CAPTRUST Financial Advisors is one of the largest independent registered investment advisors in the United States, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. Co-founded by J. Fielding Miller, the firm has grown through a sustained acquisition programme and a majority employee-ownership model that distinguishes it from private equity-backed consolidators. It serves individuals, retirement plan sponsors, endowments, foundations, and institutional investors across all 50 states.
Website: captrust.com
Founder: J. Fielding Miller (co-founder, chairman, and CEO)
Company type: Majority employee-owned; minority investors include GTCR and Carlyle
Regions served: All 50 US states, across more than 90 locations
What does CAPTRUST offer?
CAPTRUST provides consultative advisory services across three main client segments: individuals and families, retirement plan sponsors, and nonprofits including endowments and foundations. Its offering spans:
- investment advisory and discretionary portfolio management, including outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) services
- retirement plan fiduciary consulting under ERISA 3(21) and 3(38) structures, including its Direct Fiduciary programme, which transfers investment selection responsibility to CAPTRUST
- plan design optimisation, provider search, fee benchmarking, and participant education
- wealth planning, estate planning, and tax consulting for individuals, families, trusts, and closely held entities
- nonqualified advisory and executive benefit services
- financial wellness programmes for retirement plan participants
All advisors operate under a fiduciary standard. The firm enforces a "No-Golf-Ball Rule" — prohibiting advisors from accepting gifts of any kind from industry vendors — to eliminate 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 ranked first on the National Association of Plan Advisors' 2026 Top DC Advisor Multi-Office Firms list, based on defined contribution assets under advisement.
The firm serves approximately five million retirement plan participants through around 3,000 retirement plans nationwide. That institutional base functions as both a core business and a client pipeline — retirement plan participants are a natural audience for the firm's wealth management services, and CAPTRUST has described this "bridge" as its fastest-growing area for new clients.
CAPTRUST's majority employee-ownership model, in place since 2002, sets it apart from PE-backed consolidators in an industry where private equity has become the dominant force in advisory firm acquisitions. More than half of its employees participate in at least one equity programme. When firms join through acquisition, sellers are typically offered the option to take a portion of their transaction proceeds as CAPTRUST equity — making them owners in the firm rather than exiting entirely.
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