Nicholas J. Aynilian, Jr., CRPC®
My Mission Statement
My Story and Services
A practical, relationship-driven approach to wealth
With 15+ years of experience across finance, real estate, lending, and private equity, Nick brings an institutional perspective to personal wealth planning—helping clients make confident decisions across investments, cash flow, risk management, and long-term goals.
Nick believes his role as a Financial Advisor is to serve as a long-term ally and "quarterback for your financial life"—translating complexity into a clear plan, coordinating the moving parts as life changes, and helping you stay focused on what matters most.
Rooted in real estate—built for real estate professionals, business owners, and retirees
Nick comes from a multi-generational real estate family, which shaped how he thinks about wealth: it can be concentrated, illiquid at times, tax-sensitive, and closely connected to family, business, and legacy priorities. That background gives him a firsthand understanding of the opportunities and challenges that entrepreneurs and real estate professionals often face—managing variable income, evaluating financing decisions, balancing reinvestment with diversification, and planning across multiple entities, properties, and generations.
Today, Nick most often works with:
- Real estate professionals—including residential and commercial agents, brokers, owners, investors, developers, finance and capital markets professionals, and REIT executives—navigating cash flow, taxes, concentration, financing, and liquidity events.
- Business owners seeking coordinated planning across business, personal, and family wealth priorities.
- Retirees focused on turning savings into sustainable income, managing risk, and protecting legacy.
No two situations are the same, but Nick's process is consistent: understand what you are trying to accomplish, build a plan that connects the dots, and adjust as your life evolves.
Planning that connects the dots
Financial decisions rarely live in silos. Nick's goal is to build an integrated strategy that can help you answer questions like:
- How much liquidity should I keep on hand, and where should it sit?
- How do I invest while managing concentration risk—especially with real estate, business equity, or stock awards?
- How should I think about debt, refinancing, reinvestment, and portfolio liquidity?
- What does retirement income look like, and how do we plan for taxes and healthcare?
- How do we align estate and charitable goals with the rest of the plan?
Nick places a strong emphasis on clarity, ongoing communication, and disciplined execution—so you can move forward with a plan that fits your priorities.
Education and life beyond the office
Nick graduated cum laude from Boston College's Carroll School of Management with a B.A. in Management and a double concentration in Finance and Accounting. Nick is also a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor.
Outside of work, Nick is an active member of the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is involved in his local church, where he volunteers as pianist. Nick also supports charitable organizations connected to his alma mater, local NY/NJ communities, and the international Armenian community. In his free time, Nick enjoys classical music, reading, running, aviation, skiing, boating, golf, and tennis.
If you'd like to discuss your goals—whether you are building wealth, managing complex real estate-driven cash flow, preparing for retirement, or planning a legacy—we'd welcome the opportunity to connect.
- Wealth PlanningFootnote1
- Cash Management and Lending ProductsFootnote2
- Retirement PlanningFootnote3
- 529 PlansFootnote4
- Stock Plan ServicesFootnote5
- 401(k) Rollovers
- Alternative InvestmentsFootnote6
- Estate Planning StrategiesFootnote7
- Trust ServicesFootnote8
- Life InsuranceFootnote9
- Donor Advised Funds
- Municipal BondsFootnote10
- Planning for Individuals with Special Needs
NMLS#: 2788821
Wealth Planning for Real Estate Professionals
Real estate wealth is often built differently than traditional portfolio wealth. Income can be uneven, opportunities can be time-sensitive, assets may be concentrated, and tax and financing decisions can have long-term implications. We help real estate professionals organize the financial pieces around their business, closings, properties, investments, and family goals—so they can pursue growth while maintaining a disciplined plan for liquidity, diversification, and legacy.
We work with a broad range of real estate professionals, including:
- Residential and commercial real estate agents and brokers
- Brokerage owners, team leaders, and real estate entrepreneurs
- Real estate owners, investors, developers, and operators
- Professionals in real estate finance, lending, private equity, capital markets, and development
- REIT executives and senior real estate company leaders
Using a variety of products, we help real estate professionals manage personal and business cash flow between deal closings, commissions, property distributions, and other liquidity events—while seeking to capture yield on idle cash.
We work with you to understand your complete financial picture, including personal assets, investment portfolios, real estate holdings, debt, business interests, and family priorities, then help build a coordinated plan aligned to your goals.
We offer tax-aware strategies—including direct indexing, tax-loss harvesting, and exchange funds—designed to help manage the impact of taxes and concentration risk within your portfolio.
We provide lending options that may help clients meet personal, business, or real estate liquidity needs—including securities-based lending and home financing—often without having to sell investments at an inopportune time.
We offer access to 1031 exchange and Opportunity Zone strategies that may help real estate investors address tax considerations while repositioning or diversifying wealth.
Our alternative investments platform provides access to a broad menu of strategies, including private equity, private credit, hedge funds, real estate, and opportunity zone funds, which may help enhance returns, manage volatility, manage taxes, and generate income.
For clients whose wealth is closely tied to real estate, we help coordinate conversations around legacy, charitable giving, family governance, and education for the next generation as part of a broader wealth plan.
Our insured solutions platform offers access to a broad range of insurance and annuity solutions to help protect what you have built and support your long-term objectives.
Wealth Planning for Business Owners
For many business owners, personal wealth and business wealth are deeply connected. Decisions about cash flow, debt, reinvestment, compensation, taxes, and succession can all affect the financial plan. We help business owners bring structure to those decisions—building a strategy that accounts for both the demands of the business today and the life you are working toward outside of it.
Whether you are growing, preparing for a transition, or already thinking about life after an exit, our goal is to help you evaluate choices with a clear view of liquidity, risk, diversification, family priorities, and long-term wealth preservation.
We work with you to understand the full picture—business interests, personal investments, cash flow, debt, taxes, insurance, and family goals—then help build a personalized wealth plan aligned to your priorities.
We help business owners think through how much liquidity to maintain personally and within the business, where that cash should sit, and how to manage cash flow through changing business cycles.
We offer tax-aware investment strategies designed to help manage taxes and diversify wealth that may be concentrated in a business, real estate, stock awards, or other major assets.
We provide lending options that may help clients meet personal, business, or real estate liquidity needs—including securities-based lending and home financing—often without having to sell investments.
For owners evaluating a sale, recapitalization, or generational transition, we can help coordinate pre- and post-transaction planning around liquidity, reinvestment, income needs, estate considerations, and charitable goals.
Our insured solutions platform offers access to a broad range of insurance and annuity solutions to help protect what you have built and support your long-term objectives.
Wealth Planning for Retirees
Retirement planning is about more than reaching a number. It is about turning accumulated wealth into a sustainable income strategy, managing risk through different market environments, planning for taxes and healthcare, and making thoughtful decisions about family and legacy. We help retirees and near-retirees organize the next chapter with clarity and confidence.
Our approach is designed to connect investments, cash flow, distributions, estate planning, and philanthropy into one coordinated strategy that can evolve as your needs and priorities change.
Our retirement income planning focuses on turning wealth into an income stream while navigating longevity, market volatility, inflation, taxes, and changing spending needs.
We can help you plan for required minimum distributions (RMDs) and coordinate withdrawals across accounts to support your cash-flow needs and tax efficiency.
We help align your investment strategy with your income needs, time horizon, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, and legacy goals.
We can help you evaluate how Social Security benefits may fit into your overall retirement income picture alongside other resources and distribution needs.
As part of a broader wealth plan, we can help you consider how trusts and estate-planning strategies may support goals like protecting assets and planning for beneficiaries.
We help incorporate charitable giving and philanthropic planning into your overall wealth strategy, aligning giving goals with your broader financial plan.
AWARD-WINNING WEALTH MANAGEMENT. FOCUSED ON YOU.
With the guidance of a Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor and the strength of a five-time award-winning wealth management platform<sup> <a href="#wm-disclosure-1" class="Link--underline"> <span class="sr-only">Footnote</span> 1 </a> </sup>, you can build, preserve, and manage your wealth with precision and purpose. For every stage of your financial journey.
Location
Portfolio Insights
Retirement
- 401(k) Rollovers
- IRA Plans
- Retirement income strategies
- Retirement plan participants
- Annuities
Investing
- Asset Management
- Wealth Planning
- Traditional Investments
- Alternative Investments
- Impact Investing
Family
- Estate Planning Strategies
- 529 Plans / Education Savings Planning
- Long Term Care Insurance
- Special Needs Planning
- Trust Services
Business Planning
- Succession Planning
- Business Planning
- Qualified Retirement Plans
Philanthropy
- Endowments
- Foundations
- Donor Advised Funds
- Impact Investing
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning, charitable giving, philanthropic planning and other legal matters.
For more information, please see the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Client Relationship Summary.
2Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is a registered Broker/Dealer, Member SIPC, and not a bank. Where appropriate, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC has entered into arrangements with banks and other third parties to assist in offering certain banking related products and services.
Investment, insurance and annuity products offered through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC are: NOT FDIC INSURED | MAY LOSE VALUE | NOT BANK GUARANTEED | NOT A BANK DEPOSIT | NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY
3When Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors (collectively, “Morgan Stanley”) provide “investment advice” regarding a retirement or welfare benefit plan account, an individual retirement account or a Coverdell education savings account (“Retirement Account”), Morgan Stanley is a “fiduciary” as those terms are defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”), as applicable. When Morgan Stanley provides investment education, takes orders on an unsolicited basis or otherwise does not provide “investment advice”, Morgan Stanley will not be considered a “fiduciary” under ERISA and/or the Code. For more information regarding Morgan Stanley’s role with respect to a Retirement Account, please visit www.morganstanley.com/disclosures/dol. Tax laws are complex and subject to change. Morgan Stanley does not provide tax or legal advice. Individuals are encouraged to consult their tax and legal advisors (a) before establishing a Retirement Account, and (b) regarding any potential tax, ERISA and related consequences of any investments or other transactions made with respect to a Retirement Account. Individuals should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning, charitable giving, philanthropic planning and other legal matters.
4Investors should consider many factors before deciding which 529 plan is appropriate. Some of these factors include: the Plan's investment options and the historical investment performance of these options, the Plan's flexibility and features, the reputation and expertise of the Plan's investment manager, Plan contribution limits and the federal and state tax benefits associated with an investment in the Plan. Some states, for example, offer favorable tax treatment and other benefits to their residents only if they invest in the state's own Qualified Tuition Program. Investors should determine their home state's tax treatment of 529 plans when considering whether to choose an in-state or out-of-state plan. Investors should consult with their tax or legal advisor before investing in any 529 Plan or contact their state tax division for more information. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC does not provide tax and/or legal advice. Investors should review a Program Disclosure Statement, which contains more information on investment options, risk factors, fees and expenses and possible tax consequences.
5Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for legal matters.
6Alternative Investments are speculative and include a high degree of risk. An investor could lose all or a substantial amount of his/her investment. Alternative investments are appropriate only for qualified, long-term investors who are willing to forgo liquidity and put capital at risk for an indefinite period of time.
7Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning and other legal matters.
8Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC does not accept appointments nor will it act as a trustee but it will provide access to trust services through an appropriate third-party corporate trustee.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning and other legal matters.
9Insurance products are offered in conjunction with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC’s licensed insurance agency affiliates.
10Municipal bonds may not be appropriate for all investors. Income generated from an investment in a municipal bond is generally exempt from federal income taxes. Some income may be subject to state and local taxes and to the federal alternative minimum tax. Capital gains, if any, are subject to tax.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) and its Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors do not provide any tax/legal advice. Consult your own tax/legal advisor before making any tax or legal-related investment decisions.
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Awards Disclosures | Morgan Stanley
Please read the important disclosures below.
1) Morgan Stanley Wealth Management secured Money Management Institute/Barron’s Industry Awards for Wealth Manager Platform of the Year. The Wealth Manager Platform of the Year category recognizes a wealth manager platform that exemplifies innovation in delivering better outcomes for investors and Financial Advisors. This award has been secured in 2024, 2021, 2020, 2019 & 2018. The winners were selected by a specially appointed MMI Industry Awards Steering Council. The Steering Council consists of representatives from all segments of the MMI membership. After carefully reviewing the nominations submitted, the Steering Council determined a slate of finalists in each award category. The primary contacts at each of MMI’s 207 member firms were eligible to vote to determine the winners. Nominations were reviewed and evaluated to determine finalists June 2024 - July 2024. Finalists were voted on to determine a winner August 2024. MMI/Barron’s does not receive compensation from the participating firms in exchange for the award and Morgan Stanley did not pay a fee to MMI/Barron’s in exchange for its receipt of the award. Morgan Stanley is a member of MMI and pays a fee to MMI as part of its membership dues. Morgan Stanley’s receipt of this award is not indicative of any future performance. These awards were granted to Morgan Stanley based on the time period from October 2023 to June 2024. There were 6 firms considered for the Wealth Management Platform of the Year Award and 12 firms considered for the Distribution Excellence Award. The Money Management Institute (MMI) is the industry association representing financial services firms and Barron’s is a financial magazine; both groups are responsible for the award. Accolade qualifications for past years may vary; additional information available upon request.
2) Industry’s top tax-optimization technology refers to tax management capabilities developed by Eaton Vance and Parametric, affiliates of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is a leading provider of direct indexing strategies. According to Cerulli Associates’ Q1 2026 Managed Account Edition, Morgan Stanley ranked first among 15 firms in Direct Index SMA assets under management based on reported industry assets. The ranking reflects scale of assets and does not evaluate tax outcomes, performance, or quality of technology. Tax outcomes will vary and are not guaranteed.
3) The Celent Model Wealth Manager 2025 Awards for Data and Analytics and Essential and Emerging Technologies were granted to Morgan Stanley following an evaluation process conducted by Celent analysts. To be considered for this award, Morgan Stanley submitted Model Wealth Manager 2025 Nomination Award Worksheets to Celent on or about January 30, 2025. Celent judged each submission on three criteria: (1) Measurable business benefits of live initiatives; (2) degree of innovation relative to the industry; and (3) technology or implementation excellence. In order to win, the initiatives must demonstrate clear business benefits, innovation, and technology or implementation excellence. Celent does not receive compensation from the participating firms in exchange for the award and Morgan Stanley did not pay a fee to Celent in exchange for the award. Morgan Stanley is not affiliated with Celent. Based on their submission on January 30, 2025 for Celent’s 2025 Model Awards program, Celent granted Morgan Stanley their awards in June, 2025 and publicly shared the news in June, 2025. Celent is a global financial services research and advisory firm and is responsible for determining the recipient of this award.
4) Q4 2025 Securities Based Lending McLagan Survey – 6 Firm Report. Based on both Non-Purpose Lending and total SBL balances. Borrowing against securities may not be appropriate for everyone. Clients must be aware that there are risks associated with a securities based loan, including possible maintenance calls on short notice, and that market conditions can magnify any potential for loss.
Not all products, tools, platforms, and services referenced are available to all clients. Please speak with your Financial Advisor for eligibility criteria.
Investing in securities involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss in a declining financial market.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC does not accept appointments nor will it act as a trustee but it will provide access to trust services through an appropriate third-party corporate trustee.
Alternative investments are often speculative and include a high degree of risk. Investors can lose all or a substantial amount of their investment. They may be highly illiquid, can engage in leverage, short-selling and other speculative practices that may increase volatility and the risk of loss, and may be subject to large investment minimums and initial lock-ups. They may involve complex tax structures, tax inefficient investing and delays in distributing important tax information. They may have higher fees and expenses that traditional investments, and such fees and expenses can lower the returns achieved by investors.
Cash management and lending products and services are provided by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association or Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A, as applicable.
Borrowing against securities may not be appropriate for everyone. Clients must be aware that there are risks associated with a securities based loan, including possible maintenance calls on short notice, and that market conditions can magnify any potential for loss. For details please see the important disclosures below.
Important Risk Information for Securities Based Lending: Clients must be aware that: (1) Sufficient collateral must be maintained to support the loan and to take future advances; (2) Clients may have to deposit additional cash or eligible securities on short notice; (3) Some or all of the pledged securities may be sold without prior notice in order to maintain account equity at required collateral maintenance levels. Clients will not be entitled to choose the securities that will be sold. These actions may interrupt long-term investment strategy and may result in adverse tax consequences or in additional fees being assessed; (4) Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A., Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association or Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (collectively referred to as "Morgan Stanley") reserve the right not to fund any advance request due to insufficient collateral or for any other reason except for any portion of a securities based loan that is identified as a committed facility; (5) Morgan Stanley reserves the right to increase the collateral maintenance requirements at any time without notice; and (6) Morgan Stanley reserves the right to call securities based loans at any time and for any reason.
With the exception of a margin loan, the proceeds from securities based loan products may not be used to purchase, trade, or carry margin stock (or securities, with respect to Express CreditLine); repay margin debt that was used to purchase, trade or carry margin stock (or securities, with respect to Express CreditLine); and cannot be deposited into a Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC or other brokerage account.
To be eligible for a securities based loan, a client must have a brokerage account at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC that contains eligible securities, which shall serve as collateral for the securities based loan.
Securities based loans are provided by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association or Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A, as applicable.
There is no guarantee that tax-loss harvesting will achieve any particular tax result. Clients may elect Tax Management Services for the account by notifying their Financial Advisor, and indicate what Maximum Tax or Realized Capital Gain Instruction is desired for the account, if any. The Tax Management Services Terms and Conditions attached to the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Select UMA ADV brochure as Exhibit A will govern Tax Management Services in the account. Review the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Select UMA ADV brochure carefully with your tax advisor.
Industry acclaimed risk platform refers to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC’s (“Morgan Stanley”) Portfolio Risk Platform. The assumptions used in the Report incorporate portfolio risk and scenario analysis employed by BlackRock Solutions (“BRS”), a financial technology and risk analytics provider that is independent of Morgan Stanley. BRS’ role is limited to providing risk analytics to Morgan Stanley, and BRS is not acting as a broker-dealer or investment adviser nor does it provide investment advice with respect to the Report. Morgan Stanley has validated and adopted the analytical conclusions of these risk models. The analysis provided is illustrative only. Morgan Stanley cannot predict a portfolio’s risk of loss due to, among other things, changing market conditions or other unanticipated circumstances. The analysis is based purely on assumptions made using available data and any of its forecasts are subject to change.
The footnotes below apply to the industry-leading claims referenced above. More information is available upon request.
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is the trade name of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, a registered broker-dealer in the United States. Securities based loans are provided by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association or Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A, as applicable.
Investment, Insurance and annuity products offered through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC are NOT FDIC INSURED | MAY LOSE VALUE | NOT BANK GUARANTEED | NOT A BANK DEPOSIT | NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY
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