Willow Creek Wealth Management, Inc. (Sebastopol)

Name: Willow Creek Wealth Management, Inc.
Address: 825 Gravenstein Hwy. N., Sebastopol, CA, 95472
Telephone: 707-829-1146

Willow Creek Wealth Management, Inc. is a large advisory firm based in Sebastopol. It manages $1.02 billion of regulatory assets for 2,130 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2014 and has operated in the jurisdictions of California, Nevada, New Hampshire, and 5 other states.

Willow Creek Wealth Management provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients, and educational seminars and workshops. It prepares financial plans for approximately 800 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Willow Creek Wealth Management: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Willow Creek Wealth Management, Inc. is $1.02 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 54% since the beginning of its operation, and the company doesn't manage any assets belonging to foreign clients.

The firm manages $949.9 million in discretionary accounts and $73.04 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $446.59 thousand each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $24.35 million.

Willow Creek Wealth Management has custody of $722.35 million in cash and securities for 666 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 85% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is exchange traded securities, which make up 5% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in state and local bonds form 5% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Willow Creek Wealth Management, Inc. for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, and fixed fees. 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 Bruce Jay Dzieza serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, corporations or other businesses, and pension and profit sharing plans. The largest group of clients of Bruce Jay Dzieza is high net worth individuals with 305 clients and $734.9 million of assets under management. Among the 8 most similar advisory firms, Willow Creek Wealth Management has the highest percentage of high net worth individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $1.02 billion for 758 clients that can include trusts, estates, and 401(k) plans and IRAs of individuals and their family members. None of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Willow Creek Wealth Management doesn't advise any private funds.

Careers at Willow Creek Wealth Management, Inc.

The company employs 14 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 64 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 7 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.

Bruce Jay Dzieza has been acting as President since 1 May 1999. Timothy Michael Admire joined the executive team most recently as the Assistant Secretary, Partner.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Bruce Jay Dzieza	President	1 May 1999	50% - 75%	1326268
Heather Cary Cleland	Chief compliance officer, partner	1 May 1999	Other	2946449
Heather Cary Belli	Chief compliance officer, partner	1 May 1999	Other	2946449
Jason Richard Gittins	Secretary, partner	1 Feb 2006	Other	2798508
Kelly A Noonan	Chief financial officer, partner	1 Feb 2006	Other	2798510
Mark Francis Keating	Partner	1 Oct 2011	Other	4246668
Teresa Douglas Mitchell	Assistant compliance officer	1 Oct 2011	Other	5498716
Timothy Michael Admire	Assistant secretary, partner	1 Jan 2018	Other	7085650

Based in Sebastopol

The principal office where Willow Creek Wealth Management, Inc. performs its advisory services is located at 825 Gravenstein Hwy. N., Sebastopol, CA 95472, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in San Rafael, CA. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 707-829-1146 or by fax 707-829-0111. The normal business hours are 9:00 - 5:00 on Other. You can find more information about the New York firm at willowcreekwealth.com/.