Top Wealth + Best-in-State · rank 1 · Washington, District of Columbia · listed firm: UBS Private Wealth Management
Identity & firm
- Firm — UBS Private Wealth Management (UBS Financial Services Inc.) — The Capital ESOP Group (high)
- “Keith is a senior team member with The Capital ESOP Group at UBS, a comprehensive financial advisory team that exclusively supports the ESOP business nationally for UBS financial advisors and clients.” — firm_official
- “Name: Keith J Apton | CRD Number: 4492128 | Firm: UBS Financial Services Inc.” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Parent company — UBS Group AG (high)
- “Keith leads the team’s private wealth business, in which he works to determine client needs and match them with the proper resources of UBS, a leading global wealth manager.” — firm_official
- Firm type — wirehouse (high)
- “Firm: UBS Financial Services Inc. | Registration Start: January 15, 2009 | Status: Active (both BC and IA scopes)” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Team name — The Capital ESOP Group (high)
- “Keith is a senior team member with The Capital ESOP Group at UBS, a comprehensive financial advisory team that exclusively supports the ESOP business nationally for UBS financial advisors and clients.” — firm_official
- Team size — 14 (medium)
- “145 Collective years of experience” — firm_official
- CRD — 4492128 (high)
- “Name: Keith J Apton | CRD Number: 4492128 | Industry Entry: March 25, 2002” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Years experience — 24 (high)
- “Keith has over 24 years of experience in the financial services industry, with an extensive background in corporate finance.” — firm_official
- “Industry Entry: March 25, 2002” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Designations — other:CEPA (Certified Exit Planning Advisor) (high)
- “After becoming a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) in 2018, he was asked to teach and became an instructor for the Exit Planning Institute.” — firm_official
Book of business
- Team AUM ($M) — 4600 (high)
- “Team Assets (Custodied): $4.6B” — forbes_shook
- Account minimum ($M) — 5 (high)
- “Minimum Account Size for New Business: $5M” — forbes_shook
- Typical client net worth ($M) — 45 (high)
- “Typical Net Worth of Relationships: $15-75M” — forbes_shook
- Client niche — small- to middle-market private business owners exiting via ESOP (sell-side advisory + post-sale wealth management) (high)
- “Keith’s process entails a disciplined approach to help small- to middle-market business owners with sell-side advisory solutions and post-sale financial planning to include holistic wealth management and tax and estate p” — firm_official
- Custodians — gap: not_applicable
- Fee model — fee_plus_commission (medium)
- “Status: Active (both BC and IA scopes)” — sec_finra_regulatory
Positioning & marketing
- Website url — https://advisors.ubs.com/keith.apton/ (high)
- “Keith Apton of The Capital ESOP Group - Washington, D.C., DC | Financial Advisors” — firm_official
- Value proposition (verbatim) — “Our goal is to educate business owners and their trusted advisors on tax-efficient exit strategies, enabling them to preserve and pass on the wealth they worked hard to create.” — Keith Apton, Managing Director–Wealth Management (high)
- ““Our goal is to educate business owners and their trusted advisors on tax- efficient exit strategies, enabling them to preserve and pass on the wealth they worked hard to create.” — Keith Apton, Managing Director–Wealth ” — firm_official
- “Unlocking the Benefits of ESOPs for Business Succession and Tax Planning” — firm_official
- Differentiators — Exclusive national ESOP practice within UBS — team supports ESOP business for all UBS advisors/clients, $5.7 Billion enterprise value created; 400 ESOP transactions; 145 collective years of experience, Capital gains deferral/elimination via IRC §1042 rollover structuring, Coauthored the book Selling Your Business to an ESOP, now in its ninth edition, Post-transaction services for ESOP-owned companies: repurchase liability, ESOP escrow, NQDC/management incentive plans (high)
- “The proof is in our numbers $5.7 Billion Enterprise value created As of 06/12/2025 145 Collective years of experience 400 ESOP transactions” — firm_official
- “We offer additional services for ESOP-owned companies Leveraging the depth and resources of UBS, we can help you manage your repurchase liability, administer your ESOP escrow accounts and help you analyze and implement t” — firm_official
- Content marketing — active (medium)
- “August 26-28: The Capital ESOP Group in Phoenix, AZ Date. August 26 2026 Phoenix, AZ” — firm_official
- “He is regularly sought out to present at conferences and events around the country on the topics of ESOPs and §1042 rollovers.” — firm_official
- Has podcast — no (medium)
- “He is regularly sought out to present at conferences and events around the country on the topics of ESOPs and §1042 rollovers.” — firm_official
- Books published — 1 (high)
- “He coauthored the book Selling Your Business to an ESOP, now in its ninth edition.” — firm_official
- Linkedin url — https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-apton-6100852a (high)
- Social presence — linkedin_active (medium)
- Press awards — Barron's Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams, 2024, 2025, Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors, 2014–2025, Barron's Top 1,500 Financial Advisors, 2026, Barron's Top 1,000 Financial Advisors, 2012, 2013, UBS Wealth Management Pinnacle Council, 2024, 2025, 2026 (high)
- “Barron’s Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams, 2024, 2025 The Barron's rating is awarded annually in May based on information from the prior year Q4. Barron's Top 1,000 Financial Advisors, 2012, 2013 The Barron's rati” — firm_official
- “Barron's Top 1,500 Financial Advisors, 2026 The Barron's rating is awarded annually in March based on information from the prior year Q3.” — firm_official
Visual brand
- Has distinct logo — no (high)
- “src="mediahandler/media/321450/UBS_Logo_Semibold.svg"” — firm_official
- Logo url — https://advisors.ubs.com/capitalesopgroup/mediahandler/media/321450/UBS_Logo_Semibold.svg (high)
- “src="mediahandler/media/321450/UBS_Logo_Semibold.svg"” — firm_official
- Visual brand notes — Standard UBS corporate template: white ground, UBS red accent icons (money, globe, mountain-peak), clean sans-serif, no team mark. Imagery is muted business/lifestyle photography plus uniform color headshots. (high)
- “src="mediahandler/media/453444/Money-red.svg"” — firm_official
- “src="mediahandler/media/321450/UBS_Logo_Semibold.svg"” — firm_official
