Washington, DC Financial Advisors | Finnerty Partners

The entrepreneurial vision Private Wealth Management

To us, your business is always personal At Finnerty Partners, we recognize that when you have built a business from the bottom up, the decision to step away, whether through sale or family succession, is never easy. In fact, we have seen that it is often life-changing—for founders, owners, their families and those next in line. From our experience working closely with business owners at varying stages of the selling process, we believe you can never begin preparing too early. Our early involvement in the planning process can add significant value to your strategy.

Educating entrepreneurs Our team understands the passion and vision that is necessary to build a successful company—and the concerns that often arise when transitioning your ownership role. Will Finnerty is a leader of entrepreneurship, having shared his knowledge and passion as an award-winning adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business for 16 years. Since 1995, our team have served entrepreneurs and their families across the country.

Finnerty Partners

202-942-2820

1501 K Street NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005

As a distinguished UBS Private Wealth practice, we’re dedicated to bringing an informed business perspective, along with market insight, planning acumen and uncompromising service to your entrepreneurial vision. Working together, we’ll help ensure it creates the best outcomes for your family and your future.

Start the conversation

“When it comes to managing your wealth our team has one simple rule: everything matters.”

— Will Finnerty

Though our clients often choose us for our comprehensive wealth management experience, we look beyond the tactical guidance and take a much more expansive view of our role. We commit to understanding you, your family, business and personal priorities, as well as your total financial picture. With our rich tradition of advising the most accomplished individuals, we are not only well-positioned to provide highly specialized guidance, but to also directly access and execute solutions with ease and efficiency so you can leave a purposeful legacy.

William Finnerty is as an industry leader

Will Finnerty has received local and national recognition for his experience and commitment to his clients, their families and the entrepreneurial community.

Accolades and designations

Forbes, Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, DC, 2021
Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors, 2019, 2020, 2021
UBS Private Wealth Advisor
Certified Exit Planning Advisor®
Certified Investment Management Analyst®
Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®)
Top finance graduate at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in 1994
Awarded the ML Award for Academic Excellence in Finance

Plan strategically to exit confidently

For more than 25 years, our team has built lifelong relationships with entrepreneurs nationwide. We’ve addressed the full cycle of their goals—from start-up to growth to sale or succession—while also helping them pursue other critical planning and investment priorities.

Early planning can have long-term impact

The more financial planning you do in advance of the sale—or even before an offer to buy is made—the better your foundation for all the steps that follow.

Our team has a disciplined process of asking questions and gathering all the facts and emotional drivers that can impact your exit strategy and the success of the final outcome. What are some of the factors we need to consider? We’ll help you ask the right questions before taking any action. Here are the top 10 transition planning considerations we’ll address with you.

We’ll help:

Assemble your team of advisors
Prepare your company to help maximize value
Prepare your family
Plan for income taxes
Address wealth transfer
Time your exit
Identify charitable and legacy goals
Review your estate plan
Invest the proceeds
Understanding your transition options

To help inform our recommendations, we’ll coordinate with your attorney and tax advisor, as well as our network of both third-party and UBS experts in:

M&A advisory services
Private equity and debt financing
Risk management
Trust and estate planning
Tax management

Who acquires the business?

Our priority is to access all of the resources you may need to pursue your wealth planning, preservation and legacy goals, which may include transitioning your business to:

Family members
You can gift and/or or sell your business to family members. Some techniques will provide you with retirement income and let you transfer the business at a discount, saving estate and gift taxes. Most let you keep some control.

Business partners
You can have reciprocal buy/sell arrangements with each other, so that when one of you is ready to retire or dies, the other automatically buys his/her share of the business.

Your employees
An employee stock ownership plan lets your employees enjoy the benefits of ownership, yet you can keep control until your retirement or death.

A charity
Charitable trusts can provide income, capital gains and estate tax savings.

Learn more about UBS Optimus Foundation

Your life post-transition

Building a company will always be one of your greatest achievements. What’s next for you, your family and your future? We believe there’s so much ahead— more financial, personal and professional decisions to make. Life post-sale will be different, but full of possibilities. Our team will work with you to explore your ideas, your dreams and the wealth issues you may need to address. Our goal is to help you manage unforeseen risks, preserve what you’ve achieved and ensure your wealth is there for you to use as you wish, when you need it.

Why exit planning? It’s more valuable than you think.

Find out how

Private Wealth Management
Advanced planning
Investment management
Relationship management

Delivering the firm, tailored for you

We access the expertise, global platforms and financial and intellectual strengths of the UBS Private Wealth Management division to guide you and your family toward your most important goals. Whether it’s helping you pursue a new business venture, a philanthropic passion or a purposeful legacy, these exceptional resources enable us to provide you with innovation and opportunity from across the firm and around the globe.

Should your needs require, we have established relationships with these select partners:

UBS Investment Bank
UBS Private Bank
UBS Global Family Office
Advanced Planning Group

A thought partner to exceptional families
Through our collaboration with the Family Office Solutions Group and more than 20 subject matter experts, we connect you to the best of UBS insight and expertise and integrate it with our own to help you grow your wealth and explore unique opportunities for shaping your great wealth. Dedicated to working with families just like yours, we believe there’s no better platform for us to curate advice specifically for your complex needs, across generations.

All of the solutions under one roof
Family offices have access to products and services across all areas of the firm, resulting in holistic, institutionalized coverage.

UHNW investment research
Trust and estate planning
Portfolio advisory
Income tax strategies
Family office governance
Family advisory
Strategic philanthropy
Corporate advisory
Structured solutions
Alternative investments
Direct investments
Tailored lending
Peer networking and events
Customized reporting

When it comes to reaching key business targets, you already know the value of a strategic plan. We believe the same is true for your personal financial decisions, particularly if you’ve just sold or anticipate selling your business.

Our planning process focuses on understanding your priorities, short- and long-term, so we can help educate you on your choices and help you take the best path for pursuing them. We’ll also collaborate with your legal, tax, insurance and business advisory team to align our advice.

Each quarter we meet with you, our conversations are centered on specific areas of importance.

Seasons of planning

Liquidity. Longevity. Legacy.
Our process starts with questions and a discussion that help us focus on what’s really important to you. Then, we can help you organize your financial life into three key strategies: Liquidity—to help provide cash flow for short-term expenses, Longevity—for longer-term needs and Legacy—for needs that go beyond your own.

Learn more

Time frames may vary. Strategies are subject to individual client goals, objectives and suitability. This approach is not a promise or guarantee that wealth, or any financial results, can or will be achieved.

All investments involve the risk of loss, including the risk of loss of the entire investment.

Asset management is at the core of our relationship with you. By evaluating your family’s unique circumstances, we construct a portfolio that aims to maximize the probability of achieving long-term goals. Our prudent approach incorporates asset allocation, product selection, manager selection, market research and performance tracking. We strive for risk reduction, capital growth and preservation.

When structuring your portfolio, our investment philosophy guides our decisions:

Maximize the probability of success. Assets should match liabilities. Our goal is to coordinate your financial resources with your responsibilities to help maximize the probability of success.

Strive for preservation of capital. Avoiding significant losses is key to long-term investment growth.

Remain disciplined. The only good investment plan is in one you can stick with through adversity.

Manage your emotions. They create obstacles to success and often prompt you to do the wrong thing.

Invest with a process. Rebalancing and other forms of contrarian investing can improve the probability of success and help mitigate volatility.

Extend your time horizon. In the long run, markets reflect fundamental value. Short-term fluctuations in sentiment can offer opportunity.

UBS Chief Investment Office (CIO) WM
Providing continuous analysis and monitoring across all major asset classes

Research specialists covering your individual needs with presence in 13 key financial hubs

In all that we do, we combine the boutique services of a team that puts our clients’ well-being first with the vast global resources of UBS Private Wealth Management. Our goal is to be your primary advisor, the first call you make to simplify your complex financial world and to educate you and your family on making the best decisions for your life today and future generations tomorrow.

All of our work begins with consistent, transparent communication—you can trust that every member of our team is hands-on and informed. In fact, we believe our client service team makes us the best at what we do every day.

UBS bespoke concierge services
We are able to provide information and assist you in: