Summit Trail Advisors, LLC (New York)

Summit Trail Advisors, LLC is a large advisory firm based in New York. It manages $6.04 billion of regulatory assets for 3,458 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2015 and has operated in the jurisdictions of California, Connecticut, Florida, and 16 other states.

Summit Trail Advisors provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients, selection of other advisers, and outsourced chief investment officer serivces. It prepares financial plans for more than 10 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Summit Trail Advisors: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Summit Trail Advisors, LLC is $6.04 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 670% since the beginning of its operation, and $9.8 million of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $2.7 billion in discretionary accounts and $3.34 billion in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $1.13 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $3.16 million.

Summit Trail Advisors has custody of $2.67 billion in cash and securities for 247 clients in total but doesn’t act as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in pooled investment vehicles the most. They account for 32% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is investment and business development companies, which make up 24% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in exchange traded securities form 22% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Summit Trail Advisors, LLC 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 Summit Trail Advisors serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, corporations or other businesses, and pension and profit sharing plans. The largest group of clients of Summit Trail Advisors is high net worth individuals with 789 clients and $4.23 billion of assets under management. Among the 9 most similar advisory firms, Summit Trail Advisors has the 2nd highest percentage of high net worth individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $6.01 billion for 1,091 clients that can include trusts, estates, and 401(k) plans and IRAs of individuals and their family members. 2% of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Summit Trail Advisors also advises several private funds. Namely, two private equity funds. The minimum investment commitment required of non-related persons ranges from $0 to $250,000.

Careers at Summit Trail Advisors, LLC

The company employs 42 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 74 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 14 employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There are 3 people with the role of looking for and bringing in new clients on behalf of the firm. The firm doesn’t compensate employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Keith Martin Callanan	Chief compliance officer	1 Apr 2015	75% - 100%	6483516
Jack Barry Petersen	Chief compliance officer/ manager/member	1 Jul 2015	Other	2380594
James Frank Cantelupe	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4351081
David Wade Romhilt	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4435504
Peter C Lee	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4981754
John W. Scarborough	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4986025
Thomas P Palecek	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4874890
Peter Christopher Lee	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4981754
John William Scarborough	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4986025
Thomas Peter Palecek	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4874890
Seth Aaron Katz	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	5842513
Benjamin Paul Johnson	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4833600
John Duff Saxe	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	2990488
Benjamin P. Johnson	Member	1 Jul 2015	Other	4833600
Thomas Kershaw Harms	Chief operating officer and chief compliance officer	1 Feb 2016	Other	1734288
Daniela Pedley	Member	1 Jan 2018	Other	3081971
Llc Kilo Summit Trail	Member	1 Jan 2018	Other	474504008

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 3 indirect owners.

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Cedar Kilo Trust	Member	1 Jan 2018	25% - 50%	45-6705749
Magnolia Kilo Trust	Member	1 Jan 2018	25% - 50%	45-6705761
Redwood Kilo Trust	Member	1 Jan 2018	25% - 50%	45-6705778

Based in New York

The principal office where Summit Trail Advisors, LLC performs its advisory services is located at 2 Grand Central Tower, New York, NY 10017, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Chicago, IL. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 212-812-7010 or by fax 212-812-7011. The normal business hours are 8:00 am - 5:00 pm on Monday - Friday.