Steve Cassaday 2021 - r

Stephan Q. Cassaday Chairman & CEO

1-800-672-2102
1-703-506-8200

steve@cassaday.com

Connect on LinkedIn

Back to team

Steve Cassaday, CFP®, CFS, has been advising investors professionally since 1977. In 1993, after 16 years of holding senior and management positions with several major New York Stock Exchange member firms, Steve abandoned the traditional Wall Street brokerage model and founded Cassaday & Company, Inc., an independent advisory firm.  Steve’s vision was based on simple concepts about what clients want:

  • Comprehensive, integrated financial advice that is proactive, objective, impartial, and continuously applied.
  • Advisors who are highly trained, credentialed, and experienced.
  • A firm that is not part of a bank, insurance company, or Wall Street firm and has no proprietary products.
  • Advisors who are fiduciaries.

Since Cassaday & Company, Inc. was founded in 1993, assets under management or supervision have grown from $40 million to more than $5.3 billion (as of March 2024), with 86 employees assisting 3,035 households throughout the United States.

In 2023, Barron’s ranked Steve as the #1 Advisor in Virginia for the ninth time on its list of ‘America’s Top 1,200 Advisors: State by State’. Barron’s also cited him as one of the Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors in the country (2007-2023) and recognized him on its Top 100 Advisors list for all financial advisors in the United States (2016-2023). Steve has appeared on both the Barron’s Top 1,200 Advisors and Top 100 Independent Advisors lists every year the awards have been offered, and in 2019 he was admitted into the Barron’s Hall of Fame.

Forbes recognized Steve as a Best-In-State Wealth Advisor (2020-2024) and one of America’s Top Wealth Advisors (2016, 2017). Steve has also been recognized by the Financial Times as a Top 400 Advisor (2018-2020).

A recognized financial industry thought leader and sought-after speaker, Steve has given over 1,000 dynamic and informative presentations on investments, financial planning, portfolio management, personal development, and productivity, regularly addressing others in the industry and academia as well as speaking before corporate gatherings, associations, community groups, and at public seminars.

Steve has appeared on national TV numerous times including interviews on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, It’s Your Business, Nation’s Business Today, Fox News Network’s “Fox on Money,” The Nightly Business Report, and local network affiliates among others. He has also been highlighted in business and finance publications across the country.  Steve’s column and opinion pieces appeared in the Washington Business Journal from 1999 – 2003.

Steve is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional* and Certified Funds Specialist (CFS).  He has served terms as past President and Chairman of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) of the National Capital Area.  In 2003, Steve received the FPA Leadership Award for outstanding service to the profession.

Married for over 39 years, Steve and his wife Mary, live in Reston, Virginia. Their three sons, Chad, Kyle and Chris, are all employed at Cassaday & Company, Inc.

Awards & Recognitions – Advisor

  • Barron’s, #1 Financial Advisor in Virginia – Top 1,200 Advisors: State-by-State (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023) and on the list since inception (2009-2024)
  • Barron’s, #1 Independent Advisor in Virginia – Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors in the Nation (2016, 2020) and on the list since inception (2007-2023)
  • Barron’s, Hall of Fame Advisor (2019)
  • Barron’s, Top 100 Financial Advisors in the Nation (2016-2023)
  • Financial Times, Top 400 Financial Advisors (2011-2014, 2018-2020)
  • Forbes, America’s Top Wealth Advisors (2016-2017)
  • Forbes, Best-In-State Wealth Advisors (2020-2024)
  • Investment News – Top Advisor (2024)
  • Northern Virginia Magazine, Top Financial Professionals (2012-2023)
  • Virginia Business, Virginia 500: The Power List (2021-2023)
  • Washingtonian, Top Financial Advisor (2008-2022)
  • Washingtonian, Top Wealth Advisor Hall of Fame (2023)

Awards & Recognitions – Company

  • Barron’s, Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams (2019-2023)
  • Financial Advisor Magazine, Top RIAs in the US (2012-2023)
  • Financial Times, Top 300 RIA Firms (2014-2015, 2018-2020)
  • Forbes, America’s Top Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) Firms (2022-2023)
  • Forbes, Fastest Growing RIAs (2016)
  • Inc., Best Workplaces (2019-2022)
  • Inc. 5000, Fastest Growing Companies (2007-2010, 2014-2021)
  • Inc. 5000 Regionals: DC Metro, Top 250 Fastest Growing Companies (2020)
  • Invest in Others, Charitable Champion (2019-2020, 2022-2023)
  • Investment News, Best Places to Work for Financial Advisors (2018-2024)
  • Investment News, Best Practices: Technology (2015)
  • Pensions and Investments, Best Places to Work in Money Management (2015)
  • Virginia Business, Best Places to Work (2015-2024)
  • Washington Business Journal, Best Places to Work (2008, 2010-2013, 2015-2023)
  • Washington Business Journal, Corporate Philanthropy Award (2020-2023)
  • Washingtonian, Best Places to Work (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
  • Washington Post, Top Workplaces (2020-2023)

Community Involvement

  • Member, Board of Directors, the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
  • Appointed to Vice Rector for the Radford University Board of Visitors by Virginia Governor James Gilmore in 2000
  • Reappointed by Governor Robert McDonnell in 2010
  • Outstanding Alumnus Award from Radford University in 2016
  • Endowed a Radford University scholarship fund for students demonstrating financial need
  • Past Chairman of the Radford University College of Business and Economics Advisory Council
  • “Executive in Residence” at Radford University in March 2015

Steve and his wife, Mary, are major donors to:

  • Central Union Mission
  • Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
  • PRS/Crisis Link
  • Salvation Army
  • Save the Children
  • Smile Train
  • So Others Might Eat (SOME)
  • The Lamb Center
  • The House DC
  • The Washington Jesuit Academy
  • Wounded Warriors
  • Youth for Tomorrow

 

Steve is an Investment Advisor Representative with Cassaday & Company, Inc. and a Registered Representative with Osaic Wealth, Inc.; he holds the Series 7 and Series 66 securities registrations.

*Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

Awards and recognitions listed above (Barron’s, Financial Advisor Magazine, Financial Times, Forbes, Inc., Inc. 5000, Invest in Others, Investment News, Northern Virginia Magazine, Pensions and Investments, Virginia Business, Washington Business Journal, Washingtonian, and Washington Post) range from 2007-2024. Cassaday did not compensate any of these organizations for any of these awards and recognitions. Additional criteria for the awards can be found here https://cassaday.com/disclosures/.

To learn more about the professional history of our firm, please visit FINRA’s BrokerCheck.