Cresset Adds Two Wealth Advisors From Lazard Wealth

Editorial Staff

22 July 2026

Cresset has hired Chris Tiano and Nick Smith as managing directors, wealth advisors, based in Los Angeles and New York respectively. Both have joined from Lazard Wealth, where they served as directors overseeing $1.1 billion in assets under advisement.

Tiano works with business owners and entrepreneurs whose wealth is concentrated in the companies they have built, advising on liquidity events and coordinating with trust and estate attorneys and accountants on tax planning and wealth transfer. Smith has spent 15 years advising ultra-high net worth individuals, families and institutional clients on investment management, estate planning, wealth transfer and tax strategy, Cresset said in a statement yesterday.

Before Lazard Wealth, Tiano advised individuals, families and non-profit institutions at Focus Financial Partners and Glenmede Trust Company. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelor of arts in economics from Columbia University.

Smith's earlier career included roles as a senior relationship manager at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, a client advisor at Bessemer Trust and an associate position at Fiduciary Trust Company International. He holds an MBA from Cornell University's S C Johnson Graduate School of Management, a bachelor of arts in political science from Denison University and the Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor designation.