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ZENIT WEALTH ADVISORS
Zenit Wealth Advisors, founded in 1995 by Rafael Sangiovanni, channels Latin American family capital into U.S.
ZENIT WEALTH ADVISORS
Rafael Sangiovanni launched Zenit Wealth Advisors in Miami in 1995 to serve Latin American families seeking institutional-quality U.S. investment management. The firm operates at the intersection of wealth management and alternatives placement, structuring portfolios for clients who need geographically diversified assets outside their home countries. Zenit's client base is concentrated among family groups from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and the Andean region. Zenit allocates across private equity, private credit, real estate, hedge funds, and infrastructure. The firm favors direct co-investment structures and fund commitments managed by established U.S. general partners, with a particular focus on real estate — including multifamily, industrial, and select office properties in Sun Belt markets. Historical allocations include positions in U.S. middle-market buyout funds, mezzanine debt strategies, and core-plus real estate vehicles sourced from managers in New York, Texas, and Florida. Zenit operates as a boutique with an estimated 15 to 25 professionals across a single Miami office. The firm does not advertise a dedicated venture arm, but over three decades it has built a network that includes family office peers, tax counsel, and estate planning partners. Recent disclosures indicate an ongoing emphasis on private credit — floating-rate direct lending strategies became a larger share of recommended allocations in the 2022–2024 rate cycle. Zenit's structural differentiator is its role as a bilateral conduit: it doesn't compete with U.S. allocators for domestic clients but instead aggregates Latin American capital and directs it into U.S. alternative assets with local operational and compliance oversight. That origination edge — not fund management — defines the firm's value proposition for offshore families who otherwise lack direct manager access and on-the-ground due diligence capabilities in the United States.
General information
Firm type
Multi Family Office
Year founded
1995
AUM
$1B - $5B (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Miami
Corporate office
Miami, FL, United States
Principals
Rafael Sangiovanni
Chief Executive Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes the investment decisions at Zenit Wealth Advisors?
Chief Executive Officer Rafael Sangiovanni leads the investment committee. Sangiovanni founded the firm in 1995 and has guided its cross-border investment strategy since inception. The committee draws on a small internal team and external manager relationships built over nearly three decades of U.S.-Latin America advisory work.
What types of clients does Zenit primarily serve?
Zenit's client base is composed of high-net-worth families, family offices, and institutional investors primarily from Latin America. The firm's core value proposition is offering these offshore clients access to U.S.-based alternative investments and wealth management services. Countries of origin frequently cited include Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia.
How does Zenit approach alternative investments?
Zenit structures portfolios across multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, private credit, real estate, hedge funds, and infrastructure. The firm invests through fund commitments to U.S.-based general partners and participates in direct co-investments when available. Real estate — particularly U.S. Sun Belt multifamily and industrial — has historically been a significant allocation.
Is Zenit a single-family office or does it serve multiple families?
Zenit operates as a multi-family office and registered investment advisor. It does not serve a single source of wealth but instead aggregates capital from multiple unrelated Latin American families. This structure allows it to negotiate institutional terms with U.S. fund managers and share due diligence costs across its client base.
What is Zenit's approach to direct versus fund investing?
Zenit blends fund commitments with direct co-investment opportunities alongside trusted U.S. general partners. The firm prefers direct real estate when it can acquire property on behalf of clients in preferred markets like Florida and Texas. For private equity and venture, it relies on established fund managers and evaluates co-invest rights as part of overall manager selection.
How does Zenit handle the compliance and tax complexity of cross-border investing?
The firm maintains in-house expertise and external partnerships covering cross-border tax structuring, estate planning, and regulatory compliance for Latin American families investing in U.S. assets. This operational layer — handling treaty analysis, entity formation, and repatriation planning — is a core component of the service model, not an add-on.
What differentiates Zenit from a typical U.S.-based RIA serving domestic clients?
Zenit is purpose-built for offshore families and does not compete for domestic U.S. retail or institutional clients. That origination model concentrates its relationships in Latin America and directs the resulting capital into a curated set of U.S. alternative managers. The firm combines Miami-based proximity to U.S. sponsor headquarters with Spanish- and Portuguese-language fluency and regional cultural competence.
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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