MANAGING PARTNER / CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™
When Lynn joined the financial services industry in 1982, she quickly recognized that the best way to help clients was to serve them with the objectivity and freedom that comes with independence. By 1984, she had opened her own independent practice, which has lasted for nearly 40 years and manages over $245 million in assets for its clients (as of May 2023). Today, Lynn believes her major achievements still lie ahead.
A graduate of Mississippi State University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, Lynn received a master’s from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Her commitment to education has grown along with her career, and she holds several professional certifications, including CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner (1987), and is certified in Long Term Care (2006). She has also earned the Investment Management Consultant designation, which signifies her competence in investment management theory and consulting practices through Raymond James Institute of Investment Management Consulting.
Lynn was certified in March of 2011 as a trainer for Bridges Out of Poverty. With this under her belt, she has organized the Bridges out of Poverty initiative for Starkville, resulting in 5 classes of “Getting Ahead in a Just Getting By World,” having graduated in October 2011.
Lynn has been recognized locally and nationally as follows:
- 2024 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors* For six years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022).
- 2024 Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors** for seven consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). The ranking named the top female financial advisors from coast to coast. Being amongst this group, Phillips-Gaines is recognized for the quality of her practice and asset management. In addition to credentials and quantitative ranking, this list is determined by qualitative ranking, which includes advisors that excel in providing a full client experience: comprehensive investing process, use of team dynamics, and a breadth of services, including continually evolving and leveraging the firm’s resources.
- 2022 Barron’s Top 1200 Financial Advisors List *** for seven consecutive years.
- InvestmentNews 2018 Women to Watch**** As one of the twenty prestigious honorees of the InvestmentNews’ Women to Watch list, she was chosen from several hundred nominations for her leadership, contributions, and impact in the financial advice industry.
- REP Magazine’s 2015 Wealth Advisors with Heart****** which honor advisors who put sweat equity into philanthropic and charitable causes.
- Raymond James Financial Services Woman of Distinction 2015. This award recognizes successful advisors within the firm who support the professional growth of other advisors and associates.
- The Women’s Giving Circle founding member (in association with the Raymond James Network for Women Advisors), which aims at encouraging more women in the financial planning profession.
- 2015 Governor’s Initiative for Volunteer Excellence (GIVE) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Building Sustainable Community Solutions. Volunteer Starkville was quoted saying, “It is evident in Oktibbeha County that Lynn Phillips-Gaines is a catalyst for positive change within the community. Her humble but ambitious nature shows in all of the work she has been a part of, and that is why she was awarded the GIVE Award.
- 2014 Volunteer of the Year by the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation. Prizes for this award included a $20,000 donation from the foundation to Starkville Bridges, opening the NASDAQ Market in New York City, and the display of the Starkville Bridges logo on the NASDAQ Building in Times Square.
- T.E. Veitch Community Service Award 2013 (the highest award given by the Greater Starkville Development Partnership)
- Rotary Community Service Award. 2013
Lynn has concentrated her efforts on her Bridges out of Poverty initiative, which she began in 2011. Lynn served as a women’s chaplain at the local jail. She has studied religious studies at Oxford University’s Wadham College and was ordained to the diaconate within the Episcopal Church in January 2011.
Outside of work and community life, Lynn thoroughly enjoys flying helicopters and alpine (downhill) skiing. Lynn’s husband, Russell, and his black lab, Early, spoil her! Lynn loves meeting and learning about the people she meets.
*The Forbes ranking of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria, mostly gained through telephone and in-person due diligence interviews and quantitative data. Those advisors that are considered have a minimum of seven years of experience, and the algorithm weights factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices in their practices and approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and a lack of audited data. Out of approximately 32,725 nominations, more than 5,000 advisors received the award. This ranking is not indicative of an advisor’s future performance, is not an endorsement, and may not be representative of individual clients’ experience. Please visit https://www.forbes.com/best-in-state-wealth-advisors for more info. for more information.
**America’s Top Women Advisors ranking was developed by SHOOK Research and is based on in-person, virtual and telephone due diligence meetings to evaluate each advisor qualitatively, a major component of a ranking algorithm that includes: client impact, industry experience, review of best practices and compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, including: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK Research receive compensation in exchange for placement on the ranking. For more information, please see www.SHOOKresearch.com. SHOOK is a registered trademark of SHOOK Research, LLC.
*** Barron’s is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Company, L.P. All rights reserved. The rankings are based on data provided by over 5,000 individual advisors and their firms and include qualitative and quantitative criteria. Factors included in the rankings: assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, regulatory record, quality of practice, and philanthropic work. Investment performance is not an explicit component because not all advisors have audited results and because performance figures often are influenced more by client’s risk tolerance than by an advisor’s investment picking abilities. The ranking may not be representative of any one client’s experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of the advisor’s future performance.
**** InvestmentNews’ 2018 Women to Watch: InvestmentNews is the leading source of news, analysis, and information essential to the financial advisory community. InvestmentNews Women to Watch submissions were accepted and reviewed based on the following criteria: demonstration of success and leadership, power to effect change, willingness to share expertise and community service. Several hundred were nominated by their firms and the top 20 were selected by the Investment news staff. The ranking may not be representative of any one client’s experience and is not indicative of the advisor’s future performance.
***** Wealth Management.com’s Advisors with Heart: Wealth Management.com (Registered Rep Magazine) selects men and women in the industry whose commitment to charitable causes goes beyond simply contributing funds to a worthy organization by honoring select nominees with a passion for the charitable projects that benefit the world around them. In order to be considered for this honor a nominee or a nominee’s firm submitted their name to Wealth Management.com. The editors at the publication then vetted the entrants and issued a judgment based upon which industry professionals are doing the most interesting, beneficial charitable work in their communities. Approximately 100 nominations were received this year (2015), and of those only 10 nominees were bestowed with this honor.
Neither Phillips Wealth Planners nor any of its Financial Advisors pay a fee in exchange for any of these awards or ratings.
Non-Financial Related Awards: These rankings or awards are not based in any way on the individual’s abilities in regard to providing investment advice or management. These rankings or awards are not indicative of the advisor’s future performance, is not an endorsement, and may not be representative of individual clients’ experience. Phillips Wealth Planners is not affiliated with the various listed outside organizations or awards.
The Investment Management Consultation designation is awarded to those who complete the Raymond James Institute of Investment Management Consulting program.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP©, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
