Press Releases

This is Albion’s second straight year on the ‘CNBC FA 100’. America’s leading finance and business media outlet describes this list as, “the CNBC FA 100 recognizes those advisory firms that best help clients navigate their financial lives.” Albion has committed the past 40 years to guiding clients to a lifetime of good financial decisions™, so we welcome and appreciate a fitting recognition on this esteemed list.

Albion believes that a secure financial future is obtained through clearly stated objectives and attention to the many components of your life. Our team diligently works to understand your personal financial and lifetime ambitions, carefully creating plans and portfolios that meet each client’s risk profile, time horizon, and goals.

According to SEC data there are now 39,818 Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) in the US. CNBC’s methodology begins with this vast database and distills from there using a rigorous process to identify and distinguish a select group of premier RIAs. From 39,818, to the 904 that qualify, slimmed to a list of 100, to arrive at #3 means that Albion is in the top 0.0001% of all RIA firms in the country. It’s an incredible honor; one we do not take casually.

CNBC does not charge any type of fee to advisors to be listed in the annual ranking, nor did Albion pay in any way to be part of this ranking.

Albion Financial Group (“Albion”) debuted at #50 in CNBC’s 2021 ranking of the top 100 Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) in the United States. The top 100 list, which takes into consideration a variety of factors beyond assets under management, recognizes those advisory firms that help clients navigate through their financial life.

CNBC started the ranking process with a list of 38,302 RIA firms and partnered with AccuPoint Solutions to provide core data points from which to compare them. The initial evaluation process, using data collected from the firms’ SEC filings, refined the list to 749 firms. The remaining firms were then surveyed by CNBC to learn further details by which to compare them, ultimately resulting in the list of the top 100. These additional details included their compliance record, number of years in business, number of employees, number of investment advisors, ratio of investment advisors to total employees, total assets under management, total accounts under management, and number of states where the RIA is registered.

Albion has a history full of similar awards and recognition over the years. In 2020, SmartAsset identified Albion as a top financial advisor firm in the state of Utah. Utah Business Magazine named Albion the “Best Company to Work For” in 2019. Several members of Albion’s leadership team have been celebrated in Utah Business Magazine’s “40 Under 40” list in 2017 & 2020.

We are delighted to announce that Liz Bernhard has been named President of Albion Financial Group. Liz started with the firm in 2009 as an Associated Wealth Advisor. She quickly demonstrated her qualitative and quantitative skills as well as exceptional emotional intelligence. In 2011 Liz moved into the role of Senior Wealth Advisor where she has spent the last decade working to help her clients make good financial decisions. Liz’s ability to communicate and collaborate has made her a natural leader in the firm and her Senior Wealth Advisor role allows her to bring direct client perspective to the management team.

“Liz is a strong voice for fee-only fiduciary wealth advising in the community and is a strong advocate for and defender of Albion’s collaborative and caring culture that always puts our clients first,” said Albion CEO John Bird. “It was important to the Board of Directors that the President of Albion be an individual with direct experience working with our clients as well as the many allied professionals in our community with whom we collaborate. Our President should be aware of what our clients are experiencing, as such Liz will continue in her role as Senior Wealth Advisor supported by both Patrick Lundergan and Natalie St. Denis.”

During her tenure at Albion Liz earned her MBA from Westminster College in 2012, her CFP® designation in 2014 and most recently her Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® designation in 2020. Since joining Albion, Liz has worked diligently to understand the nuances of each issue her clients face to bring about the best possible solution. She will apply this same diligence to understanding the challenges and opportunities we face as a firm.

Liz is the latest addition to a strong management team that has been working together for over a decade. The team includes Mason Woolf, COO, Jason Ware, CIO, Peggy Knodel, Director of Associate Wealth Advising, Carrie Kerr, Director of Operations, Zenfira Holm, HR Manager, and Doug Wells, Partner. Albion’s co-founder John Bird will continue to serve as CEO of the firm.

Albion Financial Group has a strong team of twenty-six motivated and caring individuals who work each day on behalf of our clients to help them meet their financial goals. The steps we take today as we work to ensure continuity of management, appropriate transition of control, and a shift of ownership to those team members who are front and center delivering the services upon which clients depend will allow this group to work together well into the future.

Albion Financial Group announced today that Mason Woolf has been named Chief Operating Officer of the firm. In a clear sign of Albion’s growth and progress, the COO role has been created to oversee all company policies, processes, day-to-day management, coordination across teams, and organizational planning — with a particular focus on keeping the firm’s operations on track. Additionally, the COO works closely with our CEO to implement tactical as well as larger strategic goals in effort to facilitate improvements across all of Albion’s functional areas.

“For nearly a decade and a half Mason has been an essential member of the Albion Team, and over the last several years has served to integrate and improve several of our core functional groups. Naming Mason COO both recognizes the esteem his peers have for him and formalizes the critical work he already performs,” said John Bird, President and CEO of Albion.

Since joining the firm in 2006 Woolf has served on Albion’s Investment Team, and for the last decade has been Director of Trading. Mr. Woolf also serves as Chief Compliance Officer, safeguarding the firm’s fiduciary integrity. He has recently joined Albion’s Board of Directors and assists with setting the long-term vision of the organization.

“Four decades ago nearly everyone in the industry thought Albion was crazy for choosing a business model that placed client interests above all else. Now, every money manager in the world is pursuing our model. Having witnessed the power of Albion’s fee-only fiduciary approach during my past 15 years as a member of this team I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as Chief Operating Officer. This role has long been a goal of mine, and I greatly appreciate both the support and trust placed in me by our team as we forge this path together. Albion has an incredibly bright future and we look forward to the next 40 years of guiding our clients through a lifetime of good financial decisions.”

A 25-year veteran of the industry, Woolf spent his early career with Dean Witter, Arlington Value Management, and Fidelity Investments. Woolf holds a Master of Business Administration from the Gore School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Westminster College. He is also an honored inductee of Utah Business Magazine’s prestigious Forty Under 40, a select group of executives and business leaders to watch (2020).

Albion Financial Group is proud to report that Mason Woolf, our Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Trading, is a winner of Utah Business Magazine’s 2020 Forty Under 40 award.

It is apt for Mason to receive this award. Now a partner at Albion, Mason was a young veteran of the financial industry before he joined Albion’s team almost fourteen years ago; a product of his academic career at Westminster College’s Gore School of Business and his previous work at Fidelity Investments, Arlington Value Management, and Dean Witter.

Mason is naturally gifted at understanding the minutia of any deal and he is an expert negotiator. Well before his formal education in markets he spent his youth buying and selling G.I.Joe and other toys in the classifieds of the Salt Lake Tribune. Now a seasoned investment trader and compliance officer, he uses his skills and knowledge for the express benefit of Albion’s clients.

Members of Albion’s team will attend a luncheon at the Grand America Hotel this month to celebrate Mason’s well-deserved honor.

Albion Financial Group has been recognized as one of Utah’s best companies to work for by Utah Business Magazine. The winners of this award are selected from a competitive group of over 100 companies. Each company and their employees were surveyed, and the employees’ responses carried a heavier weight in the scoring. This award reaffirms that the team at Albion is pleased with the company culture, engaged in the services that we provide, and happy with their compensation and benefits.

Members of Albion’s team attended a luncheon at the Grand America Hotel on December 10th to celebrate this honor among the other outstanding Utah businesses.

Albion Financial Group was founded in 1982 in Alta, Utah by Toby Levitt and John Bird. The firm pioneered the service model of fee-only fiduciary investment advisory from day one – providing world-class financial planning and investment management services from the basement of the Alta Lodge. Now located in Sugar House, the firm has preserved the core fiduciary standard while expanding into a team of 28 people and providing service to individuals and families with a geographic reach that is rooted in our community along the Wasatch Front, including Salt Lake City and Silicon Slopes, but extends across the nation.