Nestled in the Calabasas foothills is a financial planning firm that marches to the beat of its own drum.

At Morton Wealth, unconventionality is a throughline. Its cohort of advisers includes former baristas, teachers and a Pilates instructor who advocate for alternative investments, such as asset-backed lending, positioned for resilient returns.  

Despite years of high interest rates and volatile markets, Morton has seen continued growth, which it credits to its against-the-grain approach and a roster of new specialized products hitting key clients’ pockets. The firm had a record year in 2025, adding the most clients and assets under management in its 43-year history.

Forecasts and models have traditionally ruled wealth management, with close economic and risk analysis of stock and industry outlook often guiding portfolio construction. But Morton’s advisers “distinctly believe” they don’t have a crystal ball, says Chief Executive Jeff Sarti, a conviction that has long driven the firm’s investment strategy.

“If someone asks us, ‘What’s the market going to do next year?’ My answer is, ‘I have absolutely no idea,’ and that’s very intentional,” Sarti says. “There are too many unknowns.”

‘Your own path’

Morton sits between skepticism and a desire to participate in healthy growth, Sarti says, while keeping clients’ money sheltered from headline-driven market swings. Gold, private markets and asset-backed lending dominate the portfolios of the 1,300 clients who entrust Morton with roughly $3.5 billion in assets. Just a quarter of the firm’s managed investments are allocated to the stock market, a share that has remained low by design and has fallen further over the past few years.

Keeping stocks out of focus often means a sigh of relief for clients, says Patrice Bening, Morton adviser and partner. Take President Donald Trump and the administration’s “Liberation Day” in April announcing new tariff policies. Share prices sank following the news. It also means managing clients’ fear of missing out when stocks rally and the market soars, she says.

“I tell everyone, ‘You’re on your own path. Don’t get caught up on the would have, could have, should have,’” says Bening, who oversees $350 million in assets across roughly 100 clients. “Plan for yourself.”

To avoid the stock market yo-yo and give clients a “smoother ride,” as Bening put it, Morton centers non-correlation and diversification beyond the traditional mixing of asset classes.

“The problem is all those things that you think are diversifiers and should behave differently,” Sarti says. “They all start behaving the same when there’s panic or fear in the markets.”

That’s where private markets and asset-based lending come in. Morton’s portfolios favor sectors insulated mainly from broader economic trends, Sarti says, including medical companies and online used-book sellers. Loans with physical assets held as collateral are preferred to reduce risk in the event of borrower default. Another “safe haven asset” the firm has long prioritized is gold, which has steadily risen in value over the past decade. The precious metal’s spot prices recently shot up as the dollar has weakened amid geopolitical instability, to Morton’s clients’ benefit.

“It’s a hedge, an insurance policy against undisciplined policy actions around money,” Sarti says.

Fresh niches

The average Morton client holds $2.5 million in investable assets, and the firm’s standard offering starts at a $15,000 wraparound advisory fee. It’s a base model standard across the wealth management industry, primarily serving high-net-worth individuals nearing retirement. 

But in recent years, the firm’s focus on diversification has extended beyond the investment portfolio. With three new targeted services – “Modearn,” “Herself” and “Strategist” – Morton has built momentum around widening its client base. To reach high-income earners aged 30 to 55, the firm launched Modearn in 2023, an adviser-on-call service offering behavioral finance training and estate planning. 

“If you’re a successful professional, an executive, a business owner or an entrepreneur, you are in your wealth accumulation stage, but you also have so many things that you have to take care of,” Bening says. “If you don’t have the typical million dollars to have an adviser work with you, nobody will talk to you, but … how do you really prepare to get to that million dollars?”

“Modearn” investors pay an annual $6,000 fee for a retainer agreement with an adviser who helps them save for their children’s education and retirement, increase the value of their business, and manage their investments.

Bening heads another offering called “Herself,” launched as a tool to help women navigate the world of financial planning. Seeing her mother-in-law struggle with investments, estate planning and insurance after her father-in-law’s death inspired Bening to work with widows like her – one of Herself’s primary clients. Bening says she often sees families hesitant to discuss money, which frequently leaves women out of the equation, she says. “That is something that I try to change because it is generational … It can be cultural.” 

Another branch gaining steam at Morton aims to help baby boomers retire by selling their businesses. Since 2020, Morton’s exit strategy leader Joe Seetoo has developed “Strategist,” working with lower-middle-market business owners looking to monetize or pass on their life’s work. The product hit a stride over the last two years, he says, as uncertainty impact sellers and drew them to calculated exit planning. The deman coincides with the ‘Silver Tsunami,’ in which an estimated 2.3 million baby boomer-led small businesses in the U.S. are expected to change hands in the next decade as owners retire, Project Equity reports.

“They’re thinking about transitioning,” says Seetoo, a wealth adviser and partner at Morton. The firm helps “them do more personal planning, more business planning, to create alignment with their business, with their life goals and their financial resources.”