Top Family Offices in Dayton 2026

Key Facts

• At least 10 family offices and family-office-style wealth management firms serve the Dayton, Ohio metro area and southwest Ohio corridor.
• Johnson Investment Counsel leads the region with $12.9 billion in firm-wide assets under management and a dedicated Family Office Services division in Dayton.
• Windancer Holdings, a Dayton-based single family office (SFO), grew its AUM from $125 million in 2018 to $654 million by February 2024.
• The Dayton family name also connects to Okabena Company in Minneapolis, which manages roughly $1.3 billion for the retail dynasty behind Target Corporation.
• Office types range from dedicated SFOs and multi-family offices (MFOs) to virtual family offices and fee-only advisory firms offering family office services.
• Direct investments in private equity and real estate, plus multigenerational wealth transfer planning, rank among the top themes for Dayton-area firms.

Dayton Family Office: Landscape Overview

The phrase "dayton family office" carries a dual meaning. It refers to both the Dayton retail dynasty's wealth operation (Okabena Company, based in Minneapolis) and the cluster of private wealth offices serving ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families in the Dayton, Ohio metro area.

George Draper Dayton founded Dayton Dry Goods Company in 1902. That business eventually became Dayton-Hudson Corporation and later Target Corporation. Bruce B. Dayton and Kenneth N. Dayton retired from the Dayton-Hudson board in 1983, ending over 80 years of direct family involvement with the retailer. Okabena Company, established in 1967, has managed the Dayton family's wealth and charitable giving ever since.

Separately, Dayton, Ohio, anchors a growing Midwest wealth corridor stretching to Cincinnati and Columbus. Berry Investments and Windancer Holdings operate as dedicated SFOs. Johnson Investment Counsel and Gudorf Financial run MFO and virtual family office (VFO) platforms. Sky Dayton, founder of EarthLink, runs Dayton Family Enterprises from San Francisco, adding a third thread to the name. This mix of legacy wealth, regional advisory firms, and tech-entrepreneur capital makes the local landscape unusually layered for a mid-sized metro.

Family Office Comparison at a Glance

The table below compares the primary offices tied to this market, spanning both the Dayton, Ohio region and offices linked to the Dayton family name nationally.

Family Office	Type	AUM Estimate	Investment Focus	Key Services	Location
Johnson Investment Counsel	MFO	$12.9B (firm-wide)	Full-spectrum wealth management	Family Office Services, trust company, donor-advised funds	Dayton, OH
Okabena Company	MFO	~$1.3B	Business services, manufacturing, retail	Investment, tax, estate, charitable giving, trustee services	Minneapolis, MN
Windancer Holdings	SFO	$654M	High-conviction public and private markets	Direct PE, private credit, long-term capital partnerships	Dayton, OH
Artifex Financial Group	Fee-only advisory	$300M+	Private market and active investment	Financial planning, tax prep, business valuation	Dayton, OH
Berry Investments	SFO	—	Private equity, real estate, public markets	Generational wealth planning, charitable giving	Dayton, OH
Dayton Family Enterprises	MFO / Investment Office	—	Private equity, craft/venture	Fund management (Dayton Craft series)	San Francisco, CA
Waverly Advisors	Fee-only advisory	—	Tax, investment, estate planning	Financial planning, corporate retirement, family office services	Dayton, OH
Gudorf Financial	VFO	—	Holistic wealth management	Accounting, legal, financial planning	Dayton, OH
Truepoint Wealth Counsel	MFO	—	Full wealth lifecycle advisory	Investment advisory, estate strategies	Cincinnati, OH
Eubel Brady & Suttman	Advisory	—	Value-oriented absolute returns	Separate account management ($1M minimum)	Dayton, OH

Johnson Investment Counsel's $12.9 billion in firm-wide AUM places it well ahead of other local options. Windancer Holdings' rapid growth from $125 million to $654 million in six years signals a rising competitor in the SFO category.

Top Picks by Strategy

• Largest AUM: Johnson Investment Counsel, with $12.9 billion firm-wide and a dedicated Family Office Services division serving UHNW families from its Dayton office.
• Fastest-Growing SFO: Windancer Holdings grew managed assets more than fivefold since 2018, reaching $654 million through high-conviction public and private market positions.
• Top for Charitable Giving: Okabena Company has managed charitable programs for over 50 years. Its Boulder Bridge trust company oversees more than 150 family trusts.
• Best for Direct PE: Berry Investments operates as a pure SFO focused on private equity, real estate, and public market positions with generational planning built in.
• Strongest Regional MFO: Truepoint Wealth Counsel in Cincinnati serves families at every stage of the wealth lifecycle, extending its reach into southwest Ohio.
• Most Integrated VFO Model: Gudorf Financial bundles accounting, legal, and financial planning into a single team, functioning as a virtual family office for Dayton-area clients.
• Best for Fee-Only Transparency: Waverly Advisors operates on a fee-only basis with no commission revenue, covering portfolio management, tax planning, and family office services.

Top Dayton-Area Family Offices in Detail

Okabena Company

Six generations of continuous family service set Okabena Company apart from every other firm in this market. The firm manages roughly $1.3 billion from Minneapolis for the Dayton family, whose wealth traces back to the 1902 founding of Dayton Dry Goods (now Target Corporation). Its subsidiary, Okabena Investment Services, holds SEC registration as an investment adviser. A second subsidiary, Okabena Advisors, extends discretionary management to endowments, foundations, and associations nationwide.

Boulder Bridge, a private trust company chartered in South Dakota in 2008, handles trustee duties for over 150 family trusts. The 34-person team averages 10 years of tenure. The firm's integrated model covers portfolio management, tax compliance, estate planning, insurance, and charitable giving. Families seeking multigenerational wealth preservation with deep charitable expertise will find Okabena's track record hard to match.

Windancer Holdings

A $654 million portfolio built from $125 million in just six years makes Windancer Holdings the standout growth story in Dayton's SFO market. Shane Connor leads the firm, which manages non-real estate capital for the Connor family and The Connor Group Kids & Community Foundation. The approach favors high-conviction positions in competitively advantaged businesses, with capital deployed in both public equities and direct private deals.

In 2023, Windancer launched its Long-Term Capital Partnership program. This structure offers co-investment access alongside the family's own capital. It appeals to UHNW investors who prefer investing directly in companies rather than through traditional fund-of-funds vehicles.

Johnson Investment Counsel

With $12.9 billion in firm-wide AUM, Johnson Investment Counsel is the largest wealth management platform accessible from Dayton. Its dedicated Family Office Services division handles portfolio oversight, estate planning, trust administration through its own trust company, and charitable vehicles including the Johnson Charitable Gift Fund. The firm focuses on investing, preserving, and sharing wealth over multiple generations.

UHNW families seeking a full-service MFO with institutional depth and local presence should evaluate Johnson first. Those managing portfolios above $25 million who need coordinated tax and estate work will benefit most from this platform.

Berry Investments

Private equity and real estate sit at the center of Berry Investments' portfolio, making it the most deal-oriented SFO in the Dayton market. The firm also maintains public market positions and integrates generational wealth planning into its structure. Charitable giving plays a defined role in Berry's strategy, reflecting a broader pattern among Dayton-area SFOs that treat giving as a core function rather than an afterthought.

Families with concentrated private business holdings who want a local SFO model built around direct deal flow should look closely at Berry's approach.

Gudorf Financial

Gudorf Financial operates as a virtual family office in Dayton, combining accountants, attorneys, and financial planners under one coordinated team. This model reduces the friction of managing separate advisors who rarely communicate.

Families whose needs span tax compliance, legal structuring, and portfolio planning, but who do not require a dedicated SFO, will find Gudorf's integrated approach a practical middle ground. The VFO structure also carries lower overhead than a traditional MFO, making it accessible to high-net-worth families below the typical UHNW threshold.

Waverly Advisors

Fee-only compensation defines Waverly Advisors, eliminating the commission conflicts that can arise with broker-affiliated firms. The firm covers financial planning, portfolio management, tax planning, corporate retirement plans, and institutional consulting from its Dayton office. Waverly also offers explicit family office services, positioning itself as a fiduciary alternative to larger platforms.

Business owners planning succession events benefit from the firm's ability to coordinate tax mitigation strategies alongside capital management in a single engagement.

Artifex Financial Group

Artifex Financial Group manages over $300 million for accredited investors from offices in Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles. The firm's fee-only model includes active portfolio management with exposure to private market deals. Beyond portfolio work, Artifex provides business valuation and improvement consulting, a service rarely found in traditional wealth firms.

Pre-retirement readiness planning, tax preparation, and college planning round out the offering. Entrepreneurs and business owners in southwest Ohio who need both wealth management and operational consulting under one roof will find this combination unusual.

Dayton Family Enterprises

Sky Dayton founded EarthLink and co-founded Boingo Wireless. He now runs Dayton Family Enterprises from San Francisco, focusing on private equity and craft/venture capital allocation. The Dayton Craft III fund opened as of mid-2025, following two prior Dayton Craft funds that have already closed.

The firm operates as both a family wealth platform and MFO, though detailed AUM and service data remain limited. Tech founders and venture-oriented families may find alignment with Sky Dayton's lens, which favors early-stage and growth-stage capital deployment rather than traditional wealth preservation.

Allocation Trends Shaping Dayton's Wealth Market

Direct Private Equity and Co-Investment Growth

Windancer Holdings' Long-Term Capital Partnership program, launched in 2023, shows how Dayton SFOs channel capital into direct deals. Berry Investments similarly centers its portfolio on private equity and real estate rather than passive fund allocations. This shift lets local families capture more of the value chain by investing alongside operators rather than paying multiple layers of fund fees.

Multigenerational Wealth Transfer in Midwest Families

Okabena Company now serves the sixth generation of the Dayton family, making it a case study in succession planning over decades. Johnson Investment Counsel's focus on "preserving and sharing wealth" reflects similar demand from Dayton-area families navigating generational transitions. As founding-generation business owners in Ohio retire, the need for family governance structures and formal wealth transfer plans grows.

Charitable Giving as a Core Function

Charitable programs run through the operating models of several leading Dayton-area offices. Okabena's Boulder Bridge trust company manages over 150 family trusts with a giving component. Johnson Investment Counsel runs the Johnson Charitable Gift Fund as a donor-advised vehicle. Windancer Holdings itself exists partly to serve The Connor Group Kids & Community Foundation, blending for-profit capital deployment with nonprofit mission support.

Tax-Efficient Structuring in Ohio

Ohio's pass-through entity tax election and absence of a state estate tax create planning opportunities that Dayton-area advisors like Waverly Advisors and Artifex Financial Group actively use. Regional firms market tax mitigation strategies to physicians, business owners, and retirees in greater Dayton. These state-level factors give local expertise a meaningful advantage over national MFO platforms that may lack Ohio-specific knowledge.

How to Evaluate a Wealth Firm in Dayton

Dayton's market is smaller than those in Cincinnati or Columbus. Families face fewer choices but also less noise. Most Dayton-area firms offer more personalized access. Families with complex, multi-entity portfolios may need to look regionally, to Truepoint Wealth Counsel in Cincinnati or Johnson Investment Counsel's broader platform.

Fee structure deserves close attention. Waverly Advisors and Artifex Financial Group operate as fee-only registered investment advisers, while some regional firms maintain broker-dealer affiliations. Families should ask whether their adviser earns commissions on product sales or operates solely under a fiduciary standard.

Verify SEC registration status for any firm managing discretionary portfolios. Okabena Investment Services holds RIA status, as does Waverly. For smaller firms, check Form ADV filings for disciplinary history and compensation practices. Eubel Brady & Suttman's $1 million minimum provides a useful benchmark. Families below that level may find Gudorf Financial's VFO model or a regional MFO more appropriate than a dedicated SFO.

Multigenerational capability separates full family offices from wealth advisors in this corridor. Okabena has served six generations. Johnson manages trust administration and charitable vehicles that span decades. If your family's planning horizon extends beyond one generation, prioritize firms with documented experience in estate planning, trust administration, and succession planning over those focused mainly on portfolio returns.

Which Family Office Fits Your Needs?

UHNW families managing $50 million or more should evaluate Johnson Investment Counsel's Family Office Services division and Okabena Company first. Johnson offers institutional depth with local Dayton access. Okabena brings unmatched multigenerational experience, though it operates from Minneapolis. Both handle portfolio management, estate planning, and charitable advisory under one roof.

Business owners preparing for a liquidity event will find support at Waverly Advisors and Artifex Financial Group. Waverly's fee-only model combines tax planning with capital management. Artifex adds business valuation consulting, a rare pairing that streamlines the transition from operating company to diversified wealth. Windancer Holdings may also appeal to entrepreneurs drawn to high-conviction, direct-deal investing alongside the Connor family's capital.

Next-generation wealth holders and families prioritizing charitable giving should explore Okabena's Boulder Bridge trust platform or Johnson's Charitable Gift Fund. For cost-conscious high-net-worth families who want coordinated advice without full MFO fees, Gudorf Financial's virtual family office model delivers integrated accounting, legal, and planning services at lower overhead than traditional platforms.

Methodology

This guide to the dayton family office market draws on SEC filings, firm websites, and industry wealth databases. Selection criteria included offices headquartered in or actively serving the Dayton, Ohio metro area, plus offices directly tied to the Dayton family name. AUM figures come from Form ADV filings, firm disclosures, and verified public sources where available. Firms without publicly disclosed AUM earned inclusion based on service scope and market presence. All data reflects early 2026 verification, though AUM figures use each firm's most recent reporting date.