Core Planning
Core Planning is a fee-only, SEC-registered Community RIA founded in 2010 that operates a network of 60+ independent financial advisors delivering investment management, financial planning, and Family Office services to HNW families and individuals across the U.S.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersSt Louis, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Core Planning does
Core Planning, LLC is a fee-only, fiduciary Registered Investment Advisor founded in 2010 by Guy Penn and headquartered in O'Fallon, Missouri. The firm operates as a "Community RIA," an umbrella organization under which 60+ independent financial advisors maintain their own practices while sharing brand, technology, compliance, and operational infrastructure. Core Planning's service portfolio spans investment management, a structured 5-step financial planning process, and a dedicated Family Office offering for families in the $25MM to $100MM wealth range that includes an Estate Management Policy (EMP) and multi-generational coordination. Customer segments are highly diversified, including high-net-worth families, individual investors, healthcare professionals, business owners, retirees, entertainment industry professionals, and tech employees, with multilingual service capability in English, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish.
The underlying technology stack is built on third-party rather than proprietary platforms: RightCapital powers client-facing financial planning and scenario analysis through a cobrand portal, Altruist and Schwab Institutional serve as custodians for account access and consolidated reporting, and Greenboard is used for compliance due diligence. Core Planning itself does not publish an app, public API, or SDK, and has no disclosed AI/ML products or patents. Advisors access tools through web-based dashboards, and clients engage primarily through the RightCapital portal and direct advisor relationships. The platform is designed for ease of use and multi-custodian visibility rather than for differentiated in-house technology.
The business model is recurring fee-only compensation from clients, with no commissions, trailers, or third-party product payments. Revenue is subscription-style (annual billing cadence), and customer acquisition relies on content marketing through the corepln.com website, advisor media appearances in major publications, podcast features, and referral networks within the community of affiliated advisors. The firm is private, founder-owned, has no institutional or PE investment, and has not raised external funding. Geographic reach is nationwide via virtual advisory delivery, anchored by the single O'Fallon, Missouri office, with SEC registration as the primary regulatory milestone.
Core Planning firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Core Planning
- Legal name
- Core Planning, LLC
- Website
- https://corepln.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Core Planning is a fee-only, SEC-registered Community RIA founded in 2010 that operates a network of 60+ independent financial advisors delivering investment management, financial planning, and Family Office services to HNW families and individuals across the U.S.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Core Planning industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Wealth Management and Financial Advisory Services
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Financial Planning–Led RIAs (FSAAACAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Comprehensive Financial Planning (FSAEAAAA), Portfolio Construction & Asset Allocation Advisory (FSAEAAAC)
Keywords
Where Core Planning is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- St Louis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Core Planning business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Investment Advisory Services: Fee-only investment advisory services provided through SEC registered investment advisor Core Planning, LLC. Compensation comes solely from clients with no commissions, trailers, or compensation from third parties.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Fee-only fiduciary advisory services |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Core Planning product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Core Planning is a fee-only fiduciary Registered Investment Advisor operating under a Community RIA model that hosts 60+ independent financial advisors. It sells investment management, comprehensive financial planning, and dedicated family office services to individuals, families, and high-net-worth families ($25MM–$100MM range), coordinating across investment, tax, estate, and risk domains with multi-custodian access via Altruist, Schwab Institutional, and the RightCapital planning portal.
Product overview
Core Planning operates as a community-based registered investment advisor (Community RIA) offering a unified financial planning and investment management platform. The core offering combines investment management, financial planning services, and a client portal (RightCapital) for plan access and scenario analysis. For high-net-worth families ($25MM-$100MM range), the firm provides dedicated Family Office Services including Estate Management Policy (EMP) and multi-generational planning. Clients access accounts through integrated custodial platforms including Altruist and Schwab Institutional. The service delivery follows a structured 5-step process from initial conversation through ongoing support.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Investment Management
Quantifiable outcome
- Clients gain clarity, organization, and confidence in financial decisions
Companies that use Core Planning
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Core Planning technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature2 records
Core Planning partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.
- GreenboardsupportingThird-party compliance technology firm providing Due Diligence tool. Core Planning uses Greenboard's platform to conduct due diligence on service providers to ensure they meet firm expectations for protecting client data.
- AltruistcoreCustodian and platform partner providing account access for clients. Altruist logo appears on client access page as primary platform option.
- RightCapitalcorePlanning portal used for financial planning, projections, and client engagement. RightCapital is the core planning platform for the firm.
- Charles Schwab InstitutionalsupportingCustodian platform providing institutional trading and custody services for client accounts through Schwab Institutional.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Core Planning competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Creative Planning: Creative Planning is a large fee-only RIA with a multi-advisor team structure offering investment management, financial planning, and family office services to HNW clients. Its scale and comprehensive offering are directly comparable to Core Planning's Family Office services for $25MM–$100MM families.
- Savant Wealth Management: Savant is a fee-only RIA with a multi-advisor team and dedicated family office capabilities for HNW households. Its comprehensive financial planning, investment management, and tax/estate coordination services closely mirror Core Planning's offering.
- Facet Wealth: Facet Wealth is a digital-first, fee-only RIA serving HNW families with virtual advisors and integrated technology. It competes with Core Planning for HNW clients and shares the fee-only, multi-custodian, technology-enabled service approach.
- Carson Group: Carson (formerly Carson Group) is a community RIA platform that provides compliance, technology, and operational support to a network of independent advisors, similar to Core Planning's Community RIA model. It serves HNW households nationwide and competes for both affiliated advisors and HNW clients.
- XY Planning Network: XY Planning Network is a support organization for fee-only financial advisors, particularly next-gen planners, providing branding, technology, and community resources. Like Core Planning, it is a network/community model rather than a single-practice firm.
- Mariner Wealth Advisors: Mariner Wealth Advisors operates a community RIA-style model with multiple affiliated advisor teams and dedicated HNW and family office services. It is comparable in target client (HNW families), fee-only structure, and advisor aggregation strategy.
Broad incumbents
- Edelman Financial Engines: Edelman Financial Engines is one of the largest independent RIAs in the U.S., serving HNW households with fee-only investment management and financial planning. It competes against Core Planning in the HNW segment but with materially greater brand recognition and AUM scale.
- Commonwealth Financial Network: Commonwealth is a large RIA platform providing custody, compliance, and technology infrastructure to thousands of independent advisors. It competes with Core Planning for affiliated advisors and shares the community/platform model but at much greater scale.
- LPL Financial: LPL Financial is one of the largest independent broker-dealer and RIA custodial platforms supporting thousands of independent advisors. It competes with Core Planning for both advisor affiliations and HNW clients and represents the broad incumbent alternative to a community-style model.
- Fisher Investments: Fisher Investments is a large incumbent RIA serving HNW and institutional clients with portfolio management services. It competes with Core Planning's Family Office offering in the $25MM+ wealth segment, though with a more centralized, portfolio-management-led model rather than community-style multi-advisor structure.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Core Planning social profiles
Digital presenceCore Planning compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Core Planning financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Core Planning leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Core Planning funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Core Planning M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Core Planning
What does Core Planning do?
Core Planning is a fee-only fiduciary Registered Investment Advisor operating under a Community RIA model that hosts 60+ independent financial advisors. It sells investment management, comprehensive financial planning, and dedicated family office services to individuals, families, and high-net-worth families ($25MM–$100MM range), coordinating across investment, tax, estate, and risk domains with multi-custodian access via Altruist, Schwab Institutional, and the RightCapital planning portal.
Is Core Planning a public or private company?
Core Planning is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Core Planning founded?
Core Planning was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Core Planning based?
Core Planning is headquartered in St Louis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Core Planning make money?
One revenue line is on record: investment Advisory Services.
Who are Core Planning's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Creative Planning, Savant Wealth Management, Facet Wealth, Carson Group, XY Planning Network and Mariner Wealth Advisors. Broad incumbents are Edelman Financial Engines, Commonwealth Financial Network, LPL Financial and Fisher Investments.
Does Core Planning have an API?
No public API is recorded for Core Planning.
What industry is Core Planning in?
Core Planning's product category is Wealth Management and Financial Advisory Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAAACAB, Financial Planning–Led RIAs, with a secondary code of FSAEAAAA, Comprehensive Financial Planning. Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.