Office address: 5454 W 110th St, Overland Park, KS 66211
Website: creativeplanning.com
Year established: 1983
Company type: financial services
Employees: 1,500+
Expertise: wealth management, investment management, financial planning, retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning and trusts, insurance and risk management, 401(k) and retirement services, business valuation, international wealth services
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Peter Mallouk (CEO), Jonathan Knapp (COO), Samuel Henson (chief legal officer), Nick Jacobson (chief marketing officer), Megan Schmitz (chief people officer), Lee Richardson (chief risk and compliance officer), Peter Sengelmann (director)
Financing status: private equity-backed
Creative Planning is an Overland Park-based independent registered investment advisor (RIA), with over 1,500 employees. The firm provides wealth management, tax, and estate planning services through in-house CPAs and attorneys. The company serves clients across all 50 states and in 90 countries.
Creative Planning traces its roots to 1983 as a small office in Kansas City. After working for the company in 1999, Peter Mallouk purchased the firm in 2004 and reregistered it as an independent RIA.
It was built on a simple idea: clients deserved a better way to grow their wealth. Creative Planning set out to create a people-first culture focused on serving clients through every financial stage.
In an industry where many firms grow through acquisitions, Creative Planning chose a different path. The company grew by earning trust and adding one client at a time. Its planning-led approach puts client goals first, then builds portfolios to match those needs. In-house attorneys and CPAs work alongside advisors to cover every part of a client’s financial picture.
By 2021, that client-focused approach had paid off in a major way. Creative Planning crossed the $100 billion mark in AUM that year.
The firm also became the first national RIA to offer family office services at scale. It eventually became a company that serves clients across all 50 states and in countries around the world.
In 2025, Creative Planning acquired Monterey Private Wealth, a California firm with over $1 billion in assets. The deal expanded the company’s presence along the West Coast, while Monterey’s existing team continues to serve clients from its original California office.
After announcing plans to acquire SageView Advisory Group, a leading retirement plan consultant, Creative Planning eyed a major expansion. The deal combines the firms which would manage over $640 billion in assets. Such a move displays its focus on growing its wealth and retirement services for years to come.
The company delivers all its services through in-house specialists under one roof. Creative Planning’s offerings include:
Advisors work directly with on-staff CPAs and attorneys to manage each part of a client’s financial needs. Creative Planning’s planning-led approach puts client goals first before building any investment strategy.
According to Creative Planning, it takes a team approach with over a thousand specialists on staff. The firm says its planning-led method starts by understanding what matters to each client. Its advisors then build plans based on those priorities. Its principles are:
Creative Planning also states that their team is made up of passionate professionals across various specialties. The firm says that daily drive to improve and empathy guides its workplace culture. They add that this mix leads to better client service and a positive work environment.
Peter Mallouk serves as Creative Planning’s president and CEO. Mallouk took ownership of the firm in 2004 and has led its growth across all 50 states. He is also a licensed attorney and a recognized speaker on wealth management topics.
Key executives and partners at Creative Planning include the following:
These executives lead a team of over 1,500 specialists across the company. Their shared goal is to help clients build, protect, and pass on their wealth.
Creative Planning made a big move in 2025, jumping from $390 billion to $640 billion in assets through its SageView deal. CEO Peter Mallouk believes RIA IPOs may soon be on the table for large firms like his. The company appears ready to explore new paths as it eyes long-term growth.
Alongside potential IPOs, the company is also looking overseas with Europe at the top of its list. CEO Peter Mallouk says strong demand from the UK, Switzerland, and EU could lead to new offices abroad. The firm already serves clients in 90 countries and sees global reach as its next chapter.
MOEs can turn into a "very morbid discussion for a leadership team," says Merit's M&A executive David Wahlen, highlighting the tough choices RIAs face as they chase the scale of mega-firms.
Creative Planning's subsidiary United Capital has also landed a $4 billion planning firm, while a $1 billion-plus firm joins LA-headquartered Lido Advisors in the East Coast.
Public markets penalized Focus Financial’s leveraged M&A and pressed for clearer organic-growth metrics, CEO Michael Nathanson told InvestmentNews at Schwab Impact 2025.
From on-off sale talk to organic growth rate rumors, what's going on at $308 billion RIA?
The newly formed Hightower Signature Wealth 'widens the aperture for who we could acquire,' says CEO Larry Restieri
Record deal volume, surging assets, and a wave of mega-transactions define another landmark year for RIA M&A, with strategic buyers dictating the momentum.
The CEO of Creative Planning, which boasts $640B in AUM, noted that large firms such as his can remain in the private markets, but some may run out of room for growth and IPOs may be the inevitable conclusion.
Schwab has been evaluating its referral program for RIAs for over a year.
At DeVoe’s M&A Succession Summit in Chicago, Focus Financial CEO Michael Nathanson said RIAs shouldn’t underestimate wirehouses and banks as potential reemerging competitors in the independent advisor market.
The merger announced Thursday rivals other monster deals this year by fellow mega-RIAs Corient and Mariner.
"We've seen two so far, and it feels like something that the industry has been talking about for years," Turkey Hill Management's Jessica Polito says following the recent Cresset-Monticello and MAI-Evoke Advisors mergers, which could be a sign of future consolidation among large RIAs.
"A lot of advisors think, I don't want to sell to private equity or join a firm that's PE backed, because those evil private equity people like Edward Lewis are just going to strip my firm, fire my people, reduce all the costs," says Modern Wealth's Jason Gordo. "That's just not the way it works in the RIA community."
"RedBird's pedigree investing in sports and media has been thematically an important part of what we're building," Arax CEO Haig Ariyan told InvestmentNews.
Touchstone Investments president Ben Alge outlines the three metrics the ETF seller prioritizes before AUM when directing its sales approach to RIAs, as the firm prioritizes the top-30 aggregators.
Meanwhile, Merchant is continuing to expand its support for RIAs by partnering with a South Dakota-chartered trust company.
