Jeffrey J Maclean

Jeffrey MacLean has spent his entire career in institutional investment consulting. He joined Wurts & Associates in 1992 and, over more than three decades, rose to lead the firm. In 2006 he became CEO when founder William Wurts transitioned majority ownership to him, and MacLean subsequently became the firm's majority shareholder. He brings more than 33 years of investment and consulting experience across all major asset classes, serving public and corporate defined benefit and defined contribution plans, public institutions, multi-employer trusts, endowments, and foundations.

Before entering consulting, MacLean worked as a Vice President at Shurgard Realty Group and as a consultant at Arthur Andersen. He earned an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia (1990–1992) and an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, where he served as student body president.

As CEO, MacLean chaired both the firm's management committee and its investment committee and served on its Research Advisory Committee. In 2015 he led the rebranding of Wurts & Associates as Verus, explaining that the name derives from the Latin *verus* — meaning "real," "genuine," and "truth" — to reflect the firm's independent, fiduciary posture. Under his leadership Verus grew into one of the largest independent institutional consultants in the U.S., advising clients representing roughly $1.2 trillion in assets. Outside the firm, he has volunteered with Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and served on the advisory board of the University of Washington's Foster School of Business.

In February 2026 MacLean announced that Verus would merge with Cerity Partners, a large independent wealth and investment management firm; the transaction closed on March 31, 2026, creating a combined entity advising on approximately $1.3 trillion in individual and institutional assets. Houlihan Lokey advised Verus on the deal.

• Operates as an institutional investment consultant / OCIO, not a startup investor — the unit of work is a client's total portfolio, not a cap table or a "seed round."
• Advises across all asset classes for institutional asset owners: public/corporate pensions, DC plans, endowments, foundations, and multi-employer (Taft-Hartley) trusts.
• Emphasizes independence and objectivity: in his own words, "Cerity Partners is a firm that shares our values: independence, trust, expertise, and diligence."
• Sees the frontier of the business in analytics: "The biggest innovation will be the rigor and quality surrounding continuously updated position-level total portfolio risk applications delivered to institutional clients."
• Delivery model spans non-discretionary consulting and discretionary (OCIO) management, reflecting institutional demand for outsourced portfolio management.