Updated October 25, 2026. Quick answer: Family-office fees are not one number. In their Form ADV Part 2A brochures, Colony Family Offices (CRD 167017) prints a maximum 1.00% on the first $30,000,000, falling to 0.75% and then 0.50%; Cresset Asset Management (CRD 288566) prints 1.25% on the first $5 million, falling to 0.70% or 0.60% at $50 million and above; and Pathstone (CRD 151736) prints no percentage or dollar range at all. At $30,000,000 Colony’s printed maximum works out to $300,000 a year, computed from its schedule.
More on Pathstone and Cresset: what Pathstone’s Form ADV says about its fees and Pathstone and Cresset fees side by side.
Why these fee schedules are public
The SEC’s family-office rule says “A family office, as defined in this section, shall not be considered to be an investment adviser for purpose of the Act.” The definition requires, among other conditions, that the company “Has no clients other than family clients”, with a one-year allowance for a person who becomes a client through the death of a family member or key employee or another involuntary transfer from one. The three firms on this page sell family-office services to their clients and register as investment advisers, so each files a Form ADV Part 2A brochure, and that brochure is the primary source for every fee figure below. Each firm’s registration was checked at the SEC’s adviser database on October 16, 2026 and shows as active: Colony Family Offices, LLC (CRD 167017), Cresset Asset Management, LLC (CRD 288566) and Pathstone (CRD 151736, also Pathstone Family Office, LLC). The database lists one current brochure for each, and those are the three read here.
What each firm prints
| Firm | CRD | Brochure date | Fee structure as printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colony Family Offices | 167017 | February 25, 2026 | Tiered maximum annual fee, 1.00% / 0.75% / 0.50% |
| Cresset Asset Management | 288566 | March 27, 2026 | Two printed schedules, 1.25% down to 0.70% and 0.60%; minimum fee |
| Pathstone | 151736 | March 31, 2026 | Fee arrangement types only; no percentage or dollar range |
Colony Family Offices: a tiered maximum
Colony describes itself this way: “Colony was founded to serve a select group of ultra-high net worth families with objective, comprehensive and integrated wealth management advice.” Its brochure prints “Our maximum annual fees for wealth management and financial planning services are tiered according to the following schedule”:
| Assets under management | Maximum annual fee |
|---|---|
| First $30,000,000 | 1.00% |
| Next $20,000,000 (up to $50,000,000) | 0.75% |
| Over $50,000,001 | 0.50% |
The brochure’s own example is a $60,000,000 account: $30,000,000 at 1%, $20,000,000 at 0.75% and the remaining $10,000,000 at 0.50%. Recomputed from those printed tiers, the maximum is $300,000 at $30,000,000 (an effective 1.00%), $450,000 at $50,000,000 (0.90%) and $500,000 at $60,000,000 (0.83%). The brochure adds “we retain the discretion to negotiate or waive certain fees on a client-by-client basis”, and says clients “are also subject to a reporting fee on any reported assets which is assessed at a lower rate”, without printing that rate. On account size it says “we generally require that family relationships have a minimum collective investment account of $10,000,000”. More on this firm is on the Colony fees page.
Cresset Asset Management: two printed schedules
Cresset’s brochure says it provides investment advisory and family office services to “individuals, high net worth individuals, trusts, estates, retirement plans, charitable organizations, corporations, pooled investment vehicles”, and “other business entities”. Its fee section prints “The Adviser’s current standard fee schedules are as follows”, in two columns headed Top-Tier Fee and Waterfall Fee:
| Fair market value of managed accounts | Top-Tier Fee | Waterfall Fee |
|---|---|---|
| $0 million to $5 million | 1.25% | 1.25% |
| $5 million to $10 million | 1.10% | 0.90% |
| $10 million to $25 million | 0.90% | 0.80% |
| $25 million to $50 million | 0.80% | 0.70% |
| $50+ million or more | 0.70% | 0.60% |
The brochure’s footnote reads “Minimum Fee is the lesser of $25,000 or 2.00% of Managed Assets.” and the text adds “Fees may be negotiable at the discretion of the Adviser.” Both columns agree on the first $5 million, 1.25%, which is $62,500 a year on $5,000,000 (computed). Above that the columns differ, and the two labels, Top-Tier Fee and Waterfall Fee, each appear once in the brochure, in the table heading, with no definition in the text read for this page. This page therefore prints no dollar figure above $5 million for Cresset.
Pathstone: the honest gap
Pathstone’s brochure lists the kinds of fee it may charge: “an asset-based fee with fixed or tiered percentage points and/or breakpoints, a fixed or flat fee, a management fee, a performance fee, a comprehensive fee, a revenue share arrangement, a time/materials-based fee, or other types of fee arrangements in its discretion”. On the numbers it is direct: “Pathstone does not provide a percentage or dollar range of fees in its Form ADV”, which the brochure puts down to “the number and complexity of different legacy organizations’ fee schedules and services”. It also says that in the conversations it calls PathForward, Pathstone “generally provides an estimated pricing level of the overall engagement and/or an individual break-out of costs for each service” once the prospect’s full financial picture and needs are assessed. It adds that “Fee Arrangements are negotiable depending on the facts and circumstances of each engagement”. There is no Pathstone fee figure on this page because the brochure prints none.
Reading a family-office fee schedule
Three things separate these schedules from an ordinary advisory fee. First, the breakpoints sit in the millions: Colony’s first tier is $30,000,000 and Cresset’s top break is $50 million. Second, the headline rate is a ceiling or a standard schedule, and each brochure says it can be negotiated. Third, the percentage is often only part of the cost: Colony prints a reporting fee with no rate, Cresset a minimum fee, and Pathstone a menu of fee types. For the retail-scale version of the same question, see average wealth management fees.
Common mistakes
- Reading a maximum or standard schedule as the fee you will pay. Each brochure says fees can be negotiated.
- Applying one tier’s rate to the whole balance. Colony’s brochure shows the tiers stacking, as in its $60,000,000 example.
- Comparing Pathstone’s fee with the others. Its brochure prints no percentage or dollar range to compare.
- Forgetting the costs outside the headline rate, such as Colony’s reporting fee and Cresset’s minimum fee.
Related: average wealth management fees, private wealth management fees, whether a family office is worth it, Colony Family Offices fees, and the net worth where a family office makes sense.
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Answer againSources
- 17 CFR 275.202(a)(11)(G)-1, Family offices (eCFR): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-17/section-275.202(a)(11)(G)-1
- Colony Family Offices, LLC, Form ADV Part 2A brochure, February 25, 2026 (SEC IAPD): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1011931
- Cresset Asset Management, LLC, Form ADV Part 2A brochure, March 27, 2026 (SEC IAPD): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1029832
- Pathstone Family Office LLC (d/b/a Pathstone), Form ADV Part 2A brochure, March 31, 2026 (SEC IAPD): https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.aspx?BRCHR_VRSN_ID=1038950
- SEC IAPD, Colony Family Offices, LLC (CRD 167017), registration record: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/167017
- SEC IAPD, Cresset Asset Management, LLC (CRD 288566), registration record: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/288566
- SEC IAPD, Pathstone (CRD 151736), registration record: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/151736
Sources: the Form ADV brochures and registration records linked above, read on October 16, 2026. General information, not investment advice. A firm’s current agreement and brochure control what you would actually pay, and fee schedules change.