The Fortress Group at Morgan Stanley

Lane H. Katz is a Senior Vice President and a Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley in New York City. He is co-founder of The Fortress Group at Morgan Stanley, a 6-person wealth management team.

As a Financial Advisor, Lane strives to deliver dynamic outcomes to complex investors with significant assets by being the grounding unifier of virtually all their challenging financial affairs through helping solve problems quickly and creatively, seeking to make their lives simpler and more satisfying.

Lane is both a Certified Financial Planner^® and Senior Portfolio Manager. He has been named to the prestigious Forbes’ Best-In-State Wealth Advisor List in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. His eclectic and global clientele of long standing, dedicated investors span the world. While Lane’s clients are primarily in the United States, he also holds Morgan Stanley’s prestigious International Client Advisor designation, which allows him to address the needs of affluent non-US clients and has enabled him to build an international practice as well. Through his 40+ years of professional experience Lane has helped clients survive and thrive through seven US Presidents, six US recessions and six bear markets and recoveries. Clients rely on Lane’s depth of experience and his rich and balanced perspective to help them navigate challenging times.

A native New Yorker, Lane takes the time to conduct detailed analysis of each investor’s financial life before carefully tailoring a sound, comprehensive plan for the individual’s unique situation. He employs a holistic approach, meaning he manages the asset and liability side of a client’s balance sheet. He meticulously considers various issues important to his clients, as well as frequently overlooked life issues they may have yet to consider, such as deciding where to retire, whether to work part-time or continue working in retirement, and how to provide financially for a new grandchild or other family member.

Lane places great importance on delivering the highest level of quality personalized service possible to clients with professionalism and integrity. “Each individual is made to feel like my only client,” Lane says. “My overriding mission is to take care of my clients’ finances, so they have the freedom to spend their lives enjoying what they have worked so hard to attain.”

Having spent his entire career, beginning in 1978 at Morgan Stanley and its predecessor firms, Lane is keenly familiar with the company’s broad of range of diversified products and services, key people and departments, and how best to utilize them to help maximize his clients’ advantages. Throughout his tenure, he has also developed deep relationships with professionals within the firm and around the industry who can bring added value to his clients.

A believer in sustained continuity, effective business succession and family estate legacy transfer, Lane has built strong, enduring relationships with his clients and now serves the children and even grandchildren of many of them. Lane and his three Financial Advisor partners serve families together as a highly experienced financial investment advisory team that provides clients with a collaborative approach to problem-solving and nurturing coverage with deep service support.

Lane and The Fortress Group routinely receive referrals from their clientele because of their unwavering dedication helping investors get to where they want to be through prudent financial planning and sound investment strategies.

When Lane is not serving his clients, he enjoys life in New York City. His hobbies include studying American history, travelling, listening to jazz music and going to the theater. Lane is also an avid baseball fan. For over 25 years, he has been a passionate advocate for the Children’s Aid Society, a 160-year-old organization and the largest children’s charity in the City of New York. He has served in various capacities, including Trustee and now Trustee Emeritus.

Disclaimer: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Forbes Best-In- State Wealth Advisors

Source: Forbes.com (Awarded 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in June of year prior to the issuance of the award.

Benjamin Anthony De Angelis is a Partner of The Fortress Group at Morgan Stanley, a 6-person wealth management team in New York City. With his trio of credentials of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Financial Planning Specialist and Financial Advisor, Benjamin leads the team’s advanced planning services. He helps clients plan for their best possible lives at virtually every stage of financial success and age—retirement planning, education planning, tax planning and trust and estate planning strategies.

For the past 11 years Benjamin has been sought after by both wealthy individual and institutional clients because of his calm, professional client-first demeanor and his adept analytical abilities. He graduated from Providence College with a Bachelor of Arts in business economics and was a Dean’s List Scholar.

Benjamin takes the time to conduct detailed analysis of each client’s financial life before carefully tailoring a sound, comprehensive plan for the individual’s unique situation. He employs a holistic approach, meaning he manages the asset and liability side of a client’s balance sheet. He meticulously considers every issue important to his clients, as well as frequently overlooked life issues they may have yet to consider, such as deciding where to retire, whether to work part-time or continue working in retirement, and how to provide financially for a new grandchild or other family member.

As a partner on a multi-advisor, age diverse wealth management team, Benjamin is a believer in sustained continuity, effective business succession and smart family estate legacy transfer. The team’s enduring relationships with long standing clients span generations to include the children and grandchildren of many of them. Benjamin and his three Financial Advisor partners serve families together as a highly experienced financial investment advisory team that provides clients with a collaborative approach to problem-solving and nurturing coverage with deep service support.

Benjamin and The Fortress Group routinely receive referrals from their clientele because of their unwavering dedication helping investors get to where they want to be through prudent financial planning and sound investment strategies.

Benjamin lives in New York City with his wife and dog, Max. They enjoy traveling internationally. Ben is a passionate cyclist and golfer, and enjoys a healthy lifestyle of feeding his mind and body with fresh foods and ideas, studying diet, cooking, and yoga and reading a book a month.

Michael Adam Geisser, Financial Advisor, is a Partner of The Fortress Group at Morgan Stanley, a 6-person wealth management team in New York City. He focuses on financial planning, tailored investment strategies and client development. Michael joined the Fortress Group in 2014 after graduating from Hartwick College with a B.S. in Business Administration and a minor in Finance.

Mike lives a vibrant life and he brings his love of wellness, fitness and sports into his client work, through seeking common interests, client networking and unique events. Mike’s personal high-performance disciplines drive himself to higher levels in service of a better client experience, thoughtful financial plans and sound investment strategies. He builds a winning team to help each client advance in their goals of wealth accumulation, protection, preservation and tax-advantaged distribution.

Mike is supremely focused on the technology sector and he attracts clients within the industry.

Mike and his partners take the time to conduct detailed analysis of each client’s financial life before carefully tailoring a sound, comprehensive plan for the individual’s unique situation. He employs a holistic approach, meaning he manages the asset and liability side of a client’s balance sheet. He meticulously considers every issue important to his clients, as well as frequently overlooked life issues they may have yet to consider, such as deciding where to retire, whether to work part-time or continue working in retirement, and how to provide financially for a new grandchild or other family member.

As a partner on a multi-advisor, age diverse wealth management team, Mike is a believer in sustained continuity, effective business succession and smart family estate legacy transfer. The team’s enduring relationships with long standing clients span generations to include the children and grandchildren of many of them. Mike and his three Financial Advisor partners serve families together as a highly experienced financial investment advisory team that provides clients with a collaborative approach to problem-solving and nurturing coverage with deep service support.

Mike and The Fortress Group routinely receive referrals from their clientele because of their unwavering dedication helping investors get to where they want to be through prudent financial planning and sound investment strategies.

Benny Davoudi is a Wealth Management Analyst at The Fortress Group at Morgan Stanley. He concentrates on supporting clients’ needs by performing necessary operational and administrative items including onboarding new clients, account openings, transferring funds and securities, and wire transfers. He began his tenure with the Fortress Group as an intern during which time he prepared performance reports, researched clients’ historical statements for class action lawsuits and worked with accountants and insurance companies to fulfill client requests.

He is a graduate from Queens College where he obtained a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance and Economics.

Benny is dedicated to helping clients effectively address their administrative matters.

Tom Calder is a Registered Client Service Associate for The Fortress Group at Morgan Stanley. Through active communication, Tom assists clients with account openings, money and securities movements, and administrative matters.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley as a Client Service Associate, Tom was a Secondary Markets Analyst at Intercontinental Capital Group. He attended Marist College where he graduated with a
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Sofia, who joined the Fortress Group in January 2024, is dedicated to fostering enduring client relationships. Serving as a primary point of contact for clients, Sofia addresses inquiries, processes transactions, and delivers support. She provides comprehensive administrative and operational support to the Financial Advisors, ensuring efficient client service and account management.

Sofia graduated from the University at Buffalo with a B.S. in Business Administration, concentrating in Finance.

She enjoys the gym, museum visits, live concerts, cooking, and quality time with friends. Originally from Miami, Sofia is a native Spanish speaker.