Benjamin Cohen
CFP®, WMS℠
Managing Partner
“The financial services field is the perfect fit for my distinctive combination of right- and left-brained thinking. I am a people person, but I have a serious analytical side as well. Mostly, I love the human connection.”
Ben is responsible for running Cohen Capital, managing our discretionary investment portfolios, and serving as a financial advisor and planner for our clients’ significant assets.
Relatable, approachable and down-to-earth, Ben has a willingness and ability to articulate even the most complex financial concepts in a manner his clients can comfortably understand.
Ben brings decades of financial industry experience to Cohen Capital, including with Bear Stearns, J.P. Morgan and Raymond James, where he was part of the top echelon of advisors. His expertise is further enhanced by the many years he worked alongside his father, Michael Cohen, who is a 50-year veteran of Wall Street and steadfast mentor.
Ben is intensely focused on improving the quality of life for everyone he meets – clients, team members and the community at large. “I believe that when our clients see the concrete value we could bring to their lives, it reinforces the confidence they have in themselves and inspires them to also do great things.”
Designations and Licenses
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification
Wealth Management Specialist℠
Education
BA, musical theater with a minor in literature, Indiana University
Accolades
Barron’s 2026 Top Advisor Rankings by State — #46 in Illinois1
Financial Times Top 400 Financial Advisors 20202
Forbes Best in State Wealth Advisors 2020–20253
More About Ben
“My experience in the arts gives me an informed perspective and camaraderie with the many clients I serve in the entertainment industry.”
Before becoming a financial advisor, Ben performed onstage in Chicago and regionally, culminating with a role in the 2004 Broadway revival of “Gypsy” starring Bernadette Peters. His wife, Aurélia, former director of development for Chicago’s famous Lookingglass Theatre Company, is a theater producer, general manager and a nonprofit consultant, which keeps them very involved in the arts in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
Ben has served for years on multiple boards including Writers Theatre, a nationally renowned institution in Glencoe, Illinois, and Music Theatre Company of Highland Park.
1 Source: https://www.barrons.com/advisor/report/top-financial-advisors/1000
2 The Financial Times 400 Top Financial Advisors is an independent listing produced annually by Ignites Research, a division of Money-Media, Inc., on behalf of the Financial Times (FT) (April 2020). To qualify for the list, advisors had to have 10 years of experience and at least $300 million in assets under management (AUM) and no more than 60% of the AUM with institutional clients. The FT reaches out to some of the largest brokerages in the U.S. and asks them to provide a list of advisors who meet the minimum criteria outlined above. These advisors are then invited to apply for the ranking. Only advisors who submit an online application can be considered for the ranking. In 2020, roughly 1,040 applications were received and 400 were selected to the final list (38.5%). The 400 qualified advisers were then scored on six attributes: AUM, AUM growth rate, compliance record, years of experience, industry certifications, and online accessibility. AUM is the top factor, accounting for roughly 60% to 70% of the applicant’s score. Additionally, to provide a diversity of advisors, the FT placed a cap on the number of advisors from any one state that’s roughly correlated to the distribution of millionaires across the U.S. The ranking may not be representative of any one client’s experience, is not an endorsement and is not indicative of an advisor’s future performance. Neither Raymond James nor any of its financial advisors pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. The FT, Ignite Research and Money-Media, Inc. are not affiliated with Raymond James.
3 The Forbes Top Wealth Advisors Best-In-State 2023 ranking, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria, mostly gained through telephone and in-person due diligence interviews, and quantitative data. This ranking is based upon the period from 6/30/2021 to 6/30/2022 and was released on 4/4/2023. Those advisors that are considered have a minimum of seven years of experience, and the algorithm weights factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices in their practices and approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criteria due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Out of approximately 39,007 nominations, 7,321 advisors received the award. This ranking is not indicative of an adviso2,860r’s future performance, is not an endorsement, and may not be representative of individual clients’ experience. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors or RIA firms pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. Raymond James is not affiliated with Forbes or Shook Research,LLC. Please visit https://www.forbes.com/best-in-state-wealth-advisors for more info.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization’s initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.
The Wealth Management Specialist℠ or WMS℠ designation is conferred by the College for Financial Planning / Kaplan Company.