Remembering Creative Planning CIO Jim Williams

Posted September 27, 2023

Creative Planning’s chief investment officer Jim Williams passed away on Saturday.

Williams was 46 years old.

Beginning his work with the RIA wealth management firm Creative Planning in 2005, Williams was a C-Suite leader who helped see the company grow to its $245 billion worth today.

During Williams’ 18 years with Creative Planning, he was recognized for his achievements at the company numerous times by Ingram’s.

Recognized in 2014 as an honoree of Ingram’s Forty Under 40, his profile reads:

He started at Creative Planning in 2005 when the wealth management firm had $171 million in assets under management. Today, Jim Williams is co-chief investment officer for the Leawood firm, and the asset figure there has ballooned by a factor of nearly 52, exceeding $9 billion. That places the firm among the Top 10 wealth managers in the Kansas City region, and the 36-year-old Williams is a key driver of that growth and success.

In 2022, he was again honored as part of Ingram’s 250: Kansas City’s Most Influential Business Leaders:

Jim Williams works for an organization that specializes in helping people dream big. And the past year has been no exception. “The last year has been extraordinary for Creative Planning, with the assets we are advising on topping $200 billion,” he told us. Williams credits that in part to the team never breaking stride during the pandemic. “We have always had a workforce that has been both in the office and remote,” he said.

Jim is survived by his wife, Shannon and their children Allie, Lillie and Samuel.