Adam J. Coons is the Founder & Managing Principal of Outwing Private Wealth Management. He began his 17-year career in Financial Services at Smith Barney in 2003 as an Investment Analyst on a Private Wealth team. During the 2008 Great Financial Crises, the team made a move to Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, seeking further stability for their clients. There he received world class training from Merrill’s industry-leading Financial Advisor Rookie Training Program. His creative and holistic approach to solving complex financial issues for wealthy families led to Bank Of America featuring him in a case study titled, “Rookie Success Story”, which was sent to the firm’s entire 20,000 advisors overseeing $2.5 Trillion in client assets as a guide for how to best serve the newly merged firms’ clients.
In 2012, Adam took the opportunity to put his vast wealth management experience to the test when he joined UBS in partnership with an Institutional trading team. It was here that he developed his niche focusing on wealth creating entrepreneurs, corporate executives, private equity/venture capital professionals, and large R.E. families. He also sourced and participated in several investment banking transactions (both M&A and IPO), and developed a deep understanding of sophisticated pre-and-post liquidity event tax and estate planning strategies.
Eventually becoming disillusioned with the large bank/brokerage firms and their associated conflicts of interest, Adam and his clients made the leap to independence on July 5th, 2016 (which he endearingly refers to as his “Independence Day”). He joined a boutique RIA where he focused on providing his clients with access to sub-scale, niche investment managers, providing his clients with non-correlated and consistent returns, often focused on high-income producing strategies secured by real assets in order to mitigate risk.
Looking to expand their focus on Alternative Investments to include a broader offering of services for their clients, in early 2020 Adam and his team left the RIA and partnered with longtime colleagues at Axxcess Wealth to support the launch of his own firm, Outwing Private Wealth Management. The new firm is designed to continue to provide access to selective, not widely known, investment managers, but also to re-focus on advanced tax, estate and financial planning strategies. Outwing was spawned out of the depths of the Global Coronavirus Pandemic, and the teams’ unique approach to managing money has successfully shepherded the firm’s clients through the extreme volatility of the markets, all while providing cutting-edge solutions to help simplify their complex balance sheets. The firm has strived to develop the most innovative technology stack in the industry in order to help their clients to achieve this.
Originally from Long Island, New York, Adam was offered an academic scholarship to attend N.Y.U., but ultimately decided on the University of California Santa Barbara. He graduated from U.C.S.B. with dual Bachelor’s degrees in Business Economics and Psychology, as a member of the Dean’s List. He also led UCSB’s 12-time National Championship surf team to one of those championships as their co-Captain (hint: NYU was not a rival team).
Adam lives in Montecito, CA with his wife Jackelyn, 12-year-old stepson Tosh, and their two French Bulldogs, Arthur & Alice. He is passionately active in several charitable organizations, serving as an Advisor to the Fish Reef Project. Adam also donates time and money to the Marine Conservation Science Institute, Hospice of Santa Barbara, United Boys & Girls Clubs, and is an active volunteer with several causes that focus on Mental Health Services, including Addiction Recovery.
Many of us have survival stories that often define the “before and after” moments in our lives. On Dec. 21, 2019, Adam experienced one of these moments when he was brutally attacked by a 15-foot, 2,500 lb. Great White Shark while surfing 30 miles offshore Santa Barbara at the Channel Islands. The story made international news and he has since utilized this platform to bring awareness to issues such as PTSD, Shark Research, and other ocean charities. The shark attack also helped him to realize, on a first-hand basis, how important it is to help his clients prepare for unforeseen events, including ‘loss of life”.