Monterey Wealth

Monterey Wealth

Monterey Wealth opened in Atlanta in March 2004, founded by Jay W. Cohen, a CPA and CFP® who had previously worked at Ernst & Young and Genuine Parts Company. The firm positioned itself as an independent alternative to brokerage-affiliated advisors, emphasizing transparent fee structures and a fiduciary standard. Partner David E. Duncan joined in March 2018, bringing six years of finance and consulting experience from Triage Consulting Group, and the firm subsequently registered as an RIA. The firm's deployment model centers on two interconnected offerings. For individuals and families, it manages portfolios and delivers financial planning, leveraging Cohen's corporate-finance and tax background to structure strategies for business owners and high-net-worth clients. For corporate clients, the firm operates as an ERISA 3(21) or 3(38) co-fiduciary, running fee-comparison analysis, fund-lineup benchmarking, and fiduciary-vault documentation through partnerships with third-party administrators and recordkeepers. A cash-balance pension plan capability — targeted at partners or owners seeking to contribute more than $60,000 annually into a tax-deferred vehicle — provides a direct bridge between the firm's corporate retirement consulting and its individual wealth-planning book. The firm serves clients primarily from its single office in the Ashford Center North tower in Atlanta. David Duncan joined as a partner in March 2018, marking a formal expansion of the leadership team. In December 2022, Tyler Henderson joined as a senior advisor from an RIA in Cincinnati, extending the firm's presence into the Ohio market. The most recent team additions — Bob Kwatnez and Toby Cramer, both hired in January 2025 — signal a push to distribute a pooled 401(k) product nationally under the Retirement Builders brand, aimed at smaller businesses seeking to offload plan-administration costs. The firm operates without disclosed AUM or a published investment portfolio, consistent with an RIA advising on client-directed accounts rather than pooling discretionary capital. Monterey Wealth's structure reflects a specific governance choice: it holds itself out as a fiduciary under both its RIA registration and its ERISA co-fiduciary commitments, which creates a regulatory alignment across its individual and institutional client relationships. That dual-fiduciary architecture — rare among advisory firms of its stated size — means the firm's incentives are structurally bound to the same standard for its 401(k) plan-sponsor clients as for the business owners and executives it advises individually.