Ancora Family Wealth Advisors

Ancora Family Wealth Advisors

Ancora Family Wealth Advisors was founded in 2003 as an independent registered investment adviser. Fred DiSanto serves as CEO of the firm and its parent Ancora Holdings. The firm provides integrated wealth planning, investment management, and retirement solutions to affluent families and institutions. Its structure evolved from employee-owned RIA roots into a multi-family office that also houses proprietary investment vehicles. The firm mixes public equities, activist stakes, real assets, and insurance solutions. It holds positions in logistics and industrial companies and has executed campaigns at Forward Air in 2021, Norfolk Southern in 2024, and C.H. Robinson (via Ancora Advisors LLC, a subsidiary of Ancora Holdings). Ancora also maintains a real-asset portfolio focused on properties tied to universities and healthcare systems. Geographic reach centers on North America with additional exposure in Europe and Asia through public holdings. Ancora employs an integrated team that manages both client portfolios and the firm's own activist and real-asset strategies. The firm acquired Alpha Property and Casualty in 2022 to expand insurance capabilities. It maintains a scholarship fund supporting Cleveland-area education initiatives. In May 2024 Ancora won three board seats at Norfolk Southern following its proxy campaign. Ancora's architecture separates client advisory services from its activist investment arm, Ancora Alternatives. This separation allows the firm to pursue concentrated public-equity campaigns while serving multi-generational family clients through standard wealth vehicles. Board representation at multiple industrial companies provides ongoing governance influence beyond typical advisory mandates.