Updated October 24, 2026. Quick answer: In this Pathstone vs Cresset comparison of fees, minimums and services, only Cresset prints a fee schedule. Its Form ADV Part 2A (March 27, 2026) lists 1.25% on the first $5 million, falling to 0.70% or 0.60% at $50 million and above, with a minimum annual fee of the lesser of $25,000 or 2.00% of managed assets. Pathstone’s Form ADV Part 2A (March 31, 2026) prints no percentage or dollar range, so the two cannot be compared rate for rate from the filings.
Fees, minimums and services side by side
Each cell comes from that firm’s own brochure. Where a brochure is silent the cell says so, because a blank is not a zero.
| Pathstone | Cresset | |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure read | Form ADV Part 2A, March 31, 2026 | Form ADV Part 2A, March 27, 2026 |
| Fee schedule printed | None. “Pathstone does not provide a percentage or dollar range of fees in its Form ADV.” | Yes: two standard schedules, 1.25% on the first $5 million falling to 0.70% or 0.60% at $50 million and above |
| Minimum annual fee | None stated | “*Minimum Fee is the lesser of $25,000 or 2.00% of Managed Assets.” |
| Minimum to open a relationship | None stated; “client portfolios generally begin with assets under management of $10 million or more for investment advisory related services” | “Cresset generally does not impose a minimum size for establishing a relationship although it may impose a minimum annual fee as stated above.” |
| Negotiable? | “Fee Arrangements are negotiable depending on the facts and circumstances of each engagement” | “Fees may be negotiable at the discretion of the Adviser.” |
| Assets, in the firm’s own words | $110,295,873,738 regulatory assets under management, December 31, 2025 | “As of December 31, 2025, Cresset managed $78,936,263,960 in Client assets” |
Cresset’s printed schedule
Cresset’s brochure says “The Adviser’s current standard fee schedules are as follows”. The two columns carry the labels Top-Tier Fee and Waterfall Fee, and the brochure text read for this page does not define either one.
| Fair market value of managed accounts | Top-Tier Fee, annualized rate | Waterfall Fee, annualized rate |
|---|---|---|
| $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% |
At the top of the first band both columns read 1.25%. Computed here, not printed in the brochure: 1.25% x $5,000,000 = $62,500 a year in rate-based fee on a $5,000,000 account. Beyond $5 million this page prints no dollar figure, because the brochure does not say whether each rate applies to the whole balance or only to the slice.
The brochure also says “Investment advisory fees that are based on the market value of managed assets could be subject to a minimum annual fee of $25,000 (not to exceed 2.00% annually) in certain circumstances.” Our page on Cresset’s fees in dollars works the dollar amounts at smaller balances.
Pathstone’s side: a menu, not a schedule
Pathstone’s brochure lists arrangement types by service, such as an asset-based fee, a flat fee or a performance fee, and no rate for any of them. The detail is on what Pathstone charges. Its pricing comes through a process in which the firm “generally provides an estimated pricing level of the overall engagement and/or an individual break-out of costs for each service”.
Services
Both firms describe themselves as combining investment advice with family-office-style services, and both bill some of those services separately.
Cresset says its advisory services include “wealth management, which generally encompasses a combination of comprehensive financial planning and either discretionary or non-discretionary investment advisory services”. Its family office services are offered through an affiliate, Cresset Family Office, LLC, and the paragraph that sets that fee prints no rate: the brochure says they are generally offered for a fee that the firm or the affiliate can negotiate. Its brochure also describes retirement plan advisory services and advice to private funds.
Pathstone lists investment advisory, reporting and administration alongside accounting, tax, family office structure, wealth planning, risk management and extended family office services, each with the arrangement types shown on the fees page. It also sponsors or sub-advises its own pooled vehicles, which the brochure calls Affiliated Funds.
Who each brochure describes
Pathstone says “Pathstone primarily serves UHNW families”. Cresset 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”. Cresset’s description is broader, and its brochure states no minimum size. Pathstone’s states a typical starting size of $10 million for investment advisory services, not a minimum.
What this comparison cannot tell you
It cannot say which firm costs less. One brochure prints a schedule and the other prints none, both say fees are negotiable, and both firms bill extra services outside the headline fee. The honest comparison is the written quote: ask each firm for its all-in annual cost, service by service, at your own balance. For the wider picture of what firms like these charge, see family office fees and average wealth management fees.
Common mistakes
- Reading Cresset’s 1.25% as a quote for the other firm. Pathstone’s brochure prints no rate to put beside it.
- Applying one tier’s rate to the whole balance. The brochure does not say which of the two columns works that way, so ask.
- Counting the headline fee as the whole cost. Both firms bill family office and similar services under separate arrangements.
Related: what Pathstone charges, Cresset’s fees in dollars, Cresset’s minimum investment, and the Cresset review.
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Answer againSources
- Pathstone Family Office, LLC (d/b/a Pathstone), Form ADV Part 2A brochure, March 31, 2026 (SEC IAPD): files.adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Cresset Asset Management, LLC, Form ADV Part 2A brochure, March 27, 2026 (SEC IAPD): files.adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): SEC IAPD registration record, Pathstone (CRD 151736): adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): SEC IAPD registration record, Cresset Asset Management, LLC (CRD 288566): adviserinfo.sec.gov
Read from the firm documents linked above on October 24, 2026. General information, not investment advice. Fees, minimums and terms change with each revision, so confirm the current schedule with the firm before relying on any figure here.