RIA Edge: Building a Future-Ready Firm with Brandywine Oak CEO Michael Henley

Jun 26, 2025

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Join host David Armstrong, fresh off the Wealth Management Edge Conference in Boca Raton, Fla., as he interviews Michael Henley, founder and chief executive officer of Brandywine Oak Private Wealth. Michael talks about the firm’s rapid growth since leaving Merrill Lynch in 2018 with the help of Dynasty Financial Partners and the focus that helped the firm double its AUM to $1.5 billion since breaking away.

Like many serving HNW and UHNW clients, Henley’s firm takes a tax-centric approach to planning; unlike many similarly sized firms, Brandywine has brought tax preparation in-house, a service enthusiastically embraced by their clients. Henley talks about the conference panel he saw that led him and his firm to dive deep into crypto, educating clients on the technology and, for those who want it, adding a small sleeve to their portfolios.

A culturally young firm of advisors mostly in their 30s and 40s, Henley and his team believe growing the business is important not just for the principals, but for the clients, arguing scale is needed to bring HNW and UHNW families the range of services they will come to expect. The team is grappling with the best way to make that happen and whether or not to look for a partner or a source of capital to fuel their next chapter.

David and Michael discuss:

Why he and his team left the wirehouse, and how opening their own firm unlocked an ability to serve clients with fewer conflicts and more opportunities.
How the firm is “obsessed” with taxes, arguing proper tax planning moves the needle for HNW and UHNW clients like few other strategies.
Why bringing tax preparation in-house (unique for a firm of their size) ensures advisors maintain control of the financial plan’s implementation.
How the barriers have fallen around alternatives and structured products, and the role illiquid investments can play for clients.
The decision to add a sleeve of cryptocurrency to their portfolios, and how clients reacted.
He and his partner’s thinking around M&A, “acquihires,” and the possibility of bringing on a capital partner to accelerate the next phase of growth.

Resources:

Listen to the RIA Edge Podcast on WealthManagement.com
Listen and Subscribe to the RIA Edge Podcast on Apple Podcasts
Listen and Subscribe to the RIA Edge Podcast on Spotify

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Michael Henley:

About Our Guest:

Michael Henley is the Founder and CEO of Brandywine Oak Private Wealth, a distinguished private wealth management firm headquartered in Kennett Square, Pa. Over the course of his 20-year career, Michael has partnered with wealthy individuals and families to help streamline the complexity associated with significant wealth. Michael built his team with a singular purpose: to provide a preeminent private wealth management experience to executives, retirees, and their family members, founded on exceptional service, transparency, and consistency. A skilled leader, he surrounds each client with a dedicated team of credentialed professionals who are sensitive to that family’s unique needs, values, and goals. Michael resides in Chadds Ford, PA, with his two children and their dogs. He holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM certification, the Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®) designation, the Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM (CRPC®) designation, and the Retirement Management Advisor® (RMA®) designation.