Pelion Investment Advisors

What Pelion Investment Advisors does

Pelion Investment Advisors, Inc. is a privately held, fee-only registered investment advisory (RIA) firm domiciled in Dallas, Texas, with executive contacts in New York. Founded by Hilary Bergman (formerly COO of Pali Capital) and led alongside CIO Thomas Carstens (formerly founding CIO of Lenox Advisors), the firm delivers customized discretionary wealth management to high-net-worth individuals, trusts and estates, corporations, and qualified retirement plans. Its portfolio construction approach emphasizes tax efficiency, multi-asset diversification across hedge funds, mutual funds, ETFs, and individual securities, and independence from proprietary product managers.

The firm does not operate a proprietary technology platform; it relies on third-party custodians (TD Ameritrade, Fidelity) for account administration and asset custody, and conducts investment due diligence internally. Its core products are bespoke wealth management and tax-efficient portfolio management, supplemented by affiliated services delivered through First Liberties Financial (FLF) — a broadly diversified broker-dealer with which Pelion shares senior leadership. These affiliated offerings include Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) and annuity structuring for HNW families, plus Insurance Dedicated Fund (IDF) coordination led by Thomas Carstens. Pelion also publishes periodic market insights (e.g., Q1 2025 Market Overview) sourced from providers such as Dimensional and FS Investments to support client engagement.

The revenue model is subscription/recurring advisory fees on assets under management, typical of a fee-only RIA, with no disclosed pricing schedule. Distribution is entirely direct advisor-to-client, augmented by referrals from a network of complementary financial services experts and through the FLF affiliation. Customer segments are served horizontally (HNW individuals, trusts, corporations, retirement plans) via bespoke mandates rather than model portfolios. No funding rounds, M&A activity, headcount, or AUM disclosure is available, and the firm operates a single Dallas headquarters with a small named leadership team of three executives.

Name

Pelion Investment Advisors

Legal name

Pelion Investment Advisors, Inc.

Website

https://peliongroup.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pelion Investment Advisors is a Dallas-based, fee-only registered investment advisory firm that builds customized, tax-efficient investment portfolios for high-net-worth individuals, trusts, corporations, and retirement plans, using third-party custodians and best-of-breed funds and securities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Portfolio Management–Led RIAs (Discretionary/Model-Based) (FSAAACAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Advisory Portfolio Management (Non-Discretionary) (FSAAABAD)

Keywords

• Wealth management services
• Investment advisory
• Portfolio management
• Retirement plan advisory
• Tax-efficient investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

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

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory Fees: As a registered investment advisory (RIA) firm, Pelion likely generates revenue through advisory fees charged to clients for portfolio management and investment advice services. The firm is not affiliated with any investment product manager, suggesting fee-only compensation structures typical of independent RIAs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Pelion Investment Advisors is an independent registered investment advisory firm that builds customized investment portfolios for high-net-worth individuals, trusts, corporations, and retirement plans. Portfolios are constructed from best-of-breed hedge funds, mutual funds, ETFs, and individual securities based on objective research, with an emphasis on tax efficiency and alignment to each client's time horizon, tax bracket, philanthropic goals, and risk tolerance.\n\n The firm operates a traditional RIA model without proprietary technology, relying on third-party custodians (TD Ameritrade, Fidelity) for account administration.

Product overview

Pelion Investment Advisors offers a unified wealth management platform centered on customized investment portfolio solutions. The core offering is its wealth management solutions service, which provides tailored investment portfolios for individuals, trusts, corporations, and retirement plans. Complementing the portfolio management is a tax-efficient portfolio management service that optimizes net returns by minimizing tax impact. Through its affiliated company First Liberties Financial, Pelion offers private placement life insurance and annuity vehicles (PPLI) for high-net-worth families seeking additional tax mitigation strategies. The firm also provides market insights and research content to clients. All services are delivered by a leadership team with extensive financial industry experience, utilizing best-of-breed investment vehicles including hedge funds, mutual funds, ETFs, and individual securities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wealth Management Solutions Customized investment portfolio solutions for high-net-worth individuals, trusts, corporations, and retirement plans. Portfolios are built from best-of-breed hedge funds, mutual funds, ETFs, and individual securities based on objective research and tailored to each client's time horizon, tax bracket, philanthropic goals, and risk tolerance.
• Tax-Efficient Portfolio Management Investment selection and ongoing portfolio management that treats taxes as the largest portfolio expense and seeks to maximize net returns by minimizing tax impact and other expenses from initial portfolio construction through regular rebalancing.
• Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) and Annuity Structuring Family-level tax-efficient investment portfolio structuring for high-net-worth families and family offices using private placement life insurance and annuity vehicles, coordinated through affiliated First Liberties Financial.
• Insurance Dedicated Fund (IDF) Coordination Coordination with investment managers led by Thomas Carstens to help them build and promote insurance dedicated funds to investors, leveraging Pelion's relationship with affiliated First Liberties Financial.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• First Liberties FinancialcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst Liberties Financial (FLF) is an affiliated broker dealer that works with high-net-worth families and family offices to structure private placement life insurance and annuity vehicles for tax mitigation. FLF also has an investment banking team for corporate finance transactions and provides institutional equity and fixed income trade execution. Leadership (Thomas Carstens as Senior Managing Director, Hilary Bergman as President) serves in dual roles across both entities.
• TD AmeritrademinorOthersThird-party custodian used for maintaining client investment accounts. Disclosure in privacy policy indicates TD Ameritrade as one of the custodians Pelion may use to establish and maintain investment accounts.
• FidelityminorOthersThird-party custodian used for maintaining client investment accounts. Disclosure in privacy policy indicates Fidelity as one of the custodians Pelion may use to establish and maintain investment accounts.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• GenTrust: Independent RIA offering customized wealth management and family-office-style services to HNW families. Comparable boutique scale, personalization model, and emphasis on integrated planning.
• Beacon Pointe Advisors: Independent, fee-only RIA providing customized portfolio management to HNW individuals, families, and institutions. Comparable customized-portfolio model and multi-segment client approach.
• Lenox Advisors: Wealth management and advisory firm where CIO Thomas Carstens previously served as a founding partner. Closely comparable by heritage and service mix, including customized wealth and insurance solutions for HNW clients.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: Independent RIA providing customized wealth management, tax planning, and trust services to HNW families. Highly comparable business model, including emphasis on personalization over model portfolios and integrated tax-efficiency.
• Buckingham Strategic Wealth: Independent, fee-only RIA focused on evidence-based, tax-efficient portfolio management for HNW individuals. Closely comparable philosophy (tax-efficiency as primary value driver, no proprietary product affiliations, third-party custodians).

Broad incumbents

• Focus Financial Partners: A leading partnership of independent RIAs serving HNW clients. Directly comparable as a roll-up platform for independent, fee-only wealth managers, though Focus is vastly larger and provides back-office scale Pelion lacks.
• Carson Group: RIA platform serving HNW clients and advisors with wealth management, coaching, and consulting services. Comparable in client segment and customized planning emphasis, with a much broader advisor-network model.
• Edelman Financial Engines: Large independent RIA serving individuals and retirement plan participants with portfolio management and financial planning. Comparable retirement-plan and individual investor segments, though materially larger and more technology-driven.
• Hightower Advisors: National RIA platform serving HNW individuals, families, and institutions with customized wealth management. Comparable in client focus (HNW/family offices, tax-aware planning) but operates at much greater scale with multi-channel distribution.
• Creative Planning: Large independent RIA offering customized wealth management, tax, estate, and retirement plan services. Similar customized-portfolio philosophy and HNW/retirement-plan segments, though at significantly greater scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pelion-financial-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Pelion Investment Advisors