Sonen Capital LLC (San Francisco)

Name: Sonen Capital LLC
Address: 456 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA, 94104
Telephone: 415-534-4444

Sonen Capital LLC is a large advisory firm based in San Francisco. It manages $388.97 million of regulatory assets for 34 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2012 and has operated in the jurisdiction of California.

Sonen Capital provides portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for pooled investment vehicles, portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients, and selection of other advisers. It doesn't provide financial planning services to its clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Sonen Capital: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Sonen Capital LLC is $388.97 million. The firm's AUM has grown by 419% since the beginning of its operation, and $38.45 million of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $387.97 million in discretionary accounts and $1 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $11.76 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $1 million.

Sonen Capital has custody of $265.12 million in cash and securities for 6 clients in total but doesn’t act as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in pooled investment vehicles the most. They account for 81% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is investment and business development companies, which make up 6% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in exchange traded securities form 4% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Sonen Capital LLC for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management and fixed fees. Flat-fee based compensation is the most transparent and the one you can safely predict in advance. These fees don’t include brokerage commissions, interest, taxes, and other account expenses.

What kind of clients Stuart Davidson serves?

The firm provides services to charitable organizations, other investment advisers, high net worth individuals, and pooled investment vehicles. The largest group of clients of Stuart Davidson is pooled investment vehicles with 6 clients and $304.24 million of assets under management. Among the 8 most similar advisory firms, Sonen Capital has the 3rd highest percentage of pooled investment vehicles out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $388.97 million for 34 clients that can include trusts, estates, and 401(k) plans and IRAs of individuals and their family members. 6% of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Sonen Capital also advises several private funds. Namely, two hedge funds, two other private funds, and two private equity funds. The minimum investment commitment required of non-related persons ranges from $250,000 to $500,000.

Careers at Sonen Capital LLC

The company employs 12 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 67 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 3 employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There isn’t anyone with the role of looking for and bringing in new clients on behalf of the firm. The firm doesn’t compensate employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Stuart Davidson has been acting as President since 1 Aug 2014. Nicholas Koukopoulos joined the executive team most recently as the Head Of Investments.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Raul Nmn Pomares	Managing member	1 Apr 2011	75% - 100%	2911083
Raul Pomares	Managing member and cco	1 Apr 2011	25% - 50%	2911083
Anne Nmn Stetson	Cco, managing director and general counsel	1 Oct 2011	Other	5763766
Julia Wang Sze	Managing director	1 Feb 2012	Other	2572508
Nicholas Koukopoulos	Head of investments/managing director	1 Apr 2012	Other	5860835
Stuart Davidson	Senior managing director	1 Oct 2012	25% - 50%	6050992
Hume Koukopoulos Family Trust	Owner	1 Oct 2012	Other	22-3516280
Dave Hood	Senior real assets strategist/manaing director	1 Sep 2013	Other	5119875
Rrrr Investments Llc	Owner	1 Nov 2013	Other	26-1564474
Emily K Silva	Chief compliance officer	1 May 2014	Other	3224656
Raul Pomares	Founder	1 Aug 2014	Other	2911083
Stuart Davidson	Chairman	1 Aug 2014	Other	6050992
Robert Jay Goldstein	Chief executive officer	1 Aug 2014	Other	4337284
Raul Nmn Pomares	Founder	1 Aug 2014	Other	2911083
Stuart P (Mi Only) Davidson	Chairman	1 Aug 2014	Other	6050992
Julia Wang Sze	Director	1 Jan 2015	Other	2572508
Daniel R Heu Weller	Director	1 Jan 2015	Other	5173409
Daniel R (Mi Only) Heu Weller	Director	1 Jan 2015	Other	5173409
Douglas Nelson Tyre	Chief compliance officer	1 Mar 2016	Other	4556156
Douglas N Tyre	Chief compliance officer	1 Mar 2016	Other	4556156
Nicholas Koukopoulos	Head of investments	1 Mar 2017	Other	5860835
Robert Jay Goldstein	Chief compliance officer	1 Jul 2017	Other	4337284

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 3 indirect owners.

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Nicholas Koukopoulos	Trustee	1 Jun 2007	50% - 75%	5860835
Carolyn L Hume	Trustee	1 Jun 2007	50% - 75%	6128667
John E Mccaw	Sole member	1 Nov 2013	75% - 100%	4427744

Based in San Francisco

The principal office where Sonen Capital LLC performs its advisory services is located at 456 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94104, which is also the mailing address of the firm. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 415-534-4444. The normal business hours are 9:00 am - 5:00 pm on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at sonencapital.com.