Our Story

Enriching the lives of our clients by putting their interests first.

 

The Welch Group, LLC was founded in 1984 as a way for Stewart H. Welch, III to serve the needs of the Birmingham community. As Stewart began helping clients prepare for a secure financial future, he quickly realized there was a need for financial advice from an impartial, trustworthy source. The Welch Group was one of the early pioneers to offer fee-only investment management and financial planning services for clients. What began as a vision of service to a local community grew into a firm serving clients across the United States.

At The Welch Group, we offer fee-only financial planning to young professionals, families, and retirees. Our service model allows us to offer both wealth management and also high-touch family-office services to well-qualified families. We work comprehensively with our clients to help ensure no stone is left unturned when it comes to planning for their financial future. 

Our Firm Mission

We are more than just a wealth management firm. Through our services, we help enrich the lives of our clients, their families, and the community around us. As a fee-only firm, we aren’t focused on sales or proprietary products. Instead, we offer detailed consulting for our clients and answer any questions they have. 

We build long-term relationships with our clients, and our culture is built on respect and appreciation for each other. These thoughtful, impactful relationships are what drive our firm. 

Financial Advocates

First and foremost, we are our clients’ financial advocate. Our goal is to organize and simplify finances so our clients can maximize enjoyment of wealth now and in the future. We work with clients at all stages of their financial lives, from helping young professionals accumulate wealth, to assisting retirees with financial management, to preserving the wealth and sustaining the cash flow for high net-worth families and individuals.

Fee-Only Financial Planning

This means our earnings are not tied to commissions or selling investment products for a larger company. We are not investment brokers. We are fiduciaries. Which means our mission — and our promise — is that everything we do is in the best interest of our clients. Always.

Values

Our values are essential to defining who we are as a firm, the principles we adhere to, and the service we provide in each client relationship. One of our most defining values is our team approach to serving our clients, which we believe delivers the best results in the present, the future, and beyond.

Personalized Teams

Our teams are hand-picked for each client based on their needs, personality, and case complexity. And while each client will work closely with their team, they are part of the larger Welch Group family with access to all our resources and knowledge.

Employee owned.

We are 100% employee owned. Not only does this give each of our employees a personal stake in our company’s success, but it ensures a seamless succession of leadership for generations to come.

The Welch Group Foundation

A large part of our story also involves giving back. Through The Welch Group Foundation, we work to provide support to local charitable organizations through donation, sponsorship, and volunteer service. You can read more about our efforts on The Welch Group Foundation page.