Since the formation of Aspiriant in 2008, we have brought together several firms whose client relationships and
business operations go back many years if not decades. We currently provide a full suite of sophisticated and
integrated investment management, wealth planning and family office services. As of March 31, 2024, we have
approximately 2100 clients and manage $11,132,016,000 on a discretionary basis and $3,699,424,000 on a
non-discretionary basis.
We are owned by holding companies with the sole purpose of holding Aspiriant, LLC and its affiliates’ shares.
The holding companies themselves do not have any operations. Approximately 1/3 of our employees own shares
in one or more of the holding companies. From time to time, we may have minority owners who are former
employees but otherwise we have no passive owners. This ownership structure is a key part of our firm – it
creates client service stability and drives our future by maintaining a strong, executable plan for ownership
succession.
We are fiduciaries under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and when we provide investment advice to you
regarding your retirement plan account or individual retirement account, we are also fiduciaries within the
meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and/or the Internal Revenue Code,
as applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts. We have to act in your best interest and not put
our interest ahead of yours.
Our service offerings include discretionary and non-discretionary investment management (also referred to as
investment advisory services), wealth planning, family office and specialty services.
“Wealth Planning Services, Family Office Services and Specialty Services” we offer include but are not limited
to:
• Creation of long-term financial plans, including long-term net worth, cash flow, and income tax
projections;
• Education funding needs analyses and planning;
• Retirement planning;
• Education funding analyses and planning;
• Debt management planning;
• Risk management needs assessment and insurance planning, with third party providers;
• Employer compensation and benefits planning;
• Development of philanthropic strategies;
• Concentrated stock planning;
• Family governance consulting;
• Developing estate planning strategies and/or review estate planning documents;
• Asset transfer planning income/gift/estate tax planning and or return preparation;
• Accounting and Banking services, including bill payments and/or the preparation of personal (and
business) financial statements; and
• Development of models that test how well your desired expenses match your projected financial
resources including a depletion analysis to assist professional fiduciaries.
We also provide advice on additional wealth planning matters when overseeing the complex financial lives of
families with substantial assets including educating multi-generations within families about living with their
wealth.
We offer complete wealth management services primarily to high net-worth individuals and families as well as
professional fiduciaries. This work includes advising on trusts, estates, private foundations, retirement plans,
and business entities, as appropriate. To perform our services well, we meet with you and work to outline your
financial circumstances and investment objectives. We then offer an investment management program tailored
to your needs.
Investment advisory services we offer include some or all of the following:
• Evaluation of your current portfolio, investment strategy, and risk tolerance;
• Education on investments, creation of investment portfolios, and how you create an investment plan to
meet specific financial goals;
• Help with drafting your Investment Policy Statement (the policies and guidelines that govern the
management of your portfolio) which you review and approve;
• Development of asset allocation portfolios (your overall investment mix) to provide guidance (described
below in Item 8) in the selection of, or recommendations regarding, asset classes that are consistent
with your stated investment objectives, risk tolerance, and overall financial goals;
• Selections of, or recommendations regarding, specific money managers whose funds, separate-account
management, portfolio risk management, and similar services will be used in your portfolio. Our
recommendations regarding money managers focus on matching your investment objectives and the
manager, past performance, size of investment, as well as other suitability factors;
• Selections of, or recommendations regarding, sub-advisors as may be advised in the management of
your portfolio, whether you are an individual investor or an institutional investor;
• Trade execution, trading assistance, and/or recommendations regarding trading in accordance with your
agreement(s) with us;
• Rebalancing your assets among funds and other investments, or recommendations regarding
rebalancing, in keeping with your investment policy statement and chosen asset allocation;
• Acting as investment advisor to the Aspiriant Affiliated Mutual Funds;
• Access to private investments through our Aspiriant Affiliated Mutual Funds;
• Selections of recommended Private Investment Offerings (PIO) that have been sourced by Aspiriant’s
Investment Strategy and Research Team including initial and ongoing due diligence;
• Recommendations for third party managers who provide hedging strategy services or other hedging
strategy solutions;
• Cash management solutions using short-term debt securities including but not limited to treasuries and
ETFs;
• Investment management of 401K assets (where clients give us the ability to effect trades and rebalance
the underlying holdings); and
• Investment management services for institutions and retirement plans.
When providing investment management services to retirement plans, we may exercise discretionary
authority or control over the plan investments. If the plan is subject to ERISA, we perform these services to
the plan as a fiduciary and investment manager under ERISA. We are legally required to act with the degree
of diligence, care and skill that a prudent person rendering similar services would exercise under similar
circumstances. The services we provide to you beyond investment advice are further described in Item 10,
Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations.
Where you give us discretionary authority, once you choose an overall investment mix (referred to as an “asset
allocation”), we select the specific securities to fulfill the desired mix of assets. We use selected separate account
managers, mutual funds including interval funds, exchange-traded funds, exchange-traded notes, private
investments, bonds, cash-equivalents, and other instruments. Some of the mutual funds including interval
funds, that may be utilized in client portfolios are also managed by us (see more below on the Aspiriant Affiliated
Mutual Funds). This is described in more detail below in both Item 8, Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies
and Risk of Loss, and Item 10, Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations.
When you give us non-discretionary authority, once you notify us of your chosen overall investment mix, we
recommend securities to you, but you must approve all trades. If requested, we may recommend separate
account managers, mutual funds including interval funds, exchange-traded funds, exchange-traded notes,
private investments, bonds, cash-equivalents, and other instruments. If requested, we may also make
recommendations either to hold or transact with respect to certain other securities you may currently hold in
your non-discretionary accounts. The private investments used in client portfolios are managed by third parties.
Some of the mutual funds, including interval funds, that may be recommended for client portfolios are also
managed by us (see more below on the Aspiriant Affiliated Mutual Funds). This is described in more detail below
in both Item 8, Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss, and Item 10, Other Financial
Industry Activities and Affiliations.
When providing investment advisory services, we consider your income and liquidity needs, time horizon, legal
and tax constraints, risk tolerance, inter-generational issues, and special circumstances related to you and/or
that of the beneficial owners such as trust beneficiaries, as applicable. We sometimes make recommendations
with respect to the purchase or sale of specific securities as appropriate to address tax or estate planning
objectives. For example, we may compare the consequences of selling a security in the market versus gifting a
security to charity, and we may make other recommendations for tax and financial planning reasons. When
requested, we also analyze the purchase or sale of employer securities as part of the development of an
employee client stock-option exercise program. Our recommendations sometimes consider tax, cash flow, and
estate planning implications in addition to the intrinsic merits of the specific security as an investment.
As a fiduciary, we only recommend a rollover when we believe it is in your best interest at the time of the
recommendation. When we make a recommendation that you rollover a retirement account that we do not
currently manage to an account that we manage and provide investment advice on, we benefit financially
because the assets increase our assets under management and, in turn, our advisory fees. Therefore, this
recommendation creates a conflict of interest because of the way we make money.
As a fiduciary, we only recommend a private investment when we believe it is in your best interest at the time
of the recommendation. When we make a recommendation that you invest in a recommended private
investment offering, we benefit financially because you pay an additional 0.30% of the value of the assets
invested in the private investments, in addition to our standard fees. This increases the advisory fees that we
earn and thus this recommendation creates a conflict of interest because of the way we make money.
We provide divorce financial consulting with on-staff Certified Divorce Financial Analysts (“CDFA”). The CDFA
works with you and your attorney through the divorce process by providing an understanding of the financial
ramifications of the divorce settlement. We help you develop financial analysis and budgets considering such
things as immediate family needs, tax liabilities, life/health insurance and retirement needs. We provide special
needs financial consulting with an on-staff Chartered Special Needs Consultant® (ChSNC®). The ChSNC helps
you navigate the financial challenges related to disabilities and other medical conditions including special needs
trusts, life insurance, government benefits, and long-term care. We also provide advice to business owners
looking to successfully sell or transition their businesses with an on-staff Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA).
The scope of the services we provide to you specifically is outlined in your written agreement or other
documents.
It is your responsibility to promptly notify us if there is ever any change in your financial situation, risk tolerance,
or investment objectives. It is necessary that you keep us promptly informed about changes in your financial or
personal circumstances for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating, and/or revising our previous recommendations
to you in relation to either investment advisory or wealth planning services.
We have an ethical and legal responsibility to be in periodic contact with our clients, therefore if we are unable
to contact, and receive a response from you, for over a year it is generally our policy to cease serving you and
terminate the relationship.