How advisor Bruce Lee’s workouts with Mark Wahlberg shape his RIA’s next-gen strategy

With more than $100 trillion set to change hands among US families over the next two decades, wealth management is evolving to attract young inheritors. From digital-first tools and AI-driven advice to values-based impact investing and portfolio strategies making 60/40 model feel outdated, advisors are rethinking how they engage the next generation of wealth.

Keebeck Wealth Management founder and CEO Bruce Lee committed to physical fitness for his own health, but it's also become part of his brand strategy to connect with Millennial and Gen Z clients. US consumers now spend over $500 billion annually on wellness, according to McKinsey, with millennials and Gen Z disproportionately driving that spend. The booming health and wellness culture comes as US adult alcohol consumption declines to record lows.

“If you're looking at social media, if you're looking at TikTok, the younger generation is not looking at partying as much — they're looking at what are the best teas to drink, where's the best gyms to go to, and so forth,” Lee, 62, told InvestmentNews. “So how can a CEO and a founder who's older expound the values of the next generation, if he himself is not in shape? It's kind of a massive contradiction.”

From a marketing perspective, it doesn’t hurt to have actor and entrepreneur Mark Wahlberg as one of your gym buddies. The celebrity’s diet and daily fitness routine is well-documented, which Lee has experienced first-hand through their 4am workouts together in Las Vegas, where Wahlberg lives. Lee hosts his podcast, The Disruptors, recorded inside the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and is an advisor to Fontainebleau Development financed by the Koch family.

“Out of all the people that I've met in the celebrity world, he's probably one of the most authentic people I've ever met. He’s very real, and we just became good friends,” said Lee. “His main thing in the morning is prayer, meditation, and working out. Those are all values I really respect in an individual. So the first thing we do in the morning is we tag each other, who gets up earlier to work out?” 

Wahlberg's fitness investments include his role as a co-founder in activewear brand Municipal, which Lee supports as an advisor. “[Wahlberg] is helping me in my life journey in becoming healthier and more spiritual,” said Lee, adding his RIA currently manages over $2 billion in assets across about 50 client families. 

Millionaires are feeling more value and satisfaction from their personal trainers and therapists than from using wealth advisors, according to a survey from wealth community network Long Angle. The study surveyed 114 people worth at least $2 million, with a majority having net worths between $5 million and $25 million. The study's findings point to the growing “convergence” between fitness and wealth that Lee sees working with his own clients.

“When you start hitting that speed limit age, like 55 and over, I've seen clients who've made a lot of money, put on their proverbial golf shorts and then go golfing and lose track of their physical shape, which affects their mental acuity, in my opinion,” said Lee. “I work out in the morning early, because from 7am to about 11am, I feel like I'm 25. From 11am to about two, I feel like I'm 35, from two to five, I feel like I'm 55 and then past six, I feel like I'm 95.”

Lee launched his Chicago-based Keebeck Wealth Management in 2018 with support from Dynasty Financial Partners. Lee started his RIA after a stellar career as a top-ranked advisor at Merrill Lynch, before the firm terminated him for "conduct including failure to personally complete mandatory firm compliance training, resulting in management's loss of confidence," according to his BrokerCheck report.

Lee plans to eventually pass control of Keebeck Wealth to his daughter, Lauren Lee, who serves as the firm’s chief of staff. Lee admits he’s an “acquired taste,” with little interest in fitting into traditional corporate speak that proliferates the wealth management industry.

“We've never gotten a call from private equity. They think I'm too gamey, too old. I’m not a scalable business,” Lee said. “We don't have any advisors, we're picking up accounts every week. Our average age of our clients has gone from about 60 to 40. We're growing, and we don't have anyone pounding phones for us.”

Lee added he expects Keebeck Wealth to hit $3 billion AUM by the end of 2026. While he may be “too old” for private equity, he feels he’s found the fountain of youth through fitness and friendship with help from Wahlberg's shared values.

“If you're not working out every day, at least at my age level, you're not on top of your game, I'm just being totally honest,” Lee says. “Mark makes me a better person, and he makes everyone around him better. His messaging is always about spirituality, meditation, being transparent, and most importantly, health and wellness.”