Overseeing $3.2 billion†
210,000 client relationships†
We work with $500K+ in assets
Corient Wealth Management: a wealth advisor for owners planning an exit
What an owner gets before the company changes hands:
A written estimate of the tax cost of each sale structure
An after-tax comparison of an asset sale and a stock sale
An investment plan for the money you keep after closing
A succession timeline covering family, key employees and outside buyers
clients served by
Corient Wealth Management†
†As of 10/5/2026, Corient Wealth Management serves 210,000 clients and manages $3.2 billion in client assets.
What clients ask Corient Wealth Management
Yes. Corient Wealth Management sets out how it is paid in writing, and you read it before any account transfers or any sale proceeds are invested. As general arithmetic, a 1% fee on $500,000 is $5,000 each year, so ask to see the dollar amount as well as the percentage.
Corient Wealth Management's client minimum is $500,000 in investable assets, which generally means accounts such as a SEP-IRA, a 401(k), brokerage accounts and cash rather than the value of your company shares. If you're below that today but expect sale proceeds, mention the expected closing date in the request form.
Corient Wealth Management reads your note and replies to set up a first call by video or phone. Useful paperwork for that call: the letter of intent, your last 2 business and personal tax returns, and a recent statement for each account. The first thing we look at is how the proposed deal structure would be taxed.
You talk with an advisor by video or phone, and the first questions are about the company itself: how it's owned, whether it's an S corporation, C corporation or LLC, who might buy it and when, and what the sale proceeds have to cover for the rest of your life.
An installment sale spreads capital gain recognition across several calendar years rather than triggering the entire tax bill in the closing year. By receiving proceeds over 3 to 5 years, you often avoid pushing portions of your capital gains into higher state brackets and lower your exposure to the 3.8% net investment income tax.
Yes, business owners with high self-employment or pass-through business income can make substantial tax-deductible contributions to a defined benefit cash balance plan. While it cannot directly erase capital gains, it lowers ordinary operating income in the transaction year, providing a meaningful deduction that reduces your total taxable income.
Sale proceeds earmarked for federal and state tax liabilities should be isolated in short-duration, high-liquidity instruments such as Treasury bills or short-term certificates of deposit. You should never leave pending tax payments in fluctuating equity positions, because a sudden market drop can leave you short when taxes come due.
Qualified small business stock exclusions under Section 1202 generally apply only to sales of corporate stock, not asset sales. If your buyer insists on purchasing assets rather than C-corp equity, you lose the federal capital gains exclusion, which changes the required sale price needed to net your target after-tax proceeds.
An owner should complete trust transfers at least 1 to 2 years before executing a letter of intent. Transferring non-voting business shares into a completed gift trust while company valuations carry minority discounts allows significant future sale appreciation to escape your taxable estate under the $15,000,000 lifetime exclusion.
Your advisor shares realized gain spreadsheets, cost basis schedules, and retirement deduction targets directly with your accountant before the fourth-quarter estimated tax deadline. This direct exchange ensures your quarterly tax vouchers reflect exact investment activity rather than inaccurate historical estimates.
Earnout payments should be treated as contingent installment sales for tax accounting. As earnout hurdles are achieved and funds release from escrow, each distribution contains both principal and imputed interest elements that must be separated on your tax return to avoid overpaying ordinary income tax.
What Corient Wealth Management plans before an owner sells
Business exit planning
A timeline and after-tax target price that show when selling actually makes sense for you.
Tax on a business sale
Estimated tax cost of asset sale, stock sale, installment sale and earn-out structures.
Family business succession
A plan for passing the company to children or managers, with gift and estate costs.
Investing sale proceeds
A written plan for sale proceeds: tax payments set aside, cash reserve, long-term portfolio.
Business exit planning
A timeline and after-tax target price that show when selling actually makes sense for you.
Tax on a business sale
Estimated tax cost of asset sale, stock sale, installment sale and earn-out structures.
Family business succession
A plan for passing the company to children or managers, with gift and estate costs.
Investing sale proceeds
A written plan for sale proceeds: tax payments set aside, cash reserve, long-term portfolio.
- Client households
- 210,000
- Assets under management
- $3.2 billion
- Account minimum
- $500K
- Specialties
- 6 areas
Numbers current as of 10/5/2026.
Partnering with a Corient Wealth Management wealth advisor on your business transition
Corient Wealth Management is a wealth advisor firm that guides business owners approaching succession or an enterprise sale on business exit planning, tax strategy, and reinvestment.
Most founders hold the majority of their balance sheet inside an operating company. When ownership succession or a sale approaches, every decision starts with what it costs in taxes, this year and over a lifetime. That tax-first perspective governs whether you accept an earnout, fund a cash balance plan before closing, or split company stock among family trusts.
When business equity converts into liquid wealth
A Corient Wealth Management wealth advisor works primarily with private company founders and partners holding at least $500,000 in investable assets outside their core operations. As a firm, Corient Wealth Management serves 210,000 clients with $3.2 billion in client assets as of 10/5/2026. Our advisory team coordinates with business owners across the country through secure video meetings and direct telephone conferences. For in-person consultations, our central office is located at 985 South Lamar Street, Dallas, TX 75202, United States.
Operating companies demand operational reinvestment, which leaves many owners asset-rich but cash-lean. The transition toward retirement or a second venture requires building a diversified liquid base while the business still generates cash flow. Before recommending any trade or corporate restructuring, an advisor calculates the tax cost of moving funds out of corporate retained earnings.
The onboarding process establishes clear milestones over the first 90 days. You begin by sharing tax returns and corporate legal structures, followed by modeled tax scenarios and a formal reinvestment schedule. The table below outlines how that initial 90-day transition unfolds for incoming clients.
| Phase | Advisory action | Delivered material |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1 to 2 | Review entity agreements and prior tax returns | Baseline balance sheet summary |
| Weeks 3 to 4 | Run corporate transaction tax simulations | Tax-bracket comparison model |
| Weeks 5 to 8 | Design post-sale allocation strategy | Written portfolio schedule |
| Weeks 9 to 12 | Set up accounts and establish trust titles | Asset transfer verification report |
At age 58 an exit plan protects multi-year income
Every client review meeting evaluates tax exposure, cash needs, and estate governance. Instead of general economic commentary, your advisor reviews how corporate distributions interact with personal brackets, whether pass-through income triggers net investment income surtaxes, and when to harvest capital losses. You walk away from each review with an updated net worth statement, clear action items for your certified public accountant, and documented deadlines for upcoming corporate contributions.
Consider a hypothetical founder, Mark, age 58, who plans to sell his manufacturing company for $3,000,000 with a cost basis of $500,000. Taking a single lump-sum cash payment creates a $2,500,000 taxable capital gain in one calendar year, pushing Mark into the top 20% federal capital gains bracket, the 3.8% net investment income tax, and high state income tax brackets. In addition, that surge in adjusted gross income would elevate future Medicare premiums significantly.
If Mark structures the sale as a 3-year installment note paying $1,000,000 each year while pairing it with an annual $150,000 cash balance plan contribution, his taxable business income falls each year. Spreading the $2,500,000 gain across 3 tax years keeps more income within lower intermediate tax brackets and reduces his combined tax cost by roughly $105,000 across the transition. Past investment results do not predict future outcomes, and you can lose money in market assets, but controlling the timing of income recognition provides tangible protection.
When advisory compensation is settled before paperwork moves
A Corient Wealth Management wealth advisor reviews every advisory fee directly before any capital changes custodians. You receive a clear compensation schedule that states the exact cost of advisory management, administrative custody expenses, and fund-level costs. If an advisor cannot tell you what advice costs in dollars before you transfer an account, you should pause the process.
General advisory mathematics should always remain straightforward. For example, a 1% annual fee on a $500,000 account amounts to $5,000 each year, or $1,250 each quarter. Corient Wealth Management presents all asset management costs in writing before accounts transfer, ensuring you understand exactly what leaves your account and how fees are deducted.
Before any agreement is signed, we break down your costs into four distinct categories:
- Advisory management billing schedule
- Custodial platform charges
- Underlying fund expense ratios
- Transaction and trade fees
What happens if your wealth advisor ignores corporate structure?
Business owners face financial hurdles that standard retail investment managers rarely see. If an advisor treats your company sale simply as a stock portfolio rollover, you risk massive tax leakage on depreciation recapture, inventory valuation, and state allocation. When evaluating a potential advisor, probe their direct background with pass-through entities, qualified business income deductions, and post-sale income generation.
The first thing we look at is whether an advisor coordinates directly with your corporate attorney and tax preparer. An advisor who works in isolation frequently establishes strategies that create friction on your Form 1040 or Schedule K-1. Ask targeted questions regarding transaction methods before committing your assets.
Keep these operational checks at the top of your list when interviewing any advisory candidate:
- Experience structuring asset versus stock sales
- Coordination with outside business attorneys
- Experience designing cash balance plans
- Rules for managing escrow holdbacks
- Protocols for multi-state corporate apportionment
Four seasonal checkpoints for business owners
Managing wealth tied to a privately held enterprise requires a structured calendar. Rather than checking balances ad hoc, your advisory team executes distinct evaluations across each quarter of the financial year. This regular rhythm captures tax savings before filing windows close and aligns personal liquidity with corporate cash flow.
In spring, your review reconciles prior-year tax returns against projected corporate estimates and verifies that annual retirement contributions cleared before the filing deadline. Summer shifts the focus toward mid-year valuations, buy-sell agreement funding reviews, and updating trust titles. In autumn, the focus turns to year-end tax loss harvesting, installment note interest payments, and establishing any cash balance plans before December 31. Winter completes the cycle by auditing 1099 distributions, reviewing liquidity reserves for estimated taxes, and establishing the upcoming year's cash budget.
This disciplined cadence ensures your operating business and personal investments function as a unified financial system.
Corient Wealth Management advises clients from coast to coast over video and phone; the office is at 985 South Lamar Street, Dallas, TX 75202, United States. Get in Touch →
What Corient Wealth Management does
Business exit planning
A timeline and after-tax target price that show when selling actually makes sense for you.
Business exit planning →Tax on a business sale
Estimated tax cost of asset sale, stock sale, installment sale and earn-out structures.
Tax on a business sale →Family business succession
A plan for passing the company to children or managers, with gift and estate costs.
Family business succession →Investing sale proceeds
A written plan for sale proceeds: tax payments set aside, cash reserve, long-term portfolio.
Investing sale proceeds →Cash balance plans
A comparison of cash balance and 401(k) contributions to shelter high-income years before selling.
Cash balance plans →Estate planning for owners
We work with your attorney on trusts, gifts of shares and the estate tax exclusion.
Estate planning for owners →Recently published
- How Corient Wealth Management Evaluates an Asset Sale vs. Stock Sale
- Corient Wealth Management's Guide to the Installment Sale of a Business
- The Costly Mistake of Counting on the QSBS Exclusion Under Section 1202 Before Checking Your Shares
- How are earn-outs taxed when selling a private business?
- Mistakes Selling a Small Business: 7 Traps That Inflate Your Tax Cost
- How Much to Sell a Business for to Retire (a Walkthrough from Corient Wealth Management)
What makes Corient Wealth Management different for owners?
Every review opens with one page on taxes: what a decision costs this year and what it costs over your lifetime. Before Corient Wealth Management suggests selling a fund, gifting shares or accepting an earn-out, it writes down the federal tax cost of each option. You leave with that page, a list of deadlines and a name next to each task: yours, your CPA's or ours.
Who we are and what we do
Today the firm works with 210,000 clients† and oversees $3.2 billion† on their behalf.
†As of 10/5/2026, Corient Wealth Management serves 210,000 clients and manages $3.2 billion in client assets.
Why business owners work with Corient Wealth Management
Your company is probably most of your net worth, and you can't sell it a slice at a time. Your income swings with the business, your 401(k) looks small next to the shares, and a buyer's letter of intent can arrive with a 60-day deadline. Corient Wealth Management models the sale before that pressure starts: price, structure, the tax cost and what the proceeds must pay for afterward.
You see in writing how the firm is paid before a single account is transferred.
Talk to Corient Wealth Management
By submitting this form you accept our Privacy Policy.
California and Oregon residents can view their rights here.
*When you share your phone number, you accept the Corient messaging terms and privacy policy. You allow Corient to send you recurring automated calls and texts with account information, scheduling confirmations, reminders and marketing messages. Agreeing is optional and is not a condition of becoming a client. To stop texts, reply STOP. Reply HELP for help. Message frequency varies and message & data rates may apply.
**Completely free. No commitment required beyond filling out a brief form and answering a few questions.