What does Crestwood Advisors do?
Crestwood Advisors provides advisor-led wealth management primarily for high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as institutions and organizations. Its service combines customized investment management with planning for retirement, taxes, education, business ownership, and legacy needs, typically delivered by a team that includes a wealth manager, portfolio manager, and client advisor.
Crestwood requires $1 million in investable assets. The minimum clearly positions the service toward high-net-worth investors rather than smaller portfolios.
Most Crestwood client agreements use a fee schedule or rate that starts at 1% of assets under management, but the firm does not publish a complete standard fee schedule. Actual pricing can vary based on assets, investment strategy, and relationship complexity. This gives prospective clients less pricing transparency because they cannot determine their exact advisory fee from the public disclosures alone.
Crestwood builds customized portfolios around each client’s long-term goals. Portfolios can include individual stocks and bonds, ETFs, ETNs, mutual funds and, for qualified clients, private investment funds. This broad toolkit can support more complex portfolios, while its focus on tax efficiency and tax-loss harvesting may be especially useful for clients with substantial taxable assets or more complex tax situations.
What are the pros and cons of Crestwood Advisors?
Crestwood offers broad, advisor-led wealth management, but its $1 million minimum and asset-based fee structure make it a service primarily designed for high-net-worth investors.
Pros of Crestwood Advisors:
- Integrated financial planning: Investment management can be coordinated with tax, estate, trust, and other planning needs.
- Flexible investment approach: Portfolios can use individual securities, funds, external managers, and private investment funds for qualified clients.
- Tax-aware portfolio management: Crestwood considers tax efficiency and can use tax-loss harvesting when appropriate.
Cons of Crestwood Advisors:
- $1 million minimum: The service is primarily designed for high-net-worth investors rather than smaller accounts.
- Limited fee transparency: Crestwood says most agreements start at 1%, but it does not publish a complete standard fee schedule.
- Additional investment costs: Fund expenses, external-manager fees, private-fund costs, and certain brokerage or custody charges can increase total costs.
Crestwood Advisors fees: How much does Crestwood Advisors cost?
Crestwood charges an annual fee based on assets under management, billed quarterly in arrears using the average daily market value of managed assets. Fees are potentially negotiable and can vary by assets, strategy, and relationship complexity
Fee type | Cost |
|---|---|
Advisory fee | Most agreements use a schedule or rate starting at 1% |
Under-minimum relationships | May face a $10,000 annual minimum fee, or $2,500 per quarter |
At the disclosed 1% starting rate, a $1 million portfolio would cost about $10,000 a year in advisory fees.
Fund expenses, external-manager fees, private-fund costs, brokerage charges, and other third-party expenses are charged separately, which means the total cost can be higher than the advisory fee alone.
What is Crestwood Advisors’s minimum account size?
Crestwood requires $1 million in investable assets. It can accept clients below that level, and the firm says the minimum fee has been waived for a limited number of clients.
This structure reinforces Crestwood’s focus on high-net-worth households.
Who should choose Crestwood Advisors?
Crestwood Advisors works well for:
- Families with complex planning needs: Crestwood can coordinate investment management with tax, retirement, estate, business, and multigenerational planning.
- Clients who want customized portfolios: Portfolios are built around individual goals, risk tolerance, time horizon, and tax considerations.
- Clients who want a broad investment toolkit: Portfolios can include individual stocks and bonds, ETFs, exchange-traded notes (ETNs), mutual funds, external managers, and private investment funds for qualified clients.
Who might not benefit as much:
- Cost-focused investors with simple needs: Crestwood’s broader wealth management model may be more service than they need.
- Clients who seek clear pricing: Crestwood discloses that most agreements start at 1%, but it does not publish a complete standard fee schedule.
- Investors who do not meet the minimum: If Crestwood accepts them below the minimum, they may still be charged a $10,000 annual minimum fee.
Crestwood Advisors: Is it secure?
Crestwood has several safeguards that add independent oversight of client assets.
It is registered with the SEC, which means it is subject to federal regulatory oversight. Client assets are generally held with third-party custodians such as Fidelity and Charles Schwab, separating asset custody from Crestwood’s portfolio management.
For certain accounts where Crestwood is deemed to have custody, the firm engages an independent CPA to conduct annual surprise examinations, adding another layer of external review.
Crestwood also says its systems and service providers use cybersecurity protections designed to reduce the risk of unauthorized access, malware, system failures, and security breaches.
These measures provide important safeguards, although they do not protect against investment or market losses.
Crestwood Advisors: Customer service
Crestwood offers a team-based advisory model, so clients work directly with an advisory team. This suits clients who want human guidance across both investment and financial planning needs.
The firm continually monitors managed portfolios and contacts ongoing advisory clients at least annually, while financial-planning reviews are conducted as needed.
Clients can communicate through in-person appointments, phone, email, a website contact form, and text messaging, giving them flexibility to choose the contact method that is most convenient for different needs.
Crestwood Advisors: Mobile App
Crestwood offers a dedicated mobile app for its wealth management clients.
The app is useful for checking account information and portfolio performance on the go, making it easier for clients to monitor their managed assets between advisor meetings.
It is primarily an account-viewing and reporting tool rather than a self-directed trading app.
Is Crestwood Advisors worth it?
Crestwood may be worth it for high-net-worth clients who need customized investment management together with broader financial planning, tax coordination, and legacy planning.
Its team-based service, broad investment toolkit, and tax-aware approach support more complex financial needs.
The main trade-offs are the $1 million minimum, fees that generally start at 1%, limited public pricing information, and additional investment-related costs.
For clients with simpler needs or smaller portfolios, the service can be expensive relative to the level of service they need.
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