Laird Norton Wetherby, commonly known as LNW, is a large investment and financial advisory firm in San Francisco. LNW's large staff of advisors provides personalized investment management and wealth planning services to a few hundred high-net-worth individual clients, as well as institutional clients.
LNW is a fee-only firm. This means that it only receives compensation from fees charged to clients’ accounts. By contrast, a fee-based operation may earn commissions from insurance or securities transactions, incentivizing it to recommend such transactions.
LNW Background
LNW can trace its roots back to 1967 when Laird Norton Trust Company was founded. The firm was formed by the merger of Laird Norton Trust Company, Wetherby Asset Management (founded in 1990) and Filament (founded in 2006). Today, LNW is led by CEO Kristen Bauer and chief investment officer (CIO) Ronald Albahary.
The financial advisors at LNW hold many different certifications. These include Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®), chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA), certified divorce financial analyst (CDFA), chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified public accountant (CPA), certified trust fiduciary advisor (CTFA), certified private wealth advisor (CPWA) and more.
LNW Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
LNW primarily works with high-net-worth individuals. Its client base also includes pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, pooled investment vehicles and businesses.
LNW adheres to a minimum account size of $10 million. However, this minimum is negotiable on a client-to-client basis.
Services Offered by LNW
LNW constructs investment portfolios for each of its clients to meet their specific needs. This customization takes into account factors like their risk tolerance, time horizon, liquidity requirements and investing objectives. It typically manages portfolios under one of the three guidelines below:
- Discretionary arrangement: The client cedes investment decision-making control to their advisor, who will act in their best interests.
- Non-discretionary arrangement: Under this agreement, the client’s advisor must run all transactions for them before initiating any transactions.
- Financial planning/consulting arrangement: The advisor will give the client financial advice, but they won’t have direct access to their portfolio.
LNW also provides financial planning, wealth planning and other consulting services to clients. These offerings encompass retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning, education savings planning and more.
LNW Investment Philosophy
Like many modern firms, LNW tends to stick to long-term investing, with a time horizon of at least a year for most securities. This doesn’t preclude the firm from making some investment decisions on a shorter-term basis, as market conditions may call.
On an individual client basis, the firm works hard to customize things to each person. This involves reviewing with clients their risk tolerance, time horizon, specific investment goals, liquidity needs, legal needs and any other pertinent investor characteristics.
LNW Fees
LNW uses two types of fee arrangements: one that features rates that vary depending on your portfolio size and one that's based on a standing retainer. Annual fee rates typically range from 0.30% to 0.90% and may have an annual minimum.
The firm does not charge performance-based fees in addition to its regular fee schedule. The above fees are paid quarterly, in advance, based on the total market value of your account at the conclusion of the preceding quarter.
What to Watch Out For
There are no disclosures listed on LNW’s SEC-filed Form ADV.
Opening an Account With LNW
To open an account with LNW, you can call (800) 475-9159, or visit its website and fill out a contact form.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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