Cleary Gull Advisors Inc. (Milwaukee)

Name: Cleary Gull Advisors Inc.
Address: 100 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI, 53202
Telephone: 414-291-4500

Cleary Gull Advisors Inc. is a large advisory firm based in Milwaukee. It manages $2.71 billion of regulatory assets for 822 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2003 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Arizona, California, Colorado, and 24 other states.

Cleary Gull Advisors provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients, pension consulting services, and selection of other advisers. It prepares financial plans for more than 250 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Cleary Gull Advisors: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Cleary Gull Advisors Inc. is $2.71 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 57% since the beginning of its operation, and $1.92 million of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $2.17 billion in discretionary accounts and $534.4 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $2.7 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $31.44 million.

Cleary Gull Advisors has custody of $1.51 billion in cash and securities for 726 clients in total and its related person acts as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in investment and business development companies the most. They account for 34% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is exchange traded securities, which make up 19% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in state and local bonds form 19% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Cleary Gull Advisors Inc. for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management 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 John Reuben Peterson serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, charitable organizations, other investment advisers, high net worth individuals, corporations or other businesses, pension and profit sharing plans, and state or municipal government entities. The largest group of clients of John Reuben Peterson is high net worth individuals with 429 clients and $1.29 billion of assets under management. Among the 10 most similar advisory firms, Cleary Gull Advisors has the 4th highest percentage of high net worth individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $2.71 billion for 822 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.

Cleary Gull Advisors doesn't advise any private funds.

Careers at Cleary Gull Advisors Inc.

The company employs 99 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 51 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 44 employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There’s a single person with the role of looking for and bringing in new clients on behalf of the firm. The firm compensates employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

John Reuben Peterson has been acting as President since 1 Feb 2003. Brian Keith Andrew has served as the Chief Investment Officer since 1 Jun 2016. Michael Joseph Cleary joined the executive team most recently as the Director And Executive Vice President.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
John Reuben Peterson	Director	1 Feb 2003	Other	2835168
Inc. Cleary Gull Holdings	Direct owner	1 Feb 2003	75% - 100%	75-3003235
William Hugh Braun	Chief financial officer & chief compliance officer	1 Feb 2003	Other	1600422
William H. Braun	Chief compliance officer	1 Feb 2003	Other	1600422
William H Braun	Chief financial officer and compliance officer	1 Feb 2003	Other	1600422
Maureen Busby Oster	President, chief investment officer and director	1 Jun 2003	Other	1560361
Stephanie Anne Chedid	President and director	1 Oct 2008	Other	2572385
Christopher Michael Carpenter	Chief operating officer	1 Apr 2009	Other	2442555
Brian Keith Andrew	President and chief investment officer	1 Feb 2011	Other	2240211
Inc. Johnson Financial Group	Direct owner	1 Jun 2016	75% - 100%	39-1629756
Robert Leslie Warner	Executive vice president and officer	1 Jun 2016	Other	1000297
Brian Keith Andrew	Chief investment officer	1 Jun 2016	Other	2240211
Benjamin Thomas Pavlik	Legal counsel and assistant secretary	1 Jun 2016	Other	5860396
Daniel Lee Kaminski	Director and executive vice president - wealth	1 Jun 2016	Other	1689810
Mark C Behrens	Chief financial officer and secretary	1 Jun 2016	Other	6664975
Wade Alan Naidl	Chief compliance officer	1 Sep 2016	Other	2368347
Daniel J. Brunner	Vice president - finance	1 Apr 2018	Other	7038018
Adam Steven Bellmer	Chief compliance officer	1 Jul 2018	Other	5585459
Brian Keith Andrew	Director, executive vice president - wealth, chief investment officer	1 Jul 2018	Other	2240211
Michael Joseph Cleary	Director and executive vice president	1 Oct 2018	Other	1144519
Brian Keith Andrew	Director, president, executive vice president - wealth, chief investment officer	1 Oct 2018	Other	2240211

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 3 indirect owners.

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Johnson Financial Group Voting Trust	Shareholder of a and b shares	1 Jun 1991	50% - 75%	00-0000000
Michael Joseph Cleary	Indirect	1 Feb 2003	25% - 50%	1144519
Helen Johnson Leipold	Trustee	1 Feb 2010	Other	6678059

Based in Milwaukee

The principal office where Cleary Gull Advisors Inc. performs its advisory services is located at 100 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Racine, WI. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 414-291-4500 or by fax 414-270-2209. The normal business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at clearygull.com.