Private Financial Counseling

The firm is structured as a registered investment adviser, not a legally designated single-family office. For most operational purposes, however, it functions like a multi-family office — providing consolidated wealth management, estate coordination, and tax planning to multiple high-net-worth families. Unlike exempt single-family offices, it is regulated directly by the SEC, which adds a layer of compliance oversight and fiduciary obligation.

Private Financial Counseling operates on a fee-only basis, typically charging clients a percentage of assets under management or a fixed annual retainer. This means the firm accepts no commissions, revenue-sharing arrangements, or placement fees from fund managers. The structure legally requires the firm to act as a fiduciary, meaning it must place client interests ahead of its own when selecting investments or recommending planning strategies.

The firm's investment adviser representatives, named in its SEC Form ADV filings, manage portfolio construction as a collective. Because Private Financial Counseling does not manufacture its own financial products, the investment committee selects third-party asset managers and individual securities. Final asset allocation and manager selection authority rests with the senior principals identified in the firm's regulatory disclosures.

Private Financial Counseling allocates client capital to private real estate and private credit funds as part of its broader alternative investment strategy, per its public disclosures. Direct co-investments alongside general partners are possible for qualified clients, but the firm typically accesses private markets through pooled third-party vehicles to maintain diversification and limit idiosyncratic risk for individual families.

As a registered investment adviser, Private Financial Counseling is operationally independent from any bank or broker-dealer — it is not a division of a larger financial conglomerate. The firm coordinates with external trust companies and estate attorneys for client needs that extend beyond its advisory mandate, but it has no affiliated trust bank or proprietary custody platform.