Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management

What Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management does

Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management is an independent, 100% employee-owned registered investment adviser founded in 1990 and headquartered at 227 W. Monroe, Suite 3625, Chicago, Illinois. The firm delivers personalized wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals, built around a Warren Buffett-style value investing philosophy that emphasizes contrarian stock selection, patient long-term holding periods, and downside protection through undervalued, high-quality companies. Its core product suite comprises Wealth Management, Financial Planning, and Investment Management, supplemented by an Impact Investing module offering ESG positive and negative screening, an online Client Portal for account access, and advisory services to the socially responsible Appleseed Fund.

Underlying the offering is a proprietary in-house fundamental research process that combines economic, industry, company, and valuation analysis, staffed by a team that includes CFA charterholders, CFP professionals, and a dedicated Director of ESG Research. The firm is SEC-registered as an investment adviser and has held Certified B Corporation status since 2015, the first investment advisor in Chicago to do so, and was named a 2019 Best For The World Honoree by B Lab in the Changemaker and Customers categories. Recent activity includes a 2020 partnership with Self-Help Federal Credit Union to deploy capital into under-banked Chicago communities via a structured 24-month CD and over $1.1 million in community investment.

The business operates on a fee-based subscription model generating recurring advisory revenue from customized financial plans and investment portfolios developed through close advisor-client collaboration. Go-to-market is sales-led and direct, relying on relationship-based prospecting supplemented by content marketing across a website, quarterly commentary, email newsletter, video, and earned media placements in outlets including Bloomberg, Harvard Business Review, Financial Advisor Magazine, ABC News 7, Nasdaq, and CSRWire. The firm operates domestically from a single Chicago office, has not raised external funding, and maintains no parent company or subsidiaries.

Name

Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management

Legal name

Pekin Hardy Strauss, Inc.

Website

https://pekinhardy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management is an independent, employee-owned Chicago-based registered investment adviser founded in 1990 that provides personalized wealth management, financial planning, and value investing services to high-net-worth individuals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Discretionary Portfolio Management (Retail) (FSAAAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Financial Planning & Goals-Based Advice (Mass Affluent) (FSAAAAAF)

Keywords

• Wealth management services
• Investment advisory
• Value investing
• Financial planning
• Impact investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Wealth Management Services: Fee-based wealth management services providing investment management and financial planning to high-net-worth clients. Revenue generated through advisory fees for customized financial plans and investment portfolios.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management provides personalized wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals, centered on Warren Buffett-style value investing. Its offering combines customized financial planning, discretionary investment management, and impact/ESG investing under a fiduciary standard, supported by in-house proprietary fundamental research. The firm also serves as adviser to the Appleseed Fund, a socially responsible value-oriented mutual fund.

Product overview

Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management offers a comprehensive suite of wealth management services centered around Warren Buffett-style value investing. The firm's core offerings include personalized wealth management with customized financial plans and investment portfolios, financial planning services, and investment management. The firm also offers impact investing (ESG) services as an add-on module and provides clients with online access through its Client Portal. The firm also serves as adviser to the Appleseed Fund, a socially responsible value-oriented mutual fund.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wealth Management Services Personalized wealth management services offering customized financial plans and investment portfolios developed through close client collaboration; targeted to high-net-worth individuals and families seeking long-term fiduciary guidance.
• Financial Planning Comprehensive financial planning that helps clients achieve their financial goals through a deep understanding of personal circumstances, values, and vision.
• Investment Management Value investing and asset management services seeking to generate market-beating returns through prudent, disciplined investments following a Warren Buffett-style investment philosophy.
• Impact Investing ESG investment approach that considers material non-financial factors, including environmental sustainability reporting, regulatory risk, shareholder interests, and board accountability, with both positive and negative screening.
• Appleseed Fund A socially responsible, value-oriented mutual fund for which Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management serves as investment adviser.

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Self-Help Federal Credit UnioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 August 2020Partnership with Self-Help Federal Credit Union to provide capital to underserved and under-banked communities in Chicago. Pekin Hardy Strauss raised over $1.1 million to invest in Chicago through this partnership. Also partnered on a 24-month CD offering at 0.60% interest that channels capital to underserved communities.
• Self-Help Federal Credit UnioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 July 2020Partnership on CD (Certificate of Deposit) offering specifically designed to provide capital to underserved and under-banked communities in Chicago. The 24-month CD at 0.60% interest represents a unique impact investing product.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Edward Jones: Large national retail wealth manager serving mass-affluent and HNW clients with personalized financial advice; overlaps with Pekin Hardy Strauss in HNW wealth management but operates as a much broader incumbent with thousands of branch advisors.
• Raymond James Wealth Management: Major diversified financial services firm with a significant wealth-management division serving HNW individuals; comparable on HNW client focus and personalized advisory, though it operates as a much broader incumbent with broker-dealer scale.
• Brown Brothers Harriman Investor Services: Long-standing private partnership offering wealth management and investment advisory services to HNW families and institutions; comparable on fiduciary, partnership-based model and multi-generational client relationships, though considerably larger and more diversified.

Direct peers

• Fisher Investments: Large independent, privately-held investment adviser serving high-net-worth and institutional clients with a centralized portfolio management approach; directly comparable to Pekin Hardy Strauss in business model (independent, fee-based RIA for HNW) but operates at far greater scale.
• Buckingham Strategic Wealth: Mid-sized independent RIA offering fee-only wealth management, financial planning, and evidence-based investing to HNW clients; comparable in size band, fee-based fiduciary model, and personalized advisory approach.
• Ariel Investments: Chicago-based value-oriented asset manager with a strong ESG/sustainability focus and mutual fund products; directly comparable to Pekin Hardy Strauss on the value-investing philosophy, Chicago headquarters, and ESG/impact integration.
• Dimensional Fund Advisors: Evidence-based asset manager employing disciplined, research-driven value and small-cap strategies; comparable to Pekin Hardy Strauss on the systematic fundamental-research-driven approach and advisor-distribution model.
• Akre Capital Management: Concentrated, long-term focused asset manager applying a quality-and-value investment philosophy; directly comparable on the Buffett-style concentration approach and mutual fund product (Akre Focus Fund).
• Laird Norton Wealth Management: Independent, employee-owned, fee-only RIA serving HNW families with personalized wealth planning and value-oriented investment management; highly comparable to Pekin Hardy Strauss on size band, employee-ownership structure, and multi-generational HNW client focus.

Emerging players

• Calvert Research and Management: Responsible-investment-focused asset manager specializing in ESG-integrated strategies and mutual funds; partially comparable to Pekin Hardy Strauss on the impact-investing and ESG-screening capabilities, but operates at greater scale as a specialist ESG manager.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pekinhardy
• Facebookfacebook.com/pekinhardy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pekin-hardy-strauss-wealth-management

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Pekin Hardy Strauss Wealth Management