Mercer Advisors adds philanthropy team for $10M client tiers

Mercer Advisors, the Denver RIA with $114 billion in client assets, formed Mercer Advisors Philanthropic Services under Eleonora Sharef, WealthManagement.com reported Nov. 10. Sharef joined Mercer in April from McKinsey, where she co-led the North American wealth management practice during 15 years at the firm.

The team is initially open to clients in Mercer's Ascend and Regis service levels, which cover families with $10 million and $25 million or more in assets, respectively. Both get access at no additional fee and with no minimum giving level. WealthManagement.com reports the two segments are the fastest-growing part of Mercer's business.

The fee term is the part another RIA principal can act on. Mercer is wrapping charitable planning into the existing advisory relationship rather than billing it as a separate service. That puts the cost inside the Ascend and Regis fee instead of on a line item a client can compare across firms. A firm that charges separately for philanthropic advice now has to answer for that line against a $114 billion competitor that markets the same work as included.

Mercer announced a deal for AI tax firm Fifteenth on Nov. 5, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported. Deal Tracker counts two Mercer deals in the past 12 months, both as buyer and both announced, none closed. Moves Wire records seven moves at the firm over that span, most recently Cynthia Loh joining as chief platform officer on Nov. 3.

The philanthropy team extends what Mercer calls its family office model, which pairs traditional private wealth management with family office services. Regis, the firm's top service tier, was built by uniting four firms: Regis Management Company, which joined Mercer in December 2022; MDK Private Wealth Management, March 2024; Waypoint Capital Advisors, November 2024; and Singer Burke, October 2025.

Daniel Gourvitch, Mercer's president, said many of the firm's wealthiest families are "deeply charitable and focused on maximizing the good they can do in their communities and beyond." "Our aim is to deliver the same rigorous approach that has typically only been available within the most sophisticated family foundations to a broader range of families," he said, describing work that sits inside the relationship already managing a family's investments, taxes and estate plans. The philanthropy team is one more capability added to a platform that Deal Tracker and Moves Wire show expanding through purchases and senior hires.