Fortitude Family Office Founder Matt Walker Wins InvestmentNews Southwest Advisor of the Year

Matt Walker, founder and chief executive of Fortitude Family Office, has been named Advisor of the Year for the Southwest region at the 2026 InvestmentNews Awards.

InvestmentNews listed Walker as the winner of its Regional Southwest category, recognizing him within the US wealth-management profession.

The recognition comes as Fortitude continues to expand an advisory model that combines investment management with tax, accounting and broader family-office services.

From investment advice to coordinated family wealth

Fortitude Family Office was founded in 2021 around the idea that wealthy families often require a more integrated service than conventional portfolio management alone.

The Phoenix-based firm combines wealth and investment management with tax planning, accounting and family-office capabilities.

According to Fortitude, the business has grown from six employees and approximately $126 million in advised assets to around 40 professionals advising more than $3 billion across public and private assets.

The firm says its growth has been driven predominantly by client referrals.

The figures illustrate a wider shift taking place across private wealth.

As family balance sheets become more complex, advisers are increasingly expected to coordinate decisions extending well beyond listed portfolios.

The complexity behind substantial private wealth

A wealthy family's affairs can involve operating businesses, direct investments, property, private funds, trusts, estate structures, philanthropy and multiple generations.

Those elements rarely operate independently.

A decision concerning the sale of a business can affect tax planning, estate structures and asset allocation. A private investment may influence liquidity planning. A generational transition can create governance questions before it becomes an investment question.

That complexity has helped drive demand for multidisciplinary family-office models.

For clients, the attraction is not necessarily having every service delivered by a single individual. It is having advisers who can coordinate the different parts of the family's financial life.

Recognition within a changing advisory market

Walker also serves as chairman of CV3 Financial Services and is involved with organizations including Young Presidents' Organization and the International Executive Council.

His InvestmentNews award comes at a time when the US wealth-management sector is becoming increasingly competitive.

Large national platforms are expanding, independent RIAs continue to consolidate and specialist family-office providers are building more comprehensive service models for wealthy families.

For wealth owners, the underlying issue remains relatively simple: increasing financial complexity requires more effective coordination.

Fortitude's growth and Walker's recognition provide another example of how the advisory market is responding.