Atlanta’s financial planning market reflects the metro area’s significant concentration of high-income professionals, business owners, corporate executives with complex equity compensation, real estate investors, and families accumulating wealth across generations in one of the South’s most economically dynamic metros. The city’s large concentration of corporate headquarters and professional services firms produces a substantial population of individuals with 401(k) plans, restricted stock units, deferred compensation, and pension decisions requiring integrated planning rather than individual product selection. Georgia’s relatively favorable tax environment and Atlanta’s active real estate market add state-specific planning dimensions that financial planners with local market knowledge navigate more effectively than out-of-state advisors with generic national approaches.
When selecting a financial planner in Atlanta, the distinction between fiduciary advisors and non-fiduciary advisors is the most consequential quality question. Fee-only, fiduciary financial planners are legally required to act in your interest at all times and earn no commissions from product sales, while fee-based advisors may earn compensation from recommending certain products regardless of whether those products best serve your situation. Look for the CFP designation as the baseline credential for comprehensive financial planning, indicating completion of a rigorous curriculum, exam, and experience requirement. The NAPFA (National Association of Personal Financial Advisors) membership and the fee-only designation verified through the CFP Board both confirm that a planner operates without product commissions. Georgia does not impose state-specific licensing for financial planners beyond the federal registration requirements for investment advisers, making direct credential verification with the CFP Board and SEC adviser disclosure database the most reliable quality confirmation steps.
Top Financial Planner Companies in Atlanta
1. HB Wealth
Address: 3550 Lenox Rd NE Suite 2700, Atlanta, GA 30326
Phone: (404) 264-1400
Website: https://hbwealth.com
Service Area: Atlanta, Georgia statewide, Southeast, national
Founded: 1989
Services:
- Comprehensive financial planning
- Investment management
- Estate and tax planning coordination
- Family office services
- Retirement and income planning
About: HB Wealth, formerly Homrich Berg, is one of the country’s largest fee-only registered investment advisers, headquartered in Atlanta with over $29 billion in assets under management and a 98% client retention rate that reflects the depth of trust built through more than three decades of client-first advisory service. The firm’s fee-only compensation model eliminates the conflicts of interest that product commissions create in advisor relationships, ensuring that every recommendation is made because it serves the client rather than because it generates revenue for the advisor. HB Wealth’s team of credentialed professionals includes CFP certificants, CFA charterholders, CPAs, and attorneys who collaborate on the integrated planning that complex wealth situations require across investment, tax, estate, and financial planning dimensions simultaneously. The Lenox Road location in Atlanta’s Buckhead business district anchors the firm’s Southeast presence while its offices in Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, and Augusta extend coverage across Georgia’s major wealth management markets.
2. CPC Advisors
Address: 1475 Peachtree St NE Suite 750, Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone: (404) 879-3000
Website: https://www.cpcadvisors.com
Service Area: Midtown Atlanta, metro area
Services:
- Comprehensive financial planning
- Wealth management and investment advisory
- Tax efficiency planning
- Estate planning coordination
- Business owner succession planning
About: CPC Advisors is a Midtown Atlanta financial planning firm whose team includes Varun K. Marneni, CFP, CEPA, recognized by Forbes as a Best-in-State Wealth Advisor for multiple consecutive years and featured on the Forbes Top Next-Generation Advisors list seven times, reflecting consistent recognition of planning quality and client outcomes by an independent evaluation process. The firm’s planning approach covers wealth management, tax efficiency, estate planning, risk management, and business succession advisory, providing the integrated perspective that treats each planning domain as interconnected rather than as separate product categories. CPC Advisors’ Peachtree Street Midtown location places it in the center of Atlanta’s most dynamic professional and entrepreneurial community, where technology executives, business owners, and corporate professionals require planners who understand the specific complexities of equity compensation, business exit planning, and multi-generational wealth transition. The firm’s emphasis on business owner exit planning through the CEPA credential reflects recognition that a significant portion of Atlanta’s wealth creation occurs through business ownership, and that the exit event requires specialized planning that generic wealth advisors are not equipped to deliver.
3. Modera Wealth Management Atlanta
Address: 5555 Glenridge Connector Suite 150, Atlanta, GA 30342
Phone: (678) 833-1166
Website: https://moderawealth.com/offices/atlanta-ga
Service Area: Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Buckhead, Brookhaven, metro area
Awards & Recognition: Barron’s Top 100 RIA Firms 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025
Services:
- Financial planning and wealth management
- Investment management
- Retirement planning
- Estate planning coordination
- Tax planning advisory
About: Modera Wealth Management is an independently owned, fee-only advisory firm with roots tracing to 1983, when its predecessor established itself as one of the country’s first fee-only advisory practices, and today manages more than $11 billion in assets for over 4,000 clients across 19 East Coast offices. The firm’s six consecutive years on Barron’s Top 100 RIA Firms list, including a 34th-place ranking in 2024, reflects independent recognition of planning quality, client service, and investment management capability that distinguishes Modera from the broader advisory market. Modera’s Atlanta office serves clients across Buckhead, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Decatur, Marietta, and the broader metro area from its Sandy Springs location on Glenridge Connector, providing the geographic coverage that Atlanta’s dispersed professional population requires. The firm’s fiduciary obligation and fee-only compensation structure provide the conflict-free advisory relationship that clients building long-term wealth plans require, with no product commissions influencing the investment or insurance recommendations made by its planning team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the difference between a fee-only financial planner and a fee-based financial planner in Atlanta?
A: A fee-only financial planner earns compensation exclusively from client fees, whether charged as a percentage of assets, an hourly rate, or a flat retainer. This structure eliminates commissions from product sales and ensures that every recommendation is made because it serves the client rather than because it generates revenue for the advisor. A fee-based planner can earn both client fees and product commissions, creating potential conflicts of interest when recommending insurance products, annuities, or specific investment vehicles that pay the advisor. Both structures exist widely in Atlanta’s market, but the fee-only model provides cleaner alignment of advisor incentives with client outcomes. The NAPFA membership and CFP Board’s financial planning standards both require fee-only commitments from advisors who hold those designations, making membership verification a reliable way to confirm a planner’s compensation structure.
Q: When does someone in Atlanta need a comprehensive financial planner versus just an investment manager?
A: Investment management addresses the portfolio dimension of wealth, selecting and monitoring investment holdings to pursue return objectives within risk parameters. Comprehensive financial planning addresses the broader financial life, integrating investment management with tax planning, insurance analysis, estate planning, retirement income projection, education funding, and cash flow management into a coordinated strategy. Most Atlanta residents with assets above $500,000, business income, equity compensation, real estate holdings, or approaching retirement benefit from comprehensive planning rather than investment management alone, because the interaction effects between investment decisions and tax, estate, and insurance decisions often produce larger financial outcomes than the investment decisions themselves. Individuals with simpler financial situations and straightforward W-2 income may find investment management alone sufficient for their needs.
Q: How much do Atlanta financial planners typically charge?
A: Atlanta financial planners charge through several models. Assets under management fees typically range from 0.5% to 1.0% annually for portfolios above $1 million, with higher percentages for smaller portfolios. Flat retainer or subscription models for comprehensive planning typically run $4,000 to $15,000 annually depending on complexity, with some firms charging separately for investment management. Hourly planning rates for project-based work at credentialed Atlanta planners typically fall between $200 and $400 per hour. Fee-only planners at the high end of the credential and experience range charge at the higher end of these ranges, but the absence of product commissions means the stated fee represents the total compensation rather than a partial offset against undisclosed commission income.
Conclusion
Atlanta’s financial planning market includes fee-only fiduciary practices across the full spectrum of client complexity and wealth level, from the institutional scale and $29 billion asset base of HB Wealth in Buckhead to the Forbes-recognized individual planning quality of CPC Advisors in Midtown and the six-consecutive-year Barron’s Top 100 recognition of Modera Wealth Management’s Atlanta office. Each of these firms operates under the fee-only, fiduciary model that eliminates product commissions and aligns advisor incentives with client outcomes. For any financial planning need in the Atlanta metro, initial consultations with any of these three firms will help you identify which planning approach and relationship model best fits your financial situation, complexity, and long-term objectives.