Solaris Advisors, LLC (New York)

Name: Solaris Advisors, LLC
Address: 645 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10022 1003
Telephone: 212-582-4500

Solaris Advisors, LLC is a large advisory firm based in New York. It manages $1.43 billion of regulatory assets for 81 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2005 and has operated in the jurisdictions of California, Florida, Louisiana, and 3 other states.

Solaris Advisors provides portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for pooled investment vehicles, portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients, selection of other advisers, and consulting services to non-profit organizations. It doesn't provide financial planning services to its clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Solaris Advisors: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Solaris Advisors, LLC is $1.43 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 1584% since the beginning of its operation, and $2.41 million of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $513.95 million in discretionary accounts and $917.2 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $13.18 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $21.84 million.

Solaris Advisors has custody of $350.67 million in cash and securities for 54 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 40% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is pooled investment vehicles, which make up 30% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in exchange traded securities form 13% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Solaris Advisors, 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 Solaris Advisors serves?

The firm provides services to charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, pooled investment vehicles, and pension and profit sharing plans. The largest group of clients of Solaris Advisors is high net worth individuals with 53 clients and $804.26 million of assets under management. Among the 9 most similar advisory firms, Solaris Advisors has the 3rd highest percentage of high net worth individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $1.43 billion for 81 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.

Solaris Advisors also advises several private funds. Namely, one other private fund. The minimum investment commitment required of non-related persons is $1,000,000 for each fund.

Careers at Solaris Advisors, LLC

The company employs 12 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 75 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 compensates 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
Stephen Brent Wells	Managing director - chief compliance officer	1 Jul 2005	Other	1367590
Llc Solaris Group	Owner	1 Jul 2005	75% - 100%	83-0343965
Ralph David Sinsheimer	Managing director - chief investment officer	1 Jul 2005	Other	1463352
Albert Constantine Bellas	Managing directror	1 Jul 2005	Other	17568
Timothy Markley Ghriskey	Managing directror	1 Jul 2005	Other	2106951

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 6 indirect owners.

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
William B. Wachtel	Trustee	1 Dec 1996	Other	4751795
Ltd. Profit Sharing Plan Chelsey Capital Profit Sharing Plan F/K/A Dsj International Resources	Member	1 Jan 2002	75% - 100%	13-37162118
Chelsey Solaris Inc.	Member	1 Dec 2003	25% - 50%	20-1014564
Chelsey Funding Llc	Shareholder	1 Dec 2003	75% - 100%	74-3037801
Sdf Solaris Llc	Custodian solely for an ira of stuart d. feldman, the sole manager and ira owner of sdf solaris llc	1 Nov 2011	75% - 100%	26-1558513
Stuart Feldman Ira/Provident Trust Group As Custodian	Sole manager and ira owner/custodian for ira of stuart feldman	1 Nov 2011	75% - 100%	261558513

Based in New York

The principal office where Solaris Advisors, LLC performs its advisory services is located at 645 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022 1003, which is also the mailing address of the firm. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 212-582-4500 or by fax 646-219-6638. The normal business hours are 8am-6pm on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at solarisgroupllc.com.