Michael Kitces-backed XYPN Sapphire tops $1 billion, hires Envestnet veteran

XYPN Sapphire, the corporate RIA launched in 2024 by Montana-based broker dealer XY Planning Network, has surpassed $1 billion in assets under management and advisement with former Envestnet executive Andrea Istwan joining as its new director of advisor experience.

The RIA now spans 56 advisors serving over 800 client households nationwide. Its cross into the $1 billion asset threshold comes after XYPN Sapphire previously reported managing $687 million in assets as of the end of 2025. Sapphire’s parent firm, XY Planning Network, has over 2,000 member advisors and was co-founded in 2014 by Alan Moore and Michael Kitces.

“From a revenue perspective this year compared to last year, Sapphire's revenue is up over 200%,” XYPN’s president Vince Hockett told InvestmentNews. “For us, it truly is just the continuation of the more than 10 years we've been supporting at the forefront of the shift towards independent fee-only, advice-first financial planning.”

XYPN’s Sapphire RIA affiliation model charges advisors $1,500 per month plus 20% of their revenue, while providing advisors with compliance, tech, custodian, and administrative support. “We do allow these members to charge planning fees, one time fees or monthly fees, so they can run this business like they want to,” added Hockett.

“When we started Sapphire, we thought a large majority of advisors might come from the existing XYPN membership, and it's kind of been the opposite of that,” said Hockett. “The largest portion are advisors who are moving on from a current role, and that could be in a number of different situations, because they're looking for independence.”

Istwan spent two decades at advisor fintech giant Envestnet, becoming senior director of experience analytics at the firm. From 2022 to 2024, she was a head of client experience and senior vice president at Northern Trust. Istwan joins a Sapphire leadership team that also includes director of investment services Andrew Almeida, chief compliance officer Buddy Griffiths, and director of growth Aimee Arnaud.

“We're doing all this without private equity backing, which leads to just a different level of independence than a lot of the other corporate RIAs that are trying to grow out there that say they're independent, but that comes with the pressure for revenue and to do things that fiduciaries typically don't want to have that pressure for,” said Hockett. “Those people who are looking to bring their business with them, still have relationships maybe on the insurance side, and take commissions and annuities, and things like that, they don't fit at XYPN because we truly are fiduciary fee-only planners, so we're not competing for that part of the market at all.”

Kitces, the popular financial advisor content creator, does not remain involved in day-to-day operations of XYPN. He holds an additional role as head of planning strategy at Focus Partners Wealth. 

“His name is present and important to us and our members. Through his role, whether we have retreats or our XYPN Live members still get access to him, and that is an important element of what we bring to our members,” Hockett said of Kitces