David Dirks
David Dirks
Founding Partner
At Plum Street Advisors, I have provided clients with comprehensive financial advice, strategically managed their investment portfolios, and built customized roadmaps for successful retirement since 2016.
All of us at Plum Street Advisors share our mission of building a client-first financial planning firm on a strong ethical foundation. We don’t answer to shareholders or corporate parents – we answer only to our clients. We don’t sell products; we offer professional analysis and advice.
Prior to founding Plum Street Advisors, I had been a finance professional for 25 years – as an investment banker, as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and in institutional investment management for 14 years at BNY Investments.
My combined experience serving individuals, small foundations, and some of the world’s largest investors has given me valuable insights. The same factors that help large investors to succeed, like well thought-out asset allocation, low costs, deep market insight, and equal attention to risk and return are critical to the success of individual investors as well.
In addition to individual planning, I teach financial literacy as a part-time lecturer in the Civic Studies program at Tufts University, and retirement planning at the Needham Continuing Education program. I have served on the boards of several nonprofits as treasurer and as a member of the investment committee, and I have had a special interest in establishing endowment and budget policies.
I graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Economics and from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management with a Master’s in Management. My wife Katy and I have three children, and we recently moved from Needham to Boston.