Key Takeaways
- According to the SEC, 411 municipal advisor firms were registered on October 1, 2026, against 664 on October 1, 2015.
- PFM Financial Advisors LLC reports the most employees engaged in municipal advisory work on Form MA, 184; the median registered firm reports 2, according to SEC filings.
- 38% of registered municipal advisors report a single person on municipal advisory work, according to their Form MA filings with the SEC.
- 24% of firms are also registered as broker-dealers, municipal securities dealers or investment advisers, but 17 of the 25 with the most advisory staff are, according to SEC data.
PFM Financial Advisors LLC reports 184 employees engaged in municipal advisory work, more than any other of the 411 SEC-registered municipal advisors, while the median firm reports 2, according to each firm's latest Form MA filed with the SEC. 38% of registered firms report a single person on the work, according to the same SEC filings.
A municipal advisor advises municipal entities and obligated persons on the activities Form MA lists, such as issuing municipal securities and investing their proceeds, and must register with the SEC. According to the SEC, 411 firms were registered on October 1, 2026, against 664 on October 1, 2015.
The 25 registered municipal advisors with the most advisory staff
Ranked by the employees each firm says engage in municipal advisory activities (Form MA Item 4.B), from its latest Form MA, Form MA-A or amendment on SEC EDGAR. All employees (Item 4.A) and clients served in the last fiscal year (Item 4.F) are shown beside it. The source link opens the filing.
| Rank | Municipal advisor | Office | Staff on municipal advisory work | All employees | Clients served last fiscal year | Also registered as | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PFM Financial Advisors LLC | Philadelphia, PA | 184 | 184 | 2,039 | none | SEC |
| 2 | Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. | St. Louis, MO | 177 | 5,073 | 274 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 3 | Hilltop Securities Inc. | Dallas, TX | 123 | 818 | 533 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 4 | Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors, LLC | Madison, WI | 114 | 130 | 825 | none | SEC |
| 5 | Raymond James & Associates, Inc. | St. Petersburg, FL | 100 | 9,872 | 100 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 6 | Piper Sandler & Co. | Minneapolis, MN | 86 | 1,265 | 411 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 7 | PMA Securities, LLC | Naperville, IL | 82 | 118 | 1,360 | broker-dealer | SEC |
| 8 | Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC | New York, NY | 71 | 14,404 | 1 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 9 | RBC Capital Markets, LLC | New York, NY | 67 | 8,781 | 272 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 10 | Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. | Milwaukee, WI | 67 | 4,322 | 229 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 11 | D.A. Davidson & Co. | Great Falls, MT | 54 | 1,191 | 185 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 12 | Ehlers & Associates, Inc. | Minneapolis, MN | 42 | 59 | 768 | none | SEC |
| 13 | Ernst & Young Infrastructure Advisors, LLC | Philadelphia, PA | 41 | 47 | 3 | none | SEC |
| 14 | Multi-Bank Securities, Inc. | Southfield, MI | 39 | 110 | none reported | broker-dealer | SEC |
| 15 | MuniCap, Inc. | Columbia, MD | 38 | 55 | 601 | investment adviser | SEC |
| 16 | Kaufman, Hall & Associates, LLC | Chicago, IL | 37 | 642 | 161 | none | SEC |
| 17 | Public Resources Advisory Group, Inc. | New York, NY | 34 | 34 | 143 | investment adviser | SEC |
| 18 | Keybanc Capital Markets Inc. | Cleveland, OH | 32 | 756 | 4 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 19 | First Security Municipal Advisors, Inc. | Little Rock, AR | 30 | 33 | 150 | none | SEC |
| 20 | Masterson Advisors LLC | Houston, TX | 28 | 31 | 500 | none | SEC |
| 21 | Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc. | Dallas, TX | 28 | 40 | 125 | broker-dealer | SEC |
| 22 | First Tryon Advisors, LLC | Charlotte, NC | 26 | 29 | 460 | none | SEC |
| 23 | Davenport & Co LLC | Richmond, VA | 25 | 250 | 250 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
| 24 | TRB Securities, LLC | Harlingen, TX | 25 | 52 | none reported | broker-dealer | SEC |
| 25 | Northland Securities, Inc. | Minneapolis, MN | 22 | 215 | 67 | broker-dealer, investment adviser | SEC |
Download this table (CSV), free. The full dataset, every registered municipal advisor with its staff, clients, registrations and office, is one email away.
Who the largest municipal advisors are
- Most of the largest are also dealers or advisers. According to SEC filings, 24% of registered municipal advisors are also registered as a broker-dealer, municipal securities dealer or investment adviser, but 17 of the 25 with the most advisory staff are.
- Staff and clients measure different things. PFM Financial Advisors LLC reports the most clients served, 2,039, according to its Form MA. According to the same filings, five of the 25 firms with the most advisory staff report fewer clients than advisory staff, which is why both columns are shown.
- Most firms are small. The median registered firm reports 2 employees on municipal advisory work, and 155 firms report one, according to SEC filings.
- Where they are. According to SEC statistics for July 1, 2026, California has the most registered municipal advisors, 61, followed by New York with 41.
What this means for technology buyers
Most registered municipal advisors are small firms, according to their SEC filings, so the systems they choose have to run with a small staff. These guides cover the tools a practice like that uses:
- Proposal and RFP response management: answering a public body's request for proposals.
- Financial modeling and valuation software: sizing and structuring an issue.
- Client collaboration portals: exchanging documents with an issuer's staff and counsel.
- CRM for financial services: keeping track of clients and the people at each.
Designing the practice? The Professional Services Value Streams map how an advisory firm wins and delivers work.
More from Finantrix Atlas
- Largest dually registered firms (RIA and broker-dealer)
- Top broker-dealer firms in the US by total assets
- Registered investment advisers by state
How this list was built
The SEC's Office of Municipal Securities publishes a list of registered municipal advisor firms each month. The newest, for October 1, 2026, names 411 firms. Each firm is read from its latest Form MA, Form MA-A or amendment on EDGAR. Where a filing carries no office address, the address is taken from an earlier filing, and failing that from EDGAR's record of the firm (94 firms).
The SEC also publishes statistics about the same population. The page reads the list dated July 1, 2026, the date of the newest statistics, and requires it to hold the 416 firms the SEC counts. Read as of that date, the firms' filings reproduce exactly the SEC's 101 firms with another registration (Item 1.D(2)) and its 30 firms that solicit business for others (Item 4.L), using the definitions in the SEC's statistics guide.
Limits
- Self-reported and approximate. Form MA asks for the approximate number of employees engaged in municipal advisory activities, including people who also do other work. A firm's count is as of its latest filing; 48 firms last filed more than 15 months before the list date.
- Not the SEC's size measure. The SEC sizes firms by the individuals registered on Form MA-I, 3,092 in all on July 1, 2026. That count and the employee count on Form MA differ.
- People, not revenue or deals. Form MA reports no fees, and the number of bond issues a firm advised on is not in it.
- Blanks are not zeros. 3 firms report no employees on municipal advisory work; they are left out of the ranking and the median. A firm that reports no clients shows "none reported".
- One date. The list is as of October 1, 2026; the SEC statistics are as of July 1, 2026.
Cite this
Free to quote, cite and republish, including the chart, with credit to Finantrix Atlas and a link to this page.
PFM Financial Advisors LLC reports more employees engaged in municipal advisory activities than any other SEC-registered municipal advisor, 184, according to a Finantrix Atlas analysis of SEC Form MA filings.
The median SEC-registered municipal advisor reports 2 employees on municipal advisory work, according to Finantrix Atlas.
Suggested citation: Finantrix Atlas, "Notable Registered Municipal Advisors, by Advisory Staff," firms registered on October 1, 2026, from SEC Form MA filings. https://www.finantrix.com/articles/municipal-advisors
Embed the chart:
<a href="https://www.finantrix.com/articles/municipal-advisors"><img src="https://www.finantrix.com/atlas/municipal-advisors.png" alt="Registered municipal advisors by advisory staff, from SEC Form MA data, by Finantrix Atlas"></a>
<p>Chart: <a href="https://www.finantrix.com/articles/municipal-advisors">Finantrix Atlas</a>, from SEC Form MA data.</p>
Frequently asked questions
Q: How many municipal advisors are registered with the SEC? A: 411 firms on October 1, 2026, according to the SEC's list of registered municipal advisors.
Q: Which municipal advisor has the most staff? A: PFM Financial Advisors LLC, with 184 employees engaged in municipal advisory activities on its latest Form MA, followed by Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. with 177.
Q: Which municipal advisor serves the most clients? A: PFM Financial Advisors LLC, with 2,039 clients served in its last fiscal year, according to its Form MA filed with the SEC.
Q: Do municipal advisors have to register? A: Yes. A firm that gives municipal advice must register with the SEC on Form MA, and each person who does the work is registered on Form MA-I.
Download the data
The 25 rows on this page (CSV), free. The full dataset has all 411 rows, as of October 1, 2026; we email you a link.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many municipal advisors are registered with the SEC?
411 firms on October 1, 2026, according to the SEC's list of registered municipal advisors.
Which municipal advisor has the most staff?
PFM Financial Advisors LLC, with 184 employees engaged in municipal advisory activities on its latest Form MA, followed by Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. with 177.
Which municipal advisor serves the most clients?
PFM Financial Advisors LLC, with 2,039 clients served in its last fiscal year, according to its Form MA filed with the SEC.
Do municipal advisors have to register?
Yes. A firm that gives municipal advice must register with the SEC on Form MA, and each person who does the work is registered on Form MA-I.