
MANAGING PARTNER
Ryan Oates is a founding member of Water Street Financial, a locally owned and operated wealth and financial management firm that specializes in comprehensive goals based financial planning for individuals and families, investment advisory to non-profits and municipalities, consulting services to retirement plan fiduciaries, and outcomes based financial wellness programs to the participants of employer retirement plans. Water Street Financial is powered by LPL Financial and Wealthcare Advisory Partners.
In his current position, Ryan is responsible for the growth and expansion of the firm, working with a limited number of High Net Worth financial planning clients and overseeing the firm’s Retirement Plan division.
Ryan has spent his entire career in the financial services industry. Prior to founding Water Street Financial, he spent over 5 years with First Bank Wealth Management along with his partner, Chris Cotterell. During his time at First Bank, he worked with Chris to grow the private client segment of the division and expand the bank’s offering to its clients.
Ryan earned his MBA from Shenandoah University in 2017 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from George Mason University in 2002. He also holds the designation of Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor which is targeted towards providing Fiduciary advice to retirement plan clients.
Ryan holds FINRA series 7 and 66 licenses through LPL Financial along with Life and Health Insurance licenses. He enjoys spending his personal time with his wife Raychel and son Tyler. He’s an avid golfer and enjoys traveling to play golf throughout the world, most recently going to Scotland and Ireland.