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If you have meaningful equity compensation (ISOs, NSOs, RSUs, ESPPs, founder shares, or pre-IPO stock) you will usually want a fiduciary advisor who specifically works with executives and tech employees.
Firms like Secfi specialize in modeling tax timing, concentration risk, and AMT exposure to ensure your equity supports your long-term wealth goals. When evaluating different advisors, what you want to look for is whether they actively model liquidity events and diversification strategies, not just offer investment management.
| Advisor | Target Audience | Key Feature | Fee Structure |
|---|---|---|---|
Secfi | Startup execs and tech employees | Integrated equity planning platform | Fee-only |
Darrow Wealth | Founders and high-net-worth | Sudden wealth lifecycle planning | Fee-only ($2M+ minimum) |
Wealth with Options | Tech professionals | Education-first boutique service | Fee-only |
Munroe Morrow | Execs and employees | Cohesive legacy and exit strategies | Fee-only |
Brooklyn FI | Tech professionals and founders | Integrated tax, financial planning and equity compensation | Fee-only |
Since we’re the ones writing the article, we’ll start by explaining what we do specifically.
Secfi operates as a federally registered investment adviser specializing in the unique financial landscape of startup executives. Unlike traditional generalists, we provide integrated equity planning to help you navigate high-stakes liquidity events and stock option taxes.
Analyze your specific situation: We start by reviewing your grants and tax returns to build a roadmap for your stock option exercise.
Manage concentration risk: We build portfolios that complement your private stock position while accounting for your specific career risks.
Provide fiduciary-only guidance: We act as a fiduciary 100% of the time, receiving no commissions or kickbacks.
Offer iterative support: We adjust your strategy for 409A changes, blackout periods, or career moves.
Access non-recourse exercise financing We provide the capital you need to own your options without the out-of-pocket cost. Because it is non-recourse, your personal assets are protected; you only pay us back if there is a successful exit.
Model different exercise scenarios with an AI equity assistant: Our purpose-built assistant combines Secfi’s proprietary calculation engine with the flexibility of AI. Maeve helps you model AMT exposure and exercise timing using real market data rather than generic predictions.
Unlock liquidity through secondary markets: If your needs evolve, we can help you sell a portion of your shares through our network of secondary market buyers to unlock liquidity before an IPO.
Read more: How a financial advisor can help with your equity
Darrow Wealth Management provides specialized planning for individuals at public and pre-IPO companies. They help founders and employees manage the entire sudden wealth lifecycle, from pre-liquidity modeling to post-IPO sales.
Sudden wealth planning: Strategies built specifically for windfall events like an IPO or acquisition.
Tax optimization: Expert guidance on AMT credit utilization and QSBS eligibility.
Post-IPO strategy: Custom trading plans to manage lockup liquidity and diversify single-stock holdings.
Career transitions: Advice on what happens to equity when you quit or retire.
Wealth with Options focuses on transforming complex stock awards into financial freedom for tech professionals. They act as a personal CFO by integrating RSU and stock option strategies directly into a holistic financial plan.
Education-first model: They teach you how your awards actually work so you understand the logic behind each move.
Specialized tax focus: Proactive solutions for navigating AMT liability and RSU tax withholding.
Boutique service: Directly work with seasoned advisors Ryan Goldenhar and Jackie Lewis.
Transparent pricing: Straightforward, fee-only fiduciary advice with no hidden costs.
Munroe Morrow works with executives and founders whose balance sheets are highly concentrated in company stock. They move beyond isolated financial decisions to build plans that connect exit events to long-term income and legacy goals.
Stock option analysis: Evaluating how ISOs, NSOs, and RSUs interact with risk and planning goals.
Tax-aware coordination: Evaluating tax implications across multiple years to avoid unnecessary drag.
Diversification strategies: Developing structured exit plans tailored to lock-up periods and trading windows.
Legacy planning: Coordinating estate strategies and charitable gifting of appreciated shares.
Brooklyn FI specializes in helping founders, startup employees, and high-income tech professionals make smarter decisions about equity compensation. Rather than treating stock options as a standalone tax issue, the firm integrates equity planning into broader financial planning, investment management, and tax preparation.
Equity compensation planning: Guidance on ISOs, NSOs, RSUs, ESPPs, and pre-IPO equity.
Integrated tax planning: Financial planners work alongside tax professionals to help optimize exercise timing and tax outcomes.
Investment management: Diversification strategies designed around concentrated stock positions.
Founder and tech expertise: Experience advising employees at venture-backed startups and public technology companies.
To ensure an advisor is not just a generalist claiming expertise, ask these three questions:
Can you model my AMT exposure for a disqualifying vs. qualifying disposition?
How do you handle concentrated stock risk through exchange funds or 10b5-1 plans?
Are you a fiduciary 100% of the time?
You should also ask about their experience with 83(b) elections, QSBS eligibility, and multi-year tax projections.
Most financial advisors focus on managing your investment portfolio and won't go deep on the parts of equity compensation that actually move the numbers: AMT exposure, the tax difference between qualifying and disqualifying dispositions, 83(b) elections, QSBS eligibility, and multi-year tax projections.
A specialist actively models liquidity events, tax timing, and concentration risk rather than treating your equity as a static line item. A simple test is to ask whether they can model your AMT exposure for a disqualifying versus qualifying disposition. If they can't, they're a generalist claiming expertise.
Generally, when the cost of getting a decision wrong is larger than the cost of the advice. For executives, that threshold comes up fast, because a single exercise decision touches taxes, portfolio concentration, liquidity, and estate planning at the same time.
Specific moments worth bringing in an advisor include an approaching IPO or tender offer, a large ISO exercise that could trigger AMT, a job change that affects your equity, or a balance sheet that's become heavily concentrated in one company's stock.
Start with three questions that separate specialists from generalists:
Can you model my AMT exposure for a disqualifying versus qualifying disposition?
How do you handle concentrated stock risk, for example through exchange funds or 10b5-1 plans?
Are you a fiduciary 100% of the time?
From there, ask about their experience with 83(b) elections, QSBS eligibility, and multi-year tax projections. A fee-only fiduciary structure matters too, since it means their advice isn't shaped by commissions or kickbacks.
The tool shown here uses artificial intelligence and is for illustrative purposes only and not necessarily indicative of future results and there is no guarantee that similar results can be achieved. The information provided by the tool is not professional advice and is not intended by Secfi, Inc., its affiliates, and Secfi representatives, to be deemed as investment, legal, tax or other professional advice or recommendations of any kind, or to form the basis of any decision to do or to refrain from doing anything. Secfi does not review the accuracy or completeness of the information provided to us within the tool.
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