New York‑based Wealthspire on Tuesday announced the launch of a new vertical within its family office division that it said is dedicated to serving professional athletes, entertainers, creators and other individual investors whose careers and financial lives often require specialized advice and coordination.
The new Wealthspire Sports & Entertainment (WSE) practice is being led by Frank Marzano, who was named the vertical’s Managing Director and Head of WSE.
Marzano, who was already serving as Co‑Head of Wealthspire Family Office (WFO), has over 25 years of experience advising high net worth individuals and families, including pro athletes, entertainers, producers and other creative executives, the company said.
He joined Wealthspire in 2023 through its acquisition of GM Advisory Group.
WSE was overseeing about $2.88 billion in assets under management (AUM) and serving more than 200 ultra‑high net worth clients, families and institutions as of Sept. 1, Wealthspire said Tuesday.
The new vertical will capitalize on the existing infrastructure of family office accounting, lifestyle and concierge, bill pay, wealth strategy and the firm’s investment platform, according to Wealthspire.
The firm said WSE addresses fluctuating income, contract and compensation arrangements, tax and estate planning, business ventures, real estate, charitable giving and career transitions for sports and entertainment professionals.
Wealthspire said it can also connect clients with affiliate Ground Control Business Management, which is targeted at investors with complex day‑to‑day financial needs in entertainment, media, sports and other industries.
“Approximately 20 advisors from across the business are dedicated to WSE,” Marzano told Wealth Solutions Report by email. Overall, WFO has approximately 60 advisors, wealth strategists and business management associates, he noted.
Although WSE launched officially this week, Marzano pointed out, “the team has been working together with the intention of this launch since the announcement” of WFO’s launch in March.
The WFO launch “in many ways was the catalyst to create a structure that could better serve sports and entertainment clients with an integrated approach that mirrors how we serve family office clients,” Marzano explained. “With the addition of key teams across the business (including Ground Control), we recognized that our collective expertise and relationships within these areas give us an advantage in our business and more importantly, help us better serve our clients.”
Marzano added, “We always envisioned this to be a specialty area for clients and were focused on developing more business within sports and entertainment. With the expansion of Wealthspire, we knew that launching Wealthspire Family Office gave us the opportunity to truly establish a practice devoted to sports and entertainment.”
WSE also coordinates with clients’ agents, attorneys, accountants, business managers and other professionals on financial matters, the firm said.
Mike LaMena, CEO of Wealthspire, said in the press release that sports and entertainment professionals “deserve advisors who understand that environment and can bring both specialized expertise and the resources of a broader wealth management organization to the table.”
Wealthspire had more than $660 billion in assets under advisement or AUM as of June 30, according to the firm.
Jeff Berman, Contributing Editor and Reporter at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jeff.berman@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
