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William Blair Investment Management, LLC

Chicago, ILSEC-registered investment adviserCRD 173961

Filed as WILLIAM BLAIR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, LLC

William Blair Investment Management, LLC is an SEC-registered investment advisory firm in Chicago, IL, registered since 2014, reporting over $5 billion in regulatory assets under management in its Form ADV filing dated April 9, 2026.

11 years
registered since 2014
$65,596,131,787
assets under management
2 arrangements
Percentage of assets, Performance-based
3
disclosure items (Item 11)

Quick answers

From the filing

How is William Blair Investment Management, LLC compensated?

On its Form ADV (Item 5.E, October 2026), William Blair Investment Management, LLC reports these compensation arrangements: a percentage of assets under its management; performance-based fees. The amounts are in Item 5 of its Form ADV Part 2A brochure.

Where is William Blair Investment Management, LLC located?

William Blair Investment Management, LLC's principal office is in Chicago, IL, according to its Form ADV; the May 2026 filing also lists 3 other offices (Schedule D, Section 1.F).

Is William Blair Investment Management, LLC registered with the SEC or a state?

William Blair Investment Management, LLC is an SEC-registered investment advisory firm, registered since 2014. Status as filed: Approved. CRD 173961.

How much does William Blair Investment Management, LLC manage?

William Blair Investment Management, LLC reports $65,596,131,787 in regulatory assets under management in its Form ADV filing dated April 9, 2026 (100% discretionary).

How have William Blair Investment Management, LLC's assets and staff changed since 2021?

In the Form ADV data for William Blair Investment Management, LLC: Regulatory assets under management: $69,739,613,957 in the October 2021 data and $65,596,131,787 in the October 2026 data, down 6%. Total employees: 345 in October 2021 and 388 in October 2026. Assets under management move with markets as well as with clients coming and going.

What types of clients does William Blair Investment Management, LLC serve?

By number of clients on Form ADV Item 5.D: other (386); pension and profit sharing plans (but not the plan participants or government pension plans) (73); charitable organizations (68).

Which custodians does William Blair Investment Management, LLC use?

William Blair Investment Management, LLC's most recent Form ADV filing (Schedule D, Section 5.K(3)) lists Bank of New York Mellon, State Street Bank and Trust Company and The Northern Trust Company as custodians holding 10% or more of its separately managed account assets.

Does William Blair Investment Management, LLC report any disciplinary disclosures?

Reports 3 disclosure items on Form ADV Item 11: yes answers to 11.C(2) (SEC or CFTC finding of a violation), 11.C(4) (SEC or CFTC order), and 11.C(5) (SEC or CFTC civil money penalty or cease-and-desist order). Each question covers the firm and its advisory affiliates, and one event can produce several yes answers. The detail of any item is on the firm's SEC record: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/173961

What changed in William Blair Investment Management, LLC's recent Form ADV filings?

In the April 2026 filing data: Employees performing advisory functions went from 152 to 142.

From the Form ADV filing

Every figure below is as the firm filed it with regulators, as of October 2026.

How the firm is compensated

Item 5.E
  • A percentage of assets under your management
  • Performance-based fees

Item 5.E lists how the firm is compensated for its advice; Items 5.B, 6.A, and 7.A show whether its people or related companies can also earn commissions. Percentage of assets, fixed, hourly, subscription, and performance-based fees come from clients (a performance-based fee depends on investment results); commissions come with a sale or a trade, often from the company behind the product. How fees, commissions, and other arrangements differ

Fees and minimums

Form ADV Part 2A

The brochure lists different fees for different services or strategies. See the firm's brochure (dated March 31, 2026) for its fees and any account minimum, on the SEC's IAPD site.

Regulatory assets under management

Item 5.F
$65,596,131,787

$65,596,131,787 as of October 2026, filing dated April 9, 2026.

Discretionary: $65,596,131,787.Non-discretionary: $0.

A measure of scale, not skill or returns. Discretionary means the firm decides trades; non-discretionary means clients approve each one. What assets under management means

Who the firm serves

Item 5.D
Individuals (other than high net worth individuals)
Clients Fewer than 5 Assets $0 (0%)
High net worth individuals
Clients 2 Assets $18,307,395 (0%)
Banking or thrift institutions
Clients Fewer than 5 Assets $0 (0%)
Investment companies
Clients 29 Assets $15,843,070,677 (24%)
Business development companies
Clients 0 Assets $0 (0%)
Pooled investment vehicles (other than investment companies and business development companies)
Clients 51 Assets $22,147,916,513 (34%)
Pension and profit sharing plans (but not the plan participants or government pension plans)
Clients 73 Assets $11,851,584,002 (18%)
Charitable organizations
Clients 68 Assets $2,337,130,386 (4%)
State or municipal government entities (including government pension plans)
Clients 54 Assets $11,930,157,073 (18%)
Other investment advisers
Clients 1 Assets $320,704,865 (0%)
Insurance companies
Clients 4 Assets $23,539,301 (0%)
Sovereign wealth funds and foreign official institutions
Clients 4 Assets $721,467,066 (1%)
Corporations or other businesses not listed above
Clients 10 Assets $209,518,216 (0%)
Other
Clients 386 Assets $192,736,293 (0%)

A firm with no individual clients is an institutional manager even if it manages billions; the mix tells you whom the practice is built around.

Advisory services

Item 5.G
  • Portfolio management for individuals and/or small businesses
  • Portfolio management for investment companies (and business development companies)
  • Portfolio management for pooled investment vehicles (other than investment companies)
  • Portfolio management for businesses (other than small businesses) or institutional clients

Registration and firm details

Items 1, 2, 5
Registration
SEC-registered investment adviser. Status as filed: Approved.
Registered since
2014 (11 years)
Employees
Total: 388. Performing investment advisory functions: 142.
Wrap fee program participation
Yes.
Custodians (Schedule D, Section 5.K(3))

Custodians holding 10% or more of the firm's separately managed account assets, as filed on Form ADV (Schedule D, Section 5.K(3)). A custodian holds client assets; it does not endorse or supervise the firm. AdvisorCensus has no relationship with any custodian.

Other offices (Schedule D, Section 1.F)
3 other offices, as of the May 2026 filing
Baltimore, MDBoston, MANew York, NY
States registered or notice-filed
53 states or jurisdictions
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SEC-registered investment advisers are examined by the SEC. SEC, state, and exempt registration

Disclosures

Item 11

3 Reports 3 disclosure items on Form ADV Item 11. View on IAPD.

Questions answered yes on this filing

Regulatory matters Items 11.C to 11.G

  • 11.C(2) Has the SEC or the CFTC ever found that the firm or an advisory affiliate was involved in a violation of SEC or CFTC regulations or statutes?
  • 11.C(4) Has the SEC or the CFTC ever entered an order against the firm or an advisory affiliate in connection with investment-related activity?
  • 11.C(5) Has the SEC or the CFTC ever imposed a civil money penalty on the firm or an advisory affiliate, or ordered the firm or an advisory affiliate to cease and desist from an activity?

Each question covers the firm and its advisory affiliates: its current employees other than clerical staff, its officers, partners, and directors, and anyone who controls the firm or is controlled by it. One event can produce yes answers to several questions. SEC-registered advisers and exempt reporting advisers may leave out events more than ten years old, and may answer 11.A(2) and 11.B(2) for pending charges only. What happened, and who was involved, is on the Disclosure Reporting Pages of the IAPD record. Reading a firm's disclosures

Assets and staff over time

Items 5.A, 5.F
$69.7B 2021 $79.7B 2022 $56B 2023 $67.2B 2024 $71.6B 2025 $65.6B 2026
Data periodAssets under managementEmployeesFiling dated
October 2026$65,596,131,787388April 9, 2026
October 2025$71,590,158,244378July 16, 2025
October 2024$67,246,025,476372March 28, 2024
October 2023$56,044,084,183377July 14, 2023
October 2022$79,683,544,422389September 15, 2022
October 2021$69,739,613,957345July 19, 2021

Regulatory assets under management: $69,739,613,957 in the October 2021 data and $65,596,131,787 in the October 2026 data, down 6%.

Total employees: 345 in October 2021 and 388 in October 2026.

As filed in each year's data for the same month. Assets under management move with markets as well as with clients coming and going; they measure scale, not skill or returns. Most firms update these figures once a year.

Changes in the filing

Last 12 months
  1. April 2026
    • Employees performing advisory functions went from 152 to 142.
  2. March 2026
    • Updated its list of owners and control persons (Schedule A).
  3. February 2026
    • Updated its list of owners and control persons (Schedule A).

Compared month to month from the SEC's monthly adviser data and the state compilation feed. Owners and control persons are summarized, never named.

Websites listed on Form ADV

Item 1.I
im.williamblair.comopen.spotify.com/show/7cd8ano4miwMxS7VTsuaALpodcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-active-share/id1473139558tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/The-Active-Share-p1234306williamblair.com

Source: Form ADV, as of October 2026. Values appear as filed; a value the firm did not report is shown as "Not reported."

Cite this page

AdvisorCensus. William Blair Investment Management, LLC (CRD 173961): Form ADV filing data as of October 2026.
https://advisorcensus.com/firm/william-blair-investment-management-llc-chicago-il-173961