Warren Ward, CFP®, joined Donaldson Capital Management in 2024 as a Senior Investment Advisor. He brings with him broad entrepreneurial and financial industry experience, complete with a long track record of serving clients with honesty and integrity.

Warren grew up in Indianapolis, where he graduated from Shortridge High School. He pursued a degree in management at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis but left IUPUI before finishing his degree to start the first in a series of businesses. His initial T-shirt printing business connected him to DJs at the local rock station who hired him as stage manager for some of their concerts. While working for the station, he was introduced to rock band management and concert production throughout the Indianapolis area.

After getting married, Warren realized that a steady income might be preferable to show-by-show work. He joined a friend-of-a-friend’s company, where he rose to general manager before a mutual decision to part ways allowed him to start a contract flocking business. At its height, Commercial Flocking had 95 employees and was a tier-one supplier to multi-billion-dollar corporations such as IBM, General Motors, and Volkswagen.

A recession gave Warren the opportunity to reinvent himself in his mid-forties. He became a stockbroker at Raffensperger, Hughes, and Company, where he learned under the mentorship of Greg Donaldson. In 1996, Warren moved to Columbus and founded a fee-only financial planning firm that specialized in helping clients with complex situations. In 2001, he earned his CFP® designation. He sold the practice in 2016 but continued to work there until 2023. In 2024, Warren joined Donaldson Capital Management as a new employee with 30 years of experience.

Warren is active in his church and community. He is an Elder at First Presbyterian Church and a member of the church’s Foundation board. He is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary and was a member of the steering committee that founded the Hispanic outreach center Su Casa Columbus. He is also a past president of the Arts Council and a two-term board member of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. In 2023, he resurrected his music experience and began producing Jazz at Helen’s, a highly successful concert series for the CIP. Coming full circle with IU, he taught at the Columbus campus business school for several years. In his free time, he enjoys reading, music and anything to do with cars.