Pleasanton, CA Office

CS Planning Corp, doing business as Vertical Ascent Wealth Management, provides investment supervisory, portfolio management, investment consulting and financial planning to a range of clients including individuals (both non‑HNW and high‑net‑worth), businesses, retirement plans, foundations, trusts, estates and charitable organizations. It delivers these services through a multi‑advisor model and a network of Advisory Affiliates that may operate under separate legal entities and trade names for marketing purposes.

The firm constructs broadly diversified portfolios across global equity and fixed‑income markets, uses a systematic strategy with periodic rebalancing, and tailors asset allocation to each client’s risk tolerance and goals; client accounts are monitored on an ongoing basis and are often managed on a discretionary basis. In limited, suitability‑driven cases the firm may employ margin, option strategies, or provide exposure to digital assets—generally accessed via exchange‑traded products on a digital‑asset platform—alongside more traditional mutual funds, ETFs, equities and bonds.

What distinguishes the firm is its multi‑affiliate operating structure and related service relationships: it is affiliated with a turnkey/back‑office provider that receives custodial support fees from a major custodian, a dynamic the brochure discloses as a potential influence on custodian recommendations. The firm also discloses that some Advisory Affiliates are independently licensed to sell insurance (and may receive commissions), that it uses paid promoter/referral arrangements in some cases, and that it has a specific billing policy to value illiquid or privately priced holdings at zero when custodian pricing is unavailable.