We are pleased to present the Monthly Report of Recently Registered RIAs - May 2026.
We are continuously blown away by the large number of newly independent wealth management RIAs and investment firms from the SEC report with a total of 109.
As part of our monthly process, our data team reviewed and scrubbed this month’s raw file of new filings, identifying 85 wealth manager RIAs. We then researched the appropriate contacts and related information before uploading everything to Dakota Marketplace.
Over the past decade, the RIA market has grown fivefold, and Dakota’s real-time database of 17,000+ RIAs delivers the insights and connections firms need to stay ahead in a rapidly expanding investment landscape.
In this article we’re giving you 10 noteworthy and newly independent RIAs that we’ve added to our marketplace.
To view all newly independent wealth management RIAs and key contact information, book a demo of Dakota Marketplace here.
Top 10 RIAs from April 2026
1. Principled Wealth Advisors, LLC
- AUM: $252.1M
- Metro Area: Cincinnati, OH
Principled Wealth Advisors is an independent financial planning and wealth management firm serving clients across the Greater Cincinnati area and more than 25 states nationwide, with a process that begins where most advisory relationships end: with a deep understanding of each client's values, goals, and objectives; what the firm calls their "principles." Lead advisor Jereme Ransick holds both the AIF® and CFP® designations, and the firm's planning process moves from discovery through wealth guidance to investment guidance, with custom investment strategies developed, managed, and monitored for each client. The firm operates through Commonwealth Financial Network as its broker-dealer, which provides infrastructure and compliance support while the advisory relationship remains independent.
2. Dark Horse Private Wealth
- AUM: $181.7M
- Metro Area: San Diego, CA
Dark Horse Private Wealth operates as the wealth management extension of Dark Horse CPAs, a well-regarded San Diego CPA practice, and that structural integration is the core of the firm's differentiated positioning: tax planning and investment management are delivered under the same roof rather than siloed across separate professionals. The firm's investment philosophy is explicit about its approach — a preference for low-cost index funds and dollar-cost averaging over active management, grounded in research showing that advisors add measurable value through behavioral coaching, tax efficiency, and financial planning rather than through stock selection. Chief Wealth Advisor Matt Poole, CFP®, ChFC®, CEPA®, brings a background in corporate finance and family office work, and the firm recently added Senior Wealth Manager Blake Feindel, whose focus on tax-efficient strategies and legacy planning deepens the team's integrated CPA-RIA model.
3. Glass Lakes Capital Management, LLC
- AUM: $178.3M
- Metro Area: Kansas City, MO
Glass Lakes Capital Management was founded by Joel Hamilton, a CFA charterholder and CFP who previously served as Senior Vice President of Keen Wealth Advisors and portfolio manager at The Commerce Trust Company before launching the firm independently. The firm's investment philosophy is goal-focused and planning-based, grounded in the belief that the best strategy is the one a client can hold through both good and bad markets. Glass Lakes takes a holistic, whole-picture approach to portfolio construction rather than managing accounts in silos, actively seeks tax-loss harvesting opportunities throughout the year rather than once annually, and employs year-round tax-aware asset location across taxable and qualified accounts. The fee-only, fiduciary structure carries no commissions, no hidden fees, and no third-party kickbacks
4. Retirement Solutions Group
- AUM: $159.6M
- Metro Area: Nashville, TN
Retirement Solutions Group is a Nashville-based practice led by Principal Ryan Moore, a Certified Financial Fiduciary, whose central philosophy is captured in the firm's tagline: "It's not what you save — it's what you keep." The firm specializes in legacy plan design and tax-advantaged retirement income strategies, with particular expertise in healthcare coverage, annuities, and advanced life insurance structures used as alternatives to traditional long-term care and tax planning tools. The firm also produces books, a podcast, and video content, reflecting a client education-first ethos that extends the advisory relationship well beyond the investment portfolio.
5. Millennial Wealth Advisors
- AUM: $146M
- Metro Area: Chicago, IL
Millennial Wealth Advisors was founded in Chicago by Charlie, who brings a career spanning commercial banking, a decade at Wall Street firms including Salomon Brothers, DLJ, and CS First Boston, and several years advising a single family office before launching the firm. Despite the name, the firm is not exclusively focused on younger investors; it provides wealth management and family office services to high-net-worth individuals, multigenerational families, endowments, and foundations. The firm's investment process uses a combination of fundamental, technical, and statistical analysis, employing active, Core+Satellite, and passive strategies primarily on a non-discretionary basis, with a $2M relationship minimum and access to private placements alongside traditional securities. A notable structural point: the firm manages the majority of its principals' personal assets through the same platform it uses for clients, which it positions as a direct alignment of interest.
6. Columbus Street Wealth Management, LLC
- AUM: $144.5M
- Metro Area: Columbus, OH
Columbus Street Wealth Management operates on a flat-fee, fee-only fiduciary model that the firm describes as "radically transparent" — structurally independent of banks, insurance companies, and brokerage firms, with the only accountability running directly to the client. The firm is driven by a CFP-led planning process that moves through discovery, goal-setting, analysis, and implementation in collaboration with the client's other professional advisors, with ongoing monitoring to account for life's inevitable changes. The investment philosophy treats portfolio construction as one component of a broader financial plan rather than the primary product, keeping investment strategy tightly integrated with tax, estate, insurance, and savings decisions at every stage of the relationship.
7. J.L. Perkins Wealth Management, LLC
- AUM: $142.2M
- Metro Area: Atlanta, GA
J.L. Perkins Wealth Management, headquartered in Macon, Georgia and serving Atlanta-area clients, is built around a straightforward retirement planning philosophy: cut through the noise, avoid prediction-driven advice, and focus on discipline and long-term strategy to help clients transition into retirement without overpaying the IRS. The firm serves hardworking individuals who have diligently saved for retirement and aspire to a lifestyle supported by their savings, and it is deliberately selective about client fit — acknowledging that the firm is not the right match for everyone. The team creates retirement strategies using both investment and insurance products, with tax efficiency as an explicit priority alongside income sustainability.
8. Frugé Capital Advisors, LLC
- AUM: $141.2M
- Metro Area: Oxford, MS
Frugé Capital Advisors is led by Don Frugé, a University of Mississippi law professor and tax attorney who holds a Master of Law in taxation from New York University and spent 22 years overseeing the University of Mississippi Foundation, growing its endowment from $8 million to over $420 million before retiring in 2006. That institutional endowment background is the foundation of the firm's investment approach: disciplined, long-term asset management informed by decades of experience managing complex institutional capital, combined with deep expertise in estate planning, tax law, and nonprofit structures. As of counsel at the Frugé Law Firm as well as the firm's chairman and CEO, Don brings a rare integration of legal, tax, and investment disciplines to client relationships.
9. Cravens Brothers Private Wealth Management LLC
- AUM: $139.3M
- Metro Area: Dallas, TX
Cravens Brothers Private Wealth Management is a boutique Dallas firm that serves 44 client relationships — predominantly high-net-worth individuals and families — with a philosophy centered on understanding family dynamics as much as financial figures. The firm operates entirely on a non-discretionary basis, developing trade recommendations collaboratively with clients before executing, and applies fundamental and technical analysis alongside Monte Carlo modeling in its planning work. Cravens Brothers takes a consultative, multi-generational approach to wealth management, actively studying the interplay between a family's human capital, intellectual capital, and financial capital to build strategies that unify rather than fragment generational interests. The firm also provides project consulting services, reflecting a scope of engagement that extends beyond traditional portfolio management.
10. Wisdom Wealth Investment Advisors, LLC
- AUM: $138.8M
- Metro Area: Phoenix, AZ
Wisdom Wealth Investment Advisors is a Phoenix-based, independently owned advisory firm whose principals bring a combined 75+ years of experience to client relationships spanning individuals, families, and small business owners. Lead advisor Joe McInerney, CFP® and Enrolled Agent, has been serving clients since 1992 and integrates tax preparation, tax planning, and tax representation services through a wholly owned entity alongside financial planning and investment management through the RIA, creating a similar integrated structure to what clients might otherwise need multiple professionals to deliver. The firm's commitment to unbiased, conflict-free advice is grounded in its independence, and its client base includes both those just beginning to save and seasoned investors seeking a single trusted relationship for comprehensive financial management.
To view all wealth management RIAs in Dakota Marketplace and access key contact information, book a demo here!
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