Why Heritage Chose Savant: A Conversation with Chuck Bean

When Heritage Financial Services joined Savant in February 2026, the partnership brought together two majority employee-owned firms with a shared commitment to comprehensive, client-centered planning. Founder Chuck Bean, who was just named to Barron’s Advisor Top 1,500 list and ranked # 8 in Massachusetts¹, recently reflected on Heritage’s evolution, why Savant was the right long-term partner, and how the firm’s expertise can help strengthen Savant’s ability to serve clients and support its growing advisor community. 

1. What makes you excited about financial planning? 

My passion for working with people really began at a young age, growing up on our family’s farm and working in the farmstand. I loved meeting new people, hearing their stories, and tangibly helping them, usually over a basket of fresh sweet corn or tomatoes. At the same time, I was helping manage my family’s finances, where I developed a strong interest in money, budgeting, and investing. Financial planning and wealth management have allowed me to bring those two worlds together in a very meaningful way. 

There is something deeply fulfilling about helping individuals and families navigate life’s important decisions, whether it’s building or selling a successful business, managing wealth for busy people, purchasing a second home, retiring with confidence, traveling the world, or spoiling grandchildren (which, from what I’ve seen, tends to be a top priority). 

Over the past 30-plus years, our industry has evolved dramatically, from paper statements and fax machines to real-time data and AI-driven insights. What excites me the most is the future, how we can continue to refine our approach, embrace innovation, and deliver even greater value and guidance to the families we serve. 

2. At the time you joined Savant, the Heritage Financial partnership was Savant’s largest to date. What gets you excited about partnering with Savant? 

This partnership represents a significant opportunity to help enhance both the depth and breadth of what we can offer our clients. 

By combining Heritage’s strengths with Savant’s expanded capabilities, including enhanced tax planning, advanced estate planning, and specialized services such as trustee and family office, we can provide a more integrated and comprehensive planning experience. In other words, fewer silos, more solutions. 

I’ve always believed in finding opportunities where 1 plus 1 equals 3. That’s exactly what this partnership is all about. Together, we can deepen relationships, offer more resources and services to our clients, create greater impact for our team, and accelerate growth without anyone needing to work three times as hard (which is a nice bonus). 

3. How is team integration going? 

Integration is never without its challenges. There are a lot of moving parts when bringing two great organizations together, and occasionally it can feel like assembling a puzzle without the picture on the box. 

That said, what stands out most is the shared commitment to doing this the right way.  Throughout the process, our focus has remained exactly where it should be, which is serving our clients at the highest level while continuing to grow and strengthen the firm. 

The Savant team has been very collaborative, responsive, and genuinely supportive as we navigate new systems, technologies, processes, and ways of working together. And I am incredibly proud of the Heritage team for embracing this next chapter with professionalism, positivity, and an unwavering commitment to our clients. 

4. What would you like clients to know about you and the Heritage team? 

While our name is evolving, our core values and commitment are not. The relationships we’ve built over the past three decades remain at the heart and soul of everything we do. Our clients can expect the same level of care, integrity, and personal attention they are accustomed to, with a few more resources behind the scenes. 

What’s changing is our ability to do even more. With access to expanded services and capabilities, we believe we are better positioned to meet the increasingly complex needs of our clients, while staying grounded in the same disciplined, client-first philosophy that has always defined both Heritage and Savant. 

The Heritage team remains exactly who we have always been; knowledgeable, hardworking, honest, and deeply committed to the people we serve, now with more tools in the toolbox and a deeper bench of professionals. 

5. Looking ahead, where do you see opportunities for growth, particularly in New England? 

New England has always been a core part of our identity. Over the years, we’ve built strong, trusted relationships with individuals, families, and business owners throughout the region, and have expanded to many other states as clients move and refer us to their family, friends, and colleagues across the country. We are now doing business in 35 states with an ever-growing client base in Florida and many other warm, tax-friendly states. 

Now, as part of Savant, we have an opportunity to expand that impact, with the goal of bringing a broader set of professional resources and capabilities to clients across the country.  This includes not only individuals and families, but also business owners, entrepreneurs, institutions, and nonprofit organizations, areas where we can now add more services in ways we could not before. 

We see this as a true two-way partnership. We are helping extend Savant’s reach in New England, while continuing to build on the local relationships and client-focused approach that have been the foundation of Heritage’s success. 

And if we do it right, we’ll not only grow, but we’ll strive to do it in a way that helps make our clients feel even more confident, supported, and excited about their financial future. 

¹ Barron’s 2026 Top Advisor Rankings by State: This annual rating was published in March 2026. The rankings are based on data provided by over 7,000 of the nation’s most productive advisors. Factors included in the rankings: assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, regulatory record, quality of practice, and philanthropic work. Investment performance isn’t an explicit component because not all advisors have audited results and because performance figures often are influenced more by clients’ risk tolerance than by an advisor’s investment-picking abilities. Savant did not pay a fee to be included in this ranking, however, Savant has paid a fee to Barron’s to use the ranking in marketing and to list on their site.