Rockbridge Investment Management

What Rockbridge Investment Management does

Rockbridge Investment Management is a privately held, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) headquartered in Syracuse, New York, with a heritage dating to 1991. The firm provides comprehensive financial planning and discretionary investment management to individuals, families, business owners, and institutions across Central New York and the broader Northeast, with reported assets under management exceeding $1 billion as of 2020 across 900+ client families.

The firm's core offering is an evidence-based wealth management platform organized around two service lines: Individual & Family Wealth Management covering retirement, pension, insurance, business succession, estate, tax, and investment management services, and Rockbridge Institutional, an institutional advisory arm serving endowments, foundations, and non-profits that holds roughly $300 million in assets. Portfolio construction rests on Nobel-Prize-winning capital markets research and a proprietary systematic security selection methodology that re-weights equity asset classes toward factors with documented return contribution and excludes market timing; a Sustainable Investing module under the institutional arm manages approximately $60 million using environmental-screen exclusions and ESG re-weighting. Operations are supported by a Tamarac client portal and a team-based advisory model with a multi-credentialed staff (PhD, CFA, multiple CFPs, CPA, CLU, CDFA).

The business model is fee-only, with revenue generated through fully disclosed advisory fees (annual billing cadence) and no commissions, third-party incentives, or product sales, eliminating conflicts of interest by design. The 2021 merger of Disciplined Capital Management into Rockbridge brought the institutional practice and ESG capability in-house; customer logos such as National Grid, Lockheed Martin, Verizon, Carrier, Crouse Health, and St. Joseph's Hospital reflect corporate retirement-plan relationships that feed the individual wealth funnel. The firm employs 20+ professionals and is led by CEO Patrick Rohe following a 2020 leadership transition from founders Craig Buckhout and Robert Ryan.

Name

Rockbridge Investment Management

Legal name

Rockbridge Investment Management

Website

https://rockbridgeinvest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rockbridge Investment Management is a privately held, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor in Syracuse, NY that delivers evidence-based wealth management and institutional advisory services to individuals, families, business owners, endowments, and foundations across the Northeast, managing over $1 billion in assets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Syracuse

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fee-only Advisory Services: Company is a fee-only registered investment advisor, solely compensated through fully disclosed client fees. Does not receive commissions or third-party incentives, eliminating conflicts of interest. Revenue derived from advisory fees charged to clients for investment management and financial planning services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Rockbridge Investment Management is a fee-only, fiduciary registered investment advisor providing comprehensive wealth management and investment advisory services. Offerings include financial and retirement planning, pension analysis, insurance planning, business succession planning, estate planning, tax preparation, and investment management for individuals, families, and small business retirement plans, plus institutional services for endowments, foundations, and not-for-profits (including sustainable investing portfolios) through its Rockbridge Institutional arm.

Product overview

Rockbridge Investment Management operates as a unified fee-only, fiduciary wealth management firm offering two primary service lines: (1) Individual & Family Wealth Management providing comprehensive financial planning and investment management with evidence-based approach, and (2) Rockbridge Institutional serving institutions, foundations, endowments, and not-for-profits with approximately $300 million in institutional assets under management. The firm also offers Sustainable Investing portfolios as a specialized module within the institutional arm, managing $60 million in environmentally-focused assets. All services emphasize fee-only compensation with no commissions or conflicts of interest.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rockbridge Institutional: Institutional advisory division serving institutions, endowments, and not-for-profits, applying disciplined investment philosophy for sustainable investing.

Products and services

• Individual & Family Wealth Management Fee-only, fiduciary wealth management services including financial and retirement planning, pension analysis, insurance planning, business succession planning, estate planning, tax preparation, and investment management with an evidence-based approach to portfolio construction, for individuals, families, and small business retirement plans.
• Rockbridge Institutional Institutional investment advisory services for institutions, foundations, endowments, and not-for-profits, applying a disciplined, proven, and responsible investment philosophy with fiduciary responsibility. Manages approximately $300 million for institutional clients.
• Sustainable Investing Portfolio Environmentally sustainable investment portfolios that exclude certain industries (oil and gas producers, coal miners) and re-weight remaining companies based on environmental record. Currently manages approximately $60 million of client assets focused on environmental sustainability.

Quantifiable outcome

• Managed assets exceeded $1 billion for 900+ clients as of 2020
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Foster Group: Foster Group is a fee-only, fiduciary RIA headquartered in the Midwest serving individuals, families, and institutions with evidence-based portfolio construction. Direct comparable in size, fee-only model, and academic-investing philosophy.
• Bessemer Trust: Bessemer Trust is a private, fee-only wealth and investment management firm serving ultra-HNW families, foundations, and endowments. Closely comparable in fiduciary, fee-only, evidence-based investment approach and HNW + institutional client mix.
• Fiducient Advisors: Fiducient Advisors is a national, fee-only investment advisor serving foundations, endowments, retirement plan sponsors, and HNW families. Direct peer for Rockbridge's institutional advisory arm.
• Allworth Financial: Allworth Financial is a fee-only wealth management firm serving individuals, families, and business owners with retirement, tax, and estate planning. Comparable in fee-only fiduciary model, comprehensive planning focus, and HNW + small business client mix.
• Glenmede: Glenmede is a privately held, fee-only wealth manager and investment advisor serving HNW individuals, families, foundations, and endowments. Comparable as a multi-generational, fee-only fiduciary with institutional and private wealth segments.

Broad incumbents

• Edelman Financial Engines: Edelman Financial Engines is one of the largest independent RIAs in the U.S., serving individuals and corporate retirement plans with fee-only advisory and goals-based planning. Comparable in fee-only individual and retirement plan focus, but at much larger scale.
• Cambridge Investment Research: Cambridge is a large independent broker-dealer and RIA platform supporting thousands of financial advisors. Comparable at the industry-overlap level, though it operates as a hybrid (commission + fee) firm rather than pure fee-only.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: Mariner is a national, fee-based wealth advisory firm serving HNW clients and institutions with comprehensive financial planning. Larger scaled peer in the same fee-based fiduciary segment, with a similar RIA roll-up model.
• Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH Wealth Management): BBH Wealth Management is the private wealth and investment management arm of Brown Brothers Harriman, serving HNW individuals, families, and institutions. Comparable in evidence-based, fee-based advisory and HNW + institutional client mix, but at much larger scale and broader geography.
• Vanguard Personal Advisor Services: Vanguard Personal Advisor Services is Vanguard's hybrid (digital + human advisor) wealth management offering, providing fee-only fiduciary advice at low cost. Comparable as a fee-only fiduciary competitor, though it operates at vastly greater scale and lower price points.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RockbridgeInv
• Facebookfacebook.com/Rockbridgeinvest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rockbridge-investment-management

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Rockbridge Investment Management