Stephens works closely with an elite clientele of affluent executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities and their families. Bryan's goal is to provide highly customized solutions that can make a material difference in his clients' lives. Combining his own experience with the vast resources of Morgan Stanley, he creates and implements truly comprehensive wealth management plans that address everything from investment strategy to philanthropy management to estate and business transition planning strategies.
While the solutions we deliver are often quite sophisticated, our goal is simple. We want to help you and your family realize your visions of a successful life. We will serve as the close family advisors you can trust to make informed decisions, and deliver whatever resources and knowledge is needed to help support the people, causes and institutions that add meaning to your life.
Working With You
Step 1: Discovery Process
While every client situation is unique, we begin by learning about you, your family and your financial complexities. What we learn helps us to formulate specific strategies and, of equal importance, it helps us customize the entire relationship to your preferences and requirements.
Step 2: Formulation of Your Tax, Trust, and Estate Strategy
After reviewing your balance sheet and existing estate plan, we help analyze your income and estate tax circumstances to identify planning techniques that may be effectively tailored to your personal and financial objectives. We will work with your tax and legal advisors in this effort.
Step 3: Creation of a Customized Strategic Asset Allocation
Managing significant wealth often involves developing a customized asset allocation mix that reflects risk, opportunities and taxation across multiple entities, while integrating your investing and estate plans. This asset allocation becomes the basis for a long-term strategy formalized in your investment policy.
Step 4: Integration of Tactical Asset Allocation
These short-term adjustments in asset allocations seek to take advantage of opportunities created by temporary market distortions. Before adjustments are made, we can analyze the impact of any taxes or trading costs on potential returns.
Step 5: Implementation of a Customized Wealth Strategy
After comprehensive due diligence and extensive analysis of expected results across a range of market scenarios, investment strategies from our global investment platform can be leveraged to create your portfolio. This process can help to create an efficient balance of risk and return for your specific strategy.
Step 6: Ongoing Assessment of Your Family's Portfolio & Wealth Management Needs
Coordinating with you and your other advisors, we can conduct ongoing reviews and comprehensive reporting to help ensure that your strategy adapts to changing financial and family needs.
Recognition
2024, 2025 - Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams
Source: Forbes (Awarded Jan 2025). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based for the period 3/31/23–3/31/24. https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/wealth-management/forbes-top-wealth-advisors-lists-2025
2020, 2022 - 2025 - Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded 2020, 2022 - 2025). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in June of year prior to the issuance of the award.
https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/wealth-management/forbes-top-wealth-advisors-lists-2025
Alternatives are the investments that go beyond traditional stocks and bonds. They can open doors to unique opportunities to help grow and protect your wealth, and have long sought to offer enhanced returns, portfolio diversification, lower volatility, as well as potential tax efficiency.
Our leading alternatives platform offers 200+ third-party and proprietary funds, including first look and exclusive opportunities, that may help qualified investors enhance returns, reduce volatility, manage taxes and generate income—while maintaining a goals-based approach for asset allocation.
Our platform offers world-renowned hedge fund managers specializing in a variety of strategies. Hedge funds have become increasingly popular with a broader segment of the investing public due to their ability to offer diversification and higher potential returns when compared to traditional equity investments
Learn more about 1031 Exchanges and the benefits that they can offer
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management announced the launch of its Private Markets Transaction Desk, a concierge service that empowers eligible shareholders and investors to buy and sell eligible private company shares in the secondary market.
Amid volatility in stocks and bonds, institutional and individual investors might seek diversification in the growing private equity secondaries market.
Morgan Stanley continues to be a leader in both Alternative Investments and tax-advantaged solutions and services. Alternative Investments can do more than generate returns that are less dependent on the direction of the broader stock and bond markets. They also offer qualified investors a more versatile set of strategies for pursuing their goals.
Bryan Stephens, CFP®, CPWA®, CEPA®
Brendan Bacarella, CFP®*
Josh Lerner
Carsyn Cebulski
Angelo Loumbas
Mary Beth Powers
Brook Solliday
