Updated:
Winter & Associates
Winter & Associates was founded in 1908 and today operates as a female-owned multi-family office led by President Nicole Winter Tietel, the...
Winter & Associates
Winter & Associates was founded in 1908 and today operates as a female-owned multi-family office led by President Nicole Winter Tietel, the fourth-generation steward of the enterprise. The firm serves a discreet base of Upper Midwest families from a commercial office building the family owns at 964 Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The firm runs a patient allocation model centered on private equity and real estate, layered with comprehensive financial planning, estate strategy, and risk management services. Geographic focus remains concentrated in North America. The Winter family's own balance sheet includes the commercial office building that houses the firm, residential properties in Afton, Minnesota and Naples, Florida, and a collection of antiques and historic architecture — a posture that mirrors the hard-asset emphasis in client portfolios. Nicole Winter Tietel leads a compact team that includes fifth-generation family member Shelby Birkeland as an Associate Wealth Advisor. The late Norbert F. Winter Jr., Nicole's father, previously ran the firm. The family maintains embedded ties to St. Paul's civic fabric through sustaining roles at the Junior League of St. Paul, Dodge Nature Center, and the St. Croix River Valley Foundation. The firm's structure is defined by ownership stability rather than scale. The operation is not a platform aggregating external advisors — it is a single-location, family-owned practice where the principals own the real estate, the client relationships, and the succession path. That architecture produces an unusually long time horizon, making the firm a potential co-investment or distribution partner for managers seeking durable Upper Midwest family-office relationships.
General information
Firm type
Multi Family Office
Year founded
1908
AUM
$150M–$200M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Saint Paul
Corporate office
964 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105, United States
Principals
Nicole Winter Tietel
President
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Winter & Associates?
Nicole Winter Tietel serves as President and leads the firm. She is the fourth-generation owner of the 1908-founded enterprise and operates with a small internal team. Investment strategy reflects a patient, multi-generational approach concentrated in private equity and real estate.
Is Winter & Associates a single family office or does it manage external capital?
Winter & Associates operates as a multi-family office. It serves a select group of individuals, families, and businesses, primarily in the Upper Midwest, delivering wealth management and investment advisory services alongside the stewardship of the Winter family's own assets.
What is Winter & Associates' typical allocation model?
The firm's confirmed investment types include private equity and real estate, paired with financial planning and risk management. This suggests a barbelled approach: long-duration private asset commitments balanced by comprehensive planning and estate strategy for multi-generational clients, with a North American geographic focus.
How is the Winter family involved in the community and philanthropy?
The family maintains deep civic roots in Saint Paul. Nicole Winter Tietel is a sustaining member of the Junior League of St. Paul and a former president of the St. Paul Chapter of NAIFA. The family supports Dodge Nature Center and the St. Croix River Valley Foundation.
What makes Winter & Associates structurally different from other multi-family offices?
The firm is one of the oldest female-owned financial firms in the Upper Midwest, operating from a family-owned commercial building with a fifth-generation family member on staff. It is not an aggregator platform — it is a single-location practice where family ownership extends to the real estate and succession path, creating alignment on very long time horizons.
Does Winter & Associates co-invest or partner with external managers?
While no public co-investment track record is detailed, the firm's concentrated exposure to private equity and real estate, combined with its century-plus operating history and Upper Midwest network, makes it a logical partner for GPs seeking durable family-office relationships in the region.
Where is the underlying wealth of Winter & Associates sourced from?
The wealth originates from a financial services enterprise founded in 1908 and passed through four generations of the Winter family. The firm's own balance sheet includes commercial real estate, residential properties in Minnesota and Florida, and tangible assets like antiques and historic architecture.
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.
Need institutional-grade insight on family offices?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: