Private Wealth Management Focused on the Nonprofit & Association Community
Wealth advisory services designed for the executives, board members, donors, and families connected to the community we were purpose-built to serve.
OUR SOLUTIONS
Wealth Advisory for Nonprofit Leaders, Donors & Families
The wealth you have built can support several goals at once: a secure retirement, helping your family, and giving to the causes you care about.
Those goals connect through decisions that work best when they are considered together. Questions often come up, such as:
- Are you on track for the retirement you have in mind?
- Are your charitable giving and investment strategies accounting for taxes?
- If you plan to transfer wealth to your family, how can you do that tax-efficiently while still providing for your own needs?
Looking at these decisions side by side helps each one move you toward the future you have in mind.
Raffa was purpose-built to serve the nonprofit and association community. Overtime, our work has naturally extended to the people connected to those organizations: executives, board members, donors, volunteers, and families who care deeply about the community they support. Our private wealth practice exists to help these individuals and families make decisions about retirement, family, taxes, charitable giving, estate planning, and long-term stewardship. Our approach is an extension of the work that has guided our nonprofit investing services for over two decades: planning grounded in a defined strategy, fiduciary advice, detailed reporting, and a focus on client service. This means the same structure and accountability is applied to your own financial goals the causes you support.
Private Wealth Services
Investment Management
Charitable Giving Strategy
Tax Planning & Strategy
Retirement Income Planning
Family Wealth Advising
Estate Planning Guidance
Executive Benefit Support
Risk Management & Insurance
How Raffa Approaches Private Wealth Management
The people we serve are often fiduciaries themselves. They sit on boards, lead organizations, oversee reserves and foundations, and think deeply about stewardship. Your personal financial decisions deserve the same thoughtful framework. Our approach to private wealth management includes:
Relationship-Centered Wealth Advisory Services
Wealth advisory services are delivered through an ongoing relationship between you and your adviser. Your adviser has conversations with you to understand your financial situation, learn about the goals you are working toward for yourself and those you care about, and help you create a strategy aligned to them. Communication is consistent throughout the engagement, including monthly and quarterly reports, market commentary, and availability for conversations as needed.
A Long-Term Comprehensive Approach
A comprehensive, long-term approach to wealth management considers your financial decisions together rather than in isolation. Your adviser looks at how each piece of your financial picture interacts with the others, like how income decisions affect your taxes or how investment positioning affects your retirement income. As your circumstances change through retirement, a new role, a family transition, or a shift in tax law, your adviser is able to revisit the strategy with you so it continues to reflect your current situation and goals.
Tax-Aware Strategies
Tax-aware planning is the practice of considering the tax impact of each financial decision rather than treating tax as something to address only at year-end. Your adviser works with you to keep tax considerations in view throughout the year, including how each account is positioned, when gains or losses are realized, how withdrawals are structured, and how charitable gifts are funded. These decisions can affect your tax picture across multiple years.
Fiduciary Advice
A fiduciary investment adviser is required to act in your best interest. Raffa Investment Advisers is an SEC-registered investment adviser and operates as a fiduciary. In practice, that means recommendations are made with your goals as the primary consideration, conflicts of interest are disclosed, and decisions on your behalf are made with care and loyalty.
Coordination With Your Other Advisers
Many private wealth decisions involve professionals beyond your investment adviser, including your CPA, estate planning attorney, or insurance professional. Your adviser is able to help you recognize when a question calls for input from a different professional, and can coordinate with your other advisers at your request.
Knowledge is Meant to Be Shared
Raffa Insights & Resources
Sample Investment Policy Statement
Download our Sample Investment Policy Statement to use as a reference point when evaluating your own policy or starting the conversation with your board.
What's Normal For Nonprofit Reserves?
Learn how to think about reserve structure, investment allocation, and what peer benchmarking data can tell you about where your organization stands.
Frequently Asked Questions About Private Wealth Management
What is private wealth management?
Private wealth management is a broader form of investment advisory work than portfolio management alone. Where standalone investment services focus only on the portfolio, private wealth management includes advice on the related decisions that affect long-term financial outcomes, such as how income is drawn, how taxes interact with investment timing, and how giving or wealth transfer is structured. For individuals and families, the relationship pairs portfolio decisions with the broader context of long-term goals. The work is ongoing, with the strategy adjusted as circumstances and goals evolve.
What services does private wealth management include?
Private wealth management typically includes investment management alongside advice on the financial decisions that connect to it. For individuals and families, that commonly covers topics such as tax-aware investing, retirement income, estate planning, family wealth advising, charitable giving, executive benefits, and risk management. The exact mix varies by client, with some areas more central than others depending on goals, life stage, and family circumstances.
It is important to note that while private wealth management may take tax-efficient approaches into consideration or discuss the titling and beneficiaries on your investment accounts with you, investment advisers are not estate planning attorneys or CPAs. A coordinated approach between all of your advisers is important.
Who is private wealth management for?
Private wealth management is suited to individuals and families across multiple stages of life, from those building wealth mid-career to those nearing or living in retirement. What ties them together is wanting their investments to be tied to specific goals and to reflect or account for the broader factors of their financial life, such as taxes, family priorities, charitable giving, and equity or deferred compensation. It is a relationship well suited to individuals and families who want an adviser who takes the time to understand their situation, offers tailored guidance, and helps them feel confident in the decisions ahead.
Is there a minimum to work with a private wealth adviser?
There is no single minimum for individuals and families to work with a private wealth adviser. Industry minimums commonly range from around $250,000 at firms offering scaled-down services to $1 million to $5 million at many traditional private wealth managers, with some firms requiring $10 million or more. Raffa generally works with clients who have at least $1 million in investable assets, although exceptions may be made in certain circumstances.
How are private wealth advisers paid?
Private wealth advisers are most commonly paid one of three ways: a percentage of assets under management, a flat or fixed annual fee, or commissions on products sold to clients. How an adviser is paid can affect the advice you receive: commission-based compensation ties an adviser’s pay to specific transactions or products being recommended. Asset-based compensation is typically paid directly by the client and is a common model for fiduciary advisers, who are legally required to act in the client’s best interest. Raffa’s advisory agreement fee is based on a percentage of assets under management.
How is a private wealth adviser different from a CPA or estate planning attorney?
A private wealth adviser, a CPA, and an estate planning attorney each serve different, but integrated, parts of an individual or family’s financial life. A CPA prepares tax returns and provides tax advice. An estate planning attorney drafts legal documents like wills and trusts. A private wealth adviser manages the investment portfolio and offers advice on the financial decisions connected to it, such as retirement income, tax-aware investing, and charitable giving. The three roles are complementary, and individuals and families often work with all three to keep tax, legal, and investment decisions aligned.
What types of accounts can be managed under a private wealth engagement?
A private wealth engagement typically includes taxable brokerage accounts (individual, joint, and trust), traditional and Roth IRAs, inherited and beneficiary accounts, donor-advised funds, and self-employed retirement accounts like SEP and SIMPLE IRAs. Other account types, such as 529 college savings accounts and custodial accounts for minors, may also be included depending on the firm. Employer-plan assets that cannot be transferred, like a current 401(k), 403(b), or 457, are often not directly managed but are typically considered in the broader conversation about asset allocation, withdrawals, and long-term goals, so the strategy reflects the whole picture.
Disclosures:
Raffa Wealth Management, LLC doing business as Raffa Investment Advisers (“Raffa”) is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
The information presented on this page is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell any security, or an offer to provide investment advisory services. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy or approach described will be successful or achieve any stated or implied objectives. Any references to specific services are intended to describe Raffa’s general approach and may not be suitable for all individuals or clients.
References to tax-aware strategies, tax efficiency, or tax planning considerations are intended to describe how tax considerations may be incorporated into investment decision-making. Raffa does not provide tax or legal advice. Clients and prospective clients should consult their qualified tax professionals and/or legal advisers regarding their individual circumstances before making any financial decisions. Similarly, references to estate planning, insurance, or other specialized areas are for informational purposes only and are not intended as legal, tax, or insurance advice. Where appropriate, Raffa may coordinate with a client’s other professional advisers at the client’s direction.
Certain statements on this page may describe potential benefits of a comprehensive wealth management approach, such as coordination, clarity, or improved decision-making. These statements are illustrative in nature and are not guarantees of any specific outcome, experience, or result. Additionally, any discussion of communication frequency, reporting, or client experience reflects general practices and may vary based on client needs, service arrangements, and other factors. Minimum asset levels, service availability, and fee structures may vary and are subject to change at Raffa’s discretion. Descriptions of Raffa’s fiduciary status refer to the firm’s obligations under applicable federal securities laws, including duties of care and loyalty. These obligations do not eliminate all conflicts of interest. Material conflicts are disclosed in Raffa’s Form ADV Part 2A. Additional information about Raffa’s investment advisory services, fees, and conflicts of interest is available in the firm’s Form ADV Part 2A, which is available upon request or at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
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