Charleston Wealth Advisors

Managing Partners Stuart Hamilton and Richard Gough sit on the investment committee and maintain final approval authority over all direct investments. Both left large institutional wealth management platforms to found CWA in 2015. The firm supplements its internal team with an operating-partner network that provides sector-specific diligence on acquisitions.

CWA sources through long-dated relationships with Southeastern business owners, regional intermediaries and a network of operating partners embedded in healthcare services, light manufacturing and enterprise software. The firm's direct-investment model means deal flow often originates from founder-led businesses seeking a partner rather than a pure financial buyer.

CWA is a multi-family office, not a venture firm. While it makes direct equity investments in operating companies, those investments are made alongside client families through separate-account structures — not a pooled fund. The firm also runs a significant private credit and real estate book, and does not charge the management-fee-plus-carry economics typical of venture firms.

The firm prioritizes direct deals — equity co-investments in operating companies, private credit origination and direct real estate acquisitions. While CWA may allocate to external funds on a bespoke basis for certain clients, the primary model is direct deployment alongside families into assets the firm sources and underwrites internally.

CWA has not publicly issued a sector-exclusion list, but the observable portfolio concentrates on healthcare services, light manufacturing, enterprise software and real estate in Southeastern secondary markets. The firm does not appear to invest in early-stage technology, energy extraction or international markets.

CWA has not publicly disclosed a dedicated philanthropic entity. The firm structures wealth-management services in-house, and where client families maintain private foundations or donor-advised funds, those are administered as separate legal entities outside the direct-investment book.

CWA co-invests alongside client families in direct deals, but has not disclosed a systematic program for co-investing alongside external private-equity sponsors. When external managers are involved, the firm typically participates as a deal-by-deal LP rather than through a co-investment vehicle.