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Company Details
Cerity Partners, LLC was founded in 2009 and has established itself as a premier, client-first wealth management firm. The firm’s mission is to provide comprehensive wealth management services, including financial planning, tax services, and investment management. The firm has achieved significant growth milestones, including expanding to 30-42 office locations and managing over $84 billion in assets under management (AUM). Notable acquisitions include Baja Wealth Advisors LLC and Sage Advisors LLC.
Cerity Partners, LLC is a holistic wealth management firm targeting active wealth creators, such as executives and business owners. The firm emphasizes a collaborative and unified culture, using "we" instead of "I" to reflect its partnership and collegiality. Cerity Partners offers a wide array of services, including corporate trustee services, qualified plan services, tax preparation, family office services, insurance, and advanced estate planning. These services enhance the firm's ability to attract and retain clients by providing comprehensive wealth management solutions.
Cerity Partners, LLC targets High Net Worth (HNW) and Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) clients, specifically focusing on executives and business owners. The firm has specialized expertise in compensation and benefit planning, workplace solutions, and a broad spectrum of financial planning services.
Cerity Partners offers customized financial advice to individuals, families, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Their investment philosophy embraces strategic asset allocation planning, constant portfolio monitoring, and active risk management. They emphasize a comprehensive approach to wealth management, integrating investment advisory, financial planning, and tax services. The firm believes in preserving and compounding wealth rather than beating the stock market. They offer a wide range of tools in the investment toolbox to create the most appropriate portfolio construction for each client.
Cerity Partners implements their investment philosophy through strategic asset allocation planning, manager search and evaluation, investment program implementation and rebalancing, and portfolio monitoring and risk management. They use a combination of in-house management and external managers. Portfolios are customized and bespoke, although they also offer model portfolios. Services are customized based on client needs, including High Net Worth and Family Office Services
The investment team is led by Ben Pace, CIO, and includes 25 investment committee members who are actively managing client portfolios. Key members include:
- Ben Pace: Chief Investment Officer
- Jim Labenthal: Chief Equity Strategist
- Christian Twice: San Francisco-based strategist
The team is structured with a CIO, Chief Equity Strategist, and various subcommittees for audit, manager due diligence, and private markets investments. Responsibilities include portfolio management, research, trading, and client service. Jim Labenthal specializes in equities, and there are team members focused on private markets investments. Some team members have expertise in private equity and tax-efficient investing.
Cerity Partners offers private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and commodities. These alternative investments are managed through external partners. They conduct robust investment due diligence to identify appropriate investment opportunities. These alternatives are available to prequalified clients, but the specific application may vary based on client needs and profiles.
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Company Videos
Acquisition Model
Full Acquisition
Cerity does offer equity as a component of the consideration offered in its acquisition model.
Yes
Max Cash: 75%
Max Equity: 50%
Cerity's standard retention period is 12 months.
Partners' ongoing share of economics is a percentage of revenue. This could range between ~30%-40% of revenue.
Mandatory Points of Alignment
Cerity Partners believes in a unified brand and with the help of their marketing team, asks its partners to adopt their brand on day one.
In order to offload as much operational burden as possible, Cerity will centralize all back-office functions. This includes technology, billing, payroll, HR, compliance, marketing, and more.
While the P&L management ins centralized, Partners will have visibility into their local P&L.
"The Cerity Partners Way," is a guiding framework for advisors to utilize and make unique when speaking with new and existing clients.
Cerity sees practice management as a strength and asks all partners to participate in their processes.
Cerity aims to centralize investment management over time, carefully constructing a bridge to ensure that clients maintain consistency and don't incur adverse tax consequences in the transition.
Advisor Value Proposition
Cerity Partners, LLC offers a compelling value proposition for advisors considering joining through acquisition. The firm emphasizes a partnership-driven culture, comprehensive support systems, and a commitment to the development of next-generation advisors.
Cerity Partners demonstrates their genuine commitment to growth and partnership by encouraging partners to hold a significant amount of their transaction proceeds in equity, reflecting their deep appreciation for collaboration and their steadfast growth mindset.
Partners can leverage Cerity's planning team for assistance.
Cerity Partners provides a range of tools, services, and systems designed to alleviate operational burdens. This includes centralizing most operational aspects of running your practice such as:
- Compliance
- HR
- Billing
- AP/AR
- Technology
New partners and colleagues are drawn to the organization due to its comprehensive range of services spanning the entire wealth management spectrum, including investment advisory, tax planning and preparation, trust and estate planning, business owner advisory, cross-border planning, workplace solutions, retirement planning, corporate trust services and more.
Cerity Partners wants to drive organic growth on behalf of its advisors. They participate in the Schwab Advisor Network (SAN) and Fidelity Wealth Advisor Solutions (WAS) programs, generating approximately 130-140 leads per month for their advisors. If an advisor decides to participate in SAN or WAS, they will go through training on how to operate within those programs. Additionally, they will receive support through the sales team, led by Steve Williams. This team consists of 6 Business Development Officers (BDOs) spread across different territories nationwide. The BDOs are instrumental in establishing strong relationships with advisors and play a crucial role in driving the sales process. The process involves central sales support, with BDOs placing clients with advisors based on their knowledge of the advisors' expertise and the clients needs and preferences. The sales team manages the onboarding process until the advisory agreement is signed, at which point responsibility shifts to the advisor. In their marketing strategies, Cerity Partners offers two distinct paths: Corporate Marketing and Partner Marketing. Under Corporate Marketing, the focus is on building a robust national brand through digital channels, encompassing digital and paid marketing efforts, a content-rich website, and an active social media presence. They emphasize creating brand awareness at the local level, which fosters a strong national presence. On the other hand, Partner Marketing involves integrating local brands into the national framework. This approach centralizes the marketing efforts through a unified website, redirecting old sites to the new platform. The central flow of content includes webinars, client newsletters that advisors can opt into, and encouraging advisors to contribute content for approval and publication. A comprehensive library of collateral is available for advisors to utilize. The central marketing team provides support to advisors, understanding their local goals and assisting in their accomplishment. Accessibility and constant evaluation of the technology stack are key principles, so that all created resources are readily available to anyone within the firm.
- Cerity Partners University: The firm has launched Cerity Partners University, an in-house training and development program aimed at cultivating talent within the firm. This includes technical training, power skills (emotional intelligence, communication), and leadership and management training.
- Mentorship Programs: Gen 2 advisors are connected with senior advisors, executives, or partners for mentorship, ensuring continuity and future leadership within the firm.
- Career Pathing: There is a clear career path to partnership within the firm, with opportunities for equity participation and roles in firm management.
Additionally, they conduct monthly calls with the entire firm to discuss various aspects of practice management, client solutions, and updates such as tax law changes, often featuring subject matter experts. Around 30-40% of the firm actively participates in these informative sessions. They also organize other forums within the firm to promote training on diverse topics.
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