North Star Wealth Management

Founder and Managing Principal Eric Heitman chairs the investment committee and holds final decision authority for portfolio construction. Heitman also serves as the firm's chief compliance officer, a dual role that keeps investment governance and regulatory oversight under a single senior leader. The committee draws on LPL Financial's institutional research to evaluate manager selections and asset-class tilts.

Client acquisition primarily comes through local referral networks in DuPage County and greater Chicagoland, augmented by long-standing relationships with CPAs and estate-planning attorneys. The firm does not run large-scale digital marketing or national seminar programs. Its growth model depends on word-of-mouth among business owners and executives within its Midwestern geography.

It functions as a hybrid RIA whose advisory assets are custodied and partially supported through LPL Financial's corporate RIA platform. That structure provides North Star with research, trading, and compliance infrastructure while the firm retains independence over client acquisition, fee schedules, and financial-planning delivery. Heitman holds securities licenses through LPL as the registered broker-dealer of record.

Portfolios generally span US and international equities through institutional mutual funds and ETFs, investment-grade and high-yield fixed income, and third-party alternative-investment products sourced via the LPL platform. Asset-allocation weightings are customized per household, with a tilt toward downside protection and tax sensitivity that reflects an older, wealth-preservation-minded client base.

No. The firm does not sponsor its own pooled vehicles, private equity funds, or direct-deal platforms. All alternative-investment exposure — when used — is accessed through LPL-vetted third-party products designed for accredited investors, including interval funds and non-traded REITs.

North Star does not pursue co-investment or direct-deal opportunities. The firm's mandate is advisory portfolio management using publicly available and platform-vetted instruments, not principal investing. Clients seeking co-investment structures would need a separate family-office or institutional relationship.

The firm advises clients on charitable-giving strategies and donor-advised fund usage as part of its financial-planning services, but it has not established a separate foundation or philanthropic entity. Philanthropic advice is integrated into the estate-planning and tax-planning work that the firm coordinates with outside counsel and CPAs.