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PointOak Retirement Advisors
PointOak Retirement Advisors was founded by Darsh Makim, a credentialed retirement plan consultant who has worked with plan sponsors and participants since...
PointOak Retirement Advisors
PointOak Retirement Advisors was founded by Darsh Makim, a credentialed retirement plan consultant who has worked with plan sponsors and participants since 2005. The firm operates from McLean, Virginia, serving clients across the DC metro area and virtually nationwide. Its client base spans accumulation-stage professionals through active retirees, with a stated focus on high-net-worth households navigating the intersection of workplace retirement benefits and private wealth management. The firm's strategy is anchored in retirement income engineering, tax-aware portfolio construction, and workplace benefit optimization — particularly 401(k) rollovers, Social Security claiming, and pension maximization. Its investment approach is not stock-picking but rather an open-architecture, fiduciary-driven allocation model that draws from the entire marketplace of funds and managers. PointOak's methodology is used to evaluate over $120 billion in retirement plan assets quarterly, a scale atypical for a boutique advisor. Asset-class exposure spans equities, fixed income, and alternative categories through direct indexing and tax-loss harvesting overlays, with concentrated position management for clients holding legacy stock. PointOak is run by three partners who collectively manage more than $1 billion in assets, maintaining a deliberately high advisor-to-client ratio. The firm registers with the SEC and acts as a 3(21) or 3(38) named fiduciary under ERISA for its corporate retirement plan clients — a structural commitment that legally binds its advice to the client's best interest across all engagements. It benchmarks over 10,000 plan providers annually using a proprietary "Live Bid" process that evaluates more than 450 data points per bidder rather than relying on industry-average demographics. Structurally, PointOak's differentiator is the integration of an institutional retirement-plan consulting practice with a high-net-worth private wealth business. Where most RIAs build private-client books through referrals or custodial platforms, PointOak uses its role as a named fiduciary to corporate plans as both a revenue engine and a direct pipeline to plan participants approaching retirement — effectively internalizing the rollover and wealth-transition event that most advisors chase externally.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
2021
AUM
$1B - $5B (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
McLean
Corporate office
McLean, VA, United States
Principals
Darsh Makim
Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at PointOak?
Darsh Makim founded the firm and leads its investment approach. PointOak applies a process-driven investment methodology to evaluate more than $120 billion in retirement plan assets every quarter, but the firm does not employ a centralized CIO — instead, its three partners construct portfolios using an open-architecture model drawing from the entire marketplace of funds and managers.
How does PointOak source its private wealth clients?
PointOak generates over 90% of its revenue from corporate retirement plan consulting, which creates a direct channel to plan participants. When those participants retire or separate from service, the firm is positioned to capture rollover assets — making the institutional retirement business a proprietary funnel for its high-net-worth practice rather than relying on traditional wealth-management referrals.
Is PointOak a single-family office or a multi-family office?
Neither. PointOak is an SEC-registered investment advisor and ERISA fiduciary that operates as a boutique wealth management firm. It serves high-net-worth individuals and families but does not structure itself as a family office — there is no family-office service layer (bill pay, concierge, legacy governance), white-label entity, or single-family balance sheet.
Does PointOak participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
PointOak constructs client portfolios using publicly available funds, ETFs, and separately managed accounts — it does not participate in private fund commitments or direct deals. The firm's investment management is limited to liquid market securities, with tax-aware overlays and concentrated-position strategies layered on top.
What minimum asset level does PointOak require for private wealth clients?
The firm states a minimum of $500,000 in investable assets for its comprehensive wealth management service (per the firm's website, 2026). This threshold is designed to preserve a high advisor-to-client ratio while delivering what PointOak describes as a white-glove service model.
How is PointOak's fiduciary status different from a typical RIA?
PointOak acts as a named 3(21) or 3(38) fiduciary under ERISA for its corporate retirement plan clients — a higher bar than the standard RIA fiduciary duty under the Investment Advisers Act. A 3(38) fiduciary, for instance, assumes full discretionary authority and legal liability for plan investment decisions, which is uncommon among advisory firms that also service private wealth clients.
Does PointOak maintain any philanthropic or operating-company structures?
There is no publicly disclosed philanthropic foundation, donor-advised fund program, or affiliated operating business connected to PointOak. The firm references coordination with estate planning and CPAs for wealth-transition strategies but does not appear to house these services internally.
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.
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