Ascendant Advisors, LLC (Houston)

Name: Ascendant Advisors, LLC
Address: 770 S. Post Oak Lane, Houston, TX, 77056
Telephone: 713-552-1880

Ascendant Advisors, LLC is an investment adviser to an investment company based in Houston. It manages $149.24 million of regulatory assets for 69 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2011 and has operated in the jurisdictions of Florida, New Jersey, and Texas.

Ascendant Advisors provides portfolio management for individuals and small businesses, portfolio management for investment companies, and portfolio management for businesses and institutional clients. It doesn't provide financial planning services to its clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Ascendant Advisors: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Ascendant Advisors, LLC is $149.24 million. The firm's AUM has grown by 381% since the beginning of its operation, and the company doesn't manage any assets belonging to foreign clients.

The firm manages $148.02 million in discretionary accounts and $1.22 million in non-discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $2.24 million each. Non-discretionary accounts, where clients actively manage their portfolios, generally hold around $407.67 thousand.

Investments

The firm invests in investment and business development companies the most. They account for 55% of the total AUM. The second-largest asset type is exchange traded securities, which make up 27% of the firm’s portfolio. Investments in cash and cash equivalents form 13% of the total invested assets.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has a single stream of revenue. Clients pay Ascendant Advisors, LLC for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management. Compensation based on assets under management promotes a long-term relationship between a client and the adviser and helps align mutual interests. These fees don’t include brokerage commissions, interest, taxes, and other account expenses.

What kind of clients Michael Todd Smurl serves?

The firm provides services to individuals, investment companies, high net worth individuals, corporations or other businesses, and pension and profit sharing plans. The largest group of clients of Michael Todd Smurl is investment companies with 4 clients and $109.39 million of assets under management. Among the 12 most similar advisory firms, Ascendant Advisors has the 2nd highest percentage of investment companies out of all clients.

The amount of regulatory assets under management is $149.24 million for 69 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.

Ascendant Advisors doesn't advise any private funds.

Careers at Ascendant Advisors, LLC

The company employs 10 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 70 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. 8 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 doesn’t compensate employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Michael Todd Smurl has been acting as President since 1 Dec 2010. Llc Ascendant Advisors Group joined the executive team most recently as the Member.

Direct owners and executive officers

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
James Harvey Lee	Managing member/chief compliance officer	1 Jul 2009	Other	1616347
Llc Ascendant Advisors Gp	Member	1 Jul 2009	75% - 100%	27-0598273
Michael Todd Smurl	Chief compliance officer/president	1 Dec 2010	Other	2239030
Llc Ascendant Advisors Group	Member	1 Apr 2014	75% - 100%	27-0352884

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 1 indirect owner.

Name	Entity	Date acquired	Ownership	Employer ID
Llc Ascendant Advisors Group	Member	1 Jul 2009	75% - 100%	27-0352884

Based in Houston

The principal office where Ascendant Advisors, LLC performs its advisory services is located at 770 S. Post Oak Lane, Houston, TX 77056, which is also the mailing address of the firm. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 713-552-1880 or by fax 713-552-1441. The normal business hours are 8:30-4:00 on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at patriotfund.com/.