Cerity Partners: Platform Profile

Overview

Cerity Partners is an SEC-registered wealth-management firm serving individuals, families, institutions and family-office clients.

Current public CRS economics:

• General portfolio minimum: $2,000,000
• Minimum investment advisory annual fee: $20,000
• General wealth management fee ceiling: up to and generally would not exceed 1.50% annually
• Fees negotiable: Yes

The minimums can be waived at Cerity's discretion.

That distinction matters.

A $2 million portfolio does not automatically establish the client's exact advisory fee.

The advisory agreement controls the negotiated rate and scope.

Cerity's broader services can include:

• discretionary investment management;
• non-discretionary advice;
• financial planning;
• retirement planning;
• tax planning;
• estate and wealth-transfer coordination;
• third-party manager selection;
• family-office services;
• private investments and alternative strategies.

May fit better for

• households with at least approximately $2 million of investable assets;
• investors who want an ongoing human-adviser relationship;
• families seeking coordinated investment and planning work;
• clients comfortable with discretionary management;
• larger families seeking outsourced family-office services;
• eligible investors considering private-market opportunities.

May fit less well for

• small portfolios;
• investors seeking a low-cost automated portfolio;
• clients who want one published rate without negotiation;
• households that need only occasional planning;
• investors who want to approve every trade in a discretionary account;
• clients who require daily liquidity from every investment.

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Cerity Partners LLC is the registered adviser

Current IAPD:

• Investment adviser: Cerity Partners LLC
• CRD: 151559
• SEC number: 801-70719
• SEC registration effective: 2009-10-22

Registration is not an SEC endorsement.

Cerity's adviser status should remain separate from any broker, custodian, private-fund vehicle or affiliated service entity.

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The $2 million portfolio minimum and $20,000 annual minimum fee are current

Current client relationship summary:

• General portfolio minimum: $2,000,000
• Minimum annual advisory fee: $20,000
• Minimums waivable: Yes

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A $20,000 minimum fee can change the effective percentage

$2 million portfolio

$20,000 ÷ $2,000,000 = 1.00%

$1 million relationship accepted by waiver

$20,000 ÷ $1,000,000 = 2.00%

The second example is purely illustrative.

It demonstrates why the fee minimum and portfolio minimum must be tracked separately.

It does not state that Cerity routinely accepts $1 million relationships or charges that exact percentage.

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General wealth-management fee reference is up to 1.50%

Current CRS:

• General wealth management fee: up to and generally would not exceed 1.50% per year of AUM

The current disclosure also allows:

• asset-based fees;
• fixed fees;
• hourly fees.

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Cerity typically receives discretion

Current CRS:

• Discretionary management typical: Yes
• Non discretionary management available: Yes

With discretion, Cerity can select third-party managers and securities consistent with the client's stated risk profile without asking permission for each transaction.

Under a non-discretionary relationship, the client approves recommendations before implementation.

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Family Office has a separate $25 million service reference

Current family-office page states:

• Family Office investable asset: $25,000,000+

This is a service-lane reference.

It is not the general Cerity wealth-advisory minimum.

Family-office work can include:

• investment coordination;
• tax and estate coordination;
• philanthropy;
• family governance;
• household administration;
• multigenerational planning.

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Performance fees are possible for qualified clients

Current Part 2A states Cerity may enter performance-fee arrangements with clients meeting the Advisers Act definition of a qualified client.

Performance compensation can create an incentive to favor higher-risk opportunities or accounts paying incentive fees.

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Cerity can receive performance economics through other structures

Current disclosure also describes:

• Cerity receiving a portion of performance fees paid by certain clients to an unaffiliated fund;
• performance economics connected with affiliated SPVs under the PDI program.

These are not ordinary universal managed-account fees.

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Third-party managers can add cost

Cerity can select independent investment managers.

The third-party manager can charge its own fee.

A client should compare:

Cerity advisory fee + manager fee + fund expenses + custody/transaction costs + private-product costs

rather than the Cerity percentage alone.

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Custody is third-party and client-specific

Cerity does not become the broker/custodian merely because it has trading authority.

Current disclosures describe brokerage/custody arrangements and referral economics that can create conflicts.

The actual custodian agreement governs account protection and execution.

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Private-market access requires product-level due diligence

Cerity can recommend private funds, pooled vehicles and SPVs.

Private investments can carry:

• limited liquidity;
• manager concentration;
• valuation uncertainty;
• leverage;
• higher expenses;
• performance allocations.

Assessment

Cerity's current fee structure is easier to understand than many large acquired-practice RIAs because the CRS publishes three useful anchors:

$2 million general portfolio minimum + $20,000 minimum annual advisory fee + generally no more than 1.50% for wealth-management AUM fees.

The difficult part is the complete fee stack.

Third-party managers, private funds and performance-fee structures can create additional expenses or conflicts.

The $25 million family-office reference should also remain separate from ordinary wealth management.