DFX Intelligence
RIA Intelligence
Registered investment advisers, the advisors registered through them, the capital they report, the private vehicles they run and the people who own them, as a graph with a filing date behind every number. RAUM is what the adviser filed, a move is two registration dates, and a class is a rule you can read.
SEC-registered adviser
Ballast Capital Advisors, LLC
Legal name Ballast Capital Advisors LLC
Latest filing Mar 2, 2026
First filing on the tape Mar 17, 2021 · 9 filings
SEC status approved since Apr 16, 2021
RAUM
$329M
reported, Item 5.F
Discretionary
100%
of RAUM
Private clients
100%
$329M individuals and HNW
Advisors
3
registered through the firm on IAPD
RAUM per advisor
$110M
derived; firm RAUM over IAPD count
Employees
7
3 advisory (5.B.1)
Offices
0
beyond the principal office
Private funds
0
reported on Schedule D
History
9 filings and snapshots on the tape
RAUM$329M as of Mar 2, 2026
Mar 2, 2022$261M then
HNW client RAUM$329M as of Mar 2, 2026
Mar 2, 2022$261M then
State-registered IARs (5.B.3)3 as of Mar 2, 2026
Mar 2, 20223 then
Employees (5.A)7 as of Mar 2, 2026
Mar 2, 20225 then
Private funds: no history
RAUM +3.2% over the last fiscal year+6.3% a year over threeIARs 3 to 3
Practice profile
derived from the filing of Mar 2, 2026; every figure names its basis
Archetypes, each a printed rule
- Independent boutique · a wealth manager with no broker-dealer, bank or insurance affiliate, 2 to 25 advisors, one to three offices, no public reporting company control
- Solo or small team · one advisor, or a wealth manager with up to three advisors and one office
- RAUM per advisor
- $110MderivedRAUM over IAPD advisors; not a book size
- Clients per advisor
- unknownderivedindividual and HNW clients (5.D) over advisors
- Average HNW client
- $7.8MderivedHNW RAUM over HNW clients
- Average account
- $2.2MderivedRAUM over accounts (5.F.2.f)
- Discretionary
- 100%derivedof RAUM
- Institutional
- 0.0%derivedpensions, charities, corporations, government, insurance, banks, other advisers
- Employees per advisor
- 2.3derivedItem 5.A over advisors
- Advisors per office
- 3.0derived1 offices incl. principal (1.F.5)
- RAUM growth, one year
- +3.2%derivedbetween the last two annual amendments
- Advisor growth, one year
- +0.0%derivedItem 5.B.3 between annual amendments
- Client growth, one year
- unknownderived
- Compensation
- percentage of assets, fixed feesreportedItem 5.E
- Advisory activities
- financial planning, portfolio management for individualsreportedItem 5.G
- Ownership
- no PE, bank or public-company owner found on Schedule Aderived
- Advisor book size
- not public; not estimatedreported
Also answered yes on Form ADV
- buys or sells securities as principal to or from clients (8.A.2)
- has discretionary authority over which securities are bought or sold (8.C.1)
- receives research or other products from a broker-dealer, soft dollars (8.E)
- compensates persons for client referrals (8.G.1)
- compensates non-employees for client referrals (8.G.2)
Where the RAUM sits
Form ADV Item 5.D, latest filing
- High-net-worth individuals$329M100%
- Individual clients
- n/areported
- HNW clients
- 42reported
- Pension plan clients
- n/areported
- Charitable clients
- n/areported
- Accounts
- 147reported
- Financial planning clients
- 1-10reported
- Wrap fee programs
- noreported
- Custody of client assets
- noreported
- Compensation
- % of AUM, fixedreported
- Class basis
- private_client_share=1.0 fund_share=0.0 institutional_share=0.0 related_bd=false related_bank=false bd_reps=0.0derived
Advisors registered through the firm
3 on IAPD today, longest tenure first
| Name | Branch | Here since | In industry | Prior firms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gregory George CarstensenChartered Financial Analyst | West Des Moines, Ia | Apr 20, 2016 | 15 y | 1 |
| Chad Carstensen | New Hartford, Ny | Jul 6, 2016 | 15 y | 0 |
| Patrick Joseph FreundChartered Financial Analyst | West Des Moines, Ia | Apr 19, 2017 | 16 y | 0 |
Advisor movement
0 left, 0 joined in 12 months
net 0 in 12 months0 left in 90 days0 joined in 90 daysdeparture rate 0.0% of current headcount0 left over 36 months
Left, latest
none on the tape
Joined, latest
- Gregory George Carstensen from American Equity Advisors, Inc.Apr 20, 2016 · Other
Private funds
No private fund reported.
Owners and control persons
Schedule A and B, latest filing
- George Gregory Carstensen · Managing Member And Chief Compliance Officercontrolsince 03/2016 · owns 75% or more
- Paul Steven Harms · Chief Financial Officersince 04/2017 · owns less than 5%
Related persons
Schedule D 7.A
- Asymmetria Capital Partners, LLCpooled vehicle sponsory
Office movement
IAPD branch city; joins and departures in 12 months
| Office | Advisors | Joined | Left | Teams out | Forming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Des Moines, Ia · principal | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Offices
Schedule D 1.F, the 25 largest
No branch office listed.
ADV anomalies
1 against comparable advisers; where to look, not conclusions
- unusually large average HNW clientStatic outlier · filing Mar 2, 2026HNW RAUM per HNW client of $7,827,086 against a peer median of $2,404,040 (4940 comparable advisers, 99.0th percentile, 3.7 robust deviations)peers: independent wealth managers, $100M to $500M (4,940) · 99% percentile
What changed
consecutive filings, newest first
- Accounts · 150 to 147Mar 7, 2025 to Mar 2, 2026
- HNW clients · 46 to 42Mar 7, 2025 to Mar 2, 2026
- Discretionary RAUM · $318M to $329MMar 7, 2025 to Mar 2, 2026
- HNW RAUM · $318M to $329MMar 7, 2025 to Mar 2, 2026
- RAUM · $318M to $329MMar 7, 2025 to Mar 2, 2026
- Accounts · 155 to 150Jan 18, 2024 to Mar 7, 2025
- HNW clients · 58 to 46Jan 18, 2024 to Mar 7, 2025
- Employees · 8 to 7Jan 18, 2024 to Mar 7, 2025
- Financial planning clients · 1-10 to 1-10Jan 18, 2024 to Mar 7, 2025
- Discretionary RAUM · $297M to $318MJan 18, 2024 to Mar 7, 2025
- HNW RAUM · $297M to $318MJan 18, 2024 to Mar 7, 2025
- RAUM · $297M to $318MJan 18, 2024 to Mar 7, 2025
- Accounts · 140 to 155Mar 23, 2023 to Jan 18, 2024
- HNW clients · 54 to 58Mar 23, 2023 to Jan 18, 2024
- Employees · 7 to 8Mar 23, 2023 to Jan 18, 2024
- Discretionary RAUM · $274M to $297MMar 23, 2023 to Jan 18, 2024
- HNW RAUM · $274M to $297MMar 23, 2023 to Jan 18, 2024
- RAUM · $274M to $297MMar 23, 2023 to Jan 18, 2024
- Accounts · 139 to 140Oct 25, 2022 to Mar 23, 2023
- HNW clients · 53 to 54Oct 25, 2022 to Mar 23, 2023
- Employees · 5 to 7Oct 25, 2022 to Mar 23, 2023
- Financial planning clients · 11-25 to 1-10Oct 25, 2022 to Mar 23, 2023
- Discretionary RAUM · $261M to $274MOct 25, 2022 to Mar 23, 2023
- HNW RAUM · $261M to $274MOct 25, 2022 to Mar 23, 2023
- RAUM · $261M to $274MOct 25, 2022 to Mar 23, 2023
- Accounts · 105 to 139Mar 17, 2021 to Mar 2, 2022
- HNW clients · 41 to 53Mar 17, 2021 to Mar 2, 2022
- Financial planning clients · 1-10 to 11-25Mar 17, 2021 to Mar 2, 2022
- Discretionary RAUM · $220M to $261MMar 17, 2021 to Mar 2, 2022
- HNW RAUM · $220M to $261MMar 17, 2021 to Mar 2, 2022
- RAUM · $220M to $261MMar 17, 2021 to Mar 2, 2022
Signals
1 dated events
- Ballast Capital Advisors, Llc filed its initial SEC registration (Form ADV)Mar 17, 2021 · First SEC registration · fact
Across DFX
shared identifiers only, never a name match
No identifier-backed link to the venture, private equity, family office or sponsor graphs.
How to reach
public business contact points only, each with its source
- Business email
- l.starostka@ballast-advisors.comreportedpublished by the firm, firm site, Sep 17, 2026
- Business phone
- 515-985-7711reportedpublished by the firm, firm site, Sep 17, 2026
- Firm profile
- linkedin.com/company/ballast-capital-advisors-llcreportedpublic record, Form ADV, Sep 17, 2026
- Website
- BALLAST-ADVISORS.COMreportedpublic record, Form ADV, Sep 17, 2026
- Principal office phone
- 844-331-4662reportedpublic record, Form ADV, Mar 2, 2026
Provenance
- Form ADV
- SEC filing data 2011 to 2024 and the monthly roster 2025 onreportedadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Advisors
- IAPD individual compilation feed, dailyreportedadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Class
- Independent wealth managerderiveda rule over Items 5.D and 7.A
- RAUM per advisor
- $110Mderivedfirm RAUM over the IAPD count; not a book size
- Loaded
- Sep 14, 2026