CAPTRUST Financial Advisors is the largest independent registered investment advisor in the United States, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1997 with 12 colleagues working out of a single Raleigh office, the firm has grown to more than 1,900 employees across over 90 locations nationwide. CAPTRUST provides investment advisory, fiduciary support, retirement plan consulting, and wealth planning services, serving approximately five million plan participants through 3,000 retirement plans and clients in all 50 states.
Website: captrust.com
Head office address: Raleigh, North Carolina
Founded: 1997
Founder: J. Fielding Miller (co-founder, chairman, and CEO)
Company type: Majority employee-owned; minority investors include GTCR (since 2020) and Carlyle (since 2023)
Regions served: All 50 US states, across more than 90 locations
History of CAPTRUST
J. Fielding Miller began his career as a branch manager for NCNB, Bank of America's predecessor, before joining Interstate/Johnson Lane, then the largest independent securities firm in North Carolina. He co-founded CAPTRUST in 1997, introducing a flat-fee advisory model at a time when commissions per trade were the industry norm.
The firm bootstrapped its early growth, reinvesting rather than taking on outside capital, and began building a national footprint through acquisitions starting in 2006.
- 2006: CAPTRUST begins its acquisition strategy, initially focused on retirement plan advisories
- 2020: After completing 40 transactions since 2006, CAPTRUST takes its first institutional capital — a 25% minority stake from Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR, valuing the firm at $1.25 billion; acquisition focus shifts to include wealth management
- 2023: Carlyle joins GTCR as a second minority investor; CAPTRUST's valuation exceeds $3.7 billion
- 2024: CAPTRUST eclipses $1 trillion in total client assets as of June 30
- 2024: Acquires Boston Financial Management, a $5 billion AUM firm, in November to expand its New England presence
- 2024: Acquires Campbell Wealth Management and TruNorth Wealth Partners in December, adding a combined $2 billion in assets across Virginia and Minnesota
- 2025: Acquires Carolinas Invest, a Charlotte-based diversified asset manager, in March
- 2025: Launches CAPTRUST Wellness Advantage in October, a financial and physical wellness offering built in partnership with Cleveland Clinic
- 2025: Meritage Portfolio Management, a Kansas City-based RIA with $2.4 billion in client assets, officially joins the firm in December
- 2026: Alpha Cubed Investments, a Southern California wealth management firm overseeing approximately $3.8 billion in assets, joins the firm in February
These moves reflect a firm that has evolved from a single-office fee-based advisory into a national platform built through employee ownership, selective capital partnerships, and a steady acquisition programme now overseen by a dedicated M&A leadership team.
What does CAPTRUST offer?
CAPTRUST provides consultative advisory services to retirement plan sponsors, endowments, foundations, institutional investors, executives, and high-net-worth individuals. Its core offering rests on fiduciary expertise, scale, and a breadth of services that extends beyond investment management:
- investment advisory and discretionary portfolio management, including outsourced CIO (OCIO) services — CAPTRUST is one of the largest OCIO providers in the United States
- retirement plan fiduciary consulting, participant education, provider search, and fee benchmarking
- wealth planning, estate planning, and tax preparation for individuals and families
- nonqualified advisory services for executives
- CAPTRUST Wellness Advantage, a financial and physical wellness programme developed in partnership with Cleveland Clinic
A "No-Golf-Ball Rule" has been in place since the firm's founding — advisors are prohibited from accepting gifts of any kind, reinforcing CAPTRUST's commitment to acting as a fiduciary with no conflicts of interest.
CAPTRUST in the market
For eleven consecutive years, CAPTRUST has been ranked as the largest registered investment advisor in the United States. It topped the National Association of Plan Advisors' 2026 Top DC Advisor Multi-Office Firms list, based on defined contribution assets under advisement as of December 31, 2025.
The RIA industry it operates in is highly fragmented and consolidating rapidly. According to Echelon Partners, more than 275 private equity firms now actively invest in the wealth management space, up from 75 in 2008. CAPTRUST has navigated that consolidation from a position of scale — acquiring firms while offering sellers the option to take half their transaction proceeds in CAPTRUST equity, making them owners in the firm rather than simply selling into a larger buyer's brand.
The firm's acquisition pace has accelerated. It was most active in 2021, completing seven deals that year. It has since appointed a dedicated head of mergers and acquisitions, signalling a continued push into both wealth management and retirement markets.
As of mid-2025, CAPTRUST reported $1 trillion in total client assets and approximately 1,900 employees across more than 90 locations.
Scroll down for CAPTRUST's latest deals, partnerships, and industry headlines.
