Fiduciary, always
Not just for investments — for insurance, annuities, and every referral we make. If we wouldn’t buy it ourselves, we won’t mention it to you.
About the firm
Advice we’d give our own family — because Chicago is our family.
Summit Wealth began in 2004 with one belief: financial advice should be bought, not sold. Twenty-two years later we guide $1.2B for 950+ households — still fee-only, still independent, still answering our own phones.
Our story
Founded on a refund check and a frustration.
In 2003, our founder Daniel Reyes watched his parents pay a 5.75% front-end load on a mutual fund a broker “recommended” — the same fund available load-free elsewhere. He sent them the difference out of his own bonus, quit the brokerage, and opened Summit Wealth the next spring.
The model hasn’t changed since: clients pay us directly, we answer only to them, and every recommendation has to survive one question — would I put my mother in this? That question has guided us through the 2008 crisis, the 2020 crash, and every client kitchen-table conversation in between.
2004
founded in Chicago
14
advisors & planners
0
commissions earned, ever
Our LaSalle Street planning studio, where every client review happens.
What we won’t compromise
Four promises, printed on our wall.
Plain English or it doesn’t ship
Every plan is written so a smart teenager could follow it. Jargon is a hiding place; we don’t use hiding places.
Costs are a return
A dollar saved in fees compounds exactly like a dollar earned. We publish our fees, minimize fund expenses, and show your all-in cost every year.
Answer the phone
Markets panic, parents fall ill, job offers land on Fridays. A human who knows your file picks up — same business day, every time.
Milestones
Twenty-two years of steady growth.
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2004 — The first office
Two desks above a deli on Milwaukee Ave. First 40 clients come entirely by referral.
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2009 — Tested by fire
Not one client panic-sold during 2008. Rebalancing through the crash becomes firm lore — and policy.
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2015 — Tax practice joins
Marcus Bell, CPA, merges his practice in. Planning and tax finally live under one roof.
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2021 — $1B milestone
Assets under guidance pass $1 billion across 800 households. Team grows to 14.
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2026 — Still independent
No private-equity owner, no sales quotas. Employee-owned, Chicago-proud, taking on 60 new families a year.
Credentials
Qualified to give this advice.
9× CFP® professionals
Certified Financial Planner — the planning profession’s gold standard.
3× CFA charterholders
Chartered Financial Analysts lead our investment committee.
2× CPAs in-house
Tax strategy built by people who’ve signed returns for decades.
SEC-registered since 2005
Examined regularly; clean record. ADV & Form CRS on request.
Come see the wall with the four promises.
Coffee’s on us. Thirty minutes, downtown or by video — your choice.