Silver Oak Wealth Advisors

What Silver Oak Wealth Advisors does

Silver Oak Wealth Advisors is a privately held, fee-only registered investment advisor founded in 2005 by Linda Cao and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The firm operates as a fiduciary SEC Registered Investment Advisor offering financial life planning and wealth management services to affluent individuals, couples, women, and families experiencing major life transitions such as retirement, divorce, widowhood, inheritance, and career change. Its service portfolio spans core wealth management (investment planning, retirement planning, risk management, tax planning, cash flow management, estate planning), transition planning that integrates the emotional and technical dimensions of financial change, and specialty programs including Retirement Re-Imagined, When Two Become One (for women navigating singlehood), and Preparing Family Heirs. The firm differentiates through Certified Financial Transitionist (CeFT) credentials held by multiple team members and through community-building via Women's Circle quarterly gatherings.

The firm's underlying technology is composed entirely of third-party platforms rather than proprietary systems: MoneyGuidePro for financial planning, Tamarac for the client portal, Charles Schwab as custodian, and iContact for email marketing. The advisory team numbers seven professionals including President Linda Cao (MBA, CFP, CeFT), Lead Wealth Advisor and CCO Laura Robayo (MScEng, CFP, CeFT), Wealth Advisor Alyssa Crews (MsPFP, CFP), Operations Specialist Thomas Abraham, Financial Analyst Spencer Price, Office Manager Melissa Gonzalez, and Principal-Emeritus Eric Bruck (CFP, CeFT). Silver Oak generates revenue through recurring advisory fees on a fee-only model; pricing is not publicly disclosed and prospective clients are routed to a confidential consultation.

The go-to-market motion is consultative and relationship-driven, with acquisition channels spanning content marketing (Silver Oak Insights blog and newsletter), community events (Women's Circle), podcast and media appearances, earned recognition (Expertise.com Best Financial Advisors in Los Angeles since 2019), and referrals. Client engagement is delivered through direct, personalized advisory relationships without marketplace, reseller, or embedded distribution. The firm holds no subsidiaries, has no parent company, and discloses no external institutional ownership.

Name

Silver Oak Wealth Advisors

Legal name

Silver Oak Wealth Advisors, LLC

Website

https://silveroakwa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Silver Oak Wealth Advisors is a Los Angeles-based, fee-only fiduciary RIA founded in 2005 that provides financial life planning and wealth management to affluent individuals, couples, women, and families navigating major life transitions such as retirement, divorce, and wealth transfer.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) Wealth Management (FSAEABAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family Wealth & Multi-Generational Planning RIAs (HNW/UHNW-lite) (FSAAACAH)

Keywords

• Wealth management
• Financial planning
• Investment advisory
• Retirement planning
• Transition planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory Services: Fee-only investment advisory services where clients pay for comprehensive wealth management including financial planning, investment management, and ongoing advisory services. The firm operates as an SEC Registered Investment Advisor and fiduciary, which is consistent with a fee-only or fee-based advisory model rather than commission-based product sales.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Silver Oak Wealth Advisors is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor providing fee-only comprehensive wealth management and financial life planning services to affluent individuals, couples, women, and families experiencing major life transitions. The firm integrates technical financial planning (investment management, retirement, tax, estate, risk, and cash flow planning) with coaching through the personal and emotional dimensions of money during events such as retirement, divorce, widowhood, inheritance, career change, business sale, and wealth transfer to heirs.

Product overview

Silver Oak Wealth Advisors offers a comprehensive financial life planning and wealth management service focused on couples, women, and families experiencing life transitions. The firm operates as a unified service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, with core services including Wealth Management (combining financial organization, investment planning, retirement planning, risk management, tax planning, cashflow management, and estate planning), Transition Planning (addressing the technical and personal sides of major life events), and Investment Principles. These are supported by specialty services: Retirement Re-Imagined (retirement transition coaching), When Two Become One (support for women through divorce or widowhood), Preparing Family Heirs (wealth transfer planning), and Women's Circle (quarterly peer gatherings for women). The firm's methodology emphasizes holistic guidance, fiduciary responsibility, and the integration of financial planning with personal well-being, delivered through a team of certified professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Women's Circle: A safe and supportive environment where women can talk to one another about what matters, feel connected, empowered and inspired around money.
• Silver Oak Insights

Products and services

• Wealth Management Comprehensive wealth management combining financial organization, investment planning and management, retirement planning, risk management, tax planning and optimization, cashflow and major goal funding, and estate and legacy planning for affluent individuals and couples.
• Transition Planning Financial transition planning addressing both the technical and personal sides of money during major life events such as inheritance, loss of a parent, death of a spouse, divorce, career change, retirement, sale of a business, and health changes.
• Investment Principles Investment management following established principles including low-cost investing, broad global diversification, long-term focus, risk-adjusted returns, and disciplined rebalancing.
• Retirement Re-Imagined Specialized guidance for navigating the retirement transition, addressing identity and purpose, social isolation, routine and structure, with coaching through longevity planning, long-term care planning, and family gifting.
• When Two Become One Financial guidance and support for women experiencing major life transitions such as divorce or widowhood, addressing emotional, mental, and financial challenges of transitioning from being part of a couple to being single.
• Preparing Family Heirs Wealth transfer planning that aligns family wealth with personal values, ensuring heirs have the knowledge and development to preserve family legacy and thrive in independent lives.

Quantifiable outcome

• Team has been providing comprehensive wealth management services since 2005

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationCharles Schwab serves as the custodian for Silver Oak client accounts. Silver Oak provides investment advisory services for client accounts held at Schwab. This is a critical infrastructure partnership enabling the firm to manage client portfolios while Schwab handles account custody and administration.
• Sudden Money InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Sudden Money Institute provides the Certified Financial Transitionist (CeFT) designation, which multiple Silver Oak team members have earned. The firm also collaborated on a podcast episode where Linda Cao discussed the firm's approach to guiding clients through financial transitions.
• Kinder Institute of Life PlanningminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSilver Oak team members have completed Life Planning Coursework through the Kinder Institute of Life Planning, which informs their approach to financial life planning.
• Expertise.comminorGTM or Marketing PartnerExpertise.com recognizes Silver Oak as one of the Best Financial Advisors in Los Angeles every year since 2019, providing third-party validation and marketing visibility.
• Financial Transitionist InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLinda Cao serves as the Curator for the Divorce Page of the Financial Transitionist Institute (a division of Sudden Money Institute), sharing expertise and thought leadership content.
• Libby Gill / Libby's Leadership Lab PodcastminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLinda Cao appeared as a guest on Libby Gill's Leadership Lab podcast to discuss ways women can build wealth, providing marketing exposure and thought leadership positioning.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ellevest: Digital-first wealth management platform purpose-built for women, with transition-focused content and tools. Directly comparable in the women-and-money niche that Silver Oak serves via 'When Two Become One' and the Women's Circle.
• Facet Wealth: Flat-fee, fiduciary financial planning and investment advisory firm serving affluent individuals nationwide. Comparable as a fee-only RIA targeting mass-affluent and HNW clients with a planning-led, technology-enabled model.
• Buckingham Strategic Wealth: Fee-only RIA focused on evidence-based investment management and comprehensive financial life planning for individuals and families. Directly comparable as a planning-led, fiduciary RIA serving affluent households.
• Halbert Wealth Management: Independent, fee-only RIA providing comprehensive financial planning and investment management. Comparable as a smaller, planning-centric fiduciary RIA serving affluent individuals and families.

Broad incumbents

• Creative Planning: Large, national fee-only RIA serving HNW/UHNW clients across the full wealth management spectrum. Comparable in fiduciary RIA business model and lifestyle/financial planning approach, though operating at vastly greater scale.
• Carson Group: Wealth management firm and advisor support platform offering coaching, technology, and back-office to independent RIAs. Comparable in fiduciary advisory model and emphasis on holistic life planning for clients.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: National RIA providing comprehensive wealth management including financial planning, investment management, tax, and estate services. Comparable as a full-service fiduciary RIA serving HNW individuals and families.
• Focus Financial Partners: Partnership platform for independent, fiduciary wealth management firms. Comparable fiduciary, fee-only RIA business model; relevant as a potential acquirer or roll-up path for a firm of Silver Oak's profile.
• Edelman Financial Engines: Large national RIA offering financial planning and wealth management to mass-affluent and HNW households. Comparable fiduciary model and comprehensive planning-centric approach.

Others

• Sudden Money Institute: Provider of the Certified Financial Transitionist (CeFT®) designation and ecosystem partner of Silver Oak. Included as an enabling/ecosystem peer because it supplies the niche credential that underpins Silver Oak's transition-planning differentiation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/oak_advisors
• Facebookfacebook.com/silveroakwa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/silver-oak-wealth-advisors-llc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Silver Oak Wealth Advisors