Firm and Team

Wealth Management

USA-centered clients

For clients with $750,000 or more in investable assets, we offer comprehensive financial planning and investment management together in a service package. Service packages scale up to meet your needs depending on the complexity of your situation. Each service package includes a given amount of investable assets (e.g. Ascent includes the first $500K) with a discounted rate that applies to assets over the included amount.

Investment Management Only

AUS-centered clients

For clients who have at least $500K USD of investments and are not seeking a comprehensive wealth management engagement (typically Australian based clients with U.S. investments), we offer investment management as a standalone service offering.

Firm

We are a wealth management firm that takes a holistic view of your financial situation with an emphasis on helping you meet your life goals. We align with clients who see the purpose of money as a means to enhance their own and their families’ well-being. We view our success as maximizing your return on life, not simply your return on investment.

As your wealth manager, we would gather information about your liabilities, income sources, expenses, risks, commitments, and values in order to unearth opportunities and help you make better financial decisions.

Founder

Ashley Murphy, GFP (USA) CFP®

Ashley has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and was profiled in Financial Advisor Magazine. From 2014 - 2017, Ashley taught aspiring CFP candidates at UC Berkeley Extension and Golden Gate University. Presently, he is a Knowledge Circle host for the International and Cross-Border Knowledge Circle with the FPA and a regular conference speaker. He was awarded the CFP® designation in 2012 and voted Secretary of FPA NexGen the same year. Ashley is currently undertaking CFP® studies in Australia which will make him one of the only financial advisors qualified in both countries when completed.

Ashley is a tri-citizen of the USA, Australia and the UK. In 2005, he ventured to the United States to pursue his dreams in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ashley’s undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia) were  in Business Management and Management Information Systems.

Ashley has long felt a passion for financial planning and investment management. While at university he founded and grew an investment club to over 300 members. Following college, he co-founded a start-up management consulting/reporting company and was a finalist in the UQ ENTERPRIZE competition.

Ashley worked for several large companies, including Visa, Babcock and Brown and VWR International as a corporate financial analyst. He began the transition to financial planning in 2008 and in 2009, completed the first level of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. In 2010, Ashley was named runner-up ‘Student of the Year’ in the UC Berkeley Extension’s Personal Financial Planning program and won a number of scholarships.

Spurning offers from major ‘wirehouse’ banks, Ashley chose to learn the business from the ground up and worked at David White and Associates (DWA) as a paraplanner. He supported 16 financial advisors with their financial plans, insurance/annuity illustrations and custom client analyses. In 2013, Ashley founded Arete Wealth Strategists as a state Registered Investment Advisor (RIA).

Ashley lives with his wife Eliza, and daughters Elise & Jasmine in Minneapolis, MN. He enjoys cycling, reading, world travel, architecture & renewable energy.

Licenses and Credentials

• CFP® - Certified Financial Planner (Completed by Ashley in 2012)
• GFP (USA) - Global Financial Planner (Completed by Ashley in 2020)

Education

• University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia), B.A., Business Management and Management Information Systems
• UC Berkeley Extension’s Certificate in Personal Financial Planning
• Kaplan University Graduate Diploma in Personal Financial Planning (Australia)
  

Ongoing Education

• CFP® professionals are required to complete 30 credit hours of continuing education (CE) each reporting period: 2 hours of CFP Board-approved Ethics CE and 28 hours of General CE.
• NAPFA members must complete 60 CE’s in the two-year CE cycle, with the option to report 58 CE’s in any Core or Elective Area subject(s) with no CE minimums or maximums; at least 32 of these CE’s must still come from approved sources. An approved 2-CE Ethics course also remains mandatory.

We believe it is important to be involved in our professional community in order to help promote fee-only, fiduciary financial advice as a true profession. Additionally, we think it is equally important to illuminate the differences between the modern fee-for-advice service model and the antiquated “financial services” sales career that is still very prevalent today.

Leadership

Ashley has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and was profiled in Financial Advisor Magazine. From 2014 - 2017, Ashley taught aspiring CFP candidates at UC Berkeley Extension and Golden Gate University. Presently, he is a Knowledge Circle host for the International and Cross-Border Knowledge Circle with the FPA and a regular conference speaker. He was awarded the CFP® designation in 2012 and voted Secretary of FPA NexGen the same year.

Affiliations

Ashley Murphy is the founder of the Global Financial Planning Institute

Formed in 2020, the Global Financial Planning Institute exists to serve the educational, resource and networking needs of financial planners, wealth managers, private bankers, CPA/accountants, attorneys, insurance professionals, human resource executives, and other business advisors, working with expatriate clients in the US and Americans abroad.

Ashley Murphy and Katelyn Meuse hold the Certified Financial Planner® designation
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CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification is the standard of excellence in financial planning. CFP® professionals meet rigorous education, training and ethical standards, and are committed to serving their clients' best interests today to prepare them for a more secure tomorrow.

Ashley Murphy is a NAPFA registered financial advisor

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors—highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.

Ashley Murphy is a member of the XY Planning Network

‍The XY Planning Network is the leading organization of fee-only financial advisors who are focused on working with Generation X and Generation Y clients. Our mission is to connect consumers with best-in-class financial advisors who specialize in working with clients just like you.

Ashley Murphy is a member of the AICPA

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants® (AICPA) empowers the world’s most highly-skilled accountants – CPAs and CGMA designation holders – with the knowledge, insight and foresight to meet today’s demands and tomorrow’s challenges.