We provide investment banking, research, sales and trading, asset and wealth management, public finance, insurance, private capital, and family office services.
We are a family-owned financial services firm that values client relationships, long-term stability, and supporting the communities where we live and work.
The idea of family defines our culture, because each of us knows that our reputation is on the line as if our own name was on the door.
Our reputation as a leading independent financial services firm is built on the stability of our longstanding and highly experienced senior executives.
We are committed to corporate philanthropy; economic and financial literacy advocacy; and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Stephens is proud to sponsor the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour, and PGA TOUR Champions careers, as well as applaud the philanthropic endeavors, of our Brand Ambassadors.
We host many highly informative meetings each year with clients, industry decision makers, and thought leaders across the U.S. and in Europe.
Richard joined Stephens Private Client Group in 2011. As a trusted advisor for more than 37 years, Richard believes a partnership approach with his clients is critical in setting realistic expectations, a long-term time horizon, and communicating with clients as candidly as possible. Clients must understand the difference in market risk and investment risk, and they should be intellectually and emotionally prepared to take advantage of the extremes of both fear and greed. We recognize we cannot control near term outcomes, so research and the decision making process leads to a determination of overall strategic positioning of each client's portfolio. Richard says, “It is important to have an attitude of protection and operate with a margin of safety whenever possible. We spend little to no time guessing about the future because it is a poor foundation for making significant capital allocation decisions and is fraught with bad outcomes.”
Preston Yates, a Financial Consultant with more than six years of industry experience, joined Richard in 2017. They are supported by their registered client associate, Anne Thornton, who has more than 20 years of experience.
Prior to joining Stephens, Richard was a Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager with E. F. Hutton & Co, and its successor, Morgan Stanley. Richard has received the Stephens Leadership Circle award every year since he joined Stephens in recognition for excellence in wealth management.
Richard received a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Richard is a Certified Portfolio Manager (CPM®). He completed the Certified Portfolio Manager (CPM) Program at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Columbia University. The curriculum provides a deeper understanding of fundamental security analysis, asset allocation, and portfolio management concepts. The core finance concepts include: Quantitative Methods, Financial Statement Analysis, Corporate Finance, Fixed Income Analysis, Equity Analysis, Derivatives, and Portfolio Management.
He later furthered his education by attending Stephens’ advanced wealth management program, Stephens University, offered through Wake Forest University.
Richard is active in his community and currently serves on the vestry and investment committee of his church while also acting as a community outreach liaison. He previously served on the Woodberry Forest School Advisory Council and volunteers for Samaritan Ministries of Winston-Salem, a shelter and soup kitchen for the homeless. He has previously served on the Vanderbilt University Parent Leadership Council and was Boy Scout Troop 910 Parent Director.
Richard and his wife, Karen, have two grown children, Morgan Godin MD, an ophthalmologist in Vail CO, Rick, a second year MBA candidate at Columbia University in NYC, and one granddaughter Maddie Rose. He spends his free time with his family and enjoys snow skiing, upland hunting, golfing, fly fishing, traveling, reading, and collecting and restoring older cars.