No commissions, no ads, no advice. This 1919 Investment Counsel profile draws only on public records, each linked so you can confirm it yourself.
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Check the SEC adviser record. Open the SEC's IAPD record for 1919 Investment Counsel (CRD #133370) and confirm its registration.
Read the filings. Review the Form ADV / Form CRS and any disclosure section linked from the IAPD page.
Confirm the entity. Match CRD #133370 / 1919 Investment Counsel so you're reading the right firm.
The short answer: is 1919 Investment Counsel a fiduciary?
Yes. 1919 Investment Counsel is a fiduciary when it acts as your investment adviser, and with $26.0 billion in client assets it is among the larger SEC-registered investment advisers. Publicly, it files with the SEC as 1919 Investment Counsel (CRD #133370). As of its latest Form ADV (filed August 27, 2026), the firm reported $26.0 billion in regulatory assets under management (a firm-reported figure). Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) lists how it is paid: a percentage of assets under management, fixed fees, and other. According to the same filing (2026), roughly 72% of those assets belong to its high-net-worth individual clients, so this is mainly a wealth-management book run out of Baltimore.
Its Form ADV also reports that a related person is a broker-dealer (Item 7.A), and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity covers each of your accounts. The firm must tell you.
What "fiduciary" means: a fiduciary is legally bound to place a client's interests above its own. (More on fiduciary duty)
1919 Investment Counsel at a glance
✅ Verified from public filings, last checked October 5, 2026. 1919 Investment Counsel (SEC CRD #133370) is a fiduciary when acting as your adviser, on an advisory-fee basis, with $26.0 billion in regulatory assets under management. Every figure below links to its primary source.
What | 1919 Investment Counsel | Source |
|---|---|---|
SEC CRD | #133370 | |
Registration | Investment adviser, with a related person that is a broker-dealer (Form ADV Item 7.A) | |
Registered since | November 24, 2004 (SEC) | |
Fiduciary? | Yes, when acting as your adviser | |
Fee model | Advisory fees (no commissions reported in Item 5.E) | Form ADV Item 5.E |
How it's paid | A percentage of assets under management, fixed fees, and other | Form ADV Item 5.E |
Regulatory Assets Under Management | $26.0 billion (Form ADV filed August 27, 2026) | |
Client accounts | 5,169 (5,140 discretionary), Item 5.F; Item 5.D separately reports 5,169 clients | |
Employees | 131 (52 in advisory roles) | |
Ownership | Parent-owned | |
Disclosures | Form ADV answers No to firm-level disciplinary questions | |
HQ | Baltimore, MD |
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1919 Investment Counsel fees: what you'll pay
1919 Investment Counsel charges advisory fees. According to Item 5.E of its Form ADV, it reports no commissions for its advisory services. The same filing reports broker-dealer, insurance or other sales activity by the firm or a related company, business that can be paid by commissions. Ask how each part of the relationship is paid. The fee schedule itself is in its Form ADV Part 2A.
Why the asset-based fee matters at this firm. Our arithmetic from Item 5.D: its 2,653 high-net-worth clients average about $7.1 million each, while its 2,213 other individual clients average roughly $461,000. On a percentage-of-assets fee, the same rate costs the larger household about 15 times as much in dollars. If you sit in the high-net-worth group, ask whether the schedule has breakpoints that lower the rate as balances grow, and whether a fixed fee is available instead.
Advisory fees are what clients pay the adviser directly. Commissions earned through a related broker-dealer or insurance business are a separate source of pay. For how fee structures compare, see Fee-only financial advisor: costs and how to find one and Are you paying too much? Why that might be the wrong question.
Who owns 1919 Investment Counsel, and what conflicts does it disclose?
The 1919 Investment Counsel ownership picture is on file with the SEC. 1919 Investment Counsel is owned by Stifel Financial Corp., as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV. (Form ADV Schedule A)
Its Form ADV Part 2A describes the firm's conflicts of interest, including how it and its advisers are paid. With a public-company parent and a related broker-dealer on the same filing, the practical question is where your trades and custody sit: ask whether any of your accounts are held or traded through a company in the parent's group.
1919 Investment Counsel SEC record: disclosures
To check 1919 Investment Counsel's regulatory record, start with the firm's own filings. On its Form ADV, 1919 Investment Counsel answers No to the firm-level disciplinary-history questions. You can confirm that on the public record. Individual advisers can have their own records, so look up the person you work with on IAPD and FINRA BrokerCheck too.
On the record, the firm has been registered with the SEC since November 24, 2004, makes notice filings in 50 jurisdictions, and reports 131 employees, 52 of them in investment advisory roles. "Is 1919 Investment Counsel legit?" comes up a lot. Its registration, CRD and filings are public and verifiable. That confirms it is registered and regulated as an adviser; it doesn't, on its own, vouch for fit, service or cost. The part worth your time is what you're paying and earning.
Reading 1919 Investment Counsel reviews against the public record
Star ratings and client comments describe what working with a firm felt like. They usually don't show what the firm reports to regulators. Fee experiences can vary with account size, so a single review may not reflect what you would pay. Before you weigh 1919 Investment Counsel reviews, check three things this profile takes from the public record. First, how the firm is paid: it reports advisory fees and no commissions, but it has a broker-dealer or insurance connection. Second, who owns it (Stifel Financial Corp.) and what conflicts it discloses. Third, whether its Form ADV reports any disciplinary history. Read reviews alongside the record, not instead of it.
How to verify 1919 Investment Counsel yourself
You can verify everything above yourself in three steps:
SEC adviser record (IAPD): https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/133370.
Form ADV / CRS: linked from the IAPD page.
Confirm the entity: match 1919 Investment Counsel (CRD #133370) so you're reading the right firm.
What 1919 Investment Counsel does and who it serves
On its Form ADV, 1919 Investment Counsel reports providing financial planning, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management (investment companies), portfolio management for businesses and institutions, pension consulting, and selection of other advisers.
It reports providing financial planning to 251 to 500 clients in its last fiscal year (Form ADV Item 5.H), a count the form keeps separate from the client totals below.
Its Form ADV (Item 5.D) breaks its clients down by type, 5,169 in all:
Client type | Clients | Assets managed |
|---|---|---|
Individuals | 2,213 | $1.02 billion |
High-net-worth individuals | 2,653 | $18.84 billion |
Investment companies | 2 | $1.05 billion |
Pension and profit-sharing plans | 50 | $962.3 million |
Charities | 146 | $2.37 billion |
State or municipal government entities | 3 | $40.2 million |
Corporations or other businesses | 102 | $1.76 billion |
Charities are a notable slice: 146 of them hold about $2.37 billion, roughly 9% of the firm's assets. Separately, Item 5.F reports 5,169 client accounts, 5,140 of them discretionary (the firm can trade without seeking your approval first), which is over 99%, and 29 non-discretionary.
The client count (Item 5.D) and the account count (Item 5.F) are separate questions on the form, and in this filing (2026) both happen to come to 5,169. The filing doesn't explain the match, and many households hold more than one account, so ask the firm how it counts a client with several accounts. Its main office is in Baltimore, MD.
It reports that it or a related person has custody of certain client assets, which brings extra safeguards such as surprise examinations. The specifics are in its Form ADV.
Questions to ask 1919 Investment Counsel
Our view: if you're a client or close to signing, get answers to these in writing before you weigh anything else on this page.
Which of my accounts are advisory, and which are brokerage? The fiduciary standard covers the first; Regulation Best Interest covers the second.
What rate do I pay, and where are the breakpoints? The filing lists asset-based, fixed and "other" fees; Part 2A has the schedule.
Does any of my money touch the related broker-dealer or insurance business? That is where commissions can enter.
How do you count my household: as one client, or as several accounts?
One angle most readers miss: with charities holding about $2.37 billion here, a nonprofit trustee is reading the same filings as a household, and the same four questions apply to an endowment as to a family account.
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You've vetted the firm. Now make sure the advice runs on the full picture.
Confirming 1919 Investment Counsel is registered takes a few minutes. A firm whose book is mostly high-net-worth households often manages only one part of a larger estate: a spouse's 401(k) elsewhere, a trust at another custodian, an old rollover, costs that never surface on a statement. This is where Truthifi comes in.
How Truthifi can help
Truthifi links your accounts read-only and shows what you own, how it's allocated, how it's performing and where the risk sits, including single-stock exposure, returns next to a benchmark, a fee breakdown of the fees on each account, by type, and your Truthifi Score. You can share the accounts you choose with your advisor at 1919 Investment Counsel.
Want to question your 1919 Investment Counsel statements with your own AI? Paid Truthifi plans let you connect an AI assistant that supports MCP sign-in, such as Claude. Truthifi Connect is the lighter membership if that is all you need. To ask what your asset-based fee costs in dollars, you'll need Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+.
Ask AI about your 1919 Investment Counsel accounts
Once your accounts are connected read-only, you can ask in plain English:
"What do I own across my 1919 Investment Counsel accounts and everything else, and how is it allocated?"
"What am I paying in fees, in total, on each of these accounts?"
Try it with Truthifi: start for free at app.truthifi.com and run a Monitoring Checkup (limits apply).
No commissions, no ads, no advice: Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice. Its access to your bank and brokerage accounts is read-only. Start free (limits apply). Monitoring Checkup is free and, per Truthifi platform data, lets you link up to 10 connections. Plans and limits are on the pricing page → truthifi.com.
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FAQ
Is 1919 Investment Counsel a fiduciary? Yes, when acting as your adviser. Its Form ADV reports a related person that is a broker-dealer, and brokerage accounts fall under Regulation Best Interest instead. Ask which capacity covers each of your accounts.
Is 1919 Investment Counsel fee-only? Not necessarily. Its Form ADV (Item 5.E) reports no commissions for advisory services, but the filing also reports broker-dealer, insurance or other sales activity by the firm or a related company, which can be paid differently. Ask how everyone you deal with is paid. The details are in its Form ADV Part 2A.
Who owns 1919 Investment Counsel? 1919 Investment Counsel is owned by Stifel Financial Corp., as listed in Schedule A of its Form ADV.
Does 1919 Investment Counsel have complaints or disclosures? Its Form ADV answers No to the firm-level disciplinary-history questions. Individual advisers can have their own records on IAPD and BrokerCheck.
Is 1919 Investment Counsel legit? 1919 Investment Counsel is registered with the SEC (CRD #133370) and its filings are public on the SEC's IAPD site, which confirms it is a real, regulated firm. Registration doesn't tell you whether it's the right fit or what you'll pay, so read the fee and conflict sections of its Form ADV.
Can AI help me check whether I'm getting good value? Yes. Start free (limits apply): Monitoring Checkup is free and lets you link up to 10 connections. You can also connect an AI assistant you already use (such as Claude). On Monitoring or Monitoring Plus+ you can ask it, in plain English, about the fees on each of your accounts. Truthifi is not an investment adviser and doesn't give investment, tax or legal advice.
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About this profile
Truthifi built this profile from the firm's own SEC filings (Form ADV and, where filed, Form CRS). Every page is reviewed by the Truthifi Team before publishing. The Truthifi advisor fact packs are an ongoing series checking U.S. investment advisers against their public filings, one firm at a time.
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A note on sources
The facts on this page come from publicly available documents, 1919 Investment Counsel's SEC filings, each linked inline so you can verify it yourself (SEC data current as of October 5, 2026). This is general information, not financial or legal advice, and Truthifi is not affiliated with 1919 Investment Counsel. Regulatory records change, so always confirm against the official sources linked above. Spot something that should be corrected? Email us at support@truthifi.com.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. It should not be construed as a personalized recommendation regarding any investment, financial advisor, or financial product. All calculations use hypothetical scenarios and historical return assumptions; actual results will vary. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a qualified financial professional for guidance specific to your situation. Truthifi is an investment monitoring platform — not a financial advisor, broker-dealer, or tax professional. Truthifi does not manage assets, recommend investments, sell financial products, or provide personalized financial advice. Truthifi earns no revenue from advisor referrals, product commissions, or AUM fees. Statistics and data cited reflect publicly available sources current as of the article’s publication date. Sources are linked throughout.