Private Ocean, LLC (San Rafael)

Name: Private Ocean, LLC
Address: 100 Smith Ranch Rd., San Rafael, CA, 94903
Telephone: 415-526-2900

Private Ocean, LLC is a large advisory firm based in San Rafael. It manages $2 billion of regulatory assets for 3,622 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2014 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Arizona, California, Colorado, and 7 other states.

Private Ocean 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 approximately 1,000 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Private Ocean: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Private Ocean, LLC is $2 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 128% since the beginning of its operation, and $1.38 million of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.

The firm manages $1.99 billion in discretionary accounts and $13.12 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $572.46 thousand each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $91.77 thousand.

Private Ocean has custody of $1.27 billion in cash and securities for 628 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 90% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is exchange traded securities, which make up 4% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in pooled investment vehicles form 3% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Private Ocean, LLC for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, 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 Richard Alan Stone serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, and pension and profit sharing plans. The largest group of clients of Richard Alan Stone is high net worth individuals with 558 clients and $1.76 billion of assets under management. Among the 8 most similar advisory firms, Private Ocean has the highest percentage of high net worth individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $2 billion for 1,044 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.

Private Ocean doesn't advise any private funds.

Careers at Private Ocean, LLC

The company employs 53 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 45 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 22 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.

Richard Alan Stone has been acting as President since 1 Dec 2012. William Harry Bockwoldt joined the executive team most recently as the Direct Owner.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Justin Karl Hult	Chief compliance officer	1 May 2009	Other	2888652
Inc. Wealth Management Advisors	Direct owner	1 May 2009	Other	68-0487223
Gregory Hugh Friedman	Chief executive officer	1 May 2009	Other	1929640
Salient Financial Corp	Direct owner	1 May 2009	50% - 75%	68-0002112
Susan Diane Duvall Dickson	Chief operating officer	1 Jan 2011	Other	5238178
Frank Joseph Jones	Direct owner / co- investment committee chair	1 Jan 2011	Other	1358943
Richard Alan Stone	Chairman	1 Dec 2012	Other	437398
The Kyle Dickson And Susan Duvall Dickson Revocable Trust	Direct owner	1 Feb 2013	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
Timothy Jorstad	Direct owner	1 Dec 2013	Other	6623263
Charles Merryman Pyfer	Direct owner	1 Dec 2013	Other	4000198
Frederick Edward Dopfel	Direct owner / co- investment committee chair	1 Mar 2014	Other	2111766
William Harry Bockwoldt	Direct owner	1 Dec 2015	Other	6246601

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 3 indirect owners.

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Richard Alan Stone	Owner	1 May 2009	75% - 100%	437398
Sara D. Harrah	Beneficiary	1 Feb 2013	50% - 75%	6310694
Andrea L. Shields Dickson	Beneficiary	1 Feb 2013	50% - 75%	6310696

Based in San Rafael

The principal office where Private Ocean, LLC performs its advisory services is located at 100 Smith Ranch Rd., San Rafael, CA 94903, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in Seattle, WA. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 415-526-2900 or by fax 415-459-3956. The normal business hours are 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at salientfinancial.com.