Spuds Powell, CPWA

Spuds Powell is a Managing Director of Kayne Anderson Rudnick Wealth Advisors and also serves on the firm’s Wealth Advisory Investment Committee. He began his career in the wealth management industry in 1993. Before joining Kayne Anderson Rudnick in 2004, he worked as the National Mid-Plan Sales Manager for Financial Engines, a firm founded by Nobel Laureate, Dr. William Sharpe. Before working at Financial Engines, Spuds was a Retirement Plan Consultant for Retirement Plan Strategies, after spending the first four years of his career in a variety of roles at Franklin Templeton Funds. He earned a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, where he was awarded the Cornell Tradition Fellowship for leadership and academic achievement and played varsity football.


Spuds is ranked #5 on Barron’s Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors list and was inducted into the Barron’s Hall of Fame in 2023. This is the 11th year that Spuds has been ranked in the Top 10 (2013-2023) including five years where he ranked #1 (2017-2020, 2022). He is also ranked on Forbes’ Best-In-State Wealth Advisor list (2023) and has been named a Five Star Wealth Manager by Los Angeles Magazine for the last eleven years, was recognized as a Banking & Finance Visionary by the L.A. Times B2B Publishing (2022 – 2023), and Leader of Influence – Wealth Manager by Los Angeles Business Journal. Spuds is a Certified Private Wealth Advisor® professional and he formerly served on the Fidelity Wealth Advisor Solutions® Client Advisory Council. In addition, Spuds is a frequent public speaker and has been quoted in the Wall St. Journal, Barron’s, Investment News, Investors’ Business Daily, Wealthmanagement.com, Forbes, and ThinkAdvisor.


Spuds strives to have a balanced life and spend as much time as possible with his family. He married his high school sweetheart, Ann, and they have four children: Emmet, Mary Clare, Finn and Margot. The Powells support The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Providence TrinityKids Care, Homes of Hope, the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation, and Loyola High School, among other organizations. Spuds enjoys playing sports and cooking, and is a loyal fan of the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Notre Dame Football