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Personal CFO-Level Guidance for Senior Leaders
Coordinated oversight across investments, planning, and financial decisions — so executives can stay focused on their careers while their financial life is expertly managed.
Executive Financial Counseling
Explore our counseling services designed for corporate executives and beneficiaries. Select a service below to preview our approach — then visit the full page for a deeper look.
Financial Strategy for Executives and Their Families
When a significant portion of your net worth is tied to your employer — through stock options, RSUs, deferred compensation, and concentrated equity positions — your financial plan needs to account for risks and opportunities that most advisors overlook entirely.
BRIM's executive financial counseling is designed for C-suite leaders, senior vice presidents, directors, and high-earning professionals whose compensation packages are complex, whose tax exposure is significant, and whose financial decisions carry outsized consequences.
We don't just manage your portfolio. We build a coordinated strategy around your total compensation — aligning equity exercise decisions, tax planning, estate structures, and investment diversification so every piece works together, not in isolation.
What Executive Counseling Covers
Executive compensation creates both extraordinary opportunity and concentrated risk. We address every dimension — from the timing of your next option exercise to the estate plan that protects the wealth you've built.
Equity Compensation Strategy
Modeling the tax impact, timing, and diversification strategy for ISOs, NSOs, RSUs, PSUs, and ESPP — including AMT analysis, disqualifying dispositions, and multi-year vesting schedule optimization.
Concentrated Stock Diversification
Building a systematic plan to reduce single-stock exposure — through 10b5-1 plans, exchange funds, charitable strategies, and phased selling programs that balance tax efficiency with risk reduction.
Deferred Compensation Planning
Advising on NQDC election timing, deferral amounts, investment allocation within the plan, distribution scheduling, and the credit risk of leaving substantial sums on your employer's balance sheet.
Tax Strategy & Preparation
Proactive multi-year tax planning with Brian Wendroff, CPA — coordinating the tax impact of vesting events, option exercises, bonus timing, Roth conversions, and charitable giving to minimize your effective rate.
Estate & Wealth Transfer
Designing estate structures that account for unvested equity, deferred compensation payouts, concentrated positions, and the unique beneficiary complexities that come with executive-level wealth. Coordinated with Bobby Feisee, Esq.
Risk Mitigation & Insurance
Executive-level disability, umbrella liability, supplemental life, and long-term care coverage — reviewed through DPL Financial Partners to ensure every policy is commission-free and aligned with your total financial picture.
How We Build Your Executive Financial Plan
Executive compensation is time-sensitive and interdependent. Our process is designed to capture every moving piece — so nothing vests, expires, or triggers an unexpected tax event without a strategy in place.
Total Compensation Audit
We inventory your complete compensation package — base salary, bonus structure, equity grants (all types, all tranches), deferred compensation balances, ESPP participation, benefits, and any change-of-control or severance provisions.
Multi-Year Tax Modeling
Brian Wendroff models your tax picture across vesting years, exercise scenarios, and bonus timing — identifying the optimal sequence of income recognition events to minimize your cumulative federal, state, and AMT exposure.
Diversification & Investment Strategy
We build a systematic plan to reduce concentrated stock exposure — setting target allocation percentages, designing 10b5-1 selling plans where appropriate, and deploying proceeds into BRIM's diversified SMA strategies.
Estate & Protection Framework
Bobby Feisee designs estate structures that account for unvested equity, NQDC payouts, and concentrated positions — including trusts, gifting strategies, and beneficiary designations that integrate with your overall plan.
Ongoing Monitoring & Event Response
Equity vests, options expire, blackout windows open and close, and career transitions happen. We monitor every deadline and trigger — ensuring you're never caught off guard and every event is optimized before it occurs.
The Compensation Vehicles We Navigate
Each type of executive compensation carries distinct tax treatment, timing constraints, and planning opportunities. We build strategies specific to what you hold — not generic advice that misses the nuances.
Incentive Stock Options (ISOs)
Favorable long-term capital gains treatment if holding periods are met — but AMT exposure on exercise can create a phantom tax bill. We model exercise timing against AMT thresholds to find the optimal strategy each year.
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
Taxed as ordinary income on vesting — creating significant withholding and tax planning needs around vest dates. We coordinate vesting-year income with bonus timing, Roth conversions, and charitable strategies to manage the tax spike.
Performance Share Units (PSUs)
Contingent equity awards tied to company or individual performance metrics — with uncertain vesting outcomes and variable tax impact. We scenario-plan across achievement levels to prepare for best- and worst-case outcomes.
Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation
Elective deferrals of salary and bonus into employer-held plans — offering tax deferral but carrying credit risk and rigid distribution rules under Section 409A. We advise on election amounts, investment choices, and payout scheduling.
Employee Stock Purchase Plans
Discounted stock purchases through payroll deductions — typically at 15% below fair market value. We determine optimal contribution levels and holding period strategies to maximize the tax benefit of qualifying dispositions.
Change-of-Control & Severance
Accelerated vesting, golden parachute provisions, 280G excise taxes, and severance package negotiations. We model the financial impact of M&A events, terminations, and career transitions before they happen.
Structures That Optimize Executive Wealth
Beyond the basics of exercising options and selling stock, there are powerful strategies that can dramatically improve your after-tax outcomes. These are the frameworks we evaluate and implement for every executive client.
10b5-1 Trading Plans
Pre-scheduled selling programs that allow insiders to diversify during blackout periods — providing both compliance protection and systematic exposure reduction without triggering insider trading concerns.
AMT Credit Recovery Strategy
If you've triggered AMT from ISO exercises in prior years, we design multi-year strategies to recover those credits — timing ordinary income, capital gains, and deductions to maximize AMT credit utilization.
Appreciated Stock Gifting
Donating concentrated employer stock to donor-advised funds or charitable trusts — eliminating capital gains tax, generating a full fair market value deduction, and creating a systematic philanthropic vehicle.
Pre-Vest Equity Transfers
Gifting unvested or pre-appreciation equity into trusts — transferring future growth outside your estate at current (lower) valuations. Requires careful coordination with Bobby Feisee on trust design and 83(b) elections.
Mega Backdoor Roth & NQDC Coordination
Maximizing after-tax 401(k) contributions with in-plan Roth conversions — while coordinating NQDC deferral elections and distribution timing to build both tax-deferred and tax-free retirement income streams.
Career Transition Modeling
Before you accept a new role, negotiate a package, or leave your current employer — we model the full financial impact: unvested equity forfeiture, NQDC acceleration, severance terms, and the net cost of walking away.
One Team, Aligned Around Your Career and Wealth
Executive-level planning demands coordination between your financial advisor, tax strategist, estate attorney, and — when equity is involved — your company's stock plan administrator. BRIM manages the entire team.
The Wealth Manager vs. The BRIM Approach
Your Compensation Is Complex — Your Plan Should Be Too
Whether you're navigating a new equity grant, planning a career transition, or building a long-term strategy around your total compensation — we'll build a plan that matches the complexity of your financial life.