About us

Independent. Fiduciary. Built for the Long Term.

A Firm Built on an Established & Trusted Practice

Stone Loft Wealth Management was built from experience rather than from scratch. Over nearly two decades in the industry, John Neal had the opportunity to work with some of the most respected firms in wealth management, helping families navigate complex financial decisions while learning firsthand what exceptional advice looks like—and where the traditional model falls short.

At UBS Private Wealth Management, he experienced a true white-glove approach, serving executives and affluent families with thoughtful planning and a high level of personal attention. At Vanguard, he embraced the investment philosophy pioneered by Jack Bogle: low costs, broad diversification, disciplined investing, and putting clients' interests first. Along the way, he also saw how advances in technology could dramatically improve the client experience by making financial planning, communication, collaboration, and organization more transparent and accessible.

Stone Loft was founded to bring those strengths together under one roof. The firm combines the personalized service and sophisticated planning typically associated with private wealth management, the evidence-based investment philosophy and transparent pricing championed by Vanguard, and best-in-class technology that allows clients to stay connected to every aspect of their financial lives. By intentionally serving a limited number of families, Stone Loft is able to provide the responsiveness, accessibility, and long-term partnership that many investors are seeking but rarely find.

CFP-Led. Fiduciary-Registered. Dedicated to You.

Meet John Neal, CFP®

We help people invest in what really matters to them—with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

I attended Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. While in school, I worked four jobs to help pay my way through college, one of which was an internship at Smith Barney. Two days after graduation, I left for you New York to work on Smith Barney’s financial planning and corporate retirement planning desk. I was one of eight people covering the entire U.S. for financial planning and corporate retirement.

That experience led to an opportunity at UBS, where I served as a lead in a similar capacity. I began traveling around the country, presenting to branches of advisors on how I approached financial planning, how I modeled different scenarios, and, for larger clients, stepping in to present when advisors wanted additional support.

From there, I became the in-house financial planning consultant for UBS 1285 complex, the largest branch in the world, located across from Rockefeller Center in New York.

After a few years, I had several opportunities to become a partner and ultimately joined a team wherfe me and my three partners had a team of eight and managed $2.5 billion for 80 families, primarily working with executives of public companies. At the time, I was the youngest Private Wealth Advisor at UBS who was not the child of an existing advisor.

It was a tremendous opportunity, but when my wife was pregnant with our second daughter, she was misdiagnosed with leukemia. Thankfully, it turned out to be a mistake and she was completely fine, but the experience made us rethink the 80-plus hours a week I was spending away from home. My wife and I have been together since high school, and we decided it was time to move back home and be closer to family.

Vanguard gave me the opportunity to do that. I spent seven years there before deciding to start Stone Loft Wealth Management. My goal was to combine the high level of service and holistic planning I had experienced in UBS private wealth with the pricing structure and investment philosophy inspired by Jack Bogle and Vanguard.

Stone Loft's fee schedule is tiered, publicly posted, and among the lowest in the independent RIA market. Our AUM pricing reflects the same institutional discipline that defines our investment approach — competitive by design, not by accident.