History

We owe our exceptional growth to the strength and depth of our company’s roots.

Scott Cohen officially opened CD Wealth Management’s doors on June 30, 2014, but the firm’s history goes back decades longer, tracing its roots as a family-run Dallas institution to 1939. Each generation in the company’s family tree has built on the successes — and the lessons — of the one that went before, laying the foundation for the strong sense of purpose and dedication to community and clients Scott and his team embody today.

Scott’s great uncle Bill Waldman started work as a life insurance agent in Dallas for State Mutual in 1939, and his brother Erwin Waldman — Scott’s grandfather — joined him at work 10 years later, in 1949, formally creating the Waldman Bros Insurance Agency. Bill managed the life and health side of the business, and Erwin oversaw the auto, fire and casualty side.

In 1970, Howard Cohen — Erwin’s son-in-law and Scott’s father — joined the firm, helping Bill grow the employee benefits, life, disability and long-term care practices with a focus on continuation and estate planning. Steve Waldman — Erwin’s son and Scott’s uncle — joined in 1972, further developing the fire, property and casualty side of the business. Soon, the company hit a milestone of more than $10 million in written premiums.

In the decades that followed, Waldman Bros grew deeper in its role as a cornerstone in the Dallas community, both as an impactful business that served an ever-growing clientele and as an important contributor to charitable interests through gifts and service.

Scott graduated from the University of Texas in May 1993. On a post-graduation trip to Europe, he realized his path forward wasn’t through law school, as he had originally planned. He returned home to North Texas and went to work as a financial planner. Within two years, Waldman Bros snapped him up and turned him loose to build the company’s wealth management services line.

Waldman Bros continued to grow, and in 2014, Scott launched CD Wealth Management with the blessing of his family and his business partners. CD Wealth Management was born of the same commitment to individual service and community involvement that had grown from the roots his grandfather and great uncle planted decades before.

Many of CD Wealth Management’s team members came to join Scott from Waldman Bros: Kelley Followwell (who joined in 1996), Andy Dropkin (2004), Alison Glasgow (2007) and Ilona Friedman (2009). Together, they and the rest of their team share more than 100 years of combined experience, as well as their common history, dedication to client care — and the meticulous, purpose-driven approach that’s been forged in Dallas since 1939.

In 2022, Bluespring Wealth Partners, LLC, acquired CD Wealth Management to form a wealth management hub in North Texas that will help both companies grow through thoughtful investments.

Bluespring Wealth Partners’ investment provides the team with access to resources and unparalleled expertise to fuel growth and continued innovation in client service; CD Wealth continues to do business under the its own name, and its founder and partners maintain a significant equity interest in the partnership.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, CD Wealth reached another significant milestone, surpassing $1 billion in assets under management — while maintaining the same commitment to white-glove service for its loyal clientele.

“No matter how well our business is doing or how fast it is growing, we are always striving for improvement,” Cohen said. “We are entirely focused on delivering wealth planning that transforms our clients’ lives.”