*Bernstein does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. In considering this material, you should discuss your individual circumstances with professionals in those areas before making any decisions.
Wealth Management for Business Owners
A family office built for business owners
For the founders we serve, we’re more than an investment firm. We operate as a modern family office, built specifically around the realities of business ownership and the ambitions of those who create enduring value.
Every founder’s journey is unique. Goals evolve, businesses mature, and families grow. That’s why our dynamic approach delivers value before, during, and after a liquidity event. Simply put: we meet owners where they are to help them navigate their next chapter. When it comes to wealth management for business owners, we serve as a long-term partner to deliver insight, access, and strategy—not just to manage capital.
Tailored solutions for founders
Our business owners advisory services offer valuable insights, whether you’re navigating growth capital decisions, structuring ownership transitions, or aligning your wealth planning with your long-term vision.
Business owners appreciate the independence of our thinking, the rigor of our research, and the ability to access solutions tailored to their specific needs. It’s this combination that has made Bernstein a trusted, generational partner for wealth management for business owners.
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Extend Your Team
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Connect & Learn
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Credit & Lending
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Planning
Extend your team
Even if a transaction is years away, having professional expertise on your side can enhance your internal resources and maximize your business's value.
With our business owners advisory services, we’ll tap into our vast network of seasoned in-house professionals and external contacts to help with key areas like merger structures, wealth transfer strategies, and trust law, ensuring you have the right support when you need it.
As trusted confidants with deep community ties, we’ll help assemble the right team, allowing you to focus on what you do best—growing your business.
Connect and learn
We know building a business involves more than just focusing on the bottom line. That’s why we’ve created a series of curated Business Owner Forums and Summits designed exclusively for founders, entrepreneurs and wealth creators. These immersive experiences address the distinct challenges and opportunities that come with owning, scaling, and eventually transitioning a business.
Through candid conversations, facilitated peer breakouts, and shared stories, attendees gain practical insights, fresh perspectives, and the reassurance that they’re not alone.
Credit & lending
Sophisticated credit solutions—like lines of credit, accounts receivable factoring, and acquisition financing—are essential for your success. So our business owners advisory services leverage our internal expertise alongside a curated network of top-tier lending professionals to deliver customized credit strategies with access to preferential terms.
In parallel, we’ve built a significant private credit platform with nearly $60 billion deployed across direct business lending, real estate financing, and broader corporate credit strategies. The result gives you the flexibility to choose from among the best internal and external credit solutions for your business.
Planning
For many founders, the decision to sell is often the most consequential of their lives. Yet too often, founders leave opportunities on the table. Why? They’re absorbed in negotiating, unaware of the breadth of strategies available, or understandably hesitant to act.
That’s where our wealth management for business owners comes in. We are fortunate to house one of the deepest planning groups in the industry. Our Wealth Strategies Group includes more than 30 professionals—former trust and estate attorneys, CPAs, tax specialists, and analysts—who focus exclusively on advanced planning for business owners and other wealth creators.
Featured Content
The new tax law doesn’t just tweak QSBS—it widens the funnel so that more startups and investors qualify for this powerful tax incentive.
When you come into sudden wealth—whether through a business exit, inheritance or other windfall—the pressure to build something impressive can be overwhelming. Here’s why it pays to pause.
Female founders need more than just women investors to thrive in today’s competitive startup landscape.
Do you have a succession plan?
Selling a business creates both opportunities and challenges, especially when planning for future generations. That’s why we created AB Lab to educate the next generation around financial literacy, stewardship, and responsibility.
Developing the next generation as future partners and leaders is a common concern. Too often, the founder struggles to relinquish control, causing tension among rising family members, who may feel uncertain of their role. We work closely with families to change that dynamic by building tailored succession plans: identifying talent, clarifying responsibilities, and gradually transferring leadership.
Through governance frameworks, leadership coaching, and structured family engagement, we help ensure successors are not just chosen—but prepared.
Before a transaction
The greatest opportunities often come well before a sale. Many advanced tax and wealth-transfer strategies—those capable of shifting substantial wealth to heirs or charitable causes—must be implemented pre-transaction. Establishing these strategies early can save millions in taxes while enhancing legacy outcomes.*
During the deal process
Once a deal is in motion, execution becomes paramount. We evaluate the impact of various deal structures, weighing short-term liquidity against longer-term participation and future optionality. Our modeling provides clarity on which structures align best with an owner's financial goals, risk tolerance, and legacy aspirations.
After the transaction
With liquidity in hand, the focus shifts to implementation. Here, wealth management for business owners includes helping minimize ongoing tax exposure, securing lifestyle spending, and structuring wealth transfers for family. For many clients, this is also the time to amplify their philanthropic vision—deploying capital to causes they care most about.
For you, investing is different
We believe that effective money management for business owners starts with comprehensive planning. But we go further.
We dive into the specifics of your operating company, analyzing its corporate structure, liquidity, real estate holdings, leverage, and interest rate sensitivity. If you're nearing an exit, we also assess how the deal structure impacts your overall wealth.
This holistic approach to wealth management for business owners aligns your personal and business goals, optimizing tax outcomes and minimizing risk.
Are you safeguarding your team?
With employees’ retirement outcomes on the line, it’s up to 401(k) plan sponsors to ensure they are receiving independent, next-generation advice.
When founders connect
Explore Bernstein Private Wealth Management’s Founders in Focus, an exclusive series featuring four pioneering entrepreneurs. Gain valuable insights from their candid discussions on community, mentorship, and purpose. Discover how they navigate their unique journeys, lean on others to build enduring legacies, and think about wealth management for business owners.
Hear from peers
Our latest research, “Wealth Beyond Measure,” features insightful interviews with 40 UHNW Bernstein families from around the world. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of the families we spoke to own an operating business, navigating both business decisions and family needs—and the complex ways they intersect. Hear what’s on their minds regarding wealth management for business owners.
Looking for a sounding board?
Wealth can be isolating—but you don't have to navigate the journey alone. Our latest research is a thoughtful analysis of the issues that matter most to UHNW families. Check out the summary for peer-to-peer insights.
Get in Touch
Our team of advisors in 20 cities are ready and able to help you wherever you are.