By Tony Villiotti

No wristbands. No ribbons. No celebrity ads. Virtually no public awareness. An epidemic that is almost completely ignored. I’m talking about Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and its sibling, Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). The National Institute of Health estimates that 30-40% of Americans have NAFLD. That’s about 100 million people. For about 20 million or so of those people NAFLD will progress to NASH. 

This situation is progressively getting worse. The incidence of NAFLD and NASH will increase right along that of diabetes and obesity. Some experts estimate that there will be a 60%+ increase in NASH by 2030. Too often those most at risk are unaware of the potentially fatal consequences over time when a fatty liver diagnosis is left unaddressed and not treated as the serious health concern the medical community is now realizing it truly is. Risk factors include diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and genetics. The insidious part of this is that there are typically no symptoms so most people don’t know they are affected.

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Pittsburgh “Bigger is better” is a dominant theme in the wealth management industry that a select group of financial advisors is determined to disrupt.

“In the midst of industry consolidation, survival is not contingent upon acquisitions—it’s contingent upon providing unprecedented value,” observed Joseph Scarpo, founder and CEO of PWA Wealth Management. “We treat every client as if they were our only client, and what we’ve learned is every client wants a single source of trust.” 

A single source of trust is the inspiration for a newly formed alliance of wealth planning, investment management, accounting, legal, insurance, and real estate firms to serve successful individuals and families. 

“The Client-First Alliance operates as exceptional, independent entities with one mission, one mindset: saving clients time and headaches by integrating the full continuum of wealth management services,” Mr. Scarpo added. 

“Some wealth management companies provide highly qualified referrals, and a handful provide a family office experience, where integrated services are offered to the uber-wealthy,” he stated. “We aim to serve the mass affluent—people with $1 million or more in investable assets—who deserve every bit of care at a very reasonable price. And, because many of our clients are business owners, the Client-First Alliance can also furnish payroll and employer benefit services.”

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