Broker-dealer firm · Chicago, IL
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC
SEC-registered investment adviser · CRD 145488 · SEC 801-69827
At a glance
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser based in Chicago, Illinois, with $2.7 billion in regulatory assets under management as of its Form ADV filed August 17, 2026. Its largest client group by assets is high-net-worth individuals, and it reports 5,289 individual clients. By Form ADV it is a broker-dealer firm, ranked 115th of 391 broker-dealer firms and 2,993rd of 17,210 SEC-registered advisers by assets.
Main office 312-940-3684aretewealth.comAs filed on Form ADV
- Regulatory AUM
- $2.7B
- Rank among broker-dealer firms
- #115 of 391
- Rank among all SEC RIAs
- #2,993 of 17,210
- Rank in Illinois
- #156 of 684
- Individual clients
- 5,289
- High-net-worth clients
- 3,441
- Accounts
- 5,424
- Discretionary
- 100% of AUM
- Employees
- 135
- Advisory staff
- 130
- Offices
- 27
Owners and executives on its Form ADV
- David C. LevineCEO
- Catherine CucharaleChief Compliance Officer
Custody and brokerage
Custodian
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC’s Form ADV lists no custodian for separately managed accounts. Firms report one only when they manage $10 million or more in those accounts.
Broker-dealer
Hybrid RIA
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC is a hybrid RIA: 125 of its employees are also registered representatives of a broker-dealer. It names an affiliated broker-dealer: Arete Wealth Management, LLC.
- Arete Wealth Management, LLC ↗CRD 44856
An introducing broker-dealer: its trades clear through Pershing, which holds the brokerage accounts. Its annual audited report filed with the SEC, March 2026
Its Form ADV brochure (filed February 2026) names Arete Wealth Management as the broker-dealer its advisers are registered with.
Some of Arete’s investment adviser representatives may also be registered as registered representatives with Arete Wealth Management, LLC.
Who it serves
| Client type | Clients | Regulatory AUM | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-net-worth individuals | 3,441 | $2.0B | 74% |
| Individuals | 1,848 | $522M | 19% |
| Corporations or other businesses | 116 | $173M | 6% |
| Pension and profit sharing plans | 9 | $7M | <1% |
| Charitable organizations | 12 | $4M | <1% |
Disciplinary disclosures
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC answers yes to 4 disclosure items in Item 11 of Form ADV (criminal, regulatory or civil matters involving the firm or its advisory affiliates). Read the details on the SEC’s adviser search ↗
Services
- Financial planning
- Portfolio management for individuals and small businesses
- Portfolio management for businesses and institutions
- Pension consulting
- Selecting other advisers
- Periodicals or newsletters
- Other services
How it’s paid
- A percentage of assets under management
- Hourly charges
- Fixed fees
- Performance-based fees
- Other
Form ADV and brochures on the SEC’s adviser search ↗aretewealth.com ↗
AtlasMembers
The full record on Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC
Ten years of SEC filings, its owners and contacts, and how it stacks up against its peers. Atlas members see all of it.
- Assets, accounts, clients and staff, ten years of filings
- Locked
- Growth over one, three and five years
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- Rank against 88 peers of its type and size
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- Owners and executives, with titles and stakes
- 2 namedLocked
- Main office, fax and compliance officer
- Locked
- Filing changes this year, with alerts
- 5Locked
Free while Atlas launches: create a free account and confirm your email. Every figure comes from SEC filings.
Background
Questions
How much does Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC manage?
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC reports $2.7 billion in regulatory assets under management across 5,424 accounts, 100% of it on a discretionary basis, on its Form ADV filed August 17, 2026.
What kind of firm is Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC?
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC is a broker-dealer firm by its Form ADV answers. The firm is itself registered as a broker-dealer as well as an investment adviser.
Who are Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC’s clients?
By assets, its largest client types are high-net-worth individuals ($2.0 billion, 3,441 clients); individuals ($522 million, 1,848 clients); corporations or other businesses ($173 million, 116 clients).
Does Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC have any disciplinary history?
Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC answers yes to 4 disclosure items in Item 11 of Form ADV, which covers criminal, regulatory and civil matters involving the firm or its advisory affiliates. The details are on the SEC’s adviser search.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure is Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC’s own answer on its latest Form ADV, from the SEC’s registered-adviser list as of October 1, 2026: regulatory assets and accounts (Item 5.F), clients by type (5.D), employees (5.A and 5.B), compensation (5.E) and services (5.G). Custodians come from Schedule D 5.K(3) of its latest filing (2026-08-17), which lists those holding 10% or more of separately managed account assets and the amount at each. “Hybrid” means some employees are also registered representatives of a broker-dealer (Item 5.B(2)); affiliated broker-dealers are the related persons it lists in Item 7.A and Schedule D. Firm type comes from its own answers: broker-dealer firms are registered broker-dealers themselves (Item 6.A); private fund advisers manage mostly private funds (Item 7.B, 5.D); wealth managers manage at least half their assets for individuals (5.D). Ranks compare it by regulatory assets with every SEC-registered adviser and with firms of its type. Figures are as of the firm’s last annual update, so they can lag recent deals and market moves. Regulatory AUM counts assets the firm continuously supervises and can differ from what a firm markets.
Not an endorsement or a recommendation. Before hiring any adviser, read its Form ADV Part 2A brochure and check its record on the SEC’s adviser search. How to check a financial advisor →