Five Star award winner Louis Windawi

PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

AWARDS

Five Star Wealth Manager award winner 2012-2022

ACCREDITATIONS

CFP®
M.S.
MPAS®
AWMA®

As President of the firm, Louis Windawi personally guides clients through all stages of their financial lives. With over 25 years of planning experience, he has dedicated his career to providing sophisticated strategies and guidance to help individuals, families, and business owners pursue greater financial independence. While he thrives in a number of disciplines, Louis specializes in wealth management and retirement income strategies with a careful focus on tax management strategies.

Prior to founding Windawi & Associates, Louis was affiliated with leading financial institutions, including Ameriprise Financial and Waddell & Reed. Louis earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning from the College for Financial Planning, the highest level of education available with a broader context in asset management, including taxation, retirement, estate planning, insurance and more.

Louis holds many of the industry’s most respected designations, including the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designation and the Master Planner Advanced Studies (MPAS®) certification, the most advanced professional designation in the financial services industry. He also obtained the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®), which recognizes a high-level of wealth management expertise to help clients maintain and grow their assets.

To maintain specialized knowledge of retirement, tax laws, and IRA distribution planning, Louis frequently attends Ed Slott courses. He has been recognized as a Five Star Wealth Manager in Orange County from 2012-2018* and has been featured in Orange Coast Magazine, Orange County Register and Wall Street Journal. Louis holds his FINRA Series 6, 7, 22, 24 & 63 securities registrations held with LPL Financial and holds his CA Insurance Lic #0A95847.

Beyond his achievements in the financial realm, Louis brings a history of discipline and leadership to the firm. As a United States Air Force veteran, Louis served in Germany and across the USA as a member of the U.S. Strategic Air Command. Following his service, he worked in the aerospace industry, where he gained extensive experience in working with detail-oriented professionals including engineers and executives in all departments.

When Louis isn’t at the office, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, watching a good movie, dining, traveling abroad, and serving his local community. In his free time, he enjoys mountain biking, reading financial articles (even on weekends!) and looks forward to supporting his daughter’s dance team as a prop dad and his local ice hockey team, the Anaheim Ducks.

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This award was issued on 5/1/24 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 7/25/23 through 1/31/24. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2682 Orange County-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 140 (5% of candidates) were named 2024 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2023: 2,576, 160, 6.2%, 5/1/23, 7/25/22 - 2/10/23; 2022: 2482, 143, 6%, 5/1/22, 8/30/21 - 3/4/22; 2021: 2398, 144, 6%, 5/1/21, 8/17/20 - 3/12/21; 2020: 2320, 152, 7%, 5/1/20, 8/1/19 - 3/13/20; 2019: 2469, 187, 8%, 5/1/19, 8/13/18 - 3/11/19; 2018: 2423, 144, 6%, 5/1/18, 6/21/17 - 3/16/18; 2017: 1790, 280, 16%, 5/1/17, 8/24/16 - 2/24/17; 2016: 1383, 312, 23%, 2/1/16, 8/19/15 - 1/15/16; 2015: 2010, 351, 17%, 3/1/15, 8/30/14 - 1/30/15; 2014: 3489, 302, 9%, 3/1/14, 8/30/13 - 1/30/14; 2013: 2293, 415, 18%, 3/1/13, 8/30/12 - 1/30/13; 2012: 1760, 255, 14%, 3/1/12, 8/30/11 - 1/31/12.

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* Award based on 10 objective criteria associated with providing quality services to clients such as credentials, experience, and assets under management among other factors. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of 2012-2018 Five Star Wealth Managers.Securities, Financial Planning and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA & SIPC.

The LPL Financial Registered Representatives associated with this site may only discuss and/or transact securities business with residents of the following states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, MS, MT, NV, NY, NC, OH, OR, TX, WA.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.