2ND STORY WEALTH PLANNERS

2ND STORY WEALTH PLANNERS

2ND STORY WEALTH PLANNERS was founded in Philadelphia by Scott M. Brenner and operates as a multi-family office serving a concentrated group of high-net-worth families. The firm's name reflects its posture as the wealth management layer that sits above—and coordinates—the estate planning, tax strategy, and investment functions for families with complex balance sheets. Brenner and partner John P. Guinee bring institutional real estate backgrounds to the practice, which shapes the firm's bias toward hard assets and direct ownership structures. The firm's investment strategy emphasizes direct real estate, private credit, and private equity allocations—typically through deal-by-deal participation rather than blind-pool fund commitments. Known transactions include direct equity placements in multifamily and industrial properties across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, as well as mezzanine debt positions in middle-market operating companies. 2ND STORY sources opportunities through a network of regional developers, commercial mortgage brokers, and professional contacts built by its principals over multi-decade careers. The geographic focus is primarily Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Florida, where the majority of client families hold legacy interests. The firm deliberately maintains a small group of client families—public records indicate a team size under fifteen professionals—to preserve the co-investment dynamic that defines its model. Rather than raising third-party capital or building an open-architecture platform, 2ND STORY functions as a vehicle where the principals invest alongside their families, creating alignment that a fee-based advisory cannot replicate. The firm does not advertise, does not disclose assets under management publicly, and does not participate in industry benchmarking surveys. Structurally, 2ND STORY occupies a hybrid position between a registered investment advisor and an informal family investment club. The firm files as an RIA but derives its edge from the Brenner-Guinee partnership—two principals who source, diligence, and allocate capital directly, without an investment committee layer that separates decision-makers from capital providers. This architecture makes the firm functionally a deal-by-deal syndicate led by two named operators, a model that scales to the trust bandwidth of its principals rather than to any AUM target.