trueNorth Wealth Advisors

What trueNorth Wealth Advisors does

trueNorth Wealth Advisors is a fee-only registered investment advisory firm (operating as trueNorth Financial Services, LLC) headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with a secondary office on Bainbridge Island. Founded in 2001 by Karen O'Brien and Joe Hebert, the firm provides comprehensive financial planning combined with professional investment management to high-net-worth individuals and families, primarily across the Pacific Northwest. Services are structured around three client segments—Wealth Builders, Pre-Retirees, and Retirees—covering goal setting, cash flow, income tax, education, insurance, retirement, and estate planning, paired with disciplined portfolio management using passively managed mutual funds, index funds, ETFs, and no-load mutual funds.

The firm's operational backbone consists of third-party institutional partnerships rather than proprietary technology: Charles Schwab Institutional acts as primary custodian, Dimensional Fund Advisors supplies asset class mutual fund portfolios, and the eMoney Plan platform serves as the client portal. trueNorth differentiates through its Money Quotient-based "financial life planning" methodology, which maps qualitative client values and life goals to quantitative financial plans, and through a fully credentialed bench of five CFP® professionals (all NAPFA-Registered and SEC-registered as RIAs) with diverse backgrounds spanning CPA accounting, electrical engineering, molecular biology (PhD), and finance.

The business model is straightforward recurring AUM-based fee billing: 1.0% annually on the first $2M of managed assets and 0.5% on assets above $2M, with a $10,000 annual fee floor and a $1,000,000 minimum in manageable assets. Fees are billed quarterly in advance, and the firm does not accept commissions or referral fees, reinforcing its fiduciary positioning. The firm is privately held by its founders and partners, with no external institutional investors, and distributes its services exclusively through direct advisory relationships supplemented by content marketing and professional association referrals.

Name

trueNorth Wealth Advisors

Legal name

trueNorth Financial Services, LLC

Website

https://truenorthwa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

trueNorth Wealth Advisors is a fee-only SEC-registered investment advisor in Seattle providing comprehensive financial planning and investment management to high-net-worth individuals and families (minimum $1M in assets) across the Pacific Northwest, structured around three life-stage segments: Wealth Builders, Pre-Retirees, and Retirees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management and Financial Advisory

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) Wealth Management (FSAEABAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Financial Planning–Led RIAs (FSAAACAB)

Keywords

• Fee-only wealth management
• Financial planning services
• Investment management advisory
• Retirement income planning
• Estate planning services

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Wealth Advisory Services: Fee-only wealth advisory services billed as annual percentage of Assets Under Management (AUM). Services include comprehensive financial planning and professional portfolio management. Billed quarterly in advance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

trueNorth Wealth Advisors provides fee-only, comprehensive financial planning combined with professional investment management for individuals and families. Services span goal setting, cash flow, income tax, education, insurance, retirement, and estate planning, paired with disciplined portfolio management using passively managed index funds, ETFs, and no-load mutual funds held in custody at Charles Schwab Institutional. The firm requires a recommended minimum of $1,000,000 in manageable assets and charges a tiered annual AUM fee billed quarterly in advance.

Product overview

trueNorth Wealth Advisors offers Wealth Advisory Services as a unified fee-only financial planning and investment management offering. The core service combines Financial Planning (covering goal setting, cash flow, tax, education, insurance, retirement, and estate planning) with Investment Management (including risk analysis, asset allocation, security selection via index funds/ETFs, portfolio rebalancing, and tax-efficient strategies). The firm serves three client segments—Wealth Builders, Pre-Retirees, and Retirees—through its Client Portal platform. A minimum of $1,000,000 in manageable assets is recommended, with annual fees of 1.0% on assets up to $2,000,000 and $20,000 plus 0.5% on assets above that threshold.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wealth Advisory Services Comprehensive fee-only financial planning and professional investment management for individuals and families with at least $1,000,000 in manageable assets. Includes an initial comprehensive financial plan in year one and ongoing portfolio management thereafter.
• Financial Planning

Quantifiable outcome

• Clients with written financial plans reported higher confidence in reaching financial goals (over half very confident vs. 18% without plans)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• CFP BoardcoreOthersThe CFP Board sets and enforces standards for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification, which is the standard of excellence in financial planning. All trueNorth advisors hold this certification.
• National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)coreOthersProfessional association for fee-only financial advisors. Members must provide independent, objective financial advice and earn income from fees, not commissions. Karen O'Brien, Joe Hebert, Brooke Trinh, Brad Allen, and Charlotte Leon are NAPFA-Registered Advisors.
• Financial Planning Association (FPA)coreOthersU.S. based professional organization that assists the public find ethical, objective, client-focused financial planners. Karen O'Brien, Joe Hebert, Brooke Trinh, and Brad Allen are members.
• Money Quotient (M.Q.)supportingTechnology or IntegrationFinancial Life Planning tools and training provider. trueNorth uses M.Q. tools to help clients explore values and priorities and align financial advice with life goals.
• Dimensional Fund AdvisorssupportingTechnology or IntegrationLeader in developing asset class portfolios for institutional investors and independent investment advisors. Dimensional's mutual funds are designed to meet the needs of professional investors. Fund shares are limited to clients of select financial firms like trueNorth.
• Charles Schwab InstitutionalcoreTechnology or IntegrationPioneering firm working exclusively with independent financial advisors. Largest provider of dedicated custodial services to the independent investment advisor community. Offers institutional trading, banking, trust and pension services, and 24-hour online account access.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Halbert Hargrove: Long-standing, fee-only RIA headquartered in the Seattle area serving individuals and families with comprehensive financial planning and investment management — a direct same-region, same-model competitor to trueNorth with comparable AUM-minimum clientele.
• Brighton Jones: Fee-only, Seattle-based wealth management firm offering financial planning and investment management to high-net-worth individuals and families. Larger than trueNorth but operates the same fiduciary, AUM-fee business model in the same Pacific Northwest market.
• Wetherby Asset Management: Independent, fee-only RIA providing wealth management and financial planning to high-net-worth individuals and families, using a goals-based planning philosophy closely aligned with trueNorth's life-centered approach.
• Modera Wealth Management: Fee-only financial planning and investment management firm serving individuals, families, and institutions — comparable fee structure, fiduciary model, and comprehensive planning offerings to trueNorth.
• Keeler & Nadler Family Wealth: Fee-only wealth management practice specializing in financial life planning and investment management for high-net-worth households, similar in service mix and lifestyle-planning orientation to trueNorth's Money Quotient approach.
• Segaleman Shaw Wealth Advisors: Fee-only, NAPFA-affiliated RIA providing comprehensive financial planning and portfolio management for individuals and families — a closely comparable boutique competitor serving similar HNW clientele.

Emerging players

• Facet Wealth: Tech-enabled financial planning firm offering flat-fee, fiduciary advice to clients below the traditional $1M RIA minimum — represents the disruptive model competing for the same end-client with lower price points and broader accessibility.

Broad incumbents

• Personal Capital (Empower Personal Dashboard): Hybrid digital wealth manager offering financial planning and investment management across AUM tiers — a much larger incumbent in the same fee-based financial planning category competing for affluent and HNW clients nationally.
• Charles Schwab Wealth Advisory: Custodian-adjacent advisory service from trueNorth's own primary custodian, Schwab Institutional — competes for the same HNW segment using the same Dimensional-style passive strategies, often at lower headline fees.
• Vanguard Personal Advisor: Low-cost advisory service combining automated portfolio management with human advisor access — a direct fee-compression competitor targeting affluent clients using passively managed funds, similar to trueNorth's investment philosophy.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about trueNorth Wealth Advisors