The Lyon Group

What The Lyon Group does

The Lyon Group, LLC is a privately held financial advisory firm founded in 1951 by Bob Lyon and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The firm operates as a fee-based financial planning practice under a fiduciary standard, delivering integrated advisory services across financial planning, investment management, insurance strategies, estate and legacy planning, tax strategies, executive benefits, and charitable giving. Its delivery model is built around two proprietary frameworks — the Financial Navigation System (a five-stage planning methodology: Goal Positioning Session, Discovery Synopsis, Customized Assessment, Charted Course, and Crosscheck Inspection) and the Holistic Balance Sheet (a planning framework that integrates non-financial dimensions such as values, family, health, and faith with financial assets). The firm holds no proprietary technology platform; rather, it layers its methodology on top of industry-standard tools including the eMoney planning platform, WealthScape, and the New York Life client portal. No mobile app, public API, or AI capabilities are disclosed.

The Lyon Group is owned and operated by the Lyon and Nienaber families following the 1985 succession from founder Bob Lyon to William Lyon and the merger of Nienaber and Associates into the firm. It generates revenue through fee-based advisory fees via Eagle Strategies LLC (a Registered Investment Adviser and wholly-owned New York Life subsidiary), insurance and securities commissions through NYLIFE Securities LLC (FINRA/SIPC member), and employee benefits consulting. Services are licensed across 24 U.S. states for securities and advisory work, with insurance licensing in a subset. The target client mix spans four primary segments: executives and professionals, physicians, retirees, and business owners, with a secondary segment of individuals navigating life transitions. The firm employs approximately nine people, including five client-facing advisors/officers, and is built on a referral-driven, multigenerational engagement model where relationships frequently span three or more generations within a family. Strategic distribution leverage comes from its affiliation with New York Life, access to New York Life's Advanced Planning Group for estate and business planning, and a partnership with Ash Brokerage for non-NYL insurance products.

Name

The Lyon Group

Legal name

THE LYON GROUP, LLC

Website

https://thelyongroup.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Lyon Group is a Cincinnati-based, family-owned financial advisory firm founded in 1951 that delivers fee-based financial planning, investment management, and insurance strategies to executives, physicians, business owners, and retirees across 24 U.S. states through its affiliation with New York Life.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Advisory Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (524210)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)

akta.pro primary industry

Fee-Based Advisory (FSAEAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Insurance-Integrated Wealth Managers (RIA + Insurance Solutions) (FSAAACAI), Trust & Fiduciary Advisory for HNW/UHNW (Trust Structuring & Trustee Oversight) (FSAAABAF)

Keywords

• Financial planning services
• Retirement planning
• Investment management
• Estate planning
• Insurance solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fee-Based Financial Planning: Fee-based financial planning services through Eagle Strategies LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Clients pay fees for comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services.
2. Insurance and Securities Commissions: Commission revenue from insurance products (life insurance, disability, long-term care, annuities) and securities products offered through NYLIFE Securities LLC. Robert Nienaber III is a licensed insurance agent and Registered Representative.
3. Employee Benefits Consulting: Tony Nienaber focuses on helping business owners and employees understand, evaluate, and design cost-effective employee benefits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Lyon Group provides fee-based comprehensive financial planning and wealth advisory services to individuals, families, physicians, executives, business owners, and retirees. The offering integrates seven core service areas—financial planning, investment management, insurance strategies, estate and legacy planning, tax strategies, executive benefits, and charitable giving—delivered through the firm's proprietary Financial Navigation System and Holistic Balance Sheet methodology. Services are delivered under a fiduciary duty via licensed agents affiliated with New York Life Insurance Company, NYLIFE Securities LLC, and Eagle Strategies LLC.

Product overview

The Lyon Group offers a unified financial advisory service built around its proprietary Financial Navigation System and Holistic Balance Sheet frameworks. The core offering integrates seven service areas: Financial Planning, Investment Management, Insurance Strategies, Estate & Legacy Planning, Tax Strategies, Executive Benefits, and Charitable Giving. All services are delivered through fee-based financial planning with a fiduciary duty to clients, with access to client portals via eMoney, WealthScape, and New York Life.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Eagle Strategies LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWilliam Lyon and Robert A. 'Bob' Nienaber III provide fee-based financial planning, investment advisory services, and access to investment management programs through Eagle Strategies LLC. Eagle Strategies is a Registered Investment Adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company.
• New York Life Insurance CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWilliam Lyon, Robert A. 'Bob' Nienaber III, and Robert A. 'Tony' Nienaber are affiliated with New York Life Insurance Company. New York Life and its subsidiaries provide life insurance, fixed annuities, long-term care and disability insurance. A Fortune 500 mutual insurance company, New York Life is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the United States.
• Advanced Planning Group of New York LifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Advanced Planning Group provides New York Life agents with unparalleled assistance in estate, trust, business, and life insurance strategies. With nationwide clientele insight, they consult on estate and business plans at all levels of wealth across all 50 states, advising on hundreds of business and estate plans each year.
• Ash BrokeragesupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAsh Brokerage is an unaffiliated privately owned, family-operated insurance brokerage general agency. They provide a multitude of products and support for life insurance, long-term care, disability income insurance, and annuities not available through New York Life or its subsidiaries. This partnership complements their mission to provide comprehensive solutions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Ameriprise Financial: Fortune 500 wealth management and insurance firm whose advisor network operates on the same insurance-product-plus-fee-based-advisory hybrid — a scaled, public-market analogue to The Lyon Group's NYL captive advisory model.
• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management: Mutual insurer with a large captive advisor network distributing life insurance, disability, and wealth advisory — operates the same Fortune-500 insurer-captive RIA-plus-insurance hybrid as The Lyon Group does via New York Life, only at materially larger scale.
• LPL Financial: Largest independent broker-dealer in the U.S., supporting ~24,000 financial advisors with fee-based advisory, brokerage, and insurance — comparable hybrid advisor-business model but at vastly greater scale; represents the platform-level peer that captures breakaway agents from captive insurers like NYL.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: RIA consolidator serving HNW clients through comprehensive financial planning including estate, tax, retirement, and insurance strategies — directly comparable scope of services and target clientele, but as a national platform with acquired local firms.
• Hightower Advisors: RIA platform serving HNW individuals and families through affiliated advisor firms with planning, investment, and insurance solutions — comparable hybrid wealth-management offering and is itself a roll-up acquirer of advisor firms comparable in spirit to The Lyon Group.
• Creative Planning: Large national RIA serving HNW individuals, families, and business owners with comprehensive fee-only financial planning — directly comparable target market (HNW families, executives, business owners) and planning-first delivery philosophy, but operating at much greater scale.
• Edelman Financial Engines: Large national RIA serving individual investors with fee-based planning and investment management — same individual-HNW target client and fee-based RIA positioning as The Lyon Group, but at significantly greater scale and with a more technology-led delivery model.

Direct peers

• Commonwealth Financial Network: Independent broker-dealer/RIA network supporting thousands of financial advisors with fee-based and commission-based practices — directly comparable to The Lyon Group's NYL-affiliated advisor model, differing only by the sponsor (independent vs. captive insurer).
• Cetera Financial Group: Insurance-affiliated wealth management network offering fee-based advisory, brokerage, and insurance solutions through independent advisor firms — same insurance + RIA hybrid revenue model and same HNW advisor/client target as The Lyon Group, but operating at scale as a platform rather than single practice.

Others

• Carson Group: RIA platform and advisor-coaching organization serving independent financial advisors with practice management, technology, and investment resources — comparable relationship-based advisory business targeting the same HNW client base, with The Lyon Group representing the type of traditional firm Carson's coaching/co-op model targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-lyon-group-cincinnati

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 The Lyon Group