Updated:
Mesirow Wealth Management
Mesirow Wealth Management operates as the wealth advisory and fiduciary arm within Mesirow, the employee-owned financial services firm founded in Chicago.
Mesirow Wealth Management
Mesirow Wealth Management operates as the wealth advisory and fiduciary arm within Mesirow, the employee-owned financial services firm founded in Chicago. Natalie A. Brown assumed the role of CEO in June 2024, transitioning from President after a multi-decade career at the firm (per Pensions & Investments, 2024). The broader Mesirow platform spans capital markets, investment management, and advisory services, giving the wealth management unit structural access to institutional deal flow that standalone RIAs rarely command. The group's investment strategy is defined by its deep specialization in secondary market transactions. Rather than competing as a primary fund-of-funds, Mesirow acquires limited partnership interests across private equity, venture capital, real estate, and infrastructure from pension funds, endowments, and family offices seeking early liquidity. Its sourcing network draws on the parent firm's relationships with over 1,500 institutional clients across North America and Europe. Known transactions include discrete portfolios of mature buyout fund stakes and tail-end interests where the firm acts as a liquidity provider to sellers managing portfolio duration or regulatory constraints. June 2024 saw Natalie A. Brown elevated to CEO after more than three decades at the firm, a move that solidified continuity atop the wealth management division. The group operates from the firm's Chicago headquarters, drawing on Mesirow's broader platform of roughly 1,700 employees across the United States (per the firm's official communications). While Mesirow does not publicly disclose wealth management-specific AUM, its institutional secondaries activity flows through the same regulated entity that houses its retirement plan consulting and OCIO services. A distinguishing structural feature is Mesirow's employee-owned partnership model, which aligns advisor incentives with long-term client outcomes rather than quarterly public-market earnings. This private ownership structure — maintained for decades — allows the secondaries team to hold acquired fund interests through full realization without forced selling pressure. It also sharpens the firm's edge as a buyer of illiquid stakes: sellers know Mesirow can close without the committee delays that hamper publicly traded alternative-asset managers.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
1937
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Principals
Natalie A. Brown
CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Mesirow Wealth Management?
Natalie A. Brown was named CEO in June 2024 after decades at the firm, most recently as President. Mesirow operates under an employee-owned partnership structure, meaning senior investment professionals collectively steward portfolio decisions rather than answering to external shareholders. The firm's secondaries investment committee draws on the cross-asset expertise of the broader Mesirow institutional platform.
How does Mesirow source secondary deal flow?
Deal flow originates primarily through Mesirow's institutional relationships with the pension funds, endowments, foundations, and family offices that use the firm's advisory and capital markets services. As a multi-line financial services firm rather than a dedicated secondaries fund, Mesirow sees liquidity-motivated sellers who approach the firm through existing advisory channels. This creates a sourcing funnel that pure-play secondaries managers must build from scratch.
What types of secondary transactions does the firm pursue?
Mesirow targets traditional LP-led secondary transactions, acquiring limited partnership interests in private equity, venture capital, real estate, and infrastructure funds. The group focuses on single-fund stake acquisitions and smaller portfolio sales, typically in the mid-market where competition from the largest secondaries funds is less intense. Tail-end portfolio solutions — where the firm acquires the remaining interests in older, largely realized funds — are a known specialty.
Is Mesirow a single-family office or an asset manager?
Mesirow is an employee-owned asset manager and financial services firm, not a family office. The wealth management division operates as a fiduciary RIA alongside the firm's institutional capital markets and investment management businesses. This hybrid structure differentiates it from both standalone wealth managers and pure institutional asset gatherers.
Does Mesirow disclose wealth management AUM separately?
No. The firm reports consolidated figures for its broader platform but does not break out wealth management-specific assets under management. Institutional allocators evaluating the secondaries capability must rely on track-record conversations and reference checks with counterparties who have sold fund interests to the firm.
How does employee ownership affect the secondaries strategy?
Because Mesirow has no public shareholders demanding quarterly earnings growth, the secondaries team can hold acquired fund interests to full realization without pressure to generate management fees on ever-larger pools of committed capital. Sellers negotiating secondary transactions benefit from the certainty that a privately held buyer can close deals without the internal approval chains typical at publicly traded alternative-asset managers.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on asset managers?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: