Wetherby Asset Management (San Francisco)

Name: Wetherby Asset Management
Address: 580 California St., San Francisco, CA, 94104
Telephone: 415-399-9159

Wetherby Asset Management is a large advisory firm based in San Francisco. It manages $4.85 billion of regulatory assets for 3,568 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2001 and has operated in the jurisdictions of California, Connecticut, Florida, and 14 other states.

Wetherby Asset Management provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for pooled investment vehicles, portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients, pension consulting services, selection of other advisers, publication of newsletters, and educational seminars and workshops. It prepares financial plans for more than 499 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Wetherby Asset Management: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Wetherby Asset Management is $4.85 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 932% since the beginning of its operation, and the company doesn't manage any assets belonging to foreign clients.

The firm manages $4.62 billion in discretionary accounts and $235.26 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $1.33 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $2.77 million.

Wetherby Asset Management has custody of $1.94 billion in cash and securities for 499 clients in total but doesn’t act as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in investment and business development companies the most. They account for 44% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is exchange traded securities, which make up 17% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in pooled investment vehicles form 14% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Wetherby Asset Management for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, and fixed fees. Compensation based on assets under management promotes a long-term relationship between a client and the adviser and helps align mutual interests. These fees don’t include brokerage commissions, interest, taxes, and other account expenses.

What kind of clients Wetherby Asset Management serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, pooled investment vehicles, corporations or other businesses, pension and profit sharing plans, and state or municipal government entities. The largest group of clients of Wetherby Asset Management is high net worth individuals with 481 clients and $4.35 billion of assets under management. Among the 8 most similar advisory firms, Wetherby Asset Management has the highest percentage of high net worth individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $4.85 billion for 542 clients that can include trusts, estates, and 401(k) plans and IRAs of individuals and their family members. None of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Wetherby Asset Management also advises several private funds. Namely, one private equity fund. The minimum investment commitment required of non-related persons is $250,000 for each fund.

Careers at Wetherby Asset Management

The company employs 69 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 58 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 26 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 compensates employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Jennifer Knox Hicks joined the executive team most recently as the Principal & Wealth Manager.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Debra Lee Wetherby	Principal/chief executive officer	1 Feb 1990	Other	1284222
Allan Kirk Jacobi	Principal/chief financial officer	1 Mar 1997	Other	2252058
Allen Jacobi	Vice president	1 Mar 1997	25% - 50%	2252058
Allan K. Jacobi	Vice president/chief compliance officer	1 Mar 1997	25% - 50%	2252058
Christopher Shannon Hauswirth	Principal/director of alternative investments	1 Oct 1998	Other	1882927
Christopher S Hauswirth	Principal	1 Oct 1998	25% - 50%	1882927
Michael James Graziano	Principal & wealth manager	1 Sep 2000	Other	3128048
David Lucien Redo	Principal/wealth manager	1 Aug 2003	Other	1608687
Samuel Richard Karetsky	Principal/wealth manager	1 Dec 2003	Other	264361
John Knisely Mell	Principal & wealth manager	1 Jan 2004	Other	5341882
Karen Tippleston Leech	Principal/wealth manager	1 Jul 2004	Other	4607513
Christina Thomsen Covalesky	Principal/wealth manager	1 Jul 2004	Other	4607048
Karen Jane Tippleston	Principal/portfolio manager	1 Jul 2004	Other	4607513
Christina Lynn Thomsen	Principal/portfolio manager	1 Jul 2004	Other	4607048
Stephen Todd Janowsky	Principal / chief operating officer	1 Jul 2005	Other	5303706
Steven Paul Herzog	Principal & wealth manager	1 Jul 2005	Other	2135976
Andrew George Pratt	Principal/director of research & wealth manager	1 Aug 2006	Other	1087341
Darrell Adams	Shareholder	1 Dec 2007	Other	5512246
Catherine Ann Molnar	Principal/wealth manager	1 Jul 2008	Other	4008849
Tom Min Ngo	Principal/chief compliance officer	1 Jul 2010	Other	4494020
Michael Lawrence Alpert	Principal/wealth manager	1 Jul 2010	Other	4634236
John Michael Olson	Chief compliance officer	1 Apr 2012	Other	4752950
David Emanuel Ferguson	Principal & wealth manager	1 Jan 2014	Other	6278158
Jennifer Knox Hicks	Principal & wealth manager	1 Jan 2016	Other	5284550
Joseph Kayvon Khamsehpour	Principal & wealth manager	1 Jan 2016	Other	6400649
Kyle Alan Winterbotham	Principal & investment advisor	1 Jan 2016	Other	6502168

Based in San Francisco

The principal office where Wetherby Asset Management performs its advisory services is located at 580 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in New York, NY. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 415-399-9159 or by fax 415-399-9330. The normal business hours are 8:00am - 5:00pm on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at wetherby.com.