Meet Neal

Neal McGrath is a Founder, Managing Director, and Senior Wealth Advisor of Aptus Wealth Planning®️. His focus is working with individuals to help them make confident financial decisions and live simpler, more productive lives. Neal strives to accomplish this by providing knowledgeable, objective advice and being a resource for any and all financial and investment questions.

Neal has a unique view on the opportunities available to those of us who live in the United States. Neal’s parents were first generation immigrants from the developing nation of Trinidad and Tobago, and he spent many summers in his parents’ native country as a child. This helped him understand, at an early age, the imbalance that exists in the world and solidified his desire to make the most of the opportunities afforded to him in this country.

As a lifelong Pittsburgh resident, Neal lives here with his wife, Anne, and three children, Colman, Norah, and Gabriel. Anne is an Estate Planning attorney practicing in the Pittsburgh area. They both enjoy spending time with their sons and daughter and working on their home, which was built in 1900. They also enjoy reading, traveling, and exploring new restaurants.

Neal is also actively involved in the community. He has taught several retirement planning classes at local universities. Neal has served on the Board of Directors for Autism Speaks and served as a committee chair for the Pittsburgh Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Prior to founding Aptus Wealth Planning®️, Neal spent the first 15 years of his career with Ameriprise Financial, wherein, he achieved their highest distinction of Private Wealth Advisor. He then established Aptus Wealth Planning®️, an advisory firm, held to a fiduciary standard, to focus on serving the complex needs of successful individuals, families, and organizations.  Neal is proud to be named one of Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors (PA) for 2022. Neal is one of 17 financial advisors out of the more than 4,000 in the Pittsburgh area who has qualified for the Five Star Wealth Manager Award for 7 years: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

Neal graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Finance. He also completed the “Executive Certificate in Financial Planning” program through Duquesne University. Neal has successfully passed the Series 7, Series 63 and Series 65 and his Life/Accident/Health examinations. He holds the following designations: ACCREDITED INVESTMENT FIDUCIARY ® (AIF ®), CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR® (CRPC®) and ACCREDITED ASSET MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST® (AAMS®).

Neal is a member of the Financial Services Institute (FSI) along with the Pittsburgh Society of Investment Professionals (PSIP). He is also a part of the Financial Educators Network (FEN) and a member of the Society of Financial Awareness (SOFA) “A Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation”. Neal is a current member of the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®).

The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively registered as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not: A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a registration being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth managers. Award does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager Award list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by any client nor are they representative of any one client’s evaluation. The Five Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future. For more information on the Five Star award and the research/selection methodology, go to fivestarprofessional.com. Listing in this publication and/or award is not a guarantee of future investment success. This recognition should not be construed as an endorsement of the advisor by any client.