Clearstead Is Where Legacies Thrive.

We are committed to integrity, clarity, stewardship, pioneering, and collaboration in delivering the best thinking of our firm to all client circumstances. Our rigorous research and integrated solutions ensure we handle client needs with the same care and precision that our clients invest in their careers, businesses, communities, families, and themselves.​

We recognize the hard work you have invested and the importance of working with a partner who will prioritize protecting and enhancing your legacy. Our expansive team and expertise were built to put your future in focus, allowing you to embrace the rewards of your dedication.​

Our mission is to deliver holistic, fiduciary-driven financial counsel for clients integrating financial, estate, strategic tax planning, investments, trust services, and family office solutions.

Our vision is pioneering lasting legacies with clarity and confidence for the families, institutions, and communities we serve.

Integrity Clarity Stewardship Pioneering Collaboration

Integrity

Acting with honesty, transparency, and an unwavering commitment to clients’ best interests.

Clarity

Delivering insight with simplicity—empowering informed decisions across complex financial landscapes.

Stewardship

Managing wealth with care, discipline, and responsibility—focused on long-term legacy and impact.

Pioneering

Driving innovation to stay ahead of change and deliver forward-thinking solutions for every generation.

Collaboration

Working seamlessly with clients, families, and partners to achieve shared goals through trust and alignment.

Why Choose Us?
We have expertise in many financial services and can integrate them to create a solution that best fits your needs.
01. Tax Planning
& Preparation

Our tax platform includes comprehensive services that are designed to optimize our clients’ savings and minimize the tax liabilities of their investments. Our in-house team of over 40 professionals have expertise in tax preparation and projections, quarterly estimates and payment coordination, withholding analysis, tax-saving strategies, revenue rulings, tax loss harvesting, among other services.

02. Financial
Planning

Clearstead offers extensive financial planning services that can provide clarity and organization to every aspect of an individual’s wealth. From estate planning and wealth transfer to cash flow planning and family education, we help clients secure and transfer their legacy across generations.

03. Trust Services

We offer the full range of trust services through our Clearstead Trust and Clearstead Avalon Trust subsidiaries. Both are state-chartered nondepository trust companies that serve as corporate trustees for Clearstead clients. We believe there are significant advantages to a corporate trustee for families and individuals, especially when integrated with Clearstead’s tax, planning, and investment capabilities.

04. Family Office
Capabilities

Clearstead has deep capabilities in financial administration and reporting, bookkeeping, trust and foundation management, and family governance and education for family offices. In addition, we have expertise in helping families establish and manage family offices and single-family trust companies.

05. ClearAccess®
Platform

Our ClearAccess® platform simplifies investing in illiquid alternatives by enabling clients to invest in leading private investment vehicles sourced by Clearstead’s in-house research team. ClearAccess also streamlines alternatives administration, condensing tax reporting to a single K1. Clearstead currently manages nearly $3 billion in illiquid private investments for private clients and institutions. We also develop yearly series of private equity, credit, and hedge funds, simplifying the investment process for alternative investments.

06. OCIO /
Retirement
Advisory

Clearstead has nearly 40 years of experience partnering with institutions as an investment consultant, Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO), or retirement plan consultant. We have expertise in governance and oversight, asset allocation, manager selection, portfolio management, fiduciary services and education, and retirement plan governance, reporting, design, and benchmarking. The investments we recommend to institutional clients are sourced and monitored by our in-house research team, who also offer the same quality investment research to our private wealth clients.

07. Robust
Research

Our in-house research team drives our best ideas for investment portfolios, sourcing high-quality opportunities that we can customize to meet each client’s unique objectives. Our research analysts conduct thorough due diligence on investment managers, ensuring that our recommendations align with our investment philosophy and clients’ needs.

08. Complimentary
ClearSight
Analysis

Take advantage of our complimentary ClearSight Analysis, where we collect information about your finances and ask questions to learn more about your unique objectives. Our professionals then carefully analyze your information and formally recommend planning, tax, investment, and other financial strategies tailored to your aspirations. Contact us today to learn how we can help you and your legacy thrive.

One Clearstead, Deep Resources

Wealth Management

  • Financial & Estate Planning
  • Tax Planning and Preparation
  • Family Office Administration
  • Family Trust Company Services & Administration
  • Investment Management

Institutional Consulting

  • Investment Advisory
  • Fiduciary Services
  • Governance & Oversight
  • Retirement Plan Consulting
  • Outsourced Chief Investment Officer

Investment Research & Portfolio Management

  • Investment Sourcing & Due Diligence
  • Proprietary Research
  • Portfolio Management Team
  • Thought Leadership
  • Alternative Investments Platform

Clearstead Advisory Solutions

  • Division Headquartered in Norfolk, VA
  • Private Wealth Management
  • Institutional Investment Consulting
  • Sub-Advisory Services

Trust Companies

  • Clearstead Trust and 
Avalon Trust
  • Wealth Management
  • Trust Services
  • Investment Management
  • Family Trust Company Services & Administration

Since its founding in 1989, Clearstead has been dedicated to empowering affluent families and institutions in their pursuit of financial success. Over the decades, we have navigated significant changes in markets and world events, continuously adapting to meet the evolving needs of our clients. Our journey reflects a commitment to integrity, clarity, stewardship, pioneering, and collaboration as we strive to help our clients achieve their aspirations and secure thriving legacies.

Explore our timeline to discover the key milestones that have shaped Clearstead into the trusted partner it is today.

1986
Chess Financial Founded
1986

Chess Financial provided investment management and tax, estate and financial planning since it’s foundation in 1986.

1989
Clearstead Founded
1989

In 1989, Clearstead, then known as Hartland, was founded as an institutional investment advisor. Clearstead’s first clients were defined benefit pension plans, but came to include endowments, foundations, healthcare organizations, higher education institutions, and defined contribution plans. In 2010, the firm began providing integrated wealth services to individuals and families.

2011
Clearstead Acquires Chess Financial
2011

Clearstead acquires Chess Financial, adding 23 employees and 150 family and individual clients. Both firms were independent, fee-only advisors, dedicated to objectivity in providing financial advice. The firm also launches Outsourced Chief Investment Officer services.

2014
Clearstead Acquires Plimsoll Mark Capital
2014

On December 31, Clearstead completes its acquisition of Portland, Maine-based wealth advisor Plimsoll Mark Capital.

2016
Clearstead Acquires Lancaster Pollard
2016

Clearstead acquires Lancaster Pollard Investment Advisor Group, an institutional investment consulting firm located in Columbus, Ohio.

2018
Clearstead Launches
2018

The firm is rebranded and renamed Clearstead Advisors, LLC. The name Clearstead combines core firm attributes of clarity and steadfastness providing financial advisory to both private clients and institutions.

2020
Clearstead Acquires Maine Financial Advisors
2020

Clearstead acquires Maine Financial Advisors, a private client wealth advisor in Portland, ME, and merged with our Plimsoll Mark Capital division.

2021
Clearstead Trust Launches
2021

On July 1, 2021, Clearstead Trust, LLC began operations in the State of Maine as a wholly owned subsidiary of Clearstead Advisors, LLC. Clearstead Trust was formed through the acquisition of the Atlantic Trust (a Trust Company based in Portland, Maine) assets and Plimsoll Mark Capital.

2021
Flexpoint Ford Announces Majority Stake Agreement
2021

Flexpoint Ford (“Flexpoint”), a private equity investment firm specializing in the financial services and healthcare industries, enters into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake of Clearstead Advisors, LLC (“Clearstead”), a Cleveland, Ohio-based RIA.

2021
Clearstead Acquires Burkhart & Co.
2021

Clearstead acquires Burkhart & Co, a private client advisory firm located in Cleveland, OH.

2022
Clearstead Acquires Scott Snow (Financial Advisors) LLC
2022

Clearstead acquires Scott Snow (financial advisors) LLC, a private client wealth advisory firm located in Westlake, OH.

2023
Clearstead Acquires Avalon Trust
2023

Clearstead acquires Avalon Trust, a high-net-worth focused wealth management firm based in New Mexico, with additional offices in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and Portland, Oregon.

2023
Clearstead Acquires CLS Consulting, LLC
2023

Clearstead acquires the business of CLS Consulting, LLC, a consulting firm based in Cleveland.

2024
Clearstead Acquires Wilbanks Smith and Thomas Asset Management, LLC
2024

Clearstead acquires the assets of Wilbanks Smith and Thomas Asset Management, LLC (“WST”), a Norfolk, Virginia based wealth and investment management firm with over $5 billion of assets under management. The advisory business of WST is rebranded as Clearstead Advisory Solutions, a Division of Clearstead Advisors, LLC.

2024
Clearstead Acquires Baldwin Advisory, LLC
2024

Clearstead acquires Baldwin Advisory, LLC, a Norfolk, Virginia-based tax advisory firm. The combination is Clearstead’s second in the Mid-Atlantic region this year, enhancing the firm’s tax capabilities nationally. Baldwin Advisory is rebranded as Clearstead Advisors.

2025
Bradley Knapp Assumes Role of President & CEO of Clearstead
2025

Clearstead announces that as of January 1, 2025, Bradley D. Knapp, CFA, CAIA will become President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Knapp succeeds David C. Fulton, Jr., CFA, Chief Executive since 2014.

2025
Clearstead Acquires Waveland Family Office
2025

Clearstead acquires the assets of Waveland Family Office LLC, a wealth management firm based in northern suburban Chicago, Illinois

Let's Connect!

We want to learn more about your unique objectives and aspirations. Contact us today to learn how we can help you and your legacy thrive.