Office address: 540 Maryville Centre Drive, Suite 105, St. Louis, MO 63141
Website: plancorp.com
Year established: 1983
Company type: financial services
Employees: 88 (2025)
Expertise: financial planning, evidence-based investing, retirement planning, tax strategy, estate planning, equity compensation, corporate retirement plans, institutional asset management, business succession planning, family office services
Parent company: Prumentum Group
Key people: Chris Kerckhoff (CEO), Peter Lazaroff (chief investment officer), Jeff Smith (COO), Wes Garton (CFO), Brian King (chief advisory officer), Susan Conrad (chief business development officer), John Sastry (chief legal and compliance officer)
Financing status: corporate-backed
Plancorp Wealth Management (Plancorp) is a fee-only wealth management firm based in St. Louis. The SEC-registered advisor offers financial planning, evidence-based investing, and tax strategy to over 1,500 clients in 46 states. The majority employee-owned company reported about $8.4 billion in client assets as of December 2025.
Plancorp traces its roots to October 1983, when Jeff Buckner launched the firm from his home office in St. Louis. Back then, most financial advice came from brokers who earned commissions on the products they recommended.
Buckner chose a different path and built a fee-only firm where revenue came from client fees alone. The company spent its first 10 years focused solely on financial planning before it moved toward managing client portfolios.
Plancorp's push into asset management in the mid-1990s opened the door to new partnerships. In 1995, it joined forces with other RIAs to create the Zero Alpha Group for shared research and lower costs.
Buckner stepped in as ZAG's first president and chair as the group grew. The firm also brought on Chris Kerckhoff in 1997, who eventually started to lead the company as CEO.
Plancorp became one of the first RIAs in the world to earn CEFEX fiduciary certification in 2007. The firm has passed the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence annual audit every year since to keep the certification active.
Wealth-tech holding company Prumentum Group took an ownership stake in the firm in 2017, and digital advisor BrightPlan became its sister company.
The firm earned a spot on the InvestmentNews 2023 Top Regional Fee-Only RIAs list. The company placed 13th in the Top 25 Fee-Only Firms in the Midwest category.
Plancorp also appeared in InvestmentNews' 2025 Top Independent High-Net-Worth Advisors. It qualified for the Midwest region through a merit-based process that reviewed SEC filings, AUM, and client base.
Plancorp offers fee-only, CEFEX-certified advisory services across personal wealth management and business planning:
The firm also offers free planning tools like its RSU tax estimator, ESPP calculator, and advisory fee calculator. Plancorp supports employer-based financial wellness programs through its relationship with sister company BrightPlan.
Plancorp says it builds its culture on fiduciary commitment and a team-based model that assigns multiple advisors to each client. Employees vote anonymously each year to recognize peers who best represent the firm's five core values:
Plancorp Wealth Management operates a hybrid work model with offices in St. Louis, Nashville, Sarasota, and San Francisco. All employees are salaried with no commission-based pay, and the firm's benefits include:
Plancorp also gives back through an employee-led philanthropy committee that works with Lydia's House, Operation Food Search, and Friends of Kids with Cancer. The firm donates to the CFP Board LeCount Davis Endowment and runs its InspireHer and Diversity in Financial Planning internship programs.
Chris Kerckhoff serves as Plancorp's president and CEO. He joined the firm in 1997 and took on an ownership stake by 2010. Kerckhoff holds a BS in finance from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
Plancorp's leadership team supports Kerckhoff and includes:
The leadership team follows the firm's team-based model, where advisory, investment, and operational roles work together across client accounts. Its annual CEFEX audit reviews these procedures and includes interviews with key personnel.
In 2025, Plancorp earned another InvestmentNews nod when CIO Peter Lazaroff was named a 5-Star Financial Planner. Lazaroff went through a compliance-verified nomination process and objective benchmarking to make the list.
That honor adds to the firm's track record as Americans face growing complexity in retirement and investment planning. For more InvestmentNews awards and Special Reports, visit our Best in Wealth page.
Alongside those accolades, the firm publishes free educational content on complex financial topics. In March 2026, Plancorp advisor Ben Schwartz wrote a guide on 1035 exchanges to help clients rethink their annuity holdings. That kind of open knowledge sharing builds trust with future clients and helps raise the bar for industry transparency.
Recognizing the best financial planners who exemplify excellence and integrity in enabling clients to achieve their financial goals
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.
