Working at LNW, we all know how fortunate we are to have Kristen Bauer as our CEO (pictured above in the middle). Therefore, we were not totally surprised that Kristen last week was named “Outstanding CEO” at the 2025 Family Wealth Report (FWR) awards in New York City*. LNW also won the FWR award for impact investing, where we have long stood out for our customized approach to investing for return and impact.
The annual FWR awards recognize the most innovative and exceptional firms, teams and individuals serving family offices, family wealth and trusted advisor communities in North America. Winners were announced on May 8 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan, which Kristen attended along with LNW Wealth Manager John Mell (pictured on the right).
We suspect Kristen was singled out for Outstanding CEO because of her strong leadership and success at implementing a vision for LNW to serve people and families with multigenerational wealth across the U.S. while keeping the firm private and independent. Specifically, FWR noted:
“[Kristen Bauer] has led the firm to grow assets under management from over $3 billion to nearly $17 billion, positioning it as a premier multifamily office. Through two successful mergers…and a strong focus on innovation…she has demonstrated exceptional vision, execution, and leadership in the wealth management industry.”
FWR noted that impact investing at LNW, led by Chief Impact Officer Justina Lai, stands out for these reasons:
“LNW demonstrates a deep commitment to sourcing impact solutions for family clients. With a strong focus on shareholder advocacy and a straightforward, practice-driven approach, the team has earned a solid reputation for integrating purpose-driven investments while balancing both social and financial outcomes.”
In her Friday email to LNW employees, Kristen wrote: “It is the award for top impact investing firm that makes me most proud. It was a wonderful moment to stand on the stage and accept the award on behalf of our organization. A huge thank you to Justina Lai for her leadership in this important differentiator for LNW, as well as everyone who has worked with clients with an interest in impact investing.”
The pool of judges for the FWR awards consists of approximately 40 experts from family offices, private banks, trusted advisers, consultants and other service providers each of whom has in-depth wealth management knowledge and experience. Family Wealth Report is a leading publication that reports on the wealth management and family office industry.
Stephen Harris, publisher of Family Wealth Report and CEO of ClearView Financial Media, extended his congratulations to all winners and highly commended companies: “Every category winner and highly commended firm has been subjected to rigorous and independent judging process and be rightly proud of the success they have achieved this year. “These awards are so beneficial as they give organizations and individuals the opportunity to clarify their strategic thinking, have it independently validated, be recognized internally and externally and to celebrate in style with their peers.
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*Laird Norton Wetherby (LNW) did not solicit these awards and did not provide any form of compensation to be included in the list of participants or winners: https://clearviewpublishing.com/events/the-twelfth-annual-family-wealth-report-awards-2025/.
