From its founding in 1989 by Jerry Foster, Foster Group (originally Retirement & Investment Advisors, Inc.) has been committed to helping a wide variety of investors achieve successful lifetime financial experiences.
Foster Group is a privately-held, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa with a second regional office in Omaha, Nebraska. Our 18 shareholders* are all current employees and/or active in the firm, representing multiple age groups and intentionally selected to ensure that the level of service our clients receive today can be delivered and improved upon for generations to come.
In 1992, Foster Group adopted a fee-only compensation model to increase our clients’ confidence that the advice being given was always in their best interests. It also effectively eliminated any conflicts of interest that could arise when utilizing non-fee only forms of compensation. Assets under management exceeded $100 million USD for the first time in 1997, and in 2001, the firm’s name was officially changed to Foster Group.
Foster Group has always been committed to operating as a fiduciary for our clients and, in 2007, became certified by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX) as adhering to fiduciary best practices. Foster Group undergoes an annual audit by CEFEX to ensure this high level of fiduciary best practices continues. Foster Group is the only firm in Iowa and Nebraska that has been certified since 2007.
In 2019, for the third year in a row, Advisory HQ News recognized Foster Group as one of the Best Financial Advisors in Iowa and one of the Best Financial Advisors in Omaha. Foster Group was also named to the 2019 edition of the Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisors. Most recently, Gallup recognized Foster Group as a Gallup Great Workplace in 2018 and 2019. Gallup presents this honor to organizations that have proven their ability to achieve exceptionally high levels of workplace engagement by investing in their people.
Foster Group has always encouraged our clients to consider integrating charitable generosity into their investment and financial plans. Since 2015, Foster Group has enjoyed facilitating more than $35 million of charitable gifts on behalf of our clients.*
*As of 01.01.20