Wera Rodsawang | Moment | Getty Images
The richest U.S. households have financial needs different from those of the average investor and, as such, seek out financial advisors who specialize in managing this echelon of wealth.
The inaugural CNBC Elite Advisors list recognizes 25 of the nation’s leading investment advisors serving ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices, selected for their expertise in advising clients with investable assets of $25 million or more.
While they provide investment management services — including private, illiquid or concentrated asset holdings — the bulk of these advisors’ work exists outside the client portfolio, according to financial experts who specialize in the uber-rich market.
What truly defines advisors who serve the extremely wealthy is their expertise in managing complex financial and relationship dynamics, often across multiple generations of a family, experts said. That might include tax, estate, trust and risk planning; family governance, business advisory and philanthropy services; and more lifestyle-type offerings such as private jet leasing and concierge services.
“It’s a different job” from that of a traditional financial advisor, said Vlad Golyk, a partner at McKinsey & Co., who leads the consulting firm’s wealth management practice in North America.
We created CNBC Elite Advisors this year to recognize top wealth management firms working in this space. CNBC accepts no payment for placement.
Our team used data analysis and editorial review to compile the CNBC Elite Advisors list. Read more about the methodology below.
For 2026, the CNBC Elite Advisors are headquartered across 15 states and collectively oversee $2.1 trillion in assets under management. They average 31 years in business, with the oldest founded in 1923 and the youngest formed in 2023 — a 100-year difference.
What net worth qualifies as ultra-high net worth?
What defines an ultra-high net worth household isn’t an exact science.
Such households generally have investable assets totaling roughly $20 million to $30 million, or more, according to financial experts who specialize in the ultra-high net worth market.
Investable assets include holdings in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, private equity and hedge funds, for example.
Those assets don’t include a primary residence, vehicles or privately held family businesses, which might make up half of an extremely wealthy household’s total net worth, said Chayce Horton, an associate director in the wealth management practice at Cerulli Associates. Cerulli assisted CNBC in compiling the Elite Advisors list.
So, a total net worth of approximately $50 million might be another definition for an ultra-high net worth client, he said.
How many uber-rich households are there?
Families with $20 million or more in financial assets account for an increasing share of U.S. wealth.
There were about 442,000 ultra-high net worth households in 2024, accounting for 0.3% of the U.S. population that year, according to the latest data from Cerulli Associates.
Clients in this space demand best-in-class.
Chayce Horton
associate director, Cerulli Associates
They collectively held $22.5 trillion of investable assets, accounting for nearly 25% of such assets across all U.S. households, according to Cerulli. That’s up substantially from a 10% share in 2010.
About 37% of ultra-high net worth clients are entrepreneurs or business owners, according to Cerulli. Wealth inheritors account for 24% and corporate executives another 13%, it found.
What is ultra-high net worth wealth management?
Financial advisors for extremely wealthy clients are serving the richest U.S. households.
Services for the uber-rich are different from those of advisors who cater to the average or even moderately wealthy client, experts said.
Investment management is often not the primary consideration. Generally, the extremely rich need advisors who can oversee complex financial issues and intergenerational wealth, said Cerulli’s Horton. Services typically entail tax, estate and trust planning; business advisory and philanthropic services; and family governance.
“What makes the ultra-high net worth space different is these advisors don’t say ‘no’ when a client asks something of them,” Horton said.
Advisors don’t necessarily offer all this expertise in-house.
“Clients in this space demand best-in-class, and not every kind of firm will be able to offer best-in-class in every strategy,” Horton said. “But they know enough who to go to for these things.”
UHNW advisor, wealth manager, or family office?
There’s a lot of overlap in terms of this space, including ultra-high net worth wealth managers, private wealth advisors and family offices, experts said. But there are some subtle differences.
For example, large private banks generally offer most, if not all, services for ultra-high net worth clients in-house, rather than working with third parties, experts said.
There are also different types of family offices: multifamily and single-family offices.
The former is built to work with multiple wealthy families, with each advisor serving perhaps five to 10 families, said Matt Zampariolo, a wealth management research analyst at Cerulli. The latter serves just one family.
Different types of firms might set different asset minimums for clients, experts said.
For example, private banks or multifamily offices may have thresholds ranging from $25 million to $100 million, while a single-family office might require a minimum of $150 million to $200 million, said McKinsey’s Golyk.
What fees do advisors to the uber-rich charge?
The bulk — about 95% — of financial advisors for high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients charge fees based on assets under management, according to Cerulli data.
This is an annual fee the advisor charges clients as a percentage of assets under management, or AUM. The average fee for ultra-high net worth clients was 0.54% in 2025, up from 0.45% in 2021, according to Cerulli.
An asset-based fee of 0.54% on a $20 million portfolio would be $108,000, for example.
Other advisors may charge a flat-dollar fee — likely in the six figures for ultra-high net worth clients — rather than a percentage of assets, according to Zampariolo.
However, these are just baseline fees, he said.
These advisors often charge additional fees on top of their AUM or flat fee as “a la carte pricing” for various services, Zampariolo said. Tax planning is the most likely service to be subject to a separate fee, he said.
Methodology: How CNBC chose Elite Advisors
CNBC uses data analysis and editorial review to compile the CNBC Elite Advisors list.
Participating firms were evaluated through a comprehensive assessment that measured both scale and quality across several key areas, including organizational scalability, assets under management attributable to ultra-high net worth clients, breadth and sophistication of client services and investment strategies, firm credibility through professional certifications and industry recognition, and overall reputation, including client retention and tenure.
To help develop the methodology and assess participating firms, CNBC surveyed more than 100 qualifying firms and consulted with AccuPoint Solutions, a wealth management data and research firm specializing in advisor intelligence and industry analytics, as well as Cerulli Associates, a research and consulting organization focused on the asset and wealth management industries.
CNBC receives no compensation from placing financial advisory firms on our Elite Advisors list. Additionally, a firm’s or advisor’s appearance in our list does not constitute an individual endorsement by CNBC of any firm or advisor.
