials: Series 65 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)” — firm_official
- “Education: B.S., Mechanical Engineering Montana State University Post-graduate study in Business University of Colorado” — firm_official
Book of business
- Team AUM ($M) — 1900 (high)
- “Assets Under Management: $1.9 billion (team assets, custodied)” — forbes_shook
- “Discretionary:
(a) $ 1,992,243,735
(d) 1,524” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Account minimum ($M) — 0.75 (high)
- “Minimum Account Size: $750,000” — forbes_shook
- Typical client net worth ($M) — 13.25 (high)
- “Typical Client Net Worth: $1.5-25 million” — forbes_shook
- Client niche — risk-averse / capital-preservation-focused HNW individuals and retirees (high)
- “Our ultimate goal is to give our clients increased peace of mind knowing that their assets are being actively managed in a manner focused on reducing downside risk and volatility.” — firm_official
- “This option is most suitable for conservative clients who want more stable returns and a lower level of price volatility, or retired investors seeking current income from their portfolio.” — firm_official
- Custodians — Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (high)
- “Legal name of custodian: CHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC.” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “You are now leaving the Stack Financial Management Website and will be entering the Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”) Website.” — firm_official
- Fee model — aum_fee (medium)
- “You are compensated for your investment advisory services by (check all that apply): (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
A percentage of assets under your management” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “established asset transfer authorizations which permit the qualified custodian to rely upon instructions from Stack Financial Management to transfer client” — sec_finra_regulatory
Positioning & marketing
- Website url — https://www.stackfinancialmanagement.com/team/james-stack/ (high)
- “James Stack Founder & CEO” — firm_official
- Value proposition (verbatim) — We are a team of seasoned investment professionals dedicated to providing our unique brand of "safety-first" investment management with an unmatched and personal service experience. The foundation of Stack Financial Management's investment philosophy is a belief that portfolio construction must be based on a thorough assessment of market risk. (high)
- “Portfolio Growth & Capital Preservation The foundation of Stack Financial Management’s investment philosophy is a belief that portfolio construction must be based on a thorough assessment of market risk. With careful att” — firm_official
- “We are a team of seasoned investment professionals dedicated to providing our unique brand of “safety-first” investment management with an unmatched and personal service experience.” — firm_official
- Differentiators — "safety-first" risk-managed investing derived from the InvesTech Research methodology, privately owned, independent, fiduciary 100% of the time, downside protection in bear markets with competitive returns in up markets, evidence-driven rather than market-timing forecasting, far from Wall Street — Whitefish, Montana location as an independence signal (high)
- “Many other firms profess the ability to forecast market turning points. At Stack Financial Management we are focused on following the weight of the evidence and allowing an objective assessment of the data to dictate our” — firm_official
- “As a client you are treated as family, and as fiduciaries, we act in your best interest 100% of the time.” — firm_official
- Content marketing — active (high)
- “Zach Jonson on Money Life with Chuck Jaffe| || || | ||Post published:|||July 16, 2026|” — firm_official
- “The New AI Paradigm Bubble| || || | ||Post published:|||March 31, 2026|” — firm_official
- Has podcast — no (medium)
- “Zach Jonson, Chief Investment Officer at Stack Financial Management, joins Money Life to give his perspective on today’s extremely bifurcated market, including specific investment opportunities amid market rotation.” — firm_official
- Books published — 0 (medium)
- “Following college, Jim was hired as an engineer with IBM Research in Boulder, CO. He quickly advanced to Project Manager in Research & Development and has several U.S. patents to his name.” — firm_official
- Linkedin url — https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-b-stack-52b9b8100/ (low)
- “James B. Stack - President at Stack Financial Management ...” — social_or_third_party_db
- Social presence — linkedin_active (medium)
- “Most Recent Post Date: 2 months ago - A post about the company's sponsorship of Whitefish Legacy Partners for the 5th consecutive year to support local trail system maintenance and preservation.” — social_or_third_party_db
- Press awards — Barron's Financial Advisors Hall of Fame, Barron's Top 100 Independent Advisors (18 appearances), Barron's Best-in-State Advisors, Forbes Top RIA Firms (2025), Featured in Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today (high)
- “Barron's Financial Advisors Hall of Fame Stack Financial Management is a member of the Barron’s Hall of Fame after reaching their ten year milestone in 2019!” — firm_official
- “Forbes Top RIA Firms Stack Financial Management has been ranked in the 2025 “Forbes Top RIA Firms.”” — firm_official
Visual brand
- Has distinct logo — yes (high)
- “<img width="1036" height="346" src="https://www.stackfinancialmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-SFM-logo-1.png" class="custom-logo" alt="Stack Financial Management" decoding="async"” — firm_official
- Logo url — https://www.stackfinancialmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-SFM-logo-1.png (high)
- “src="https://www.stackfinancialmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-SFM-logo-1.png" class="custom-logo" alt="Stack Financial Management"” — firm_official
- Visual brand notes — Navy and white corporate sans-serif; Montana mountain and lake photography (Big Mountain, Whitefish office); award-badge rows and a firm-statistics band; restrained, institutional, low-ornament layout. (high)
- “src="https://www.stackfinancialmanagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Big-Mountain.png"” — firm_official
- “Located in beautiful northwest Montana, Stack Financial Management is far from Wall Street, but has earned a reputation as one of America’s premier investment advisors.” — firm_official
