Office address: 1111 Chapala Street, 3rd Floor, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Website: missionwealth.com
Year established: 2000
Company type: financial services
Employees: 200+
Expertise: wealth management, tax management, estate planning and trust management, investment management, charitable planning, asset protection and risk management, retirement income planning, financial planning for women, concentrated stock planning, business succession planning
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Matthew Adams (CEO), Dannell Stuart (president), Brad Stark (co-founder), Diane Williamson (COO), Kieran Osborne (chief investment officer), Brian Sottak (senior managing director), Nicole Madosik (chief mergers and integrations officer)
Financing status: private equity-backed
Mission Wealth Management is a fiduciary investment advisory firm based in Santa Barbara. As of March 2026, the employee-owned company manages $14.5 billion in assets and works with over 4,850 client families nationwide. A team of over 200 covers wealth planning, investments, tax management, estate services, and asset protection.
Mission Wealth was created in 2000 by Seth Streeter and Brad Stark. The two had spent years at a multinational financial firm but wanted to advise clients on their own terms.
They set up Mission Wealth Management as an independent, financial planning-based RIA with objectivity at its core. Streeter and Stark also decided early on to share the firm's growth and ownership with their team.
The firm opened up its ownership over the years and brought in partners from across the country. It is now primarily employee-owned, with 55 limited partners as of its May 2025 regulatory filing.
Mission Wealth Management also earned three InvestmentNews awards in 2025 during a year of rapid growth. These include:
To read more about these awards and Special Reports on them, visit our Best in Wealth page. Apart from the awards, Mission Wealth Management also nearly doubled its headcount that same year to more than 200 team members.
The company acquired Texas-based Logic Capital in 2024 and merged with Brown Wealth Management in Minneapolis the following April. That same month, Boston-based private equity firm Great Hill Partners took a minority stake in Mission Wealth.
In 2026, Mission Wealth Management merged with PBL Wealth Management, an Austin-based company. The firm brought in PBL founder Adam Broughton as partner in its second Texas move in two years.
The firm's fast growth also created a need to build out its technology and operations. Chief technology officer Renee Hennessee grew the department from a one-person CRM role she started in 2019.
Hennessee outlined her approach to AI adoption for wealth advisors through change management, clear guardrails, and hands-on coaching. Mission Wealth continues to pursue mergers and advisor partnerships as it grows its presence across the US.
Mission Wealth delivers its services through a single in-house fiduciary team:
Mission Wealth Management groups its services into four client tiers: Family Office, Private Client, Integrated Wealth, and Emerging Wealth. The firm also provides insurance placement through its risk management department.
Mission Wealth Management says its culture is about being "culture-first" and "client-centric." The firm says it operates around four core values:
Mission Wealth Management offers its employees a hybrid work schedule and employer-paid health coverage. The firm's benefits package includes:
Mission Wealth donates a share of firm profits to nearly 150 nonprofits and runs Mission Wealth Scholars for underrepresented CFP candidates. Employees also receive one week of paid VTO and up to $2,000 in annual donation matching.
Matthew Adams is CEO and managing partner at Mission Wealth Management, where he leads the executive committee. Adams worked at Roxbury Capital Management and Dimensional Fund Advisors before joining the firm. He earned a BA in business economics from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA in finance from USC.
Mission Wealth Management's other leaders alongside Adams include:
Mission Wealth's partners are based across the country and take on direct client advisory roles. The firm structures its operations around a 12-member leadership team with roles in investments, compliance, technology, and M&A.
Mission Wealth merged with RightPath Investments, a Colorado-based retirement planning firm, in February 2026. The deal added founder Steven R. Smith and advisor Megan Nuttelman to the company's Colorado team. RightPath's retirement planning focus gives Mission Wealth Management more depth in the region as it grows its national reach.
Beyond its deal activity, Mission Wealth made the InvestmentNews Best Places to Work list again in 2026. The firm placed in the 100–499 employees category based on employer data and anonymous staff feedback. The repeat recognition matters as the company keeps adding advisors and partners across the US.
InvestmentNews presents the Top Independent High-Net-Worth Advisors from across the US
InvestmentNews celebrates the best fee-only RIAs from the four regions across the US. The 100 winners are thriving in their respective areas by ensuring their clients experience exemplary service. Through a combination of expertise, personalized attention, and a client-first mentality, they have established themselves as trusted partners in guiding individuals and families toward financial success.
