Top Wealth + Best-in-State · rank 1 · Chicago, Illinois · listed firm: Graystone Consulting from Morgan Stanley
Identity & firm
- Firm — Graystone Consulting – Chicago (Morgan Stanley) (high)
- “Currently employed by and registered with the following Firm(s): MORGAN STANLEY 233 South Wacker Drive Suite 9200 PWM Chicago, IL 60606 CRD# 149777 Registered with this firm since: 03/18/2016” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “Graystone Consulting Chicago's core principles are simple: putting clients first, leading with exceptional ideas, doing the right thing, and giving back.” — firm_official
- Parent company — Morgan Stanley (high)
- “Firm Name: MORGAN STANLEY Main Office Address: 2000 WESTCHESTER AVENUE PURCHASE, NY 10577-2530 Firm CRD#: 149777” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Firm type — wirehouse (high)
- “SRO FINRA Category General Securities Representative Status Approved Date 03/18/2016” — sec_finra_regulatory
- “©2025 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Member SIPC. Graystone Consulting is a business of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.” — firm_official
- Team name — Graystone Consulting – Chicago (high)
- “With over 125 years of combined industry experience, and a partnership that has spanned 30 years, the Graystone team led by Jim Whitney, Mary DiChristofano, Michael Sakach, Brian Birnbaum, and Matt Gurwin, brings an unpa” — firm_official
- Team size — 16 (medium)
- “As one of the most highly accredited teams in the Midwest, these five advisors are supported by eleven professionals, with areas of focus ranging from financial analysis to wealth planning.” — firm_official
- CRD — 2306063 (high)
- “BrokerCheck Report JAMES WHITNEY CRD# 2306063” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Years experience — 25 (medium)
- “25+ years in the industry” — forbes_shook
- “CREDIT SUISSE SECURITIES (USA) LLC CRD# 816 CHICAGO, IL 12/2007 - 04/2016” — sec_finra_regulatory
- Designations — gap: not_found_after_search
Book of business
- Team AUM ($M) — 5500 (high)
- “Team assets (custodied): $5.5B” — forbes_shook
- Account minimum ($M) — 10 (high)
- “Minimum account size for new business: $10M” — forbes_shook
- Typical client net worth ($M) — 150 (high)
- “Typical net worth of relationships: $50-250M” — forbes_shook
- Client niche — ultra-high-net-worth families, family offices, endowments and foundations (institutional consulting) (medium)
- “The world in which we live and operate is changing at an unprecedented pace. Your financial advisory and consulting firm must be able to adapt quickly to the evolving needs of your family or organization, providing fresh” — firm_official
- Custodians — gap: not_applicable
- Fee model — not_public (low)
- “©2025 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Member SIPC. Graystone Consulting is a business of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.” — firm_official
Positioning & marketing
- Website url — https://graystone.morganstanley.com/graystone-consulting-chicago (high)
- Value proposition (verbatim) — The world in which we live and operate is changing at an unprecedented pace. Your financial advisory and consulting firm must be able to adapt quickly to the evolving needs of your family or organization, providing fresh ideas and highly personalized solutions that meet your strategic objectives. (high)
- “The world in which we live and operate is changing at an unprecedented pace. Your financial advisory and consulting firm must be able to adapt quickly to the evolving needs of your family or organization, providing fresh” — firm_official
- Differentiators — 125+ years of combined industry experience, 30-year partnership among the principals, One of the most highly accredited teams in the Midwest, Founded Frye Louis Capital Management, the first multi-family office in the Midwest, Five advisors supported by eleven specialist professionals (high)
- “With over 125 years of combined industry experience, and a partnership that has spanned 30 years, the Graystone team led by Jim Whitney, Mary DiChristofano, Michael Sakach, Brian Birnbaum, and Matt Gurwin, brings an unpa” — firm_official
- “As one of the most highly accredited teams in the Midwest, these five advisors are supported by eleven professionals, with areas of focus ranging from financial analysis to wealth planning.” — firm_official
- Content marketing — gap: not_found_after_search
- Has podcast — gap: not_found_after_search
- Books published — gap: not_found_after_search
- Linkedin url — https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-whitney-987b175/ (low)
- “James Whitney - Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management | LinkedIn” — social_or_third_party_db
- Social presence — gap: not_found_after_search
- Press awards — Barron's Top 100 Institutional Consulting Teams (2025), Forbes America's Top Wealth Management Teams – Private Wealth (2023-2025) (medium)
- “His team also received recognition on Forbes America's Top Wealth Management Teams for Private Wealth (2023-2025) and Barron's Top 100 Institutional Consulting Teams (2025).” — forbes_shook
Visual brand
- Has distinct logo — gap: not_found_after_search
- Logo url — gap: not_found_after_search
- Visual brand notes — gap: not_found_after_search