Equity Services, Inc. (Montpelier)

Name: Equity Services, Inc.
Address: One National Life Drive, Montpelier, VT, 05604
Telephone: 800-344-7437

Equity Services, Inc. is a large advisory firm based in Montpelier. It manages $1.29 billion of regulatory assets for 8,758 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2001 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and 43 other states.

Equity Services provides financial planning services, portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, pension consulting services, selection of other advisers, and educational seminars and workshops. It prepares financial plans for more than 100 clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Equity Services: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Equity Services, Inc. is $1.29 billion. The firm's AUM has grown by 20% since the beginning of its operation, and the company doesn't manage any assets belonging to foreign clients.

The firm manages $150.96 million in discretionary accounts and $1.14 billion in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $202.9 thousand each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $142.37 thousand.

Investments

The firm invests in investment and business development companies the most. They account for 68% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is exchange traded securities, which make up 26% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in cash and cash equivalents form 5% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Equity Services, Inc. for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management, hourly charges, fixed fees, and commissions. 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 Robert Earl Cotton 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 Robert Earl Cotton is individuals with 6,750 clients and $765.5 million of assets under management. Among the 13 most similar advisory firms, Equity Services has the highest percentage of individuals out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $1.29 billion for 8,750 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.

Equity Services doesn't advise any private funds.

Careers at Equity Services, Inc.

The company employs 420 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 95 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 300 employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There are 10 people with the role of looking for and bringing in new clients on behalf of the firm. The firm doesn’t compensate employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Robert Earl Cotton has been acting as President since 1 Jun 2010. Gregory Dwight Teese joined the executive team most recently as the Sr. Vice President, Operations.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
National Life Investment Management Company	Direct ben owner	1 Oct 1968	75% - 100%	03-021140
Nl Capital Management Inc.	Direct ben owner	1 Oct 1968	75% - 100%	03-0221140
Lisa Ann Pettrey	Secretary	1 Aug 1984	Other	2533266
Joseph Michael Rob	Chairman, ceo, director	1 Feb 1985	Other	400554
David Russell Jr Morgan	Counsel	1 Feb 1986	Other	1457549
Thomas Henry Macleay	Director	1 Aug 1996	Other	2808384
Rodney Allen Buck	Director	1 Feb 1997	Other	1839120
Gregory Dwight Teese	Sr. vice president, compliance & chief compliance officer	1 Mar 1997	Other	2135269
Patrick Edward Welch	Director	1 Mar 1997	Other	1276218
John Michael Jr Grab	Senior vice president, cfo	1 Oct 1997	Other	1162133
Sharon Ellen Bernard	Controller, treasurer	1 Oct 1998	Other	2413692
Kenneth Ray Ehinger	President, coo	1 May 1999	Other	1525408
Stephen Anthony Englese	Senior vice president	1 Jun 1999	Other	1011107
William Alfred Smith	Director	1 Jun 2000	Other	1184651
James Kenneth Mcquestion	Secretary	1 Jun 2000	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
Kenneth Ray Ehinger	President, ceo, srop/crop	1 Aug 2001	Other	1525408
Joseph Michael Rob	Chairman, director	1 Aug 2001	Other	400554
Tammy Lynnette King	Vice president - marketing & field development	1 May 2002	Other	1843437
Thomas Henry Macleay	Director	1 Jun 2002	Other	2808384
Edward John Bonach	Director	1 Jun 2002	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
Kerry Anne Jung	Counsel	1 Jun 2005	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
Christopher Maryanopolis	President	1 Oct 2005	Other	3041077
Nlv Financial Corporation	Shareholder	1 Dec 2005	75% - 100%	03-0359222
Donald Paul Messier	Vice president - finance	1 Jun 2006	Other	5075888
Mark Joseph Viviano	Vice president	1 Jun 2006	Other	4135838
Lance Alan Reihl	Ceo, president, rosfp	1 Apr 2007	Other	828685
Ian Andrew Mckenny	Counsel & secretary	1 May 2007	Other	5352951
Kerry Anne Jung	Counsel, investment advisory services	1 Jun 2007	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
Michele Susan Gatto	Director	1 Jun 2007	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
Mehran Assadi	Director & chairman of the board	1 Feb 2008	Other	5270638
Edward J Iii Parry	Director	1 Jul 2008	Other	xxx-xx-xxxx
Heather Lynn Lyon	Vice president, esi operations	1 Oct 2008	Other	3011389
Vincent Gerard Vitiello	Director	1 Jun 2009	Other	1059845
James Edmond Clements	Sr. vp, business development	1 Jun 2009	Other	2445775
Robert Earl Cotton	Director	1 Jun 2010	Other	3085405
Jeffrey Wood	Sr. vice president, business development and advisory services	1 Aug 2011	Other	2402574
Ruth Marie Smith	Director	1 Aug 2011	Other	1053050
Denise Sullivan	Vice president, finance	1 Oct 2011	Other	5585332
Andrew Robert Speirs	Chief information security officer	1 Jun 2012	Other	6003967
Frances Tierno	Vp, compliance	1 Jun 2012	Other	2547772
Eric Keith Kucinskas	Vp, finance and finop	1 Dec 2014	Other	6072823
Timothy Van Ryder	Svp, operations	1 Jan 2016	Other	3096529
Pamela Newcomb Blalock	Director	1 Sep 2016	Other	4951558
Shukri Khader	Chief information security officer	1 Apr 2018	Other	6909446
Gregory Dwight Teese	Sr. vice president, operations	1 Apr 2019	Other	2135269
Scott Richard Solod	Vp, compliance and chief compliance officer	1 Apr 2019	Other	2116968

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 5 indirect owners.

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
National Life Insurance Company	Shareholder	1 Oct 1968	75% - 100%	03-0144090
National Life Holding Company	Shareholder	1 Jan 1999	75% - 100%	03-0359221
National Life Of Vermont Financial Corporation	Shareholder	1 Jan 1999	75% - 100%	03-0353222
National Life Of Vermont Holding Company	Shareholder	1 Jan 1999	75% - 100%	03-0359221
Nlv Financial Corporation	Shareholder	1 Jan 1999	75% - 100%	03-0359222

Based in Montpelier

The principal office where Equity Services, Inc. performs its advisory services is located at One National Life Drive, Montpelier, VT 05604, which is also the mailing address of the firm. An additional office of the firm is in White Plains, NY. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 800-344-7437 or by fax 802-229-7244. The normal business hours are 8:00am - 5:00pm on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at equity-services.com.