Sean Gallahan, CFP®, CMFC®, is a Partner at Cassaday & Company, Inc., and has been with the firm since 2008. Sean provides comprehensive strategies for his clients’ financial planning needs. Using a model of integrated wealth management, he guides his clients through all of the complexities associated with personal finance, which include investment management, retirement planning, cash flow generation, income and estate tax planning, and insurance. By working collaboratively with CPAs, estate planning attorneys, and insurance agents, Sean seeks to become a central resource for all of his clients’ financial affairs.
Sean is a senior member of Cassaday & Company, Inc.’s Investment Policy Committee (IPC), which develops the firm’s overall investment selections and policies. He assists with collaboratively reviewing our clients’ holdings and asset allocations, market conditions, research studies, economic analyses, and other areas relevant to the investment process. Sean initially served as a Research Associate at the firm before becoming a financial advisor and worked under the Director of Investment Management.
Sean is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)*, a professional designation he attained through Georgetown University’s Executive Certificate in Financial Planning program, as well as a Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor (CMFC®), accomplished through the College for Financial Planning.
Sean is a graduate of Radford University, where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration in finance. During his time at Radford, Sean was a member of the international honor society of Beta Gamma Sigma and Delta Sigma Pi, a professional business fraternity.
Outside of Cassaday & Company, Inc., Sean donates his time as a Wish-Granting volunteer with Make A Wish® for their Mid-Atlantic chapter. He currently lives in Ashburn, Virginia with his wife, Zari, and sons, Zayd and Malik.
Awards & Recognitions:
- Advisor Hub – 100 Solo Advisors to Watch (2024)
- Forbes – America’s Top Next Generation Wealth Advisors – (2020)
- Forbes – Best-In-State Wealth Advisor (2022, 2025-2026)
- Forbes – Best-In-State Next-Gen Wealth Advisor (2024, 2019)
- InvestmentNews – 40 Under 40 (2023)
- Loudon Times-Mirror – 40 Under 40 (2015)
- Northern Virginia Magazine – Top Financial Professional (2023 – 2026)
Sean is an Investment Advisor Representative with Cassaday & Company, Inc. and a Registered Representative with Osaic Wealth, one of the largest independent broker-dealer firms in the country; he holds the Series 7 and Series 66 securities registrations, as well as Life and Health Insurance licenses.
*Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
Award Disclosures:
Advisor Hub - 100 Solo Advisors to Watch (2024) - Issued by AdvisorHub on June 2024 for the 2024 award year and awarded to solo advisors. Sean Gallahan applied for the recognition. Criteria used to determine the winner(s) was a minimum of seven years of experience, at least $150 million in assets under management and a clean regulatory record; advisors were ranked on the size and makeup of their practice, year-over-year growth and professionalism. 100 were selected. No fee was paid for the nomination, receipt, or promotion of the award. Please see https://www.advisorhub.com/advisors-to-watch-rankings/ for more details.
Forbes - America's Top Next Generation Wealth Advisors (2020) - Issued by Forbes and SHOOK Research on July 22, 2020 for the 2020 award year and awarded to advisors born in 1980 or later with at least four years of relevant experience. Sean Gallahan applied for the recognition. Criteria used to determine the winner(s) is qualitative measures from interviews and surveys (service models, investment process, client retention, industry experience, compliance records, firm nominations) and quantitative criteria (AUM and revenue generated); investment performance was not a criterion. Award consideration was based on data covering a trailing 12-month period. 500 were selected. No fee was paid for the nomination, receipt, or promotion of the award. Please see https://www.forbes.com/top-millennial-advisors/ for more details.
Forbes - Best-In-State Wealth Advisors (2023, 2025–2026) - Issued by Forbes and SHOOK Research on April 7, 2026 for the 2026 award year and awarded to wealth advisors with at least seven years of experience, nominated by their firms. Sean Gallahan applied for the recognition. Criteria used to determine the winner(s) is an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative criteria obtained through telephone, virtual and in-person due diligence interviews, including revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and best practices in serving clients; portfolio performance was not a criterion. Award consideration was based on data covering a trailing 12-month period. 160 in Northern Virginia were selected. No fee was paid for the nomination, receipt, or promotion of the award. Please see https://www.forbes.com/sites/rjshook/2026/04/07/methodology-forbes-americas-top-wealth-advisors-2026/ for more details.
Forbes - Best-In-State Next-Gen Wealth Advisors (2019–2020, 2022–2024) - Issued by Forbes and SHOOK Research in August 2024 for the 2024 award year and awarded to advisors born in 1985 or later with at least four years of experience. Sean Gallahan applied for the recognition. Criteria used to determine the winner(s) is an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative criteria gathered primarily through telephone and in-person due diligence interviews, including revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and best practices; portfolio performance was not a criterion. Award consideration was based on data covering a trailing 12-month period. No fee was paid for the nomination, receipt, or promotion of the award.
InvestmentNews - 40 Under 40 (2023) - Issued by InvestmentNews in June 2023 for the 2023 award year and awarded to financial advice professionals age 39 or younger. Sean Gallahan applied for the recognition. Criteria used to determine the winner(s) is accomplishments, contribution to the industry, leadership and future promise, reviewed by the InvestmentNews editorial team. More than 1,000 nominations were considered for this honor and 40 were selected. No fee was paid for the nomination, receipt, or promotion of the award.
Loudoun Times-Mirror - 40 Under 40 (2015) - Issued by the Loudoun Times-Mirror in October 2015 for the 2015 award year and awarded to rising business and community leaders in Loudoun County. Sean Gallahan applied for the recognition. Criteria used to determine the winner(s) is professional accomplishments, community involvement and commitment to Loudoun County, reviewed by a selection committee of newspaper representatives, members of the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce's Young Professionals Group and prior honorees. More than 100 nominations were considered for this honor and 40 were selected. No fee was paid for the nomination, receipt, or promotion of the award.
Northern Virginia Magazine - Top Financial Professionals (2023–2026) - Issued by Northern Virginia Magazine on August 21, 2026 for the 2026 award year and awarded to financial professionals in Northern Virginia. Sean Gallahan was nominated for the recognition. The list was based on nominations submitted in April 2026. Criteria used to determine the winner(s) is a survey sent to past winners and local professionals, who nominated professionals they would refer to friends and family; an editorial team vetted and tallied the nominations to produce the final list. 863 were selected. No fee was paid for the nomination, receipt, or promotion of the award. Please see https://northernvirginiamag.com/best/financial-professionals/ for more details.
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