Cresset: Platform Profile

Overview

Cresset is a large private-wealth and family-office adviser operating through Cresset Asset Management, LLC.

Its current disclosures make two facts easy to miss when read separately:

• General asset minimum: $0
• Minimum annual fee possible: lesser of $25,000 or 2.00% of managed assets

Cresset generally does not impose a minimum asset balance to establish a relationship.

But certain relationships can be subject to a minimum annual fee.

Its pricing is also more complex than one standard tier table because the 2026 brochure contains both:

• Top-Tier Fee schedules;
• Waterfall Fee schedules.

Those methods should not be merged.

May fit better for

• high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth households;
• families seeking investment management plus family-office services;
• clients who need public and private-market portfolio construction;
• households with estate, tax, philanthropy or family-governance complexity;
• investors comfortable with negotiated advisory fees;
• eligible clients seeking private funds or proprietary/affiliated investment opportunities.

May fit less well for

• small households seeking a low-cost robo account;
• investors who interpret “no asset minimum” as “no meaningful minimum fee”;
• clients who want one universal public percentage;
• investors who want no proprietary-product conflicts;
• clients who want daily liquidity from every investment;
• users who want one universal custodian.

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Cresset Asset Management, LLC is the adviser

Current IAPD information identifies:

• Investment adviser: Cresset Asset Management, LLC
• CRD: 288566
• SEC number: 801-110753
• SEC registration effective: 2017-07-10

Current Form ADV brochure date:

• ADV date: 2026-03-27

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Cresset generally has no asset-size minimum

Current disclosure states:

• General asset size minimum: $0

That does not mean every service, private fund or separately managed strategy has no minimum.

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A minimum annual fee can still apply

Current brochure states that in certain circumstances a minimum annual fee can equal the lesser of:

• Minimum annual fee: $25,000
• Percentage cap: 2.00% of managed assets

$500,000

2% of assets:

$500,000 × 2.00% = $10,000

Lesser of $25,000 and $10,000:

$10,000

$2,000,000

2% of assets:

$40,000

Lesser of $25,000 and $40,000:

$25,000

These examples explain the formula.

They do not establish that every client pays the minimum.

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Form CRS places an upper boundary on ordinary asset-based fees

Current Form CRS states that asset-based advisory fees can be up to:

• Asset based fee maximum: 2.00% annually

Fees are generally charged quarterly.

It is an upper reference.

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The 2026 brochure includes two standard fee methods

Current schedule:

The governing agreement controls.

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Fees remain negotiable

Current disclosure allows fee negotiation.

Private-wealth firms that have acquired or integrated other practices can also maintain older contractual arrangements.

A comparison should not overwrite a current client's agreement with a public standard table.

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Legacy wrap relationships require a stale-product

Cresset's One Fee wrap arrangement is generally no longer offered to new clients.

Current disclosure preserves legacy or special-case relationships.

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Performance-based fees can apply in selected circumstances

Unlike several firms in the prior batches, Cresset discloses that performance-based compensation can apply to certain accounts or investment arrangements.

This creates a conflict because the adviser can earn more when investment performance is stronger and can have an incentive to take greater risk.

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Private funds are a substantive part of the model

Cresset advises private funds and can recommend affiliated or unaffiliated private investment vehicles.

Private investments can add:

• fund management fees;
• carried interest;
• incentive allocations;
• administration expenses;
• limited liquidity.

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Proprietary investments create a material conflict

Current disclosure identifies circumstances where clients can invest in entities or products connected to the broader Cresset ownership structure.

Investment adviser representatives can also have ownership interests in related entities.

The conflict should be disclosed without implying that every proprietary investment is unsuitable.

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Form CRS reports disciplinary/legal history

Current Cresset Form CRS answers the regulatory disciplinary-history question affirmatively for the firm and/or financial professionals.

Store narrowly:

• Form CRS reports legal or disciplinary history: Yes

A reader should use the linked regulatory records for details.

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Custody can include Pershing, Fidelity and Schwab

Current disclosure identifies relationships including:

• Pershing Advisor Solutions / BNY Mellon;
• Fidelity;
• Schwab Advisor Services.

Economic benefits from custodian relationships can create conflicts.

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Public AUM, AUA and family-office scale are different metrics

Current website references as of July 1, 2026 include approximately:

• Cresset Asset Management public AUM: $88 billion
• Broader AUA: $176 billion
• Family Office combined AUM AUA marketing: $260 billion+

Current regulatory brochure used an earlier date and reported approximately:

• Regulatory AUM 2025 12 31: $78.936 billion

Assessment

Cresset is the most complex fee case in Batch 48.

The firm generally has no asset-size minimum.

That headline alone understates the economics.

A minimum annual fee can apply, and the standard schedule includes both top-tier and waterfall methods.

The right due-diligence questions are:

• Which calculation method applies?
• Is there a minimum annual fee?
• Is the relationship legacy wrap or current advisory?
• Are private funds or proprietary products involved?
• Is any performance-based fee present?
• Which custodian holds the account?

A one-line “Cresset charges 1.25%” review would miss most of what actually determines cost.