Mercer Advisors launches philanthropic services for UHNW families

Mercer Advisors is adding a dedicated philanthropy team to its family office lineup, betting that its wealthiest clients want their charitable giving managed with the same discipline as their portfolios.

The Denver-based mega-RIA announced the launch of Mercer Advisors Philanthropic Services, an in-house unit dedicated to helping clients set charitable goals and build giving strategies that tie into their financial, tax and estate plans.

It is open now to clients in the firm’s Ascend and Regis tiers, which serve families with $10 million and $25 million or more in assets, respectively. Mercer said those high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth segments are its fastest-growing business, with 20% organic growth over the past year.

Clients will pay nothing extra for the philanthropic service, according to Mercer's Tuesday announcement, and there is no minimum giving level. Its work is built around a giving policy statement, a giving action plan and periodic reviews, which the firm said is meant to replace the ad hoc, year-end decisions that often drive family giving.

Read more: Philanthropic planning is wealth management's next competitive frontier, beyond DAFs

Leading the team is Eleonora Sharef, head of philanthropic services. Previously a partner at McKinsey & Company, where she led the North America wealth management practice, she  will work with clients alongside their existing advisor rather than taking over the relationship.

“Our aim is to deliver the same rigorous approach that has typically only been available within the most sophisticated family foundations to a broader range of families,” Mercer Advisors President Daniel Gourvitch said in a statement.

“Once ultra-high-net-worth families feel confident in their financial plan, the conversation often turns to giving and legacy,” said Jon Kennedy, managing partner of the Regis Group at Mercer.

“Now advisors can bring a dedicated philanthropic specialist into that conversation while staying at the center of the relationship and keeping giving connected to the rest of the plan,” Kennedy added.

Mercer's philanthropic services offering represents its latest step in building out its family office capabilties this year. In April, Mercer hired Morgan Stanley veteran Melissa Nims as chief solutions officer, giving her oversight of more than 250 staff who bring tax, estate, trust, insurance and business management expertise to local advisor teams.

In July, Mercer unveiled the second generation of Aspen, its proprietary AI-enabled platform that's been behin its full-spectrum family office offering for the past two years

Why demand for philanthropy advice is rising

In a new survey polling hundreds of philanthropically engaged clients, Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management found 41% plan to increase their giving over the next three years, rising to 48% among those already giving $1.5 million or more a year.

Citing wealth intelligence firm Altrata, the bank’s report said ultra-high-net-worth giving rose almost 32% in the three-year period starting in 2022, reaching $250 billion by 2025.

Challenging a common assumption about high-net-worth giving, only one-eighth of respondents (12%) cited a tax deduction as a reason for giving, while roughly four-fifths (78%) said they give because it aligns with their values and beliefs. Another 43% said they want to deepen their knowledge of tax and estate planning.

Read more: Wealthy Gen Z and millennial donors are changing the philanthropic playbook

A 2026 study from The Philanthropic Initiative found nine in 10 advisors now routinely raise philanthropy with wealthy clients. Yet 40% of advisors named tax breaks as a key motivator, against 21% of clients.

"The needs of HNW donors continue to evolve," said Fred Kaynor, managing director at DAFgiving360, which sponsored the TPI report, adding that clients have come to expect ""robust consultative support with charitable planning as part of broader wealth management conversations."