Wealthspire Advisors, a New York City-based registered investment advisory firm owned by global insurance brokerage NFP, has launched a national, community-centered program dedicated to the firm’s philanthropic and charitable giving efforts.
While Wealthspire and its advisors have already been involved in many philanthropic endeavors over the years, this program puts a fine point on the RIA’s commitment to these efforts and brings them under one umbrella, called ASPIRE by Wealthspire Advisors.
“As much as people have gotten accustomed to Zoom and Teams and all that, we’re still a business that is about individuals in communities,” said Mike LaMena, CEO of Wealthspire. “That historically has manifested through a lot of engagement locally, whether that’s sponsorship of events, engagement with different charities, volunteer work, philanthropic giving. We felt like there was an opportunity to bring more cohesiveness, visibility, momentum to the work that we are doing in all these pockets by bringing it together under an umbrella initiative.”
ASPIRE is focused on four pillars, including education, advocacy, partnership and sponsorship.
Wealthspire CMO Angela Giombetti said she had noticed many of the firm’s advisors were passionate about the outreach and work they were doing personally in their communities, but they were also curious about what other offices were doing. The new initiative helps to create that culture at an enterprise level around community outreach.
“It’s a framework that allows us to capture all the good things that are going on locally, in particular, offices with particular advisors, connect people around common ideas that they have and then find ways to drive bigger impact,” LaMena said.
It’s also attractive to prospective sellers, he said. Some firms have expressed concern that they’ll have to give up their philanthropic efforts when they’re acquired, but Wealthspire wants to amplify those efforts and connect firms with similar interests. For example, as Wealthspire acquired multiple firms, several were interested in addressing food scarcity in their regions. The firm launched an internal giving campaign in December, raising nearly $50,000 for Feeding America, a nonprofit network of food banks.
“We’ve always talked about, we’re a full integration model, not an assimilation model,” LaMena said. “And we take the best of everything that’s contributed by all the talented people we bring together and bring that together for our collective intelligence.”
The firm also partners with Advisers Give Bank, a non-profit organization that connects low- and moderate-income families with pro bono financial planning. That partnership grew out of several Wealthspire advisors who wanted to reach a population they don’t typically serve. Another Wealthspire team member was involved in their board. To date, the RIA has raised over $25,000 for that organization, and more than two dozen advisors have committed to volunteering.
Through 2026, the firm has also committed $100,000 for the Wealthspire Advisors CFP Certification Diversity Scholarship, which will award financial aid to 20 diverse, aspiring CFP professionals.
Overall, Wealthspire has provided charitable contributions of over $500,000 in the last 12 months. As part of the ASPIRE program, the firm will publish an annual giving report of its overall efforts.
Once a year, the firm will also recognize one employee’s community efforts with its John Wolff Award, named for the Wealthspire colleague who passed away last year after a long fight with cancer. Greg Friedman, senior strategic advisor at Wealthspire, won the inaugural award for his work to preserve the world’s oceans.
Wealthspire is also a founding partner of the Net Positive Consortium, an industry initiative launched last year to promote and spread best practices on “net positive” strategies for clients and communities.
LaMena also said ASPIRE is good for business; employees want to work for companies that are engaged philanthropically and support organizations and local communities that are impacting lives. And the firm’s ideal clients might be the folks sitting on the boards of these organizations.
“Employees demonstrate every day more and more that they want to be behind companies and brands that reflect their values,” he said. “I think the same thing is true for clients. And when clients see us not just as great planners that are helping them individually, but having impact in the communities in which they live, being passionate about major initiatives, whether it’s food scarcity, empowering women, whatever it might be that we identify, I think that resonates with clients.”