Mark Wilcox
Founder and Principal
Mark has spent more than 35 years in the financial services industry, and has participated in or led ~$19B in M&A transactions. Most recently, Mark led more than 75 RIA engagements in M&A, valuation, and strategic issues and closed transactions collectively valued at over $225MM in consideration.
Earlier in his career, Mark supported Fleet Bank in its $16B merger with BankBoston as a member of its Corporate Strategy & Development team, and co-led its subsequent divestitures to comply with regulatory approvals. Mark also developed the strategic recommendations and rationale for Bank of America to acquire FleetBoston ($47B) and MBNA ($35B), and led its strategy and acquisition of National Processing Corporation ($1.4B).
Mark's operating roles include COO of Stanford Federal Credit Union, CFO of Progress Investments, and finance, consulting, and business development leadership roles at Bank of America, Robertson Stephens, Bank of the West, and EY.
BA, cum laude, Middlebury College
MBA, University of Chicago.
75+
35+
Years of Experience
Client Engagements
Tim Kochis
Exclusive Collaborator
In 2026, Mark and Tim entered into an informal but exclusive collaboration deploying each other's respective talents and experience to serve RIA needs. Tim's firm, Kochis Global (kochisglobal.com), has frequently been engaged to optimize organizational structure, develop management transtions, and structure equity transitions and ownership succession.
Tim has over 50 years of experience in wealth management. He has personally advised a select group of executives, professionals, and business owners throughout the United States and overseas since 1973. Before founding Kochis Global, Tim served as CEO and then as Chairman of Aspiriant and was a founder of Kochis Fitz, one of its predecessor firms. Prior to that, Tim was National Director of Personal Financial Planning for Deloitte & Touche (1985 -1991) and for Bank of America (1981 -1985).
BA, Marquette University
JD, University of Michigan
MBA, University of Chicago
Frequently asked questions
Am I engaging both Kochis Global and Highledge Advisors?
Our collaboration is informal, meaning your engagement of both firms is optional. Depending on the nature of the engagement, we may recommend both firms to support your needs, but the discretion is yours.
If I engage both firms, is there one contractal relationship or two?
If both firms are engaged, there would be two distinct contractual relationships. We have aligned our pricing and terms, for ease of execution, but we have separate fiduciary responsibilities.
How does this collaboration effect my cost?
For M&A transactions, there would be no incremental cost if both firms are engaged. For consulting engagements where both firms are engaged, both firms would be paid a competitive hourly rate based on their contribution of time.
What if I have already engaged another consultant or advisor? Will you collaborate with that other party?
Absolutely, if you want us to do so. Highledge Advisors and Kochis Global are willing to work with other parties, or without their knowledge, as directed by our client, and have provided counsel to parties already engaged in a sale process by another firm. Our additional counsel has benefited clients who desired more experienced advisors with no conflicts.
Selected Commentary from Past Clients
”I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of different people in the financial services industry. Without question, you have been one of the best.”
- $1B RIA CEO
”a pleasure to work with and everybody here is grateful for the help you provided over the years”
- Multi-Billion RIA CEO