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Nepsis
Mark D. Pearson founded Nepsis in 1994 as a fee-only registered investment advisor in Minneapolis. The firm emerged during the early expansion of the RIA...
Nepsis
Mark D. Pearson founded Nepsis in 1994 as a fee-only registered investment advisor in Minneapolis. The firm emerged during the early expansion of the RIA model, well before the wave of wirehouse breakaways that would define the sector a decade later. Pearson built the firm to serve high-net-worth families, businesses, and retirement-plan sponsors with a fiduciary standard that broker-dealers at the time rarely offered. The wealth origin of the firm is organic, rooted in Pearson's advisory practice rather than a corporate liquidity event. Nepsis constructs portfolios across equities, fixed income, real assets, and alternative strategies, using a direct indexing and tax-overlay approach that aims to reduce drag for taxable investors. The firm's investment committee, led by Pearson, applies an endowment-model framework adapted for private clients — blending passive exposure with active tilts toward factors like value and momentum. The firm participates in direct mutual fund selection and ETF model delivery but is not known to run commingled proprietary funds or large-scale private-market commitments. It serves clients across the United States, with a concentration in the Upper Midwest. The firm operates from its Minneapolis headquarters and discloses a team of advisory and planning professionals, though a precise headcount is not publicly stated. Adjacent vehicles or philanthropic entities tied to the firm are not a matter of public record. Nepsis's professional roster includes CFP practitioners and tax specialists who coordinate estate strategies with outside attorneys, a structure that resembles the integrated family-office model more than a standalone asset gatherer. Nepsis's structural differentiator is its deep integration of tax planning into portfolio management, a posture that turns tax-loss harvesting, asset location, and charitable giving into core investment functions rather than afterthoughts. This design makes the firm a tax-aware allocator first and a product distributor second — a distinction that separates it from many multi-billion-dollar RIA aggregators that bolt on tax services retroactively.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
1994
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Minneapolis
Corporate office
Minneapolis, MN, United States
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Nepsis?
Founder Mark D. Pearson leads the firm's investment committee. Pearson launched the firm in 1994 and has shaped its endowment-style, tax-aware portfolio methodology since inception. No external CIO or separate investment-subsidiary leadership is publicly disclosed.
How does Nepsis structure its client relationships?
The firm operates on a fee-only, fiduciary basis under the registered investment advisor model. Nepsis charges asset-based fees rather than commissions, aligning its revenue with client portfolio outcomes. The firm coordinates financial planning, tax preparation, and estate strategy through internal teams and external professional networks.
Does Nepsis manage proprietary funds or rely on third-party products?
Nepsis builds client portfolios using individual securities, ETFs, and mutual funds from external managers rather than proprietary commingled vehicles. Its direct-indexing and tax-overlay toolkit is designed to deliver customized exposure without the lock-up structures of a proprietary hedge-fund or private-equity platform.
What is Nepsis's posture on alternative investments?
The firm's public materials reference real assets and alternative strategies as components of its endowment-model framework, but it is not known to operate substantial direct private-equity or venture arms. Its alternatives exposure appears to be delivered primarily through liquid vehicles such as interval funds or publicly traded partnership structures.
How does Nepsis integrate tax planning into portfolio management?
Tax awareness is a central operating principle. The firm conducts ongoing tax-loss harvesting, manages asset location across taxable and tax-deferred accounts, and coordinates charitable-giving strategies such as donor-advised funds. CFP professionals and tax specialists collaborate internally to execute these strategies.
Where is the firm's client base concentrated?
Nepsis is headquartered in Minneapolis and draws its core client base from the Upper Midwest, though it serves families and businesses across the United States. The firm's local roots in a region with significant private-business wealth shape its long-duration, multigenerational planning approach.
Is Nepsis a single-family office or does it serve multiple families?
Nepsis is a registered investment advisor structured to serve multiple unrelated high-net-worth families, businesses, and retirement-plan sponsors. While its service model — combining investments, tax planning, and estate coordination — borrows heavily from the single-family-office playbook, the firm is not tied to a single wealth origin.
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