Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC (Waltham)


Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC is a large advisory firm based in Waltham. It manages $85.21 billion of regulatory assets for 388,288 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2017 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and 49 other states.

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Commonwealth Equity Services provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients, pension consulting services, selection of other advisers, publication of newsletters, and educational seminars and workshops. It prepares financial plans for approximately 11,000 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Commonwealth Equity Services: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC is $85.21 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 39% since the beginning of its operation, and $38.4 million of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.


The firm manages $83.25 billion in discretionary accounts and $1.96 billion in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $219.37 thousand each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $223.37 thousand.
Commonwealth Equity Services has custody of $82.14 billion in cash and securities for 373,148 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 64% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is exchange traded securities, which make up 22% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in cash and cash equivalents form 8% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, fixed fees, and commissions. 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 Joseph Samuel Deitch serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, charitable organizations, 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 Joseph Samuel Deitch is individuals with 371,390 clients and $59.95 billion of assets under management. Among the 8 most similar advisory firms, Commonwealth Equity Services has the highest percentage of individuals out of all clients.


The amount of regulatory assets under management is $85.21 billion for 388,288 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.

Commonwealth Equity Services doesn't advise any private funds.

Careers at Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC

The company employs 3,350 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 72 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 2,400 employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There are 200 people 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 receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Joseph Samuel Deitch has been acting as President since 1 Jul 1996. Kol Birke joined the executive team most recently as the Managing Principal, Technology & Corporate Strategy.

Direct owners and executive officers



Name Entity Date acquired Ownership Employer ID
John James Rooney Managing principal 1 Sep 1988 Other 1410648
Joseph Samuel Deitch Chairman 1 Jul 1996 Other 840025
David Linus Kelly Managing principal, trading and brokerage operations 1 Jan 1999 Other 1597375
James Bernard Adelman General counsel, senior vice president 1 Jun 2004 Other xxx-xx-xxxx
Paul Jonathan Tolley Chief compliance officer, senior vice president 1 Aug 2006 Other 2077337
Wayne Michael Bloom Chief executive officer 1 Jan 2009 Other 2014352
William Bradford Mcmillan Managing principal, chief investment officer 1 Feb 2009 Other xxx-xx-xxxx
Darren Anthony Tedesco Managing principal, innovation and strategy 1 Jun 2010 Other 2558834
Richard Marcus Hunter President and chief operating officer 1 May 2013 Other 1913536
Peter Tompkins Wheeler Vice chairman 1 May 2013 Other 1286415
Jonathan Christiaan Bohs Senior vice president, brokerage operations 1 May 2013 Other 2308915
Christopher Anthony Trapnell Kloman Managing principal, chief financial officer 1 Jul 2015 Other 4896179
Llc 1979 Holding Company Shareholder 1 Aug 2017 75% - 100% 82-2305664
Kol Birke Managing principal, technology & corporate strategy 1 Apr 2019 Other 4556441

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 7 indirect owners.

Name Entity Date acquired Ownership Employer ID
Trustee Matthew Fletcher Deitch 2010 Family Gift Trust Joseph S. Deitch Shareholder 1 Aug 2017 25% - 50% 30-6260139
Llc Cfn Ventures Shareholder 1 Aug 2017 75% - 100% 82-2305664
Inc. Cfn Holding Company Shareholder 1 Aug 2017 75% - 100% 82-2305664
Llc Cfn Holding Company Shareholder 1 Aug 2017 75% - 100% 82-2305664
Joseph Samuel Deitch Trustee 1 Aug 2017 Other 840025
Llc Level Above Shareholder 1 Nov 2018 75% - 100% 83-2353280
Inc. Gratitude Holdings Shareholder 1 Nov 2018 75% - 100% 83-2353280

Based in Waltham

The principal office where Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC performs its advisory services is located at 29 Sawyer Road, Waltham, MA 02453 3483, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Iselin, NJ. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 781-736-0700 or by fax 781-398-9905. The normal business hours are 8:30a.m. to 5:30p.m. on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at linkedin.com/company/commonwealth-financial-network.