Chesley, Taft & Associates, LLC (Chicago)

Name: Chesley, Taft & Associates, LLC
Address: 135 S. Lasalle Street, Chicago, IL, 60603
Telephone: 312-873-1260

Chesley, Taft & Associates, LLC is a large advisory firm based in Chicago. It manages $1.61 billion of regulatory assets for 1,526 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2001 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Arizona, California, Florida, and 13 other states.

Chesley, Taft & Associates provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, and portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients. It prepares financial plans for more than 250 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Chesley, Taft & Associates: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Chesley, Taft & Associates, LLC is $1.61 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 378% since the beginning of its operation, and $19.62 million of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $1.49 billion in discretionary accounts and $118.95 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $1.03 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $1.45 million.

Chesley, Taft & Associates has custody of $21.6 million in cash and securities for 1 client in total but doesn’t act as a qualified custodian.

Investments

The firm invests in exchange traded securities the most. They account for 59% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is investment and business development companies, which make up 29% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in state and local bonds form 5% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Chesley, Taft & Associates, LLC 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 Chesley, Taft & Associates serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, and corporations or other businesses. The largest group of clients of Chesley, Taft & Associates is high net worth individuals with 288 clients and $1.52 billion of assets under management. Among the 8 most similar advisory firms, Chesley, Taft & Associates has the highest percentage of high net worth individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $1.6 billion for 356 clients that can include trusts, estates, and 401(k) plans and IRAs of individuals and their family members. 1% of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Chesley, Taft & Associates doesn't advise any private funds.

Careers at Chesley, Taft & Associates, LLC

The company employs 13 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 62 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. No 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
Faris Franklin Chesley	Principal, manager and chairman	1 Jun 2000	25% - 50%	45516
Allen Richard Taft	Member/manager	1 Jun 2000	25% - 50%	4379425
Joan Marie Giardina	Principal	1 Jun 2003	Other	4781785
Gregory James Oleary	Principal, chief compliance officer	1 Jan 2008	Other	1552509
Brian Aaron Zavalkoff	Principal	1 Jun 2009	Other	5773402
1998 Joan M. Giardina Trust Dated April 09	Member	1 Jun 2009	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
2002 Faris F. Chesley Trust Dated June 7	Member	1 Jul 2009	25% - 50%	xxx-xx-xxxx
William Allen Goldstein	Principal, president	1 May 2012	Other	224668
John Jeffrey Sobel	Principal	1 May 2012	Other	2250233
Deborah Thida Stotts	Chief compliance officer	1 Mar 2016	Other	2347267
2003 As Amended Brian A. Zavalkoff Revocable Dated December 23	Member	1 Mar 2016	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
Dated May 5 1988 As Amended And Restated William A. Goldstein Revocable Trust	Member	1 Feb 2017	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 4 indirect owners.

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
William Allen Goldstein	Trustee	1 May 1988	75% - 100%	224668
Joan Marie Giardina	Trustee	1 Apr 1998	75% - 100%	4781785
Faris Franklin Chesley	Trustee	1 Jun 2002	75% - 100%	45516
Brian Aaron Zavalkoff	Trustee	1 Dec 2003	75% - 100%	5773402

Based in Chicago

The principal office where Chesley, Taft & Associates, LLC performs its advisory services is located at 135 S. Lasalle Street, Chicago, IL 60603, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Indian River Shores, FL. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 312-873-1260 or by fax 312-873-1250. The normal business hours are 8:30am to 5:00pm on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at chesleytaft.com.