Oct 13, 2025 Q & A: How to Pick a Wealth Manager in the Sports World

In professional sports, the financial stakes are high, the career windows can be short, and the legal complexities are immense. Executives for sports teams often find themselves guiding athletes, executives, and organizations toward the right professional partners—including wealth managers.

Allen Schreiber, MBA, Partner at TSG Wealth Management, and a driving force behind the practice’s Sports & Entertainment Team, shares insight on what to look for when choosing a wealth manager who can meet the unique needs of high-profile clients in the sports industry.

Can you share a bit about your background and why you’re passionate about sports and entertainment clients?

I’ve spent nearly three decades at TSG Wealth Management, and over that time I’ve worked with a wide range of high-net-worth individuals. The sports and entertainment world has always fascinated me because of its unique challenges—volatile income, short earning windows, complex endorsement and image rights arrangements, and the need to plan for both peak and post-career life.

I earned my MBA with the idea of combining strategic wealth planning with real-world understanding of clients’ careers. Creating TSG’s Sports & Entertainment team allows me to focus on strategies that address those nuances head-on.

Why can’t most traditional wealth management approaches simply be applied to sports professionals?

A standard wealth management plan assumes steady income and predictable timelines. That’s just not the reality in sports. Contracts can be short-term, bonuses can be substantial and irregular, and careers can be over in a single injury. There’s also the need to protect personal brands and manage off-field opportunities.

If you treat those factors the same way you’d treat a corporate executive’s W-2 salary, you’re setting the client up for unnecessary risk. Our Sports & Entertainment team is built to handle the unpredictability—structuring investments, building cash reserves, integrating tax planning strategies, and setting up systems that work no matter what the next season brings.

Tell me a little bit about the sports and entertainment focus that your practice provides.

The Sports and Entertainment group of TSG is not only the biggest, but it’s the fastest growing. I’m passionate about taking care of our athlete clients. Unfortunately, a lot of them who come to us from other advisers have been wronged in many ways—whether it’s lack of performance, lack of education and transparency, high fees or illiquid investments, to the most extreme of outright fraud. There are some bad players in the financial business that unfortunately give us a bad name.

Historically, athletes have significant career earnings and big earnings potential, but not all of them are able to keep it. Our goal is not only to keep the money, but to hopefully pass this wealth on for generations to come. These types of clients require services that average families probably would never need, but are extremely crucial to the financial success of their legacy.

One of the biggest challenges for athletes and entertainers is navigating the tax waters. Can you talk about the unique considerations there and what you provide?

Especially here in California, one of the higher-tax states in the country, taxes typically are number one, number two, and three on our agendas. Take an athlete, for example, who is subject to the “jock tax”—they must file tax returns in every state where they play. It’s pretty complex, especially with our athletes earning significant dollars at a much earlier age.
We now have athlete clients earning substantial income in college, and that never happened when I first got in the business. One of the first things we teach them is that you have to have a withholding. You may get a check for a million dollars, but you don’t have a million dollars to spend. We take half right off the bat, set it aside, and hopefully earn some good interest in this higher interest rate environment—that’s for taxes. From the rest, we focus on saving, growing, and creating a budget that’s within means.

Many of our athlete clients want to be confident that we have experience dealing with people like them. We’ve lived that journey with clients who have started in college, gone on to the pros, and even some who have made it to the Hall of Fame. Our post-playing department for athlete clients is equally as important as dealing with a high school kid getting NIL money.

This NIL space is really interesting—you have kids as young as high school coming into vast amounts of money they may not know what to do with. How has this explosion of NIL money impacted your space?

Education is key and it’s ongoing. It’s very rewarding when we have young clients come in and they’re athletes and they say, “I know Allen—dividends and rising dividends and cash flows and budgets. I get it.” That’s very rewarding. But it’s not only education for the client—it’s education for their families and extended families.

We like to host family summits where we bring in entire families for a day and explain the method to our approach. We never want to be that team that says, “Go on the field, do what you do, and we’ll handle everything.” If you sign a $100 million contract, we view that as a $100 million business. The client is the CEO of that business, and we hope to be the CFO—handling all financial matters but also educating them along the way. This is the key to not only making sure the money is there and sustainable, but that it’s there for generations to come.

If I’m the head of legal for a sports team, what should I be asking when evaluating a potential wealth manager for our players or executives?

I’d start with five core questions:

• Do you have real experience with sports or entertainment clients? This isn’t something you can “Google and guess” your way through—ask for case studies or examples.
• How do you handle irregular income and complex contracts? Look for someone who understands signing bonuses, deferred comp, endorsements, and international tax implications.
• What’s your team structure? You need a primary advisor plus specialists in investment, insurance, tax strategy, and estate planning strategies.
• How do you coordinate with legal counsel? The right wealth manager works hand-in-hand with attorneys, not in parallel silos.
• What’s your continuity plan? A long-term relationship matters—succession planning within the practice helps ensure the client’s needs are met for decades.

How does TSG’s structure help with those needs?

At TSG, we operate with both depth and breadth. Our Sports & Entertainment team specializes in this niche, but we’re backed by the full capabilities of one of the largest independent wealth management practices in the country.

We have investment strategists, tax efficient planners, insurance experts, and business advisors under one umbrella. That allows us to build a comprehensive plan instead of a patchwork of disconnected advice. We also mentor the next generation of advisors so clients have continuity—if I was to retire tomorrow (I’m not, but if), the strategy and service level remain the same.

What should team executives look for beyond credentials when helping their athletes?

Credentials matter, but in this space, trust and fit matter more. Your wealth manager should understand the lifestyle, pressures, and public nature of sports careers. They should anticipate problems before they appear—whether that’s a sudden contract termination, a lawsuit, or a tax issue from an overseas endorsement deal.

Transparency is another big one. You should understand exactly how the advisor is compensated, what services are included, and how decisions are made. In my opinion, you want someone who sees themselves as part of your advisory “inner circle” alongside legal, tax, and business management—not as an outside vendor.

What practical steps can help someone vet a potential wealth manager?

Here’s the process I recommend:

• Interview at least two or three candidates. Don’t just go with the first name you hear.
• Ask for examples of sports-specific challenges they’ve solved. A good advisor will have plenty without violating client confidentiality.
• Meet the full team. You’ll want to know the people handling investments, tax coordination, and day-to-day questions.
• Check succession and coverage plans. If they’re a solo practitioner with no backup, that’s a red flag.
• Review communication style. Do they provide quarterly check-ins? Monthly updates? On-demand calls? It has to match your expectations.

How do you personally approach building trust with clients?

It starts with listening. I don’t show up with a pre-packaged plan—I want to know the client’s goals, fears, and values. From there, we build a strategy together so it’s personal rather than imposed.

I’m also very upfront about what we can and can’t do. If something’s outside our scope, I’ll bring in the right expert. I believe in over-communicating. Our clients get regular updates, but more importantly, they know they can call me or my team anytime—whether it’s a career-changing contract or a last-minute charity gala they want to fund.

If you could give one piece of advice to a head of legal helping athletes choose a wealth manager, what would it be?

Don’t focus solely on investment returns. In sports, the biggest value a wealth manager provides is risk management. That means preserving the client’s financial future from career volatility, bad investments, overspending, or missed tax deadlines.

A great wealth manager is part investment planner, part coach, part risk mitigator. If they’re only talking about stocks and bonds, you’re missing 80% of the picture.

Final thoughts—why should someone in sports trust TSG’s Sports & Entertainment team?

Because we’ve built a dedicated team around their needs, and we’ve been doing it for decades. I’m not learning on their dime—we already know the terrain. We combine the personal relationships of a boutique with the resources of a national practice.

Most importantly, we view every client relationship as long-term. Whether it’s an athlete just entering the league, an executive in mid-career, or a retired player transitioning into broadcasting or business ownership, we have the tools and the team to adapt as life changes.

Investment products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN), Member SIPC. TSG Wealth Management is a separate entity from WFAFN.