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What Makes Aspiriant Different: A 100% Employee-Owned Independent Wealth Management Firm
When your financial life becomes more complex, having the right people around makes all the difference. It feels calmer. You have people who know you, your family and the story behind your wealth. There are people you can call when something changes, when a decision feels especially weighty or when you simply need someone you trust to help you think it through.
Wealth management is about more than managing your investments. It’s about having a team that takes the time to understand the full picture, from your financial goals and family needs to the decisions you’re facing and what you want your wealth to make possible.
At Aspiriant, that understanding comes first. We begin with you, then develop your financial plan and investment strategies around your life. Whether you’re preparing for a liquidity event or retirement, thinking about the rising generation of your family or considering the legacy you want to leave, we bring together your plan, investment and specialized expertise to help you make thoughtful decisions along the way.
Our independent, 100% employee-owned structure supports this approach. The people who serve you have a meaningful stake in the firm they are continuing to build. That shared investment encourages us to think beyond today’s bottom line and more about the relationships we’re building, the next generation of advisors we’re developing and the families we hope to serve for generations to come.
Over the years, we’ve made deliberate choices about how we’re structured and how we work together, all with the goal of serving clients well over the long term. As a result, we develop a relationship with you focused on helping you feel seen, heard, calm, clear and confident about how you plan to use your wealth to enhance your life and the people and causes that are most important to you.
What makes Aspiriant different
The way a wealth management firm is built matters. It influences the advice you receive, the relationships you develop and the confidence you can have in the people guiding you. At Aspiriant, our employee-owned structure, deeply personal client relationships, collective investment scale and integrated multi-family office expertise all work together in service of you and your family. These strengths influence not only how we manage your wealth, but how well we can know you, support you and continue to be there as your life and family evolve.
| Aspiriant is an independent, 100% employee-owned wealth management firm and SEC-registered investment advisor (RIA), providing financial planning, investment management and multi-family office services to individuals and families with complex financial lives. As a fiduciary, we are required to act in our clients’ best interests when providing investment advice. We consider it a privilege to uphold that responsibility and the trust it reflects. Our fiduciary obligation establishes the standard for how we serve clients. Our 100% employee-ownership helps align the interests of the people responsible for fulfilling that obligation with those responsible for leading and governing the firm.What matters to you is how those choices shape your experience as our client. Four defining strengths help explain what that looks and feels like at Aspiriant. |
100% employee ownership
| Aspiriant is owned by the people who work here, not an outside investor, private equity firm or parent company. For you, that means being served by a firm where there are no competing businesses or services distracting us from focusing on your needs, relationships that can deepen over time and a team preparing to care for you and your family for generations to come. |  |
Relationships built on truly knowing you
| Your wealth is personal. Your goals, family relationships and values shape every decision we make together. We create time and space to understand what matters most to you and deeply listen, so your financial plan reflects where you want to go and the life you want to live along the way. |  |
Investment power through shared scale
| Aspiriant combines the collective investment power of the individuals and families we serve with a dedicated investment research team that uses that scale selectively for each client. |  |
A multi-family office that simplifies wealth complexity
| As wealth grows, so can the number of decisions, relationships and moving pieces surrounding it. Our multi-family office brings everything your financial life touches together through one coordinated team. They help you spend less time connecting the pieces and more time focused on what matters to you. |  |
Why 100% employee ownership matters
When you’re looking for a wealth management firm, there’s more to consider than its investment approach. You’re choosing people you may come to rely on when life changes in ways you planned for, and sometimes in ways you didn’t. People who know your family, understand the context of your financial plan and can help you make sense of difficult choices when the path forward isn’t always clear.
Who owns that firm matters, too. Ownership influences the decisions that ultimately shape your experience as a client – how advisors are compensated, how the firm invests in its people, how it balances growth with client service, and how it plans for the next generation. At Aspiriant, we’ve intentionally remained 100% employee-owned. For you, that can matter in several important ways:
Alignment: Your needs are at the heart of everything
| Because Aspiriant is owned by the people who work here, there isn’t an outside owner whose financial interests we must also serve. The people responsible for serving our clients are also the people who own and ultimately govern the firm. This creates a powerful alignment between the interests of our clients, our advisors and the organization itself. |
Sustainability: You can build relationships that last
| Preserving 100% employee ownership across generations doesn’t happen by accident. It requires intentional succession planning, thoughtful governance and a commitment to developing the next generation of owners and leaders. We want talented people to grow their careers here, move into leadership and have the opportunity to become owners themselves. By intentionally passing ownership from one generation to the next, we help preserve the relationships, knowledge and values we’ve built with the families we serve. |
Culture: People who care about the firm they’re continuing to build together
| Ownership isn’t simply a recognition for what someone has accomplished at Aspiriant. It comes with a responsibility to care for what we’ve built together, preserve the values that made it successful and ultimately pass the institution on to the next generation of employee-owners. Our partners have demonstrated our values through the way they serve clients and work with one another. As owners, they share responsibility for carrying those values forward and ensuring the same care extends to the clients and families who will rely on us in the decades to come. |
Being employee-owned means the people caring for your financial life are also helping care for the future of the firm. As you think about what you want to build, protect and pass on, we’re thinking about that too. Which is why we’re preparing the next generation of Aspiriant owners and leaders so the relationships we develop today can continue to serve you and your family well into the future.
Our 100% employee-owned structure is designed to encourage advisors to build long-term careers at Aspiriant, creating the continuity and institutional commitment that allow client relationships to deepen across generations.
That stability creates something rare in wealth management: space for enduring relationships to form.
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“I have devoted most of my life to this profession. I began at 22, and over the decades the families we serve have become part of the fabric of my life and of our firm. We know their histories, their hopes, their concerns and the people they care about. My responsibility is to make sure that the trust, knowledge and personal care built over those years doesn’t end with me or any one advisor. Employee ownership gives us the opportunity and the obligation to make sure that care continues for generations to come.” — Helen Dietz CFP®, Managing Director in Total Wealth Management, Member of Board of Directors, Partner |
Helen serves families from our Silicon Valley office. |
A model built for the long term
A meaningful wealth management relationship is built over years. Along the way, we come to understand much more than the details of your financial life. We get to know your family, the choices you’ve made, what helps you sleep better at night and what you hope your wealth will make possible.
That understanding won’t disappear when your advisor retires or your team changes. Our team-based approach and employee-owned structure help us plan for continuity, so your relationship with Aspiriant isn’t dependent on any one person.
And, as your family grows and changes, that continuity can become even more meaningful. When children and grandchildren become part of the conversation, they don’t have to start from the beginning. They can build on a relationship and understanding that have grown alongside your family.
Mary Ellen serves families from our Milwaukee Wealth Management Office. |
“Over the years, I really get to know so much more than just my client’s financial picture. I know their family, what they’ve worked toward and the decisions that have shaped their lives. Our team-based approach helps that understanding carry forward, so when another wealth manager or the next generation of a family steps into the conversation, they’re not starting over. They’re building on a relationship that’s already there.” — Mary Ellen Krueger CIMA®, Director in Wealth Management, Partner |
We’re invested in our people so they’re invested in you.
Meet the partners building Aspiriant for
the rising generation of your family
Explore how our 100% employee-owned structure
sets us apart in the wealth management industry.
Relationships built on truly knowing you
Your financial plan should reflect who you are and what matters most to you. That’s because financial planning isn’t just about growing your wealth. It’s about helping you use it to support the life you want to live. That’s why we believe meaningful financial planning begins by understanding your values, dreams and goals before recommending strategies. Because the best financial plans don’t begin with investments. They begin with you.
Financial planning begins with your life
Every financial decision is connected to something bigger. A growing family. Selling a business. Caring for aging parents. Planning for retirement. Creating a legacy. Our planning process is designed to understand what’s important to you before we build recommendations around it.
Through conversations like our Slices of Life exercise, we explore the priorities, relationships and aspirations that shape your financial life. The exercise invites you to think about different areas of your life – from family and career to health, community and legacy – and consider what feels most important to you today. It can help us begin deeper conversations about what you want your wealth to support, both now and in the future. And together, we build a financial plan that reflects your life, not just what you own.
Aspiriant Slices of Life
Our Slices of Life exercise helps uncover what’s most meaningful to you,
so your financial plan reflects your life, not just your finances.
Advice that evolves as your life evolves
Life changes. Your financial plan should change with it. And because we take the time to understand your goals and the context behind them, we’re able to help you navigate both expected milestones and unexpected turns with empathy and perspective.
That might mean:
- Preparing your children before they inherit responsibility.
- Developing your philanthropic strategy before making a major gift.
- Revisiting your retirement plans after a life transition.
- Helping you navigate periods of uncertainty or market volatility.
Our role as your wealth manager isn’t simply to adjust an investment portfolio. It’s to help you think through the financial decisions that shape your life and bring the different parts of your financial life together, so they work in concert to support your goals.
What meaningful client relationships look like
The relationships we build with the individuals and families we serve often extend far beyond investment discussions. Over time, we come to know the people, families and experiences behind the financial decisions. And we make sure we’re there when your life changes, too.
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“I was working with a client through some important financial decisions involving a move and long-term care for his spouse when he stopped our conversation to tell me just how much our work meant to him and his children. Experiences like this reinforce for me that our relationships go well beyond portfolios and finances. We’re helping people navigate some of the most important personal decisions they’ll ever face.” — Gretchen Hollstein, CFP®, Director in Wealth Management |
Gretchen serves families from our San Francisco office. |
Nayan is a partner serving families from our Silicon Valley office. |
“Some of the most meaningful conversations I have with clients begin when we move beyond the numbers and talk about what they want their wealth to make possible for their family, their community or future generations. Once I understand the who and the why behind a plan, the numbers have direction – every decision gets measured against what matters to them.” — Nayan Lapsiwala, CFP®, CAIA, CFA®, Director in Wealth Management |
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“We develop intimate relationships with our clients and want to be there for them as a trusted advisor when they need our support. I am honored when I get the first call after a big life change and do not take that for granted. We are getting less calls when markets move, and more when real life does. That kind of trust is something we are all incredibly proud of.” — Michael Weissman, CFP®, CIMA®, Director in Wealth Management, Partner |
Michael is a partner serving families from our New York office. |
Song is a partner serving ultra-high-net-worth families from our Los Angeles office. |
“Families with significant wealth often have a lot of complexity in their financial lives and managing all of those moving pieces can feel overwhelming. One of the most rewarding parts of my work is helping a family bring those pieces together so they can see the bigger picture and feel confident about the path forward. There’s a moment when the complexity starts to feel manageable and they can say ‘I understand where we are and we have a plan.’ Giving families that sense of clarity and confidence is one of the things I value most about what I do.” — Song Park, Director in Wealth Management, Partner |
We’re proud when the people who care so deeply for those we serve are recognized for their work. Over the years, Aspiriant wealth managers have been honored by respected industry publications, including recognition of individual advisors and the firm as a whole.
Investment power through shared scale
Your investment portfolio has a job to do. It might need to fund the next chapter after you sell a business, provide income throughout retirement, give you flexibility as you diversify a concentrated stock position, help you educate family members or preserve wealth you hope to transfer to the rising generation. And once we understand what your wealth needs to make possible, we build an investment strategy to support your financial plan. It’s deeply personal. But personal doesn’t have to mean going it alone.
That’s because Aspiriant can bring the collective scale of the families we serve to your portfolio. By pooling client assets where appropriate, we can approach investment managers with significantly greater purchasing power than one family might have on its own. That can open access to private equity, private credit, venture capital, private real estate and co-investments, while also helping us negotiate fees and overcome investment minimums that might otherwise put certain opportunities out of reach.
What if your $1 million investment could have
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Scale gives us more to consider for you
Our Investment Strategy & Research team continually evaluates investment managers, markets and emerging opportunities, giving us a broad universe to consider as we build and manage your portfolio. And what we do with that access matters.
Sometimes our research may uncover an opportunity we believe can meaningfully strengthen your portfolio. Other times, we may decide the potential benefit simply isn’t worth the added cost, complexity, illiquidity or risk. That’s because the advantage of scale isn’t simply having more choices. Rather, it’s having more possibilities to consider for your current and future needs while being selective about which ones may truly benefit you.
Our scale is powerful. What makes it different is how we use it.
Not for products or profit, but to pursue better outcomes for you.
Your goals guide your portfolio
No matter how broad our investment capabilities become, your portfolio remains personal to you. Your financial plan helps us understand what your wealth needs to support, both now and in the future, and how much risk makes sense along the way. That plan gives your advisory team the context to look across everything available to determine which opportunities belong in your portfolio and, just as importantly, which ones don’t.
For some clients, the answer may include specialized managers or private market investments. For others, a more straightforward, globally diversified approach may be the better fit. Our goal isn’t to make your portfolio more sophisticated simply because we can. It’s to use the breadth of our investment capabilities in service of what you want your wealth to accomplish.
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“Our scale gives us access to a broader range of investments and the ability to negotiate more favorable terms with managers. That’s a meaningful advantage for our clients. But access and cost are only part of the equation. We have to consider the risks, how an investment fits within the broader portfolio and, ultimately, whether it helps accomplish what we’ve set out to do in the client’s financial plan.” — John Allen CAIA, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Partner |
John serves families from our Los Angeles office. |
Explore our investment philosophy
A multi-family office that simplifies wealth complexity
As your wealth grows, managing it can begin to feel like you’re managing an enterprise. Investments may span multiple entities and generations. Tax and estate considerations become more intricate. Philanthropy, family governance, accounting and bill pay, enhanced reporting and preparing the rising generations of your family can all become part of the picture.
And the challenge isn’t simply having more to manage. It’s that one choice often affects so many others. An investment decision may have tax implications. An estate planning strategy may affect several generations of your family. A liquidity event can raise questions about everything from cash flow and diversification to philanthropy and the legacy you want to create. It’s a lot. And you shouldn’t have to connect all those pieces on your own.
For families with highly complex financial lives, Aspiriant offers a multi-family office service designed to bring the many parts of significant wealth together through one integrated team. For example, when something changes in one area of your finances, we consider what it means for the others, helping your extensive financial picture work together rather than in isolation. The result is more than coordination. It’s having a team that knows the whole picture and can help you make sense of it as your life, family and wealth evolve.
The goal isn’t to make your wealth simple.
It’s to make managing it feel lighter for you.
Expertise around the same table
Complex wealth can call for expertise across many disciplines. At Aspiriant, investment professionals, wealth managers, tax specialists, estate planning strategists and others work together as one team, all under one roof.
That means the people helping you consider different parts of your financial life can share context, ask questions of one another and shape recommendations together with a shared understanding of you and your family.
And that understanding can carry forward. As your family changes and rising generations become part of the conversation, you’re not rebuilding that knowledge from the beginning. Because our owners are in it for the long haul, that stability reinforces the continuity your family depends on. That means your Aspiriant wealth management team can build on what we already know about you and your family and what you want your wealth will make possible.
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“The families we work with often already have wonderful people around them. They may have an attorney they trust, a CPA who has known them for years, other professionals who understand different parts of their financial life. What can become difficult is being the person responsible for keeping everyone connected. Our role is to understand the whole picture, bring those conversations together and help make sure one decision doesn’t unintentionally work against another.” — Lisa Colletti, CFP®, JD, Managing Director in Exclusive Family Office, Partner |
Lisa serves families from our New York office. |
Carl serves families from our New York office. |
“With complex wealth, investment decisions rarely stand on their own. Knowing the full picture helps us determine not just whether an investment is good, but whether it’s right for your family.” — Carl Forster, Director in Investment Advisory, Partner |
See how Aspiriant’s multi-family office can bring the many dimensions of your complex wealth together.
- Benefits of Working with a Multi-Family Office
- Exclusive multi-family office services
- Meet the Exclusive Family Office team
FAQs about choosing a wealth management firm
Choosing a wealth management firm is a personal decision. These are a few questions that can help you understand what to look for and whether a firm is the right fit for you and your family.
Who does Aspiriant work with?
Aspiriant works with individuals and families whose financial lives call for thoughtful planning, investment management and coordinated advice. Our clients include business owners, executives, professionals, retirees and multigenerational families navigating complex financial decisions. For families with more extensive needs, we also offer multi-family office services through our Exclusive Family Office (EFO).
What does comprehensive wealth management include beyond investment management?
Comprehensive wealth management considers how the different parts of your financial life work together. Beyond managing investments, it may include financial planning, tax and estate planning coordination, philanthropy and preparing the next generation for wealth. At Aspiriant, we bring these considerations together around your financial plan. For families with more complex needs, our multi-family office services provide additional coordination across investments, tax and estate considerations, philanthropy and family governance, helping ensure that decisions in one area support your broader financial picture.
What is a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA)?
A Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) is a firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide investment advice. RIAs are subject to a fiduciary standard when providing investment advice to their clients. Aspiriant is an SEC-registered investment adviser and has a fiduciary duty to act in our clients’ best interests. We consider it a privilege to uphold that duty and the trust our clients place in us.
What does it mean to work with a fiduciary wealth manager, and what should I look for?
A fiduciary wealth manager has a legal obligation to act in a client’s best interests when providing investment advice. In practice, that means recommendations should be based on what is appropriate for you, your circumstances, financial plan, goals and needs.
When evaluating a fiduciary wealth management firm, look beyond the designation itself. Ask how financial planning informs investment recommendations, how potential conflict of interest are handled, how fees are structured and who will be involved in your financial life. It’s also worth considering whether the firm can coordinate the different aspects of your wealth and provide continuity as your needs evolve.
What should I look for when switching wealth management firms?
Beyond investment performance and fees, consider how well a prospective firm understands your needs, how its advisors work together and whether it can support your family as your financial life evolves. At Aspiriant, our independent, 100% employee-owned structure, team-based approach and integrated financial planning and investment capabilities are designed to support lasting relationships. The right fit should give you confidence not only in the advice you receive today, but also in the people who will be there as your life changes.
Let’s talk about what your wealth can make possible
Every person’s story is different. Your financial life is, too. Whether you’re navigating a business transition or liquidity event, planning for retirement, preparing the rising generation or simply looking for a long-term wealth management relationship, we’d welcome the opportunity to get to know you, where you are today, what you’re thinking about and what you hope comes next. We’ll begin the way we always do. By listening.
