Private Wealth Management · San Francisco
Capital that holds its ground,
then gains it.
SS M.A.R.S. Group is a private wealth practice built for families, founders, and executives whose balance sheets have grown past the point where off-the-shelf advice is enough.
We manage portfolios directly, plan around the whole picture, and give every client direct access to the people making the decisions.
Our Name Is Our Mandate
Each letter is a standard we hold a portfolio to before it goes to work for a client — in that order, because the order matters.
M · Managing
Portfolio management is done here, not outsourced to a model marketplace. Sam Su holds discretion and constructs positions directly, which means decisions are explainable, tax lots are intentional, and the person answering your question is the person who made the trade. Third-party managers are used where they genuinely add something — not as a default.
A · Assets
Concentrated stock, deferred comp, an operating company, rental property, a pension election, term insurance nobody has looked at in nine years — these interact whether or not anyone is watching. We map the full balance sheet first, because a portfolio built without reference to the rest of it is a guess with good manners.
R · Resiliently
Risk is not volatility on a statement; it is being forced to sell something good at a bad price. We size positions against real liquidity needs, stress portfolios against drawdowns and rate shifts rather than optimistic averages, and keep enough dry powder that a bad market is an opportunity instead of an emergency.
S · Successful
Success is your plan funded — tuition paid, the business sold well, retirement income that does not depend on next year’s returns. We benchmark to that, and report against that plan in plain language, alongside the market benchmarks appropriate to each mandate — so you can see both how the plan is tracking and how the portfolio performed.
Three situations we know well.
We are selective about the clients we take on, because we are clear about the work we are built for — and honest when a prospective client would be better served elsewhere.
High-net-worth families
Wealth that now spans generations, entities and advisors, and needs a single place where it all reconciles.
Multi-account and multi-generation portfolio design
Estate and gifting coordination with your attorney and CPA
Concentrated and low-basis position strategy
Education funding and family governance
Business owners & executives
Illiquid, concentrated and often complicated — where the personal and the corporate balance sheet are the same balance sheet.
Equity compensation: RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, 10b5-1 planning
Pre-liquidity and exit readiness
Retirement plan design for the company
Succession and key-person continuity
Pre-retirees & retirees
The shift from accumulating to drawing down is the highest-stakes transition in a financial life, and the least forgiving of guesswork.
Withdrawal sequencing and tax-bracket management
Social Security and pension election analysis
Roth conversion windows
Medicare, IRMAA and healthcare cost planning
Investment management and planning, under one roof.
Discretionary portfolio management
Individual securities, ETFs, mutual funds and fixed income, constructed and traded in house against a written mandate for each household.
Fixed income & income strategy
Individual bond ladders, treasuries, municipals and CDs sized to real spending needs — with the maturity schedule doing the work, not a fund’s duration target.
Tax-aware implementation
Asset location across taxable and qualified accounts, loss harvesting, lot-level control and coordination with your CPA before the trade.
Retirement income planning
Cash-flow modeling, distribution sequencing and contingency planning, kept current as the plan meets reality.
Concentrated position strategy
Diversification paths for low-basis and restricted stock, including staged sales, charitable vehicles and hedging where appropriate and permitted.
Estate & legacy coordination
Beneficiary and titling review, trust account administration, and working alongside your estate counsel so the documents and the accounts agree.
Risk & insurance review
An objective read on existing life, disability and long-term care coverage, and what the plan actually requires. Insurance products available through ACC General Agency.
Institutional & nonprofit portfolios
Investment policy statements, spending-rule design and ongoing management for foundations, endowments and corporate retirement plans.
A sequence, not a sales cycle.
Four stages. The first two are ours to earn; you are under no obligation through either.
01 · Introduction
A conversation about what you own, what you owe, and what you are trying to accomplish. No documents required, no cost.
02 · Analysis
We review statements, tax returns and plan documents, and come back with what we see — including the things we would leave alone.
03 · Implementation
Accounts opened at RBC Clearing & Custody, assets transferred, and the mandate put in place in stages sized to the market you are entering.
04 · Stewardship
Ongoing management, scheduled reviews, and a direct line to the team when something changes — because something always does.
Your assets are held by an institution, not by us.
We direct the strategy. Custody, clearing and statements sit with third parties whose only job is to hold the assets and report on them independently — which is exactly the separation you should insist on.
Broker-dealer
Aegis Capital Corp — registered broker-dealer, member FINRA/SIPC, and an SEC-registered investment adviser. CRD #15007.
Custodian
RBC Clearing & Custody, a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC (Member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC), holds client cash and securities and issues account statements directly to you. Client assets are kept segregated from the firm’s own assets under SEC rules.
Clearing
Trades are cleared through RBC Clearing & Custody on a fully disclosed basis, meaning the clearing firm knows and reports on your account directly.
Account access
Clients view holdings, cost basis, transactions, statements and tax documents through RBC Investor Connect® at investor-connect.com or the RBC Connect mobile app.
Account protection
Securities accounts are carried by RBC Capital Markets, LLC (“RBC CM”), Member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC, through its RBC Clearing & Custody division. RBC CM is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 per customer, including up to $250,000 for claims for cash. An explanatory brochure is available upon request or at www.sipc.org.
In addition, RBC CM has purchased coverage in excess of SIPC limits from Lloyd’s of London. This coverage provides up to $99.5 million per SIPC-qualified account, of which up to $900,000 may be cash, subject to a maximum aggregate of $400 million for all RBC CM clients, which would be distributed on a pro-rata basis.
Neither SIPC protection nor excess-SIPC coverage protects against a decline in the market value of securities or losses due to market fluctuation. Balances held in bank deposit sweep programs are not covered by SIPC or excess-SIPC coverage but may be eligible for FDIC insurance up to applicable limits. Coverage limits are subject to change; please contact us for current information.
Investment products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, and may lose value.
Insurance
Insurance products are made available through ACC General Agency, a licensed insurance agency.
Hands-on, by design.
Every client household is known by all three of us — the advisor who builds the plan, the portfolio manager who runs it, and the associate who administers the accounts. You can reach any of us directly, and whoever picks up already knows your situation.
Sam Su, CFP®
With over 25 years of experience as a private wealth management advisor at leading financial institutions serving the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, Sam founded SS M.A.R.S. Group with a specific vision focusing on wealth management and financial planning through the lenses of an AI future. Sam is a CFP® professional, and he built the firm around direct access: he manages client portfolios himself — setting asset allocation policy, selecting and sizing individual holdings, and chairing the investment review. Clients work with him directly on mandate design, concentrated positions and anything that touches how the portfolio is actually built. Sam is an award winning financial advisor. His financial strategies are individually tailored and have been widely recognized within the industry and by his peers for providing unmatched growth that simply cannot be copied or imitated. Sam holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
President · Portfolio Management Director
David Lam, APMA®
David began his career in 2016, and for the past decade, he has developed a deep understanding of what matters most to the people he serves. David has and continues to advise clients with a focus on building lasting relationships—ones grounded in trust, clear communication, and genuine rapport. David is the primary relationship lead for client households: he handles discovery and planning — cash flow, retirement income, equity compensation, education funding and insurance review — and translates that plan into the mandate the portfolio is managed against. He is also the coordination point with your CPA and estate attorney. David holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, with a minor in public policy.
Financial Advisor
Client Service AssociateJunwen Tang
Junwen came to wealth management from a San Francisco based boutique tax accounting firm in 2026. This means the person handling your accounts already reads a tax return fluently. He runs client operations: account opening, transfers, distributions, beneficiary and titling updates, statements and reporting, and the follow-up that keeps paperwork from becoming your problem. For most day-to-day requests, he is the fastest way to get an answer. Junwen holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Davis.
Start with a conversation.
Tell us a little about your situation and we will come back to you within one business day. Nothing you send commits you to anything.
Visit us
580 California Street, Suite 1200
San Francisco, CA 94104
Main line
(628) 218-6800
Email us
Sam Su — Portfolios & strategy
sam.su@ssmarsgroup.com
David Lam — New relationships & planning
david.lam@ssmarsgroup.com
Junwen Tang — Accounts & service
junwen.tang@ssmarsgroup.com
Client access: RBC Investor Connect
Disclaimer: The information on this site should not be construed as tax, legal or investment advice. It is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation or solicitation. Before making any financial decision, individuals should seek advice from their own financial, legal, tax and other professionals. Securities and investment advisory services are offered through Aegis Capital Corp., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment products are not insured by the FDIC or any other federal government agency, are not deposits or other obligations of, or guaranteed by, a bank or any bank affiliate, and are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amount invested.
Check the background of your financial professional on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.
Aegis Capital Corp. Risk Disclosures and Form CRS (Customer Relationship Summary).