Case study

GM Advisory Group, now part of Wealthspire Advisors, uses Addepar to deliver exceptional client services

Note: GM Advisory Group, LLC was acquired by Wealthspire Advisors LLC on November 1, 2023, and rebranded as Wealthspire Advisors effective June 10, 2024. Throughout this case study, any reference to GMAG refers to this entity and its relationship with Addepar, both prior to the Wealthspire acquisition and following rebranding.

Founded in 2004 by Frank Marzano, GM Advisory Group (GMAG) is a boutique wealth management firm based in Long Island, New York City and Boca Raton, Florida. The firm employs a personal, collaborative approach to crafting wealth strategies for ultra and high-net-worth individuals and families. This has enabled GMAG to grow its client base, as of December 31, 2023, to around 650 households with approximately 2,200 accounts totaling nearly $3 billion in assets under management (AUM) and an additional $3.9 billion in assets under advisement.

In September 2023, GMAG announced it was to be acquired by Wealthspire Advisors LLC — a nationwide wealth management leader that, as of June 30, 2024, oversees across its entities 24 offices in 13 states, more than 350 professionals, and over $27.4 billion in AUM. GMAG considers Addepar’s technology and data platform key to delivering a personalized experience that meets and exceeds clients’ expectations, and even when presented with other solutions, re-asserts Addepar’s irreplaceable role in its tech stack.

FIRM

GM Advisory Group
(now doing business as Wealthspire Advisors)

LOCATIONs

Long Island,
NY New York,
NY Boca Raton, FL

MANAGING partners

Frank P. Marzano
Christopher Castellano
Frank J. Lavrigata

ESTABLISHED

2004

CURRENT ASSETS 
UNDER ADVISEMENT

$7 billion

HOUSEHOLDS 
SERVED

650+

TEAM MEMBERS

36

TECH PARTNER INTEGRATIONS

Intelliflo Redblack
Canoe
Salesforce

THE CHALLENGE

Keeping up with rapid growth and increasing complexity

As GMAG grew, its previous wealth platform became increasingly unfit for purpose. The firm had begun serving clients with increasingly complex needs. Many had assets with multiple advisors or custodians, and portfolios frequently included alternatives such as private investments. This made analytics and reporting complicated and time-consuming — and manual workflows had a far higher risk 
of error. 

In addition, GMAG has always customized its services to align with each client’s specific requirements. Chris Castellano, managing director, recalls how the firm’s advisors would dread the manual effort required to prepare client reports each month.

Addepar is incredibly important — it’s really at the center of our entire technology stack.

Christopher Castellano, Managing Director

“We had to take information from our previous platform and from custodians and manually put it into Excel to create one-pagers so clients could easily understand asset performance,” says Castellano. “These reports would take days to prepare. And advisors worried whether all the information was accurate. With Addepar, we like how innovative and customizable it is — and how it aligns with the way we serve our clients.”

THE RESULT

Efficiency, accuracy and time-savings

Addepar has become integral to GMAG’s operations, enabling the firm to increase client reporting efficiency as it grows exponentially. The platform sits at the center of the firm’s tech stack, feeding data into Intelliflo’s RedBlack for trading and integrating with Canoe for information on alternatives. With the firm’s functions powered by superior data and integrability, GMAG can deliver the thorough, personalized services its clients demand. 

The elimination of most manual data entry has enhanced accuracy, reduced errors and saved time — especially when it comes to the incorporation of private investments. In the past, it might have taken several weeks to get an investment updated. With Addepar, that’s been trimmed to days. This decreases time spent on quality control, freeing up hours to better serve clients.

Several years ago, GMAG made a major push to standardize reporting by adding or hiding sections that weren’t as relevant — resulting in a template that addressed the needs of most clients while being easy to adapt or customize, if desired. As Castellano puts it, the Addepar platform strikes a “balance between automation and customization,” benefiting from a $100 million annual investment in new features and functions — functions that empower GMAG to make decisions like this one.

Addepar listens to our ideas, and the speed at which monthly updates are rolled out enables us to innovate and leverage everything Addepar offers.

Michael Bueti, Asst. VP and Client Relationship Manager

The firm also uses Addepar to win new business. When meeting with a prospect, the team brings sample Addepar reports and analytics to share. “Our clients and prospects love it — Addepar is definitely a differentiator,” Castellano explains.

“Two of the best features of Addepar are the dynamic and customized reporting and the ability to report efficiently on private investments,” relates Michael Bueti, Asst. VP and Client Relationship Manager. “This sets Addepar apart from other platforms, and the technology has made a critical contribution to our success.”

Addepar will continue to play a vital role in the firm’s growth going forward; the firm is able to scale alongside the business with its approach to innovation. “The frequency at which Addepar continues to innovate and roll out new things really impacts the way we provide reporting to our clients,” says Castellano. “There’s lots of different features in the pipeline that we’re excited about. The constant innovation has been really great.”