Willow Grove Advisors

What Willow Grove Advisors does

Willow Grove Advisors is an independent, fee-only registered investment advisor founded in 2010 by Keley R. Petersen and Jeff S. Petersen. The firm provides comprehensive wealth management, investment advisory, and financial planning services to high-net-worth individuals and families, with particular specialization in tech entrepreneurs (pre/post-IPO), global families with cross-border holdings, inpats and expats, multi-generation families, and corporate executives and retirees. It is headquartered in Berkeley, California with a secondary office in Fremont, Nebraska, and operates under a fiduciary standard with no proprietary products and no commission-based revenue.

The firm's service offering is delivered through a proprietary five-step Wealth Strategy Process encompassing financial planning, investment strategy and management, tax-aware investing, values-based investing, asset allocation, and ongoing quarterly portfolio monitoring. Underlying technology consists of industry-standard platforms — eMAPlan for client portal access and reporting, eVestment Analytics and Monte Carlo simulations for investment modeling, Microsoft Excel for financial calculations, and Google Analytics for web traffic — rather than proprietary AI or quantitative systems. Differentiated expertise is concentrated in multi-constituency cross-border planning, employee stock option planning (NSOs, ISOs, RSUs, ESPPs), and tax-aware investment positioning.

The business model is straightforward AUM-based advisory: fees scale with client assets under management, with a disclosed approximate rate of 1.10% on a $1 million portfolio and varying tiers by portfolio size and complexity. Distribution is entirely direct, with client acquisition driven by professional referrals, networking, content marketing (blog, YouTube, SEO), and the firm's Bay Area reputation. The firm operates with a six-person team led by CEO Keley Petersen and President of Operations Jeff Petersen, supplemented by a President and Senior Wealth Advisor, a Planning Advisor, and two Client Service Specialists. There is no external funding, institutional ownership, or M&A activity, and the firm is privately held and woman-owned.

Name

Willow Grove Advisors

Legal name

Willow Grove Advisors, LLC

Website

https://willowgroveadvisors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Willow Grove Advisors is an independent, fee-only registered investment advisor founded in 2010 in Berkeley, California, providing wealth management, investment advisory, and financial planning services to high-net-worth individuals, with specialization in tech entrepreneurs and cross-border global families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management and Investment Advisory Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Fee-Only Advisory (FSAEAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Advisory Portfolio Management (Non-Discretionary) (FSAAABAD)

Keywords

• Wealth management services
• Investment advisory
• Financial planning
• Portfolio management
• Cross-border financial planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory Fees (AUM-based): Willow Grove Advisors charges fees based on assets under management (AUM). As a fee-only firm, they do not earn commissions or sell proprietary products. The firm's only revenue comes from advisory fees, eliminating conflicts of interest. Management fees differ according to size and nature of the specific investment portfolio.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Willow Grove Advisors is a fee-only, fiduciary registered investment advisory firm that provides comprehensive wealth management, investment strategy and portfolio management, and ongoing monitoring services for high-net-worth individuals and families. Core deliverables include financial planning, cross-border wealth coordination, tax-aware investing, equity compensation planning for tech entrepreneurs, and estate planning coordination. The firm charges AUM-based fees (approximately 1.10% on a $1M portfolio), does not sell proprietary products, and earns no commissions.

Product overview

Willow Grove Advisors is an independent, fee-only wealth management firm offering a unified advisory service rather than a modular product platform. The core offering combines Wealth Management, Investment Strategy & Management, and Ongoing Monitoring services delivered through a proprietary 5 Step Wealth Strategy Process. Investment services include Asset Allocation, Tax-Aware Investing, and Values-Based Investing, all supported by a client portal for account access. The firm does not sell proprietary products and acts solely as a fiduciary advisor.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wealth Management Comprehensive wealth management and financial planning services for high-net-worth individuals and families, including analysis of cross-border complexities, tax planning, estate planning coordination, and investment strategy tailored to each client's personal and professional life-cycle stage.
• Investment Strategy and Management Portfolio construction and active management using mutual funds, ETFs, separate account managers, and limited partnerships, with emphasis on diversification, cost efficiency, and tax efficiency to align with each client's investment policy statement.
• Ongoing Monitoring and Portfolio Performance Reporting Quarterly performance reporting, ongoing account monitoring, and regular communication with clients to ensure portfolios remain aligned with investment policy statements and evolving client circumstances.

Quantifiable outcome

• Fee-only fiduciary model eliminates conflicts of interest inherent in commission-based advisory
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Brighton Jones: Brighton Jones is a fee-only, multi-family office–style wealth management firm serving high-net-worth individuals and families nationwide, with strong roots in the Pacific Northwest and California. It is directly comparable to Willow Grove Advisors — both are independent, fee-only advisors serving HNW clients with comprehensive wealth planning, retirement, and tax services; Willow Grove team members have come from Brighton Jones.
• Coldstream Wealth Management: Coldstream is an employee-owned, fee-only registered investment advisor serving high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutions primarily in the Pacific Northwest and California. It is directly comparable — both firms deliver fee-only wealth management and financial planning to HNW clients with a relationship-driven model; Willow Grove's Claudina Campbell previously worked there as Lead Advisor.
• Paracle Advisors: Paracle Advisors is an independent, fee-only wealth management firm serving HNW individuals and families, with offices in the Pacific Northwest and a focus on comprehensive financial planning and investment management. It is a direct comparable — same fee-only RIA model, similar HNW client focus, and Willow Grove's Claudina Campbell and Stephanie Berry both previously worked at Paracle.
• Hewins Financial Advisors: Hewins Financial Advisors is a fee-only wealth management and investment advisory firm providing comprehensive financial planning to individuals, families, and institutions, with a focus on corporate executives and retirement plans. It is a direct comparable — Keley Petersen previously served as COO and Senior Investment Consultant there, and the firm's holistic fiduciary model closely mirrors Willow Grove's offering.
• Modera Wealth Management: Modera is a fee-only, fiduciary wealth management firm headquartered in the Northeast serving HNW individuals, families, and small businesses with comprehensive financial planning and investment management. It is directly comparable to Willow Grove on the fee-only RIA model and the HNW client segment, though with a larger geographic and operational footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Carson Wealth (Carson Group): Carson Wealth is a national, fee-only RIA serving HNW individuals and families through a partnership model with regional advisor teams, offering comprehensive wealth planning, investment management, and business consulting. It is a broad incumbent peer — overlapping with Willow Grove's fee-only fiduciary wealth management offering but at much greater scale, with multi-billion AUM and corporate resources.
• Captrust: CAPTRUST is a large, independent registered investment advisor providing investment management and financial planning to HNW individuals, families, and institutional clients including retirement plan sponsors. It is a broad incumbent peer — same fee-only RIA category as Willow Grove, but with national scale, institutional retirement-plan expertise, and significantly larger AUM.
• Edelman Financial Engines: Edelman Financial Engines is one of the largest independent RIAs in the U.S., providing fee-only investment advisory and wealth management services to millions of households, with strong digital planning capabilities. It is a broad incumbent peer — directly competitive in the fee-only advisory space but operating at far greater scale and with technology-enabled delivery that targets similar mass-affluent and HNW clients.
• Personal Capital (Empower Personal Advisory): Personal Capital, now part of Empower, combines a digital dashboard with human advisors to deliver fee-based wealth management and financial planning primarily to HNW individuals. It is a broad incumbent peer — overlapping with Willow Grove in HNW wealth management and Bay Area client base, but pairing human advisors with proprietary technology at much greater scale.

Emerging players

• Facet Wealth: Facet Wealth is a digital-first, fee-only registered investment advisor providing flat-fee financial planning and investment management to mass-affluent and HNW clients nationally. It is an emerging peer — directly comparable in its fee-only fiduciary stance and HNW client focus, but differentiated by a fully virtual delivery model that competes for the same segments Willow Grove targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/willow-grove-adviors-llc
• Facebookfacebook.com/Willow-Grove-Advisors-LLC-136580796374680

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Willow Grove Advisors