Mark Tibergien
Industry Pioneer, Thought Leader and Expert Consultant
Mark is a thought leader and expert consultant with De Pardo Consulting, delivering advanced insights on special projects in collaboration with Eliza De Pardo.
Mark Tibergien is a nationally recognized expert on management, strategy, and transition issues within the financial services industry.
Mark’s professional background spans Executive Leadership, Consulting, Training, Writing, and Speaking. He has led organizations from start-up to exit, from dynamic growth to turn-around.
Most notable is the merger of a training and consulting firm into Moss Adams LLP; the growth of Moss Adams into the leading authority on practice management for RIAs and broker/dealers; and the positioning of Pershing LLC to become one of the top three custody providers to RIAs and Family Offices in the United States.
He has also consulted with hundreds of independent registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, investment managers, insurance companies, and other financial services organizations in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada.
Most notable is the merger of a training and consulting firm into Moss Adams LLP; the growth of Moss Adams into the leading authority on practice management for RIAs and broker/dealers; and the positioning of Pershing LLC to become one of the top three custody providers to RIAs and Family Offices in the United States.
He has also consulted with hundreds of independent registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, investment managers, insurance companies, and other financial services organizations in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada.
He currently serves as Advisor-in-Residence for Ernst & Young’s Wealth &Asset Management Group; an independent director of Pathstone, a $160 billion multi-family office business and RIA sponsored by two Private Equity Firms; and as an Advisory Board Member of Commonwealth Financial Network, an Independent Broker/Dealer and Corporate RIA.
Career History and Impact
From 2008 to 2020, Mark served as Chief Executive Officer of Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, an affiliate of Pershing LLC and a division of BNY Mellon (now BNY/Pershing). The company provides custody, clearing, and execution services to Family Offices, Wealth Management, and Investment Management firms. Under Mark’s leadership, Pershing’s RIA Custody Business grew from $40 billion of AUC in 2010 to more than $800 billion of AUC by the end of 2019.
Mark served as a member of Pershing LLC’s Executive Committee, a member of BNY Mellon’s Senior Leadership Committee, and a member of BNY Mellon’s CEO’s Advisory Council on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Prior to joining Pershing, he was a Principal in the CPA firm, Moss Adams LLP, where he was Partner-in-Charge of the Business Consulting Group, Chair of the Securities Industry Group, and Partner-in-Charge of the Business Valuation Group. While at Moss Adams, he introduced the first industry benchmarking studies for both RIAs and Broker/Dealers, and the first compensation study for RIAs, all of which have been adopted or replicated by other leading custodians and fund companies.
He also wrote the industry’s first book on valuing, buying, and selling advisory practices, which helped set the stage for the rapid increase in M&A activity within this space. At the time, Moss Adams was one of the leading consolidators of accounting firms in the Western U.S., with the goal of achieving market dominance serving middle-market companies. Mark served on Moss Adams’ Executive Committee and Compensation Committee from 1998 to 2004.
He joined Management Advisory Services (MAS), Inc. in 1986 and became its president in 1989. He led the merger of MAS into Moss Adams in 1994. MAS provided financial management workshops to closely held business owners throughout the U.S., and training on financial management and lending to banks throughout North America and, under contract with USAID, to financial institutions in emerging countries. The firm also specialized in valuation of closely held businesses. In addition to his role as executive head of the firm, Mark was a workshop and seminar instructor for banks and businesses while also building the valuation practice into one of the leading providers in the Pacific Northwest.
Beginning in 1975, Mark was a vice president and director of Willamette Management Associates, Inc., an RIA that provided investment research, investment management, and business valuation services throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Prior to his transition directly into the financial services industry, Mark was a writer for Investment Dealers’ Digest in Chicago. Previously, he worked as a general assignment newspaper and radio reporter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Mark served as a member of Pershing LLC’s Executive Committee, a member of BNY Mellon’s Senior Leadership Committee, and a member of BNY Mellon’s CEO’s Advisory Council on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Prior to joining Pershing, he was a Principal in the CPA firm, Moss Adams LLP, where he was Partner-in-Charge of the Business Consulting Group, Chair of the Securities Industry Group, and Partner-in-Charge of the Business Valuation Group. While at Moss Adams, he introduced the first industry benchmarking studies for both RIAs and Broker/Dealers, and the first compensation study for RIAs, all of which have been adopted or replicated by other leading custodians and fund companies.
He also wrote the industry’s first book on valuing, buying, and selling advisory practices, which helped set the stage for the rapid increase in M&A activity within this space. At the time, Moss Adams was one of the leading consolidators of accounting firms in the Western U.S., with the goal of achieving market dominance serving middle-market companies. Mark served on Moss Adams’ Executive Committee and Compensation Committee from 1998 to 2004.
He joined Management Advisory Services (MAS), Inc. in 1986 and became its president in 1989. He led the merger of MAS into Moss Adams in 1994. MAS provided financial management workshops to closely held business owners throughout the U.S., and training on financial management and lending to banks throughout North America and, under contract with USAID, to financial institutions in emerging countries. The firm also specialized in valuation of closely held businesses. In addition to his role as executive head of the firm, Mark was a workshop and seminar instructor for banks and businesses while also building the valuation practice into one of the leading providers in the Pacific Northwest.
Beginning in 1975, Mark was a vice president and director of Willamette Management Associates, Inc., an RIA that provided investment research, investment management, and business valuation services throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Prior to his transition directly into the financial services industry, Mark was a writer for Investment Dealers’ Digest in Chicago. Previously, he worked as a general assignment newspaper and radio reporter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Education
He received his formal education from Bay College in Escanaba, MI, and the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, where he majored in communications and journalism. He received his professional education from hands-on leadership roles within companies that provided tax and accounting services, financial management training, investment research, business valuation and consulting on strategy, structure, people, and process.
Up until his retirement from Pershing in Spring 2020, Mark also held FINRA Series 7 License and Series 24 FINRA General Securities Principal Qualification.
Up until his retirement from Pershing in Spring 2020, Mark also held FINRA Series 7 License and Series 24 FINRA General Securities Principal Qualification.
Awards and Recognition
At its 10th Anniversary “Wealthies” celebration in September 2024, judges for WealthManagement.com presented Mark with its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize his wide-ranging influence on the wealth management industry. In particular, he was recognized for his tenure and as the "father of practice management," in building out the tenets of what a successful financial advisory firm could be through a focus on professionalizing management, operations, and human capital.
At its 20th Anniversary Celebration at the New York Stock Exchange in 2019, W!SE (Working in Support of Education) recognized Mark for his efforts to promote financial literacy in public schools. He was also named Bay College’s Alumnus of the Year for 2008.
In 2017, a survey by Investment Advisor magazine recognized Mark as “The Most Influential Person in Financial Services.” The magazine recognized him as one of the “25 Most Influential People” in the financial services industry fifteen times.
Investment News recognized Mark in 2016 in its inaugural list of Icons & Innovators. In 2003 and 2008, Financial Planning magazine recognized him as a “Mover & Shaker” in their annual review of industry professionals.Private Asset Management presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Mark in 2012.
For each year between 1997 and 2005, Accounting Today recognized Mark among the “100 Most Influential” in the accounting profession.
At its 20th Anniversary Celebration at the New York Stock Exchange in 2019, W!SE (Working in Support of Education) recognized Mark for his efforts to promote financial literacy in public schools. He was also named Bay College’s Alumnus of the Year for 2008.
In 2017, a survey by Investment Advisor magazine recognized Mark as “The Most Influential Person in Financial Services.” The magazine recognized him as one of the “25 Most Influential People” in the financial services industry fifteen times.
Investment News recognized Mark in 2016 in its inaugural list of Icons & Innovators. In 2003 and 2008, Financial Planning magazine recognized him as a “Mover & Shaker” in their annual review of industry professionals.Private Asset Management presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Mark in 2012.
For each year between 1997 and 2005, Accounting Today recognized Mark among the “100 Most Influential” in the accounting profession.
Books & Publications
He is the author of four books published by Bloomberg Press/Wiley & Sons: Practice Made Perfect (2005), How to Value, Buy or Sell a Financial Advisory Practice (2006), Practice (Made) More Perfect (2010), and The Enduring Advisory Firm (2016).
Tibergien has also been a monthly columnist on business management topics (https://www.thinkadvisor.com/author/profile/Mark-Tibergien/) for Investment Advisor/Think Advisor.
Tibergien has also been a monthly columnist on business management topics (https://www.thinkadvisor.com/author/profile/Mark-Tibergien/) for Investment Advisor/Think Advisor.
Outside Activities
Mark retired in 2023 as Chair of the Workforce Development Committee at the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning (https://www.cfp.net/the-center-for-financial-planning) whose mission is to promote diversity in the advisory profession and financial planning as a career choice. He continues to serve as a member of the Center’s Advisory Board.
He also serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Personal Financial Planning program at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In December 2020, Mark retired as a member of the SEC Asset Management Advisory Committee (https://www.sec.gov/page/asset-management-advisory-committee).
Mark is also the primary sponsor for the financial literacy summer camp for elementary and middle school students, and the high school course at Gladstone Area Schools, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
He also serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Personal Financial Planning program at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In December 2020, Mark retired as a member of the SEC Asset Management Advisory Committee (https://www.sec.gov/page/asset-management-advisory-committee).
Mark is also the primary sponsor for the financial literacy summer camp for elementary and middle school students, and the high school course at Gladstone Area Schools, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Management Philosophy
Tibergien is known as a practitioner of what he preaches with deep experience in strategy, human capital, and financial management of closely held businesses. He has consistently demonstrated a commitment to people development and succession planning having helped numerous individuals achieve leadership roles within their current firms or at companies who recruited from the deep benches he created.
As an example, in building Pershing Advisor Solutions, his focus on diversity and inclusion resulted in his business having a workforce comprised of 51% women and 42% people of color. He implemented a disciplined succession process which transpired over his last five years with a systematic development effort focused on five individuals. From this pool, his ultimate successor was selected, while the others were assigned additional roles and responsibilities in the firm that recognized their personal growth.
He has coached hundreds of individuals inside and outside the firms where he has worked. He was a founding member of the Reverse Mentoring Program at BNY Mellon/Pershing and has served as a coach to others building comparable businesses in the U.K., Australia, and Singapore markets.
As an example, in building Pershing Advisor Solutions, his focus on diversity and inclusion resulted in his business having a workforce comprised of 51% women and 42% people of color. He implemented a disciplined succession process which transpired over his last five years with a systematic development effort focused on five individuals. From this pool, his ultimate successor was selected, while the others were assigned additional roles and responsibilities in the firm that recognized their personal growth.
He has coached hundreds of individuals inside and outside the firms where he has worked. He was a founding member of the Reverse Mentoring Program at BNY Mellon/Pershing and has served as a coach to others building comparable businesses in the U.K., Australia, and Singapore markets.
Ready to Transform Your Business?
-1.webp)