Office address: 99 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016
Website: ceritypartners.com
Year established: 2009
Company type: financial services
Employees: 1,200+
Expertise: wealth management, investment management, estate and gift planning, tax planning and preparation, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, executive financial counseling, nonprofit investment consulting, family office services, corporate venture capital
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Kurt Miscinski (CEO), Robert Jeffers (COO), Suk Shah (CFO), Ben Pace (CIO), Carol Benz (chief people officer), Tom Cohn (chief solutions officer), John Hyman (head of investment management)
Financing status: private equity-backed
Cerity Partners is a New York-based wealth management and advisory firm. It provides clients with investment management, financial planning, tax services, and more. The firm has over 50 US offices and more than 1,200 staff nationwide.
Cerity Partners started as a small firm with a big vision in 2009. Kurt Miscinski, a former Deutsche Bank executive, teamed up with Howard P. Milstein of Emigrant Bank to launch HPM Partners. The firm set out to serve high-net-worth individuals and families with objective financial advice under a private partnership model.
The firm's steady growth soon drew attention from investors in the private equity space. Lightyear Capital came on board in 2018 and helped the company expand its footprint across the US.
HPM Partners then rebranded to Cerity Partners in 2019 to better match its broader scope and vision. The new name comes from "sincerity," which Miscinski said captures the firm's character and the experience clients receive.
The company kept its pace in recent years with new recognition and major deals. Five of its advisors made the InvestmentNews Rising Stars list for wealth managers under 40 in 2025. This shows how the firm continues to attract top young talent as it expands nationwide.
The firm then invested $10 million in Nasdaq Private Market in late 2025 to form a strategic partnership. The deal gave Cerity Partners an exclusive role advising employees of NPM's client companies who participate in tender offers on the platform.
Cerity Partners brings together financial planners, tax advisors, attorneys, and investment professionals under one roof for objective advice:
The firm also runs Cerity Partners University, an internal program that trains staff from new hires to senior professionals. This covers technical skills, soft skills, and real-world case studies to maintain service quality across offices.
Cerity Partners says it takes a "long view" with clients, meaning long-term growth over quick gains. It calls its workplace a meritocracy that rewards effort. The firm lists these values as its guiding principles:
1) collaborative
2) entrepreneurial
3) resolute
4) in-service mindset
5) thought leaders
6) you
Staff at Cerity Partners receive these benefits:
Beyond these perks, the firm says it believes in its people. It adds that it encourages different viewpoints and high standards.
Kurt Miscinski is a partner and CEO of Cerity Partners, leading the firm's strategy and management. Miscinski was a managing director at a global investment bank's private wealth division before founding the firm. He holds degrees from the University of Illinois and DePaul University and is a CNBC CEO Council member.
Cerity Partners' leadership team drives strategy and operations across the firm:
These leaders bring decades of experience across more than 50 offices nationwide. Their work supports the firm's mission to serve clients' financial well-being.
The company is expanding its focus on private market assets like private equity, venture capital, and real estate. Partner Tom Cohn told InvestmentNews in 2025 that the firm has 12 researchers finding top managers in these areas. This approach positions Cerity Partners to serve clients seeking alternatives beyond traditional stocks and bonds.
On the expansion front, Cerity Partners closed two mergers in a single week in January 2026. The firm acquired Austin Private Wealth in Texas and SOL Capital Management, a Maryland advisory founded in 1987. These moves extend Cerity Partners' geographic reach and add experienced teams to its growing national platform.
PE-linked deals accounted for nearly three-quarters of all activity, while US firms accelerated their international push into European and Australian markets.
Trustees at the $13.8 billion Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund reopened their investment consultant search after selecting Verus Investments last month, citing concerns about the private equity ownership of its new parent Cerity Partners, a mega-RIA backed by Genstar Capital, Warburg Pincus, and Lightyear Capital.
Elsewhere, Carson Group bolstered its presence in Washington while Integrated adds a $600 million Ameriprise team in Denver.
Firm broadens reach into key regional markets and deepens specialized planning capabilities.
The deal adds Verus’s $1.2 trillion institutional advisory footprint into Cerity, an RIA that manages roughly $150 billion in existing assets including $8.5 billion tied to its family office division.
Strong dealmaking landscape in the wealth management space begins 2026 unabated.
Meanwhile, Integrated Partners deepened its presence further in Connecticut, and Cerity Partners executed a merger of its own in the Lone Star State.
Cerity’s $10 million stake gives its advisors a front-row role in NPM-run liquidity programs, with planning support tied to employee tender proceeds.
Explore our list of firms that offer outsourced CIO services for a variety of clients, including RIAs
Also, a triple-deal propels Beacon Pointe to reach a $48 billion asset milestone, and Bluespring merges in another Kestra firm.
Hires include former innovation lead at mega-RIA Mariner.
Justin Barish brings his expertise in digital strategy and communications to help accelerate the LA-based RIA's growth.
Focus gets back to external M&A after its January rebrand, while Cerity enters the Arizona market with a veteran planning-focused team.
The RIA firm has added another 27 employees to its growing headcount
Report finds high level of contact between firms and potential buyers
