Great Lakes Retirement, Inc. (Sandusky)

Name: Great Lakes Retirement, Inc.
Address: 4604 Timber Commons Drive, Sandusky, OH, 44870
Telephone: 419-626-8600

Great Lakes Retirement, Inc. is a large advisory firm based in Sandusky. It manages $290.92 million of regulatory assets for 3,508 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2017 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Florida, Ohio, and Texas.

Great Lakes Retirement provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, pension consulting services, and selection of other advisers. It prepares financial plans for more than 10 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Great Lakes Retirement: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Great Lakes Retirement, Inc. is $290.92 million. The firm's AUM has grown by 96% since the beginning of its operation, and the company doesn't manage any assets belonging to foreign clients.

The firm manages $261.55 million in discretionary accounts and $29.37 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $90.38 thousand each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $47.83 thousand.

Great Lakes Retirement has custody of $13.93 million in cash and securities for 134 clients in total but doesn’t act as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in investment and business development companies the most. They account for 51% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is exchange traded securities, which make up 38% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in cash and cash equivalents form 9% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Great Lakes Retirement, Inc. for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management and fixed fees. Flat-fee based compensation is the most transparent and the one you can safely predict in advance. These fees don’t include brokerage commissions, interest, taxes, and other account expenses.

What kind of clients William Allen Smith serves?

The firm provides services to individuals and high net worth individuals. The largest group of clients of William Allen Smith is individuals with 925 clients and $241.93 million of assets under management. Among the 14 most similar advisory firms, Great Lakes Retirement has the highest percentage of individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $287.44 million for 957 clients that can include trusts, estates, and 401(k) plans and IRAs of individuals and their family members. None of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Great Lakes Retirement doesn't advise any private funds.

Careers at Great Lakes Retirement, Inc.

The company employs 6 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 100 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 6 employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There isn’t anyone 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 don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
William Allen Smith	President/chief compliance officer	1 Apr 2008	75% - 100%	2671372

Based in Sandusky

The principal office where Great Lakes Retirement, Inc. performs its advisory services is located at 4604 Timber Commons Drive, Sandusky, OH 44870, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Independence, OH. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 419-626-8600 or by fax 419-625-3902. The normal business hours are 8:30 am - 4:30 pm on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at greatlakesretirement.com.