Partner Spotlight: Greenspring Advisors

Clearview Group works hard to build meaningful relationships with clients’ stakeholders through taking a vested interest in their personal and professional success. One of those lasting clients is Greenspring Advisors, a Baltimore-based, fee-only advisory practice that specializes in holistic, progressive and unbiased investment advisory services to retirement plan fiduciaries, foundations and endowments; as well as comprehensive wealth management services and financial planning to private investors.

Greenspring Advisors’ ultimate goal is to help working Americans retire with dignity. As a trusted partner, Clearview Group is helping Greenspring Advisors achieve that goal through its established relationships, collaborative team and holistic advisory and CPA services.

“We’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of professionals in the mid-Atlantic region, and the partnership with Clearview Group started as a personal friendship with the team,” said Matt Cellini, Partner & Practice Lead in the firms' Institutional Consulting Group. “We developed trust through those friendships and eventually expanded that relationship to our prospective businesses three or four years ago. We started out working social events with some mutual clients, and it has now evolved into a fruitful partnership in several areas where we connect our clients with Clearview to best service all of their needs.”

Clearview Group prides itself in its uniquely collaborative environment. While most teams in the accounting world operate in their own silos— the audit lead has their book of business, the tax lead has their book of business, the IT leader has their book and so on — Clearview Group’s approach is much more collaborative, with all departments working together to find the right answer for the client.

“As a partner, Clearview is always willing to work with us, help make connections and introduce us to the right people in the marketplace,” said Greg Hobson, Partner & Practice Lead for Greenspring Advisors’ Institutional Consulting Group. “They’ve served as a great sounding board for our clients who have questions in regard to everything from employee benefit plan audits to cybersecurity.”

One example of an area in which Clearview Group has acted as a valuable partner is with auditing retirement plans, Cellini says, which is one of Greenspring Advisors’ main practices.

“Generally, any plan with over 100 participants needs an annual audit, and we will often find ways to protect the client through that audit,” Cellini said. “But with other advisory firms where you don’t have that personal relationship, some of those findings can go unaddressed for a long time. With Clearview, when something is found, they are willing to roll up their sleeves and work with us to make sure it is resolved quickly.”

Hobson adds that Clearview Group stands out by offering wide-ranging expertise on areas that are outside of Greenspring Advisors’ purview.

“While our partnership with Clearview originally started with covering employee benefit plan audits, it has gone far beyond that,” he said. “We know our clients have other needs outside of our services, whether it be around cybersecurity, accounting or consulting, and Clearview can provide all of those.”

For example, Cellini says, about a year ago, Greenspring Advisors had a client who reached out and asked if they knew anyone who could offer a cyber audit for their organization.

“Normally, we would have no idea about that area, but I remembered someone on the Clearview team telling me they had a group that offered a cyber audit service,” he said. “We were able to reach out, make the connection and the client was very excited to have a referred, trusted partner. The client viewed us as someone who could connect them with other professionals in the community, and it was a win-win for everyone involved.”

Looking ahead, Hobson says that the Greenspring Advisors team is excited to continue working with Clearview Group to further expand their mutually beneficial relationship and help clients achieve their goals.

“It all starts with trust,” said Hobson. “When you are referring a partner to your client base, you need to have that trust in place. Clearview Group has an amazing reputation for doing great work for over 100 businesses in the Baltimore area. Their willingness to step up and cover several different areas of advisory and CPA services is something that other firms don’t necessarily bring. But the biggest factor is friendship — you have to enjoy spending time with the people you work alongside and that is why the team at Clearview Group has become such a long-lasting and meaningful partner for Greenspring Advisors.”

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