Top Financial Advisors in New York State

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Summit Rock Advisors, based in New York City, takes the No. 1 spot on our list. Clients of Summit Rock Advisors include high-net-worth individuals, pooled investment vehicles and charitable organizations.

The investment minimum at the firm is typically $100 million, making it one of the most exclusive firms in the country. Summit Rock's brochure says the average client size is "approximately $415 million." 

Summit Rock is a fee-only firm, as advisors do not receive third-party commissions from selling securities or insurance. This differs from a fee-based firm, as these firms can earn commissions in addition to client-paid fees.

Summit Rock Advisors Background

Summit Rock Advisors was co-founded in 2007 by CEO David Dechman and chief investment strategist Nancy Donohue. They are the firm's principal owners to this day as well.

Generally speaking, the firm provides the following types of services:

• Comprehensive financial planning
• Portfolio management
• Selection of other advisors

Summit Rock Advisors Investment Strategy

The firm creates a structured process that prioritizes the most important issues for each client. Its investment philosophy emphasizes preserving capital, reducing volatility and increasing long-term purchasing power. The following six factors also play an incredibly important role in helping advisors craft investment strategies:

• Asset allocation with broad asset class diversification
• Access to investment managers
• Due diligence
• Liquidity management
• Investment implementation advice and support
• Integration of legal, governance and other factors that impact financial results

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Cerity Partners is a financial advisor firm that serves both non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, as well as pooled investment vehicles, pension and profit sharing plans, charitable organizations, state or municipal governments, insurance companies and corporations.

Cerity Partners is a fee-only firm, as advisors do not receive third-party commissions from selling securities or insurance. A fee-based firm is different, as they or their advisors can earn commissions that can lead to a potential conflict of interest.

Cerity Partners Background

Cerity Partners has been in business since 2009. The firm is controlled by Cerity Partners Equity Holding LLC, which is a company that’s controlled by Cerity Partners EOE LLC. And Cerity Partners EOE LLC is owned by certain employees of Cerity Partners.

Kurt Miscinski is the firm’s president and CEO.

Cerity Partners provides a variety of services, including:

• Financial planning
• Wealth planning
• Retirement planning
• Portfolio management
• Tax planning
• Estate planning

Cerity Partners Investment Strategy

The firm uses asset allocation to reduce risk for each client’s investment portfolio. These asset classes include cash and cash equivalents, global fixed income, global equity, real return, hedge funds and private equity.

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Steward Partners Investment Advisory is a fee-based firm headquartered in New York City. This means that some of its advisors may collect commissions and are subject to a potential conflict of interest. Despite this, the firm has a fiduciary duty to put client interests first.

Members of its wealth management team hold multiple certifications that include chartered financial consultant (ChFC), certified financial planner (CFP) and accredited wealth management advisor (AWMA), among other designations. 

The firm serves both non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, as well as retirement plans, charities and businesses. 

Account minimums at the firm vary depending on the account. 

Steward Partners Investment Advisory Background

Steward Partners Investment Advisory was founded in 2016 by James Gold. Prior to starting the firm, Gold worked at Smith Barney for 18 years. Today, he serves as Steward Partners’ CEO and indirectly owns the firm through a holding company.

The firm provides the following types of services:

• Advisory services
• Banking and lending strategies
• Wealth planning
• Institutional consulting
• Insurance planning

Steward Partners Investment Advisory Investment Strategy

According to the Steward Partners Investment Advisory website, diversification in asset allocation is designed to reduce the inherent risk of investing. The firm therefore offers an extensive set of options for investment. Some of these options are banking and lending strategies, wealth planning and insurance planning.

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TAG Associates serves high-net-worth individuals, pooled investment vehicles and retirement plans.

The firm has no set account minimum, though its offerings are clearly angled towards the affluent.

The advisory team hold multiple certifications, including certified public accountant (CPA), certified financial planner (CFP) and chartered financial analyst (CFA), among others designations.

TAG Associates is a fee-only firm, as advisors do not receive third-party commissions from selling securities or insurance. This is different from a fee-based firm, which allows advisors to collect third-party commissions.

TAG Associates Background

When TAG Associates was formed in 1983, the idea of a multi-client family office and portfolio management services advisor was relatively new, but proved to be a useful concept with time. Its staff includes many different kinds of roles, such as senior relationship managers, portfolio management professionals, accountants, bookkeepers and administrators.

TAG is a registered investment advisor (RIA), a commodity trading advisor (CTA) and a commodity pool operator (CPO).

David Basner acts as the CEO, Jonathan M. Bergman acts as president and Gary Fuhrman acts as chairman.

TAG Associates Investment Strategy

When putting together investment strategies, the primary concern of TAG Associates is the preservation of capital. TAG currently uses a variety of resources to collect data and evaluate various investment products, including qualitative and quantitative information/data on mutual funds, ETFs, money market funds and indexes; brokerage accounting/performance analysis software; and access to financial and other news in real-time format.

Occasionally, the firm recommends short-term purchases of securities, trading securities sold within 30 days, margin transactions and option writing.

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Wealthspire Advisors works with more than 6,000 individual clients. These clients are mixed between non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals. The firm also serves institutional clients, including retirement plans, charities, state or municipal governments, and corporations.

Some advisors at Wealthspire may have the ability to earn commissions from the sale of insurance products. While this presents a potential conflict of interest, the firm upholds a fiduciary duty that compels it to act in the best interests of clients.

Wealthspire Advisors Background

Founded in 1995, Wealthspire Advisors has gone through quite a few name changes. It was originally known as Sontag Advisory, but it merged with Bronfman Rothschild in late 2019. Then, in 2020, the two firms decided to do business under the same name, leading to the creation of the current Wealthspire. Today, the firm is run by chairman Howard Sontag.

The services of Wealthspire are geared towards individuals and families who want holistic wealth management. This includes many types of financial planning, as well as investment management.

Wealthspire Advisors Investing Strategy

How your investments are managed by Wealthspire is largely dependent on what you’re looking to get out of your portfolio. In turn, the firm will review with you your risk tolerance, financial goals, time horizon, tax situation, income needs and more before creating a portfolio plan.

Generally speaking, the firm follows a few main tenets. These include being mindful of taxes and investment fees, minimizing investment turnover, completing regular rebalances, instilling strong diversification and more.

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Tiedemann Advisors is an SEC-registered investment advisory firm that manages money for high-net-worth individuals, pooled investment vehicles and charities.

As a fee-only firm, the Tiedemann Advisors team earns money through management fees that are paid by clients. These fees can get charged as a flat or minimum management fee that is based on a percentage of assets under management.

The Tiedemann Advisors team holds multiple certifications, including certfied financial planner (CFP), certified public accountant (CPA) and chartered financial analyst (CFA), among other designations.

Tiedemann Advisors Background

While Tiedemann Advisors began doing business in 2008, it is a subsidiary of Tiedemann Wealth Management Holdings, LLC, which was founded in 1999.

The firm is headquartered in New York City and founded by the late Carl Tiedemann, who had decades of experience and leadership expertise on Wall Street.

Tiedemann Advisors provides both discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services and investment consulting, among other services.

The firm customizes services and portfolios based on a thorough understanding of each client's particular situation (including risk tolerance and liquidity) and objectives. The firm also selects investment advisors to offer guidance to private investment fund commingled vehicles, or pooled investment funds.

Tiedemann Advisors Investment Strategy

In order to advise clients, the firm uses a core strategy of third-party managers or investment themes (such as mutual funds, ETFs, private investments (like hedge funds and private equity funds) alongside shorter-term investments with attractive returns that take risk into account (such as equities, bonds, futures, options, etc.).

Tiedemann Advisors uses a variety of strategies at different parts of its research process, looking first at broad macroeconomic treds and using fundamental, technical and cyclical analysis. When it comes time to perform its proprietary risk optimization process and develop the right asset allocation, advisors at the firm will use qualitative and quantitative research to inform strategies.

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First Manhattan Co. (FMC) is a fee-based firm headquartered in New York. It serves both non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, as well as investment companies, pooled investment vehicles, retirement plans and charities.

Depending on the account, clients may have a minimum portfolio balance. For those engaging in portfolio management, there can be an annual fee imposed as a percentage of assets under management. This rate is higher with smaller account balances and lower with larger ones.

First Manhattan Background

FMC was formed in 2022 and it registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an investment advisor in 2023.

The firm was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of a newly formed parent company, FMC Group Holdings LP.

FMC says that it targets clients who are seeking long-term value. These clients include multigenerational families, retirees, working professionals, entrepreneurs and beneficiaries. It also works with retirement plans for small and mid-sized firms and businesses.

First Manhattan Investment Strategy

According to the firm’s brochure, FMC manages portfolios that primarily consist of publicly traded equity and fixed-income securities on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis.

As with other firms, FMC says that it builds "your portfolio security-by-security within the framework of your specific requirements."

To achieve client objectives, the firm uses both long- and short-term purchases, and trading. And for some private pooled investment vehicles that are managed by the firm, they may also sell securities short, sell foreign currency forwards or options to hedge foreign currency risks, and/or sell listed and over-the-counter equity options.

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With origins that date back to 1882, Rockefeller Capital Management (RCM) works with both non-high-net-worth individuals and high-net-worth individuals, as well as banking institutions, investment companies, pooled investment vehicles, retirement plans, charitable organizations, sovereign wealth funds and corporations.

Several of the firm's Management Committee leadership are chartered financial analysts (CFAs).

The firm is fee-based, which means advisors may collect commissions and are subject to a potential conflict of interest as a result. RCM's fiduciary duty requires it to act in clients' best interests despite this, though.

Account minimums vary according to the type of account a client has.

Rockefeller Capital Management Background

The history of Rockefeller Capital Management begins in 1882, when John D. Rockefeller set up a New York office to manage the Rockefeller family's investment, personal and philanthropic interests. Rockefeller Capital Management became an SEC-registered investment advisor almost 100 years later, in 1980. The current president and CEO of the firm is Gregory J. Fleming.

The firm provides asset management services, wealth management services, strategic advisory services for business transactions and general financial advice.

Rockefeller Capital Management Investment Strategy

Like many firms, Rockefeller Capital Management’s investment management process begins with determining each client’s goals, objectives and risk tolerance. Once these factors are established, the firm will construct an appropriate strategy. In general, the firm seeks to create an asset allocation that diversifies risk among several different asset classes and industry sectors.

The firm believes that active portfolio management, along with a portfolio and asset allocation that’s tailored to each client’s needs, has more potential to add significant value over time than a passive management strategy. Exceptions to this preference do exist, however, especially in cases where trading costs may be inordinately high.

The firm's Equity Strategies takes a long-term investment horizon and factors in fundamental research. Its VantageRock Capital Long/Short Equity Strategy also uses fundamental analysis. And its Fixed-Income Strategies use a conservative approach to U.S. fixed-income markets, prioritizing capital preservation and current income.

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Silvercrest Asset Management Group is a financial advisor firm that serves high-net-worth individuals, banking or thrift institutions, investment companies, pooled investment vehicles, retirement plans, charities, state or municipal governments, insurance companies and corporations.

It's important to note that Silvercrest Asset Management Group is a fee-only firm, as advisors do not receive third-party commissions from selling securities or insurance.

Silvercrest Asset Management Group Background

Silvercrest Asset Management Group was founded in 2001. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Silvercrest LP. Silvercrest Asset Management Group Inc. is the general partner of Silvercrest LP. 

The firm provides services such as portfolio management, financial planning, estate and tax planning and investing for retirement. 

Silvercrest Asset Management Group Investment Strategy

Silvercrest Asset Management Group uses specific objectives and guidelines for each client portfolio. The range of investment options for clients is unlimited, including the firm's own equity and fixed-income management, its funds and third-party investment managers. 

The approach the firm takes with equity portfolios is designed to seek compound annual returns with low levels of risk. This approach is conservative and long-term, and as such, portfolio turnover is low.

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Another New York City-based financial advisor firm, BBR Partners serves a clientele that typically includes families and individuals (mostly high-net-worth), as well as the associated entities of those individuals - such as trusts, estates, charitable organizations, family partnerships, foundations and business entities. The firm also manages investment funds.

The account minimum at BBR is very high at $30 million, though it may be willing to waive this stipulation under special circumstances. The firm's team includes a number of staff members who have different kinds of professional financial certifications, including certified public accountant (CPA) and chartered financial analyst (CFA), among others.

It's important to note that BBR Partners is a fee-only firm, as advisors do not receive third-party commissions for selling securities or insurance.

BBR Partners Background

BBR Partners registered with the SEC in 2000. Brett H. Barth and Evan M. Roth are the principal controllers of the firm. Along with Barth and Roth, there are other equity partners in BBR Partners Holdings, LP, which is technically the principal owner of BBR.

The firm provides investment advisory services and gives advice on non-investment matters such as estate planning, tax planning, insurance planning, family education and philanthropic planning, among others.

BBR Partners Investment Strategy

BBR Partners centers its investment strategies around each client’s investment objectives, wealth management needs and risk tolerance. The firm seeks to develop an asset allocation that secures steady growth while also meshing well with those factors specific to each client.

The firm typically allocates client assets among a range of equity and fixed income third-party managers, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and private investment funds.

BBR’s primary investment strategies are long-term purchases, short-term purchases and trading. These are usually fundamental investment strategies. In addition to these strategies, BBR also implements and/or recommends short sales, margin transactions, and/or options.