Ballentine Partners: Platform Profile

Overview

Ballentine Partners is an SEC-registered wealth-management firm serving high-net-worth and family-office clients.

Current regulatory identity:

• Investment adviser: Ballentine Partners, LLC
• CRD: 152802
• SEC number: 801-71062

Current website positions the firm across a broad range:

• Public client range: $4 million in liquid assets to families over $1 billion

Current team segmentation includes:

• $4M-$30M High Net Worth;
• $30M-$1B Ultra High Net Worth;
• $1B+ Single Family Office.

Current 2026 brochure pricing is divided between High Net Worth and Family Office relationships.

May fit better for

• clients with roughly $4 million or more seeking high-touch wealth management;
• ultra-high-net-worth families;
• families needing family-office support;
• clients with complex estate, tax and philanthropic needs;
• investors seeking private-market allocations;
• family offices wanting specialist resources;
• clients comfortable with substantial minimum annual fees.

May fit less well for

• small portfolios;
• investors seeking a low-cost robo account;
• users who want one universal firmwide fee;
• clients who confuse the $4 million public client reference with an absolute legal minimum;
• investors uncomfortable with proprietary private funds;
• clients who need daily liquidity from all portfolio holdings.

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Ballentine Partners, LLC is the adviser

Current SEC record:

• Investment adviser: Ballentine Partners, LLC
• CRD: 152802
• SEC number: 801-71062
• SEC registration effective: 2010-01-25

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Current public HNW reference begins around $4 million

Current website and team materials state the High Net Worth team serves clients with:

• Public HNW client: $4,000,000+

The homepage describes clients from professionals and entrepreneurs with $4 million in liquid assets through multigenerational families with more than $1 billion.

It is a current service-positioning reference, not a statement that every exception is prohibited.

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High Net Worth fees range from 0.95% to 0.25%

Current 2026 Part 2A:

• HNW AUM fee range: 0.95%-0.25%
• HNW minimum annual fee: $40,000

The schedule is described as tiered.

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The $40,000 minimum can change the effective percentage

$4 million relationship

$40,000 ÷ $4,000,000 = 1.00%

The fee-floor effective percentage can therefore differ from the headline schedule depending on the actual signed agreement and portfolio size.

The illustration is not a representation that every $4 million client pays exactly $40,000.

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Family Office uses a separate fee structure

Current 2026 Part 2A:

• Family Office AUM fee range: 0.60%-0.10%
• Family Office minimum annual fee: $180,000
• Family Office fixed fee general range: $180,000-$500,000

Fixed fees can be higher or lower depending on:

• scope;
• complexity;
• service intensity;
• family circumstances.

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HNW and Family Office cannot be merged

Ballentine = 0.10%-0.95%

without explaining that the endpoints come from different service lanes.

A 0.10% Family Office marginal tier is not the standard HNW fee.

A $40,000 HNW minimum is not the Family Office minimum.

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Gross asset value can remain the fee base when a client borrows

Current 2026 brochure states that if a fee is based on AUM, Ballentine uses gross account value.

Borrowing against the account does not reduce the advisory fee.

This creates an incentive conflict when advising whether to repay debt.

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Cash can be billed even if its yield is lower than the advisory fee

Current brochure explicitly notes:

• Cash can be in fee base: Yes
• Advisory fee on cash can exceed cash yield: Yes

A client should therefore ask how strategic cash is treated in the fee calculation.

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Supervised persons can serve as trustee

Current 2026 brochure states that, at client request, a supervised person can serve in trustee or similar capacities.

Typical disclosures show:

• Trustee or similar role fee: $3,000-$5,000 per trust/entity

Keep this separate from ordinary advisory fees.

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Proprietary private funds create a disclosed conflict

Ballentine's Form CRS states that, at clients' request, the firm has established proprietary private funds in which only clients can invest.

The funds reimburse Ballentine for setup costs.

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Private markets are part of the wealth platform

Current wealth-advisory materials discuss:

• private markets;
• diversified portfolios;
• tax-aware equity strategies;
• impact investing;
• customized family-office portfolios.

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Ballentine does not participate in wrap-fee programs

Current disclosure:

• Wrap fee program: No

The standard advisory fee is therefore not a promise that all trading, custody, fund and outside-manager costs are bundled.

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Ballentine is not affiliated with a broker-dealer

Current Form CRS states:

• Affiliated broker dealer: No

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Current public scale is dated

Current homepage as of June 30, 2026:

• Public AUM: $16.5 billion
• Public AUA: $33.5 billion
• Employee: 142

AUA includes more than regulatory managed assets.

Keep the metrics separate.

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Custody is external

Account-level custody terms control actual brokerage protection and charges.

Assessment

Ballentine's review needs two pricing lanes.

For High Net Worth clients:

0.95%-0.25% AUM + $40,000 minimum annual fee.

For Family Office clients:

0.60%-0.10% AUM + $180,000 minimum annual fee, with fixed-fee arrangements generally in the $180,000-$500,000 range.

The current $4 million public reference is useful for identifying the HNW target client, but it should not be converted into an unwaivable legal minimum.

The fee-base treatment of cash and borrowing also deserves attention because both can increase the economic cost relative to net invested equity.