Urban Wealth Management

Urban Wealth Management

Mike Hennessy launched Urban Wealth Management in 2012, establishing the firm as a registered investment advisor in El Segundo, California. The firm's founding coincided with a broader industry shift toward fee-only fiduciary advice, a structure that legally binds Urban Wealth Management to prioritize client interests over product sales. The firm's investment strategy centers on discretionary portfolio management built around modern portfolio theory. Urban Wealth Management constructs client portfolios using low-cost exchange-traded funds, individual stocks, and bonds. The firm does not take custody of client assets; Charles Schwab serves as the primary custodian. Asset allocation typically spans US large-cap equities, international developed-market stocks, and investment-grade fixed income, adjusted for client-specific liquidity needs and tax considerations. Real estate exposure appears through publicly traded REITs rather than direct property investments. Urban Wealth Management operates as a lean practice in Southern California's South Bay region. The firm maintains a minimum account size that screens for clients with sufficient asset bases to warrant comprehensive planning. Mike Hennessy holds the Certified Financial Planner designation and leads a team that integrates tax strategy, retirement modeling, and estate planning with ongoing portfolio oversight. The firm's structural differentiator is its independence. Urban Wealth Management is not owned by a bank, insurance company, or private equity aggregator. This independence means the firm negotiates its own technology and custody relationships — a double-edged sword that yields flexibility in tool selection but limits the balance-sheet resources available to larger roll-up RIAs. For succession, the firm's continuity plan relies on a pre-designated emergency backup advisor rather than a junior partner track, a common arrangement for practices of this scale.