RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the following risk factors in addition to the other information presented in this prospectus before investing in our Class A common stock. Any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow. If any of the following risks and uncertainties actually occur, you may lose all or part of your original investment.

Risks Related to our Investment Performance and the Financial Markets

Volatile market conditions could adversely affect our business in many ways, including by reducing the value of our assets under management and causing clients to withdraw funds, either of which could materially reduce our revenues and adversely affect our financial condition.

The fees we earn under our investment management agreements with clients are based on the value of our assets under management. The prices of the securities held in the portfolios we manage and, therefore, our assets under management, may decline due to any number of factors beyond our control, including, among others, a declining stock or bond market, general economic downturn, political uncertainty or acts of terrorism. In connection with the severe market dislocations of 2008 and early 2009, the value of our assets under management declined substantially due primarily to the significant decline in stock prices worldwide. In future periods of difficult market conditions we may experience accelerated client redemptions or withdrawals if clients move assets to investments they perceive as offering greater opportunity or lower risk, which could further reduce our assets under management in addition to market depreciation. The economic outlook remains uncertain and we continue to operate in a challenging business environment. If market conditions, or actions taken by clients in response to market conditions, cause a decline in our assets under management, it would result in lower investment management fees and other revenue. If our revenues decline without a commensurate reduction in our expenses, our net income will be reduced and our business will be negatively affected.

If market conditions improve greatly, driving the prices of the securities in our clients’ accounts higher, it may lead to withdrawals or redemptions. In many cases, we advise only a portion of our clients’ complete financial portfolio. This is because many clients prefer to diversify their portfolio among more than one asset manager or investment type. As to those clients, if the portion of their portfolio held by us increases significantly, it may become too large a percentage of their overall portfolio, and they may withdraw assets from our management and invest it elsewhere, thereby rebalancing their overall portfolio and returning their allocation to us to its prior level.

If our investment strategies perform poorly, clients could withdraw their assets and we could suffer a decline in our assets under management and/or become the subject of litigation, either of which would reduce our earnings.

The performance of our investment strategies is critical in retaining existing client assets as well as attracting new client assets. If our investment strategies perform poorly for any reason on an absolute basis or relative to other investment advisers, or the rankings of mutual funds we sub-advise decline, our earnings could decline because:

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Our investment strategies can perform poorly for a number of reasons, including general market conditions, investment decisions that we make and the performance of the companies in which we invest on behalf of our clients. In addition, while we seek to deliver long-term value to our clients, volatility may lead to under-performance in the near term, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

While clients do not generally have legal recourse against us solely on the basis of poor investment results, if our investment strategies perform poorly, we are more likely to become subject to litigation brought by dissatisfied clients. In addition, to the extent clients are successful in claiming that their losses resulted from fraud, gross negligence, willful misconduct, breach of contract or other similar misconduct, these clients may have remedies against us and/or our investment professionals under the federal securities laws and/or state law.

The historical returns of our existing investment strategies may not be indicative of their future results or of the future results of investment strategies we may develop in the future.

We have presented the historical returns of our existing investment strategies under “Business—Our Business Model.” The historical returns of our strategies should not be considered indicative of the future results of these strategies or of the results of any other strategies that we may develop in the future. The investment performance we achieve for our clients varies over time and the variance can be wide. The historical performance presented herein is as of December 31, 2012 and for periods then ended. The performance we achieve as of a subsequent date and for a subsequent period may be higher or lower and the difference may be material. Our strategies’ returns have benefited during some periods from investment opportunities and positive economic and market conditions. In other periods, such as in 2008, the first quarter of 2009 and the second quarter of 2010, general economic and market conditions have negatively affected investment opportunities and our strategies’ returns. These negative conditions may occur again, and in the future, we may not be able to identify and invest in profitable investment opportunities within our current or future strategies.

We derive a substantial portion of our revenues from a limited number of our strategies.

As of December 31, 2012, $7.1 billion of our assets under management were concentrated in discretionary managed accounts, representing approximately 82% of our investment management fees for the year ended December 31, 2012. In addition, $0.9 billion of our assets under management were invested in private partnerships, as of December 31, 2012, representing approximately 18% of our investment management fees for the year ended December 31, 2012. As a result, a substantial portion of our operating results depends upon the performance of a limited number of investment strategies used to manage those discretionary managed accounts and private partnerships, and our ability to retain client assets. If a significant portion of the investors in our larger strategies decided to withdraw their investments or terminate their investment management agreements for any reason, including poor investment performance or adverse market conditions, our revenues from those strategies would decline, which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

A significant portion of our assets under management are or may be derived from a small number of clients, the loss of which could significantly reduce our management fees and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Certain of our strategies are or may derive a significant portion of their total assets under management from assets of a single client or a small number of clients. If any such clients withdraw all or a portion of their assets under management, our business would be significantly affected, which would negatively impact our management fees and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

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We may not be able to maintain our current fee structure as a result of poor investment performance, competitive pressures or as a result of changes in our business mix, which could have a material adverse effect on our profit margins and results of operations.

We may not be able to maintain our current fee structure for any number of reasons, including as a result of poor investment performance, competitive pressures or changes in our business mix. In recent years, there has been a general trend toward lower fees in the investment management industry, and some of our investment strategies, because they tend to invest in larger-capitalization companies and were designed to have larger capacity and to appeal to larger clients, have lower fee schedules. In order to maintain our fee structure in a competitive environment, we must be able to continue to provide clients with investment returns and service that our clients believe justify our fees. We may not succeed in providing the investment returns and service that will allow us to maintain our current fee structure. If our investment strategies perform poorly, we may be forced to lower our fees in order to retain current, and attract additional, assets to manage. Furthermore, if a larger part of our assets under management are invested in our larger capacity, lower fee strategies, our revenue could be adversely affected.

We derive most of our revenues from assets under management that may be reduced at any time by our clients.

We derive our revenues principally from our assets under management, which may be reduced by our clients, or investors in the mutual funds we sub-advise, at any time. A client may reduce his assets under management with us by re-allocating all or any portion of the assets that we manage away from us at any time with little or no notice. In addition, investors in the mutual funds we advise can redeem their investments in those funds at any time without prior notice. A client may also reduce his assets under management with us through the termination of his investment advisory agreement with us. Our investment advisory agreements are terminable by our clients upon short notice or no notice. These investment management agreements and client relationships may be terminated or not renewed for any number of reasons. The decrease in revenues that could result from a reduction in assets under management or the termination of a material client relationship or group of client relationships could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The long-only, equity investment focus of the majority of our strategies exposes us to greater risk than certain of our competitors whose investment strategies may also include non-equity securities or hedged positions.

Our largest equity investment strategies hold long positions in publicly-traded equity securities of companies across a wide range of market capitalizations, geographies and industries. Accordingly, under market conditions in which there is a general decline in the value of equity securities, each of our equity strategies is likely to perform poorly on an absolute basis. Aside from our privately managed funds and funds of funds, we do not have strategies that invest in privately-held companies or take short positions in equity securities, which could offset some of the poor performance of our long-only, equity strategies under such market conditions. Even if our investment performance remains strong during such market conditions relative to other long-only, equity strategies, investors may choose to withdraw assets from our management or allocate a larger portion of their assets to non-long-only or non-equity strategies. In addition, the prices of equity securities may fluctuate more widely than the prices of other types of securities, making the level of our assets under management and related revenues more volatile.

The performance of our investment strategies or the growth of our assets under management may be constrained by the unavailability of appropriate investment opportunities or if we close certain of our investment strategies.

The ability of our investment teams to deliver strong investment performance depends in large part on their ability to identify appropriate investment opportunities in which to invest client assets. If the investment team for any of our strategies is unable to identify sufficiently appropriate investment opportunities for existing and new client assets on a timely basis, the investment performance of the strategy could be adversely affected. In

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addition, if we determine that there are insufficient investment opportunities available for a strategy, we may choose to limit the growth of the strategy by limiting the rate at which we accept additional client assets for management under the strategy, closing the strategy to all or substantially all new investors or otherwise taking action to limit the flow of assets into the strategy. If we misjudge the point at which it would be optimal to limit access to or close a strategy, the investment performance of the strategy could be negatively impacted. The risk that sufficiently appropriate investment opportunities may be unavailable is influenced by a number of factors, including general market conditions, but is particularly acute with respect to our Small Cap and SMID Cap strategies that focus on small-cap investments, and is likely to increase as our assets under management increase, particularly if these increases occur very rapidly. If we are unable to identify appropriate investment opportunities in which to invest client assets, our growth and results of operations may be negatively affected.

Our investment strategies may not obtain attractive returns in the short-term or during certain market periods.

Our products are best suited for investors with long-term investment horizons. In order for our classic value investment approach to yield attractive returns, we must typically hold securities for an average of over three years. Therefore, our investment strategies may not perform well during short periods of time. In addition, our strategies may not perform well during points in the economic cycle when value-oriented stocks are relatively less attractive. For instance, during the late stages of an economic cycle, investors may purchase relatively expensive stocks in order to obtain access to above average growth, as was the case in the late 1990s. Value-oriented strategies may also experience weakness during periods when the markets are focused on one investment thesis or sector. For example, in the past two years, the markets have deemed many businesses producing commodities and basic materials to be sound investments, regardless of their prices, based on the thesis that the rapid growth of such large economies as China and India means that there will be constant shortfalls in the supply of the goods produced by these companies. We would not invest in these companies if their stocks were not inexpensively priced, thus foregoing potentially attractive returns during the periods when these companies’ stock prices are continuing to advance.

Our investment approach may underperform other investment approaches, which may result in significant withdrawals of client assets or client departures or a reduction in our assets under management.

Even when securities prices are rising generally, portfolio performance may be affected by our investment approach. We employ a long-term investment approach in all of our investment strategies. This investment approach has outperformed the market in some economic and market environments and underperformed it in others. In particular, a prolonged period in which the growth style of investing outperforms the value style may cause our investment strategy to go out of favor with some clients, consultants or third-party intermediaries. Poor performance relative to peers, coupled with changes in personnel, extensive periods in particular market environments or other difficulties may result in significant withdrawals of client assets, client departures or a reduction in our assets under management.

Our investment process requires us to conduct extensive fundamental research on any company before investing in it, which may result in missed investment opportunities and reduce the performance of our investment strategies.

We take a considerable amount of time to complete the in-depth research projects that our investment process requires before adding any security to our portfolio. Our process requires that we take this time in order to understand the company and the business well enough to make an informed decision whether we are willing to own a significant position in a company whose current earnings are below its historic norms and that does not yet have earnings visibility. However, the time we take to make this judgment may cause us to miss the opportunity to invest in a company that has a sharp and rapid earnings recovery. Any such missed investment opportunities could adversely impact the performance of our investment strategies.

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Our Core International Equity Strategy invests principally in the securities of non-U.S. companies, which involve foreign currency exchange, tax, political, social and economic uncertainties and risks.

As of December 31, 2012, our Core International Equity Strategy, which invests in companies domiciled outside of the United States, accounted for approximately 0.7% of our assets under management. In addition, some of our other strategies also invest on a more limited basis in securities of non-U.S. companies. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could negatively affect the returns of our clients who are invested in these strategies. In addition, an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to non-U.S. currencies is likely to result in a decrease in the U.S. dollar value of our assets under management, which, in turn, could result in lower revenue since we report our financial results in U.S. dollars.

Investments in non-U.S. issuers may also be affected by tax positions taken in countries or regions in which we are invested, as well as political, social and economic uncertainty, particularly as a result of the recent decline in economic conditions. Declining tax revenues may cause governments to assert their ability to tax the local gains and/or income of foreign investors (including our clients), which could adversely affect clients’ interests in investing outside the United States. Many financial markets are not as developed, or as efficient, as the U.S. financial markets, and, as a result, those markets may have limited liquidity and higher price volatility. Liquidity also may be adversely affected by political or economic events within a particular country, and our ability to dispose of an investment also may be adversely affected if we increase the size of our investments in smaller non-U.S. issuers. Non-U.S. legal and regulatory environments, including financial accounting standards and practices, also may be different, and there may be less publicly available information about such companies. These risks could adversely affect the performance of our Core International Equity Strategy and may be particularly acute in the emerging or less developed markets in which we invest.

Risks Related to our Key Professionals

The loss of key investment professionals or members of our senior management team could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We depend on the skills and expertise of our investment professionals and our success depends on our ability to retain the key members of our senior management and investment teams, who possess substantial experience in investing and have been primarily responsible for the historically strong investment performance we have achieved. In particular, we depend on the portfolio managers. As of December 31, 2012, $3.6 billion, representing 32% of our assets under management, were managed using one of our proprietary equity strategies. Our five largest strategies as of December 31, 2012 were Large Cap, Multi Cap, Small Cap, Equity Income and Focused Value which represented 11%, 7%, 7%, 5% and 2% of assets under management, respectively. Each of these five strategies has been managed by its current portfolio manager since its inception at Silvercrest.

Because of the long tenure and stable track record of our portfolio managers, our clients may attribute the investment performance we have achieved to these individuals. While we have generally experienced very few departures among our portfolio managers, there can be no assurance that this stability will continue in the future. The departure of one of a strategy’s portfolio managers could cause clients to withdraw funds from the strategy, which would reduce our assets under management, our investment management and other fees and, if we were not able to reduce our expenses sufficiently, our net income, and these reductions could be material to our business. The departure of one of a strategy’s portfolio managers also could cause clients to refrain from allocating additional funds to the strategy or delay such allocation of additional funds until a sufficient track record under a new portfolio manager or managers has been established. This would have a negative effect on the future growth of our assets under management and, therefore, our results of operations.

We also depend on the contributions of our senior management team led by G. Moffett Cochran, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, who co-founded our company and has been the primary architect of our business strategy, as well as other members of our senior management team. Mr. Cochran is 62 years old and has no current plans to retire. In 2002, he had an islet cell tumor removed from his pancreas and in 2005, he was

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found to have neuroendocrine tumors on his liver. Since 2005, Mr. Cochran has been under the treatment of a physician and has continuously performed his duties as Chief Executive Officer of our company on a full-time basis. There can be no assurance, however, that Mr. Cochran will not reduce his responsibilities or retire earlier than expected if his health condition were to worsen in the future. In addition, our senior marketing and client service personnel have direct contact with our clients and their consultants and advisors and other key individuals within each of our distribution channels. The loss of any of these key professionals could limit our ability to successfully execute our business strategy, prevent us from sustaining the historically strong investment performance and adversely affect our ability to retain or attract client assets.

If any member of our senior management or a key investment professional were to join a competitor or form a competing company, some of our current clients or other prominent members of the investing community could choose to invest with that competitor rather than us.

Any of our investment or management professionals may resign at any time, join our competitors or form a competing company. Although the unvested shares of Class A common stock and Class B units held by our principals are subject to forfeiture, and the vested shares of Class A common stock and Class B units held by our principals are subject to repurchase, if the principal voluntarily resigns or retires and competes with us while employed or during the 12-month period following termination of employment, these forfeiture and repurchase provisions may not be enforceable or may not be enforceable to their full extent. We do not carry “key man” insurance on any of our key investment professionals (other than an immaterial key-man policy on Mr. Cochran) that would provide us with proceeds in the event of the death or disability of any of the key members of our investment or management teams.

The professional reputations, expertise in investing and client relationships of our senior management and key investment professionals are critical elements to executing our business strategy and attracting and retaining clients. Accordingly, the retention of our senior management and key investment professionals is crucial to our future success. There is no guarantee that they will not resign, join our competitors or form a competing company. The terms of the second amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Silvercrest L.P. restrict each of the principals of Silvercrest L.P. from soliciting our clients or other employees during the term of their employment with us and for 18 months thereafter. In addition to the legal rights and remedies available to us to enforce these restrictive covenants, the penalty for a breach of these restrictive covenants or, if a principal voluntarily resigns or retires from our company, for competing with us during the 12-month period following termination of employment, will be the forfeiture of all of the unvested shares of Class A common stock and Class B units of the offending party and his or her permitted transferees and, at the option of Silvercrest L.P., the required sale to Silvercrest L.P. of all of the vested Class B units of the offending party and his or her permitted transferees at a purchase price equal to the lesser of (i) the aggregate capital account balance of the offending party and his or her permitted transferees in Silvercrest L.P. and (ii) the purchase price paid by the offending party to first acquire the Class B units, and, at our option, the required sale to us of all of the Class A common stock collectively held by the offending party and his or her permitted transferees at a purchase price equal to the purchase price paid by the offending party to first acquire the Class B units for which such shares of Class A common stock had been exchanged. Although we also would likely seek specific performance of these restrictive covenants, there can be no assurance that we would be successful in obtaining this relief. Further, after this post-employment restrictive period, we will not be able to prohibit a departed professional from soliciting our clients or employees. If any of our principals were to join a competitor or form a competing company, some of our current clients or other prominent members of the investing community could choose to invest with that competitor rather than us or otherwise withdraw assets from our company which could have a negative impact on our results of operations.

Competition for qualified investment, management and marketing and client service professionals is intense and we may fail to successfully attract and retain qualified personnel in the future.

Our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel will depend heavily on the amount and structure of compensation and opportunities for equity ownership we offer. Historically we have offered key employees

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equity ownership through interests in Silvercrest L.P. and Silvercrest GP LLC. Those key employees who are currently limited partners of Silvercrest L.P. and Silvercrest GP LLC will hold these interests in the form of Class B units immediately following this offering. In connection with our transition to a public company, we expect to implement a new compensation structure that uses a combination of cash and equity-based incentives as appropriate. Although we intend for overall compensation levels to remain commensurate with amounts paid to our key employees in the past, we may not be successful in designing and implementing an attractive compensation model. Any cost-reduction initiative or adjustments or reductions to compensation could negatively impact our ability to retain key personnel. In addition, changes to our management structure, corporate culture and corporate governance arrangements, including the changes associated with, and resulting from, our reorganization and becoming a public company, could negatively impact our ability to retain key personnel. If we are unable to retain key personnel, our results of operations may be negatively affected.

Risks Related to the Regulatory Environment in which We Operate

We are subject to extensive regulation that imposes numerous obligations on our business.

We are subject to extensive regulation in the United States, primarily at the federal level, including regulation by the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, or the Advisers Act, by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, under the Commodity Exchange Act, by the U.S. Department of Labor under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, and Nasdaq. The Advisers Act and the Commodity Exchange Act impose numerous obligations on us including advertising, recordkeeping and operating requirements, disclosure obligations and prohibitions on fraudulent activities. In addition, we regularly rely on exemptions from various requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, and ERISA. These exemptions are sometimes highly complex and may in certain circumstances depend on compliance by third parties whom we do not control. If for any reason these exemptions were to be revoked or challenged or otherwise become unavailable to us, we could be subject to regulatory action or third-party claims, and our business could be materially and adversely affected.

In the future, we may further expand our business outside of the United States in such a way or to such an extent that we may be required to register with additional foreign regulatory agencies or otherwise comply with additional non-U.S. laws and regulations that do not currently apply to us and with respect to which we do not have compliance experience. Our lack of experience in complying with any such non-U.S. laws and regulations may increase our risk of becoming party to litigation and subject to regulatory actions.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act, was signed into law on July 21, 2010. While we do not at this time believe that the Dodd-Frank Act will cause us to reconsider our business model, it does appear that certain provisions will, and other provisions may, increase regulatory burdens and reporting and related compliance costs. In addition, the scope of many provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act will be determined by implementing regulations, some of which will require lengthy proposal and promulgation periods. Moreover, the Dodd-Frank Act mandates many regulatory studies, some of which pertain directly to the investment management industry, which could lead to additional legislation or regulation. The SEC and the CFTC, jointly issued final rules that require investment advisers registered with the SEC that advise one or more private funds, as well as commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors registered with the CFTC, to provide certain information on Form PF about their funds and assets under management, including the amount of borrowings, concentration of ownership and other performance information, which will be used by the Financial Stability Oversight Council for purposes of assessing the systemic risk posed by private funds and by the SEC and CFTC for other purposes. In light of this rulemaking, we will be required to file a Form PF, a Form CPO-PQR and Form CTA-PR providing all necessary information. The Dodd-Frank Act will affect a broad range of market participants with whom we interact or may interact, including banks, non-bank financial institutions, rating agencies, mortgage brokers, credit unions, insurance companies and broker-dealers.

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Regulatory changes that will affect other market participants are likely to change the way in which we conduct business with our counterparties. The uncertainty regarding implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and its impact on the investment management industry and us cannot be predicted at this time but will continue to be a risk for our business.

Accordingly, we face the risk of significant intervention by regulatory authorities, including extended investigation and surveillance activity, adoption of costly or restrictive new regulations and judicial or administrative proceedings that may result in substantial penalties. Among other things, we could be fined or be prohibited from engaging in some of our business activities. The requirements imposed by our regulators, other than the Exchange Act and the Nasdaq rules, are generally designed to ensure the integrity of the financial markets and to protect clients and other third parties who deal with us, and are generally not designed to protect our stockholders. Consequently, these regulations often serve to limit our activities, including through net capital, customer protection and market conduct requirements. Moreover, recent extreme volatility events in the U.S. equities markets have led to heightened scrutiny of sophisticated trading technology and execution methods.

The regulatory environment in which we operate is subject to continuous change, and regulatory developments designed to increase oversight may adversely affect our business.

The legislative and regulatory environment in which we operate has undergone significant changes in the recent past. We believe that significant regulatory changes in our industry are likely to continue, which is likely to subject industry participants to additional, more costly and generally more detailed regulation. New laws or regulations, or changes in the enforcement of existing laws or regulations, applicable to us and our clients may adversely affect our business. Our ability to function in this environment will depend on our ability to monitor and promptly react to legislative and regulatory changes. There have been a number of highly publicized regulatory inquiries that have focused on the investment management industry. These inquiries already have resulted in increased scrutiny of the industry and new rules and regulations for investment advisers. This regulatory scrutiny may limit our ability to engage in certain activities that might be beneficial to our stockholders.

In addition, as a result of the recent economic downturn, acts of serious fraud in the investment management industry and perceived lapses in regulatory oversight, U.S. and non-U.S. governmental and regulatory authorities may increase regulatory oversight of our businesses. We may be adversely affected as a result of new or revised legislation or regulations imposed by the SEC, the CFTC, other U.S. or non-U.S. governmental regulatory authorities or self-regulatory organizations that supervise the financial markets. We also may be adversely affected by changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules by these governmental authorities and self-regulatory organizations, as well as by U.S. and non-U.S. courts. It is impossible to determine the extent of the impact of any new laws, regulations or initiatives that may be proposed on us or the markets in which we trade, or whether any of the proposals will become law. Compliance with any new laws or regulations could add to our compliance burden and costs and affect the manner in which we conduct business.

We could be subject to regulatory investigations, which could harm our reputation and cause our funds to lose existing investors or us to lose existing accounts or fail to attract new investors or accounts.

The failure by us to comply with applicable laws or regulations could result in fines, suspensions of individual employees or other sanctions. Even if an investigation or proceeding did not result in a fine or sanction or the fine or sanction imposed against us or our employees by a regulator were small in monetary amount, the adverse publicity relating to an investigation, proceeding or imposition of these fines or sanctions could harm our reputation and cause our funds to lose existing investors or us to lose existing accounts or fail to attract new investors or accounts.

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Failure to comply with “pay to play” regulations implemented by the SEC and certain states, and changes to the “pay to play” regulatory regimes, could adversely affect our business.

The SEC and several states have initiated investigations alleging that certain private equity firms and hedge funds or agents acting on their behalf have paid money to current or former government officials or their associates in exchange for improperly soliciting contracts with state pension funds. The SEC has also recently initiated a similar investigation into contracts awarded by sovereign wealth funds. The SEC approved Rule 206(4)-5 under the Advisers Act regarding “pay to play” practices by investment advisers involving campaign contributions and other payments to government officials able to exert influence on potential government entity clients. Among other restrictions, the rule prohibits investment advisers from providing advisory services for compensation to a government entity for two years, subject to very limited exceptions, after the investment adviser, its senior executives or its personnel involved in soliciting investments from government entities have made contributions to certain candidates and officials in a position to influence the hiring of an investment adviser by such government entity. Advisers are required to implement compliance policies designed, among other matters, to track contributions by certain of the adviser’s employees and engagements of third parties that solicit government entities (and political action committees controlled by such persons) and to keep certain records in order to enable the SEC to determine compliance with the rule. Additionally, California enacted legislation that requires placement agents (including in certain cases employees of investment managers) who solicit funds from California state retirement systems, such as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, to register as lobbyists, thereby becoming subject to increased reporting requirements and prohibited from receiving contingent compensation for soliciting investments from California state retirement systems. There also has been similar rulemaking in New York and other states. Such additional regulations may require the attention of senior management and may result in fines if any of our funds are deemed to have violated any regulations, thereby imposing additional expenses on us. Any failure on our part to comply with these rules could cause us to lose compensation for our advisory services or expose us to significant penalties and reputational damage.

Risks Related to Our Growth

Our efforts to establish new investment teams and strategies may be unsuccessful and could negatively impact our results of operations and our reputation.

As part of our growth strategy, we may seek to take advantage of opportunities to add new investment teams that invest in a way that is consistent with our philosophy of offering high value-added investment strategies. To the extent we are unable to recruit and retain investment teams that will complement our existing business model, we may not be successful in further diversifying our investment strategies and client assets, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and future prospects. In addition, the costs associated with establishing a new team and investment strategy initially will exceed the revenues they generate. If any such new strategies perform poorly and fail to attract sufficient assets to manage, our results of operations will be negatively impacted. A new strategy’s poor performance also may negatively impact our reputation and the reputation of our other investment strategies within the investment community.

We may enter into new lines of business, make strategic investments or acquisitions or enter into joint ventures, each of which may result in additional risks and uncertainties for our business.

The second amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Silvercrest L.P. permits us to enter into new lines of business, make future strategic investments or acquisitions and enter into joint ventures. As we have in the past, and subject to market conditions, we may grow our business through increasing assets under management in existing investment strategies, pursue new investment strategies, which may be similar or complementary to our existing strategies or be wholly new initiatives, consummating acquisitions of other investment advisers or entering into joint ventures.

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To the extent we make strategic investments or acquisitions, enter into strategic relationships or joint ventures or enter into new lines of business, we will face numerous risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with the required investment of capital and other resources and with combining or integrating operational and management systems and controls and managing potential conflicts. Entry into certain lines of business may subject us to new laws and regulations with which we are not familiar, or from which we are currently exempt, and may lead to increased litigation and regulatory risk. If a new business generates insufficient revenues, or produces investment losses, or if we are unable to efficiently manage our expanded operations, our results of operations will be adversely affected, and our reputation and business may be harmed. In the case of joint ventures, we are subject to additional risks and uncertainties in that we may be dependent upon, and subject to liability, losses or reputational damage relating to, systems, controls and personnel that are not under our control.

We may be unable to successfully execute strategic investments or acquisitions or enter into joint ventures, and we may fail to successfully integrate and operate new investment teams, which could limit our ability to grow assets under management and adversely affect our results of operations.

We have not at this time entered into any binding agreements with respect to any strategic investments or acquisitions or any strategic relationships or joint ventures and we cannot assure you that we will actually make any additional acquisitions. Our ability to execute our acquisition strategy will depend on our ability to identify new lines of businesses or new investment teams that meet our investment criteria and to successfully negotiate with the owners/managers who may not wish to give up control of the target fund general partner or managing member, as the case may be. We cannot be certain that we will be successful in finding new investment teams or investing in new lines of business or that they will have favorable operating results following our acquisitions.

Moreover, our future acquisition strategies may focus on privately-held asset managers that pursue single strategy specialized investments. This approach presents challenges, including the lack of publicly available information, and greater risks than are generally associated with transactions with more traditional asset managers. The asset managers that we may acquire and their financial information may not be subject to the reporting requirements and other rules that govern public companies, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Sarbanes-Oxley. Moreover, such asset managers may not be subject to regulation under the Advisers Act and/or the Commodity Exchange Act at the time we acquire them. As a result, such asset managers could be more susceptible to irregular accounting or fraudulent practices. The targets we seek to acquire in the future may have shorter operating histories than us on which to estimate future performance and may not have significant or any operating revenues. They also may have a lower capitalization and fewer resources (including cash) and be more vulnerable to failure than traditional asset managers. We will be required to rely on the ability of the professionals employed by us to obtain adequate information to evaluate the manager affiliates we seek to acquire.

In addition, our ability to acquire asset managers on favorable teams and successfully integrate and operate them is subject to the following significant risks:

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If we cannot complete acquisitions of such asset managers on favorable terms, or integrate or operate new investment teams to meet our goals or expectations, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, trading price of our common stock and ability to satisfy any debt service obligations and to pay distributions could be adversely affected. Additionally, any acquisitions that we make generally will not be subject to our stockholders’ consent. These factors increase the risk of investing in our Class A common stock.

The due diligence process that we undertake in connection with strategic investments or acquisitions or entry into joint ventures may not reveal all facts that may be relevant in connection with an investment, which could subject us to unknown liabilities.

In connection with strategic investments, acquisitions or entry into joint ventures, we conduct due diligence that we deem reasonable and appropriate based on the facts and circumstances applicable to such investments, acquisitions or joint ventures and expect to use our resources and oversight to enhance the risk management functions and diligence of our business and any investments going forward. When conducting due diligence, we have been required and will be required to evaluate important and complex business, financial, tax, accounting and legal issues. Outside consultants, legal advisers, accountants and investment banks may be involved in the due diligence process in the future in varying degrees depending on the type of investment. When conducting due diligence and making an assessment regarding a strategic investment, acquisition or joint venture, we have and will continue to rely on the resources available to us, including information provided by the target of the strategic investment, acquisition or joint venture, in some circumstances, third-party investigations. The due diligence investigations that we have carried out or will carry out with respect to any strategic investment, acquisition or joint venture may not reveal or highlight all relevant facts that may be necessary or helpful in evaluating the strategic investment, acquisition or joint venture, which could subject us to unknown liabilities that could adversely affect our profitability, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, such investigations will not necessarily result in the strategic investment, acquisition or joint venture being successful.

Risk Related Generally to our Business

Our failure to comply with investment guidelines set by our clients and limitations imposed by applicable law could result in damage awards against us and a loss of our assets under management, either of which could adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.

Certain clients who retain us to manage assets on their behalf specify guidelines regarding investment allocation and strategy that we are required to follow in managing their portfolios. In addition, the boards of mutual funds we sub-advise generally establish similar guidelines regarding the investment of assets in those funds. We are also required to invest the mutual funds’ assets in accordance with limitations under the Investment Company Act, and applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Internal Revenue Code. Our failure to comply with any of these guidelines and other limitations could result in losses to clients which, depending on the circumstances, could result in our obligation to make clients whole for such losses. If we believed that the circumstances did not justify a reimbursement, or clients believed the reimbursement we offered was insufficient, they could seek to recover damages from us, withdraw assets from our management or terminate their investment advisory agreement with us. Any of these events could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

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Operational risks, including the threat of cyber attacks, may disrupt our business, breach our clients’ security, result in losses or limit our growth.

We are heavily dependent on the capacity and reliability of the communications, information and technology systems supporting our operations, whether developed, owned and operated by us or by third parties. Operational risks, such as trading or operational errors or interruption of our financial, accounting, trading, compliance and other data processing systems, whether caused by the failure to prevent or mitigate data loss or other security breaches, or other cyber security threats or attacks, including breaches of our vendors’ technology and systems, fire or other natural disaster, power or telecommunications failure, act of terrorism or war or otherwise, could result in a disruption of our business, liability to clients, regulatory intervention or reputational damage, and thus have a material adverse effect on our business. Some types of operational risks, including, for example, trading errors, may be increased in periods of increased volatility, which can magnify the cost of an error. Cyber security risks relating to our business primarily involve the potential security breaches of our clients’ personal and financial information and illegal use thereof through system-wide “hacking” or other means. While we have never had any cyber security threat or attack on our technology systems, this may occur in the future.

Although we have back-up systems and cyber security and consumer protection measures in place, our back-up procedures, cyber defenses and capabilities in the event of a failure, interruption, or breach of security may not be adequate. Insurance and other safeguards we use may not be available or may only partially reimburse us for our losses related to operational failures or cyber attacks. In addition, we may choose to reimburse a client in the event of a trading error or under other circumstances, even if we are not legally required to do so, and any such reimbursements could adversely affect our results of operations.

After we become a public company and as our client base, number of investment strategies and/or physical locations increase, developing and maintaining our operational systems and infrastructure and protecting our systems from cyber security attacks and threats may become increasingly challenging and costly, which could constrain our ability to expand our businesses. Any upgrades or expansions to our operations and/or technology to accommodate increased volumes of transactions or otherwise may require significant expenditures and may increase the probability that we will suffer system interruptions and failures. We also depend substantially on our New York office where a majority of our employees, administration and technology resources are located, for the continued operation of our business. Any significant disruption to that office could have a material adverse effect on us.

Employee misconduct could expose us to significant legal liability and reputational harm.

We are vulnerable to reputational harm because we operate in an industry in which personal relationships, integrity and the confidence of our clients are of critical importance. Our employees could engage in misconduct that adversely affects our business. For example, if an employee were to engage in illegal or suspicious activities, we could be subject to regulatory sanctions and suffer serious harm to our reputation (as a consequence of the negative perception resulting from such activities), financial position, client relationships and ability to attract new clients.

Our business often requires that we deal with confidential information. If our employees were to improperly use or disclose this information, even if inadvertently, we could be subject to legal action and suffer serious harm to our reputation, financial position and current and future business relationships. It is not always possible to deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not always be effective. In addition, the SEC has increased its scrutiny of the use of non-public information obtained from corporate insiders by professional investors. Misconduct by our employees, or even unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct, could result in an adverse effect on our reputation and our business.

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Improper disclosure of personal data could result in liability and harm our reputation.

We and our service providers store and process personal client information. It is possible that the security controls, training and other processes with respect to personal data may not prevent the improper disclosure of client information. Such disclosure could harm our reputation as well and subject us to liability, resulting in increased costs or loss of revenue.

Failure to properly address conflicts of interest could harm our reputation, business and results of operations.

As we expand the scope of our business and our client base, we must continue to monitor and address any conflicts between our interests and those of our clients. The SEC and other regulators have increased their scrutiny of potential conflicts of interest, and we have implemented procedures and controls that we believe are reasonably designed to address these issues. However, appropriately dealing with conflicts of interest is complex, and if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest, we could face reputational damage, litigation or regulatory proceedings or penalties, any of which may adversely affect our results of operations.

We provide a broad range of services to Silvercrest Funds and family office services, which may expose us to liability.

We provide a broad range of administrative services to the management of certain of our company’s funds of funds and other investment funds, or collectively, the Silvercrest Funds, including preparation or supervision of the preparation of some of the Silvercrest Funds’ regulatory filings, provision of shareholder services and communications, accounting services including the supervision of the activities of Silvercrest Funds’ accounting services providers in the calculation of the funds’ net asset values, supervision of the preparation of Silvercrest Funds’ financial statements and coordination of the audits of those financial statements, tax services, including supervision of tax return preparation and supervision of the work of Silvercrest Funds’ other service providers. If it were determined that the Silvercrest Funds failed to comply with applicable regulatory requirements as a result of action or failure to act by our employees, we could be responsible for losses suffered or penalties imposed.

We also provide a range of family office services, in addition to investment management services, to some of our clients, including philanthropic, estate and wealth planning services, tax planning and preparation, financial statement, bill paying and record keeping services, bank loan arrangement and payment services and property and casualty insurance review. If we fail to perform these services properly, we could incur costs and reputational harm for which we might be liable. Further, we could have penalties imposed on us, be required to pay fines or be subject to private litigation, any of which could decrease our future income, or negatively affect our current business or our future growth prospects.

The investment management industry faces substantial litigation risks which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations or cause significant reputational harm to us.

We depend to a large extent on our network of relationships and on our reputation in order to attract and retain client assets. We make investment decisions on behalf of our clients that could result in substantial losses to them. If our clients suffer significant losses, or are otherwise dissatisfied with our services, we could be subject to the risk of legal liabilities or actions alleging negligent misconduct, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and/or fraud. These risks are often difficult to assess or quantify and their existence and magnitude often remain unknown for substantial periods of time, even after an action has been commenced. We may incur significant legal expenses in defending against litigation commenced by a client or regulatory authority. Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations or cause significant reputational harm to us.

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The investment management industry is intensely competitive.

The investment management industry is intensely competitive, with competition based on a variety of factors, including investment performance, investment management fee rates, continuity of investment professionals and client relationships, the quality of services provided to clients, reputation, continuity of selling arrangements with intermediaries and differentiated products. A number of factors, including the following, serve to increase our competitive risks:

If we are unable to compete effectively, our results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

Reductions in business sourced through third-party distribution channels, or their poor reviews of us or our products, could materially reduce our revenue and ability to attract new clients.

New accounts sourced through consultant-led searches may be a major component of our future growth. We also have accessed the high-net-worth segment of the investing community through relationships with well-respected wealth advisers who use our investment strategies in investment programs they construct for their clients. If we fail to successfully maintain these third-party distribution and sub-investment advisory relationships, our business could be materially adversely affected. In addition, many of these parties review and evaluate our products and our organization. Poor reviews or evaluations of either the particular product or of us may result in client withdrawals or may impact our ability to attract new assets through such intermediaries.

The significant growth we have experienced may be difficult to sustain.

Our assets under management have increased from $7.8 billion as of December 31, 2006 to $11.2 billion as of December 31, 2012. The absolute measure of our assets under management represents a significant rate of growth that may be difficult to sustain. The growth of our business will depend on, among other things, our ability to retain key investment professionals, to devote sufficient resources to maintaining existing investment strategies and to selectively develop new investment strategies. Our business growth also will depend on our success in achieving superior investment performance from our investment strategies, as well as our ability to maintain and extend our distribution capabilities, to deal with changing market conditions, to maintain adequate financial and business controls and to comply with new legal and regulatory requirements arising in response to both the increased sophistication of the investment management industry and the significant market and economic events of the last few years. If we believe that in order to continue to produce attractive returns from some or all of our investment strategies we should limit the growth of those strategies, we have in the past chosen, and in the future may choose, to limit or close access to those strategies to some or most categories of new investors or otherwise take action to slow the flow of assets into those strategies.

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In addition, we expect there to be significant demand on our infrastructure and investment teams and we may not be able to manage our growing business effectively or be able to sustain the level of growth we have achieved historically, and any failure to do so could adversely affect our ability to generate revenue and control our expenses.

A change of control could result in termination of our sub-investment advisory and investment advisory agreements.

Pursuant to the Advisers Act, each of our investment advisory agreements for the separate accounts we manage may not be “assigned” without the consent of the client. In addition, under the Investment Company Act, each of the investment advisory agreements with SEC registered mutual funds that we sub-advise automatically terminates in the event of its assignment. A sale of a controlling block of our voting securities and certain other transactions would be deemed an “assignment” pursuant to the Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act. Such an assignment may be deemed to occur in the event that the holders of the Class B units of Silvercrest L.P. exchange enough of their Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock and dispose of such shares of Class A common stock such that they no longer own a controlling interest in us, even if no other person or group acquires a controlling interest. If such a deemed assignment occurs, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain the necessary consents from our clients and, unless the necessary approvals and consents are obtained, the deemed assignment could adversely affect our ability to continue managing client accounts, resulting in the loss of assets under management and a corresponding loss of revenue.

If our techniques for managing risk are ineffective, we may be exposed to material unanticipated losses.

In order to manage the significant risks inherent in our business, we must maintain effective policies, procedures and systems that enable us to identify, monitor and control our exposure to operational, legal and reputational risks. Our risk management methods may prove to be ineffective due to their design, implementation or insufficient scope, or as a result of the lack of adequate, accurate or timely information or otherwise. If our risk management efforts are ineffective, we could suffer losses that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results. Additionally, we could be subject to litigation, particularly from our clients, and sanctions or fines from regulators or self-regulatory organizations. Our techniques for managing risks in client portfolios may not fully mitigate the risk exposure in all economic or market environments, or against all types of risk, including risks that we might fail to identify or anticipate.

The cost of insuring our business is substantial and may increase.

Our insurance costs are substantial and can fluctuate significantly from year to year and rate increases in the future are possible. In addition, certain insurance coverage may not be available or may only be available at prohibitive costs. As we renew our insurance policies, we may be subject to additional costs resulting from rising premiums, the assumption of higher deductibles and/or co-insurance liability. In addition, we intend to obtain additional liability insurance for our directors and officers in connection with this offering. Higher insurance costs and increased deductibles would negatively impact our net income.

Our reliance on prime brokers, custodians, administrators and other agents subjects us to certain risks relating to their execution of transactions and their solvency, and the failure by or insolvency of, any such person could adversely affect our business and financial performance.

Our business generally depends on the services of prime brokers, custodians, administrators and other agents to carry out securities transactions. For example, in the event of the insolvency of a prime broker and/or custodian, our funds might not be able to recover equivalent assets in full as they will rank among the prime broker’s and custodian’s unsecured creditors in relation to assets which the prime broker or a custodian borrows, lends or otherwise uses. In addition, our funds’ cash held with a prime broker or a custodian will not be segregated from the prime broker’s or custodian’s own cash, and our funds will therefore rank as unsecured creditors in relation thereto.

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The historical consolidated and unaudited pro forma financial information included in this prospectus is not necessarily indicative of our future financial results after the reorganization and as a public company.

The historical consolidated financial information included in this prospectus may not be indicative of our future financial results after the reorganization and as a public company. Our assets under management have increased 42% in the past six years. We do not expect our assets under management or revenue to grow at the same rate as they have grown in the past five years. In addition, the historical consolidated financial information included in this prospectus does not reflect the added costs that we expect to incur as a public company or the changes that will occur in our capital structure and operations in connection with our reorganization. For example, because we operated through a limited liability company prior to this offering and paid little or no taxes on our profits, our historical consolidated financial information does not reflect the tax impact of our adoption of a corporate holding company structure.

In preparing our unaudited pro forma financial information for the periods prior to this offering, we adjusted our historical financial information for the transactions described in “The Reorganization and Our Holding Company Structure.” The estimates we used in this unaudited pro forma financial information are not intended to approximate our actual experience as a public company or be indicative in any way of our future performance. The results of future periods may be materially different than those of the past as a result of:

If we incur indebtedness or issue senior equity securities, we will be exposed to additional risks, including the typical risks associated with leverage.

The amount of leverage that we employ will depend on our board of directors’ assessment of market and other factors at the time of any proposed borrowing. We may also use leverage to make certain investments. There is no assurance that a leveraging strategy will be successful. Leverage involves risks and special considerations that include the following:

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Any requirement that we sell assets at a loss to redeem or pay interest on any leverage or for other reasons would reduce our net asset value and also make it difficult for our net asset value to recover. Our board of directors, in its best judgment, nevertheless may determine to use leverage if it expects that the benefits to our common stockholders of maintaining the leveraged position will outweigh the risks. General interest rate fluctuations may have a substantial negative impact on our investments and investment opportunities. In addition, an increase in interest rates would make it more expensive for us to use debt to finance these investments.

Future financings could adversely affect us and our common stockholders by diluting existing stockholders or by placing restrictions on our ability to run our business, including making distributions to unitholders.

Although we believe that the proceeds from this offering and future cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our working capital needs for normal operations pursuant to our business plan, these sources of capital may not fully fund our growth strategy in the immediate future. If we decide to pursue future acquisitions, we may use proceeds remaining from this offering and then raise additional capital through the incurrence of long-term or short-term indebtedness or the issuance of additional equity securities in private or public transactions. This could result in dilution of existing common stockholders’ equity positions, increased interest expense and decreased net income. In addition, significant capital requirements associated with such investments may impair our ability to make distributions to our Class A common stockholders.

Risks Related to Our Structure

Control by our principals of     % of the combined voting power of our capital stock and the rights of holders of Class B units of Silvercrest L.P. may give rise to conflicts of interest.

Immediately after the completion of this offering, our employee stockholders will collectively hold approximately     % of the combined voting power of our capital stock (or approximately     %, if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares of our Class A common stock). Concurrently with the completion of this offering, each of our principals (including directors who are principals) who hold shares of our common stock will enter into a stockholders’ agreement with respect to all shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock then held by them and any shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock they may acquire in the future. Pursuant to the stockholders’ agreement, the shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock held by our employees will be voted in accordance with the determination of the Executive Committee until the termination of employment of such employee. The votes of the members of the Executive Committee will be weighted based upon their relative holdings of Silvercrest L.P. Class B units. As a result of his equity ownership and position on the Executive Committee, Mr. Cochran, our Chief Executive Officer, will initially control the vote of the Executive Committee and, as a result, all of the shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock held by our principals.

In connection with this offering, we plan to adopt the 2012 Equity Incentive Plan, pursuant to which we intend to grant equity awards of or with respect to shares of our Class A common stock or Class B units of Silvercrest L.P. To the extent that we cause Silvercrest L.P. to issue additional Class B units to our principals, these employees would be entitled to receive a corresponding number of shares of our Class B common stock (including if the Class B units awarded are subject to vesting). All of the shares of our common stock issued to principals under this plan will be subject to the stockholders’ agreement.

For so long as our principals who remain employed by us collectively hold at least 50% of the number of outstanding shares of our common stock, the parties to the stockholders’ agreement will be able to elect all of the members of our board of directors and thereby control our management and affairs, including determinations with respect to acquisitions, dispositions, borrowings, issuances of securities and the declaration and payment of dividends. In addition, the parties to the stockholders’ agreement will be able to determine the outcome of all matters requiring the approval of stockholders to cause or prevent a change of control of our company or a change in the composition of our board of directors and could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of our

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company. The parties to the stockholders’ agreement will have the ability to prevent the consummation of mergers, takeovers or other transactions that may be in the best interests of our Class A stockholders. In particular, this concentration of voting power could deprive Class A stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their shares of Class A common stock as part of a sale of our company, and could ultimately affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

In addition, because our principals will hold all or a portion of their ownership interests in our business through Silvercrest L.P., rather than through Silvercrest, these existing owners may have other conflicting interests with holders of our Class A common stock. For example, our existing owners may have different tax positions from holders of our Class A common stock which could influence their decisions regarding whether and when we should dispose of assets, whether and when we should incur new or refinance existing indebtedness, especially in light of the existence of the tax receivable agreement that we will enter into in connection with this offering, and whether and when our company should terminate the tax receivable agreement and accelerate its obligations thereunder. Also, the structuring of future transactions may take into consideration these existing owners’ tax or other considerations even where no similar benefit would accrue to us. See “The Reorganization and Our Holding Company Structure—Tax Receivable Agreement” for more information.

Our ability to pay regular dividends to our stockholders is subject to the discretion of our board of directors and may be limited by our structure and applicable provisions of Delaware law.

Following completion of this offering, we intend to declare cash dividends on our Class A common stock as described in “Dividend Policy.” However, our board of directors may, in its sole discretion, change the amount or frequency of dividends or discontinue the payment of dividends entirely. In addition, because of our structure, we will be dependent upon the ability of our subsidiaries to generate earnings and cash flows and distribute them to us so that we may pay dividends to our stockholders. We expect to cause Silvercrest L.P., which is a Delaware limited partnership, to make distributions to its partners, including us, in an amount sufficient for us to pay dividends. However, its ability to make such distributions will be subject to its subsidiaries’ operating results, cash requirements and financial condition, the applicable provisions of Delaware law that may limit the amount of funds available for distribution to its partners, its compliance with covenants and financial ratios related to future indebtedness, its other agreements with third parties, as well as its obligation to make tax distributions under the second amended and restated limited partnership agreement (which distributions would reduce the cash available for distributions by Silvercrest L.P. to us). As a Delaware corporation, our ability to pay cash dividends to our Class A common stockholders with the distributions received by us as general partner of Silvercrest L.P. also will be subject to the applicable provisions of Delaware law. Also, each of the companies in the corporate chain must manage its assets, liabilities and working capital in order to meet all of its cash obligations, including the payment of dividends or distributions. As a consequence of these various limitations and restrictions, we may not be able to make, or may have to reduce or eliminate, the payment of dividends on our Class A common stock. Any change in the level of our dividends or the suspension of the payment thereof could adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

Our ability to pay taxes and expenses, including payments under the tax receivable agreement, may be limited by our structure.

Upon the consummation of this offering, we will have no material assets other than our ownership of Class A units of Silvercrest L.P. and will have no independent means of generating revenue. Silvercrest L.P. will be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax. Instead, taxable income will be allocated to holders of its partnership units, including us. Accordingly, we will incur income taxes on our proportionate share of any net taxable income of Silvercrest L.P. and also will incur expenses related to our operations. Under the terms of its second amended and restated limited partnership agreement, Silvercrest L.P. will be obligated to make tax distributions to holders of its partnership units, including us. In addition to tax expenses, we also will incur expenses related to our operations, including expenses under the tax receivable agreement, which we expect will be significant. We intend to cause

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Silvercrest L.P. to make distributions in an amount sufficient to allow us to pay our taxes and operating expenses, including any payments due under the tax receivable agreement. However, its ability to make such distributions will be subject to various limitations and restrictions as set forth in the preceding risk factor. If, as a consequence of these various limitations and restrictions, we do not have sufficient funds to pay tax or other liabilities to fund our operations, we may need to borrow funds and thus this could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition. To the extent we are unable to make payments under the tax receivable agreement for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest at LIBOR plus 300 basis points until paid.

We will be required to pay principals for certain tax benefits we may claim, and the amounts we may pay could be significant.

The reorganization described under “The Reorganization and Our Holding Company Structure” will result in favorable tax attributes for us. In addition, future exchanges of Class B units of Silvercrest L.P. held by our principals for shares of our Class A common stock are expected to produce additional favorable tax attributes for us. When we acquire Class B units from existing partners, both the existing basis and the anticipated basis adjustments are likely to increase (for tax purposes) depreciation and amortization deductions allocable to us from Silvercrest L.P. and therefore reduce the amount of income tax we would otherwise be required to pay in the future. This increase in tax basis also may decrease gain (or increase loss) on future dispositions of certain capital assets to the extent the increased tax basis is allocated to those capital assets.

The tax receivable agreement, which we will enter into with our principals, will generally provide for the payment by us to each of them of 85% of the amount of the cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal and state income tax that we actually realize (or are deemed to realize in certain circumstances) in periods after this offering as a result of (i) any step-up in tax basis in Silvercrest L.P.’s assets resulting from (a) the purchases or exchanges of Class B units (along with the corresponding shares of our Class B common stock) for shares of our Class A common stock and (b) payments under this tax receivable agreement; (ii) certain prior distributions by Silvercrest L.P. and prior transfers or exchanges of Class B units which resulted in tax basis adjustments to the assets of Silvercrest L.P.; and (iii) tax benefits related to imputed interest deemed to be paid by us as a result of this tax receivable agreement.

We expect that the payments we will be required to make under the tax receivable agreement will be substantial. Assuming no material changes in the relevant tax law and that we earn sufficient taxable income to realize all tax benefits that are subject to the tax receivable agreement, we expect that the reduction in tax payments for us associated with (i) the purchase of Class B units from certain of the limited partners of Silvercrest L.P. with a portion of the net proceeds of this offering and (ii) future exchanges of Class B units as described above would aggregate approximately $         million over 15 years from the date of this offering based on an assumed price of $         per share of our Class A common stock (the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus) and assuming all future exchanges or purchases, other than the purchases in connection with this offering, would occur one year after this offering. Under such scenario we would be required to pay the holders of limited partnership units 85% of such amount, or approximately $         million, over the 15-year period from the date of this offering. The actual amounts may materially differ from these hypothetical amounts, as potential future reductions in tax payments for us and tax receivable agreement payments by us will be calculated using the market value of our Class A common stock and the prevailing tax rates at the time of the exchange and will be dependent on us generating sufficient future taxable income to realize the benefit. See “The Reorganization and Our Holding Company Structure—Tax Receivable Agreement.”

The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under this agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges by principals, the price of our Class A common stock at the time of the exchange, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable, the amount and timing of the taxable income we generate in the future and the tax rate then applicable, as well as the portion of our payments under the tax receivable agreement constituting imputed interest or depreciable or amortizable basis.

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Payments under the tax receivable agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that we determine. Although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, to challenge a tax basis increase or other tax attributes subject to the tax receivable agreement, we will not be reimbursed for any payments previously made under the tax receivable agreement. As a result, in certain circumstances, payments could be made under the tax receivable agreement in excess of the benefits that we actually realize in respect of the attributes to which the tax receivable agreement relates.

In certain cases, payments under the tax receivable agreement to our principals may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the tax receivable agreement.

The tax receivable agreement provides that upon certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control, or if, at any time, we elect an early termination of the tax receivable agreement, our (or our successor’s) obligations under the tax receivable agreement (with respect to all Class B units held by our principals, whether or not Class B units have been exchanged or acquired before or after such transaction) would be based on certain assumptions, including that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully avail ourselves of the deductions arising from the increased tax deductions and tax basis and other benefits related to entering into the tax receivable agreement. As a result, (i) we could be required to make payments under the tax receivable agreement that are greater than or less than the specified percentage of the actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the tax receivable agreement, and (ii) if we elect to terminate the tax receivable agreement early, we would be required to make an immediate payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax benefits, which payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization of such future benefits. In these situations, our obligations under the tax receivable agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control. There can be no assurance that we will be able to finance our obligations under the tax receivable agreement. If we were to elect to terminate the tax receivable agreement immediately after this offering, based on an assumed price of $         per share of our Class A common stock (the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus), we estimate that we would be required to pay approximately $         million in the aggregate under the tax receivable agreement.

If we were deemed an investment company under the Investment Company Act as a result of our ownership of Silvercrest L.P., applicable restrictions could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We do not believe that we are an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act. Because we, as the sole general partner of Silvercrest L.P., control and operate Silvercrest L.P., we believe that our interest in Silvercrest L.P. is not an “investment security” as that term is used in the Investment Company Act. If we were to cease participation in the management of Silvercrest L.P., our interest in Silvercrest L.P. could be deemed an “investment security” for purposes of the Investment Company Act. A person may be an “investment company” if it owns investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items). Upon consummation of this offering, our sole asset will be our general partner interest in Silvercrest L.P. A determination that such investment was an investment security could cause us to be deemed an investment company under the Investment Company Act and to become subject to the registration and other requirements of the Investment Company Act. In addition, we do not believe that we are an investment company under Section 3(b)(1) of the Investment Company Act because we are not primarily engaged in a business that causes us to fall within the definition of “investment company.” We and Silvercrest L.P. intend to conduct our operations so that we will not be deemed an investment company. However, if we were to be deemed an investment company, restrictions imposed by the Investment Company Act, including limitations on our capital structure and our ability to transact with affiliates, could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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Risks Related to this Offering

There is no existing market for our Class A common stock, and we do not know if one will develop, which may cause our Class A common stock to trade at a discount from its initial offering price and make it difficult to sell the shares you purchase.

Prior to this offering, there has not been a public market for our Class A common stock and we cannot predict the extent to which investor interest in us will lead to the development of an active trading market on Nasdaq, or otherwise, or how liquid that market might become. If an active trading market does not develop, you may have difficulty selling your shares of Class A common stock at an attractive price, or at all. The initial public offering price for our Class A common stock will be determined by negotiations between us and the representatives of the underwriters and may not be indicative of prices that will prevail in the open market following this offering. Consequently, you may not be able to sell shares of our Class A common stock at prices equal to or greater than the price you paid in this offering and you may suffer a loss on your investment.

The market price and trading volume of our Class A common stock may be volatile, which could result in rapid and substantial losses for our stockholders.

Even if an active trading market develops, the market price of our Class A common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations. Moreover, the trading volume of our Class A common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our Class A common stock declines significantly, you may be unable to sell your shares of Class A common stock at or above the price at which you purchased it, if at all. The market price of our Class A common stock may fluctuate or decline significantly in the future. Some of the factors that could negatively affect the price of our Class A common stock, or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our Class A common stock, include:

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Future issuances and sales of our Class A common stock in the public market could lower our stock price, and any additional capital raised by us through the sale of equity or convertible securities may dilute your ownership in us.

The market price of our Class A common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our Class A common stock available for sale after completion of this offering, or the perception that such sales could occur. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also may make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital by selling equity securities in the future, at a time and price that we deem appropriate.

We will agree with the underwriters not to issue, sell, or otherwise dispose of or hedge any shares of our Class A common stock, subject to certain exceptions, for the 180-day period following the date of this prospectus, without the prior consent of Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. and Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Prior to the consummation of this offering, our executive officers and directors and our employees who participate in the directed share program will enter into similar lock-up agreements with the underwriters. Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. and Raymond James & Associates, Inc. may, at any time, release us and/or any of our officers and directors from this lock-up agreement and allow us to sell shares of our Class A common stock within this 180-day period. For more information, see “Underwriting.” In addition, pursuant to the terms of an exchange agreement that we will enter into with our principals, such Class B units will not be exchangeable for shares of our Class A common stock until the six-month anniversary of the consummation of this offering. Pursuant to our lock-up agreement with the underwriters, we will not be permitted to waive these restrictions pursuant to the exchange agreement without the prior consent of Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. and Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

Upon completion of this offering, there will be              shares of our Class A common stock outstanding (or shares if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional              shares of our Class A common stock) of which shares will be freely transferable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act. The shares of Class A common stock that will be issuable upon exchange of Class B units held by our principals may only be sold in the manner at the times described under “The Reorganization and Our Holding Company Structure—Resale and Registration Rights Agreement.” For so long as a principal remains employed by us, during every 12-month period beginning on the six-month anniversary of this offering, each principal and his permitted transferees ( e.g ., family trusts) may collectively exchange vested Class B units that equal 20% of the Class B units such persons collectively held at the beginning of such 12-month period, subject to certain exceptions described under “The Reorganization and Our Holding Company Structure—Second Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement of Silvercrest L.P.—Exchange Rights.” Upon a termination of employment other than due to retirement or for cause, all Class B units held by a principal, other than those Class B units forfeited under certain circumstances, will be exchanged automatically for shares of Class A common stock. The shares of Class A common stock received upon exchange for Class B units held by our principals may be sold (i) at any time and in any manner by retired employees and employees or estates of employees terminated due to death or disability, (ii) for any principal whose employment is terminated by us without cause, in an amount equal to 50% of the total shares of Class A common stock held by the principal at the time of termination of employment less any amounts sold for taxes in each 12-month period following the 18-month anniversary of the date of termination of employment, and (iii) for any principal who voluntarily resigns his employment, in an amount equal to one-third of the total shares of Class A common stock held by the principal at the time of termination of employment less any amounts sold for taxes in each 12-month period following the 18-month anniversary of the date of resignation of employment subject to manner of sale restrictions described in “The Reorganization and Our Holding Company Structure—Resale and Registration Rights.”

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After this offering, we intend initially to register              shares of our Class A common stock for issuance pursuant to, upon the exercise of options or other equity awards granted under, or upon exchange of Class B units granted under, our 2012 Equity Incentive Plan. We may increase the number of shares registered for this purpose from time to time. Once we register these shares, they will be able to be sold in the public market upon issuance.

We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our Class A common stock or the effect, if any, that future issuances and sales of shares of our Class A common stock may have on the market price of our Class A common stock. Sales or distributions of substantial amounts of our Class A common stock (including shares issued in connection with an acquisition), or the perception that such sales could occur, may cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline.

Participants in our directed share program who have executed a lock-up agreement with the underwriters must hold their shares for a minimum of 180 days following the date of this prospectus and accordingly will be subject to market risks not imposed on other investors in this offering.

At our request, the underwriters have reserved up to              shares of the Class A common stock offered hereby for sale to our directors, officers, employees and certain other parties who are otherwise associated with us. Purchasers of these shares who have entered into a lock-up agreement with the underwriters will not, subject to exceptions, be able to offer, sell, contract to sell, or otherwise dispose of or hedge any such shares for a period of 180 days after the date of the final prospectus relating to this offering, subject to certain specified extensions. As a result of such restriction, such purchasers may face risks not faced by other investors who have the right to sell their shares at any time following this offering (including other participants in the directed share program who have not executed a lock-up agreement with the underwriters). These risks include the market risk of holding our shares of Class A common stock during the period that such restrictions are in effect.

We are an “emerging growth company,” and any decision on our part to comply only with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our Class A common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or the JOBS Act, enacted in April 2012, and, for as long as we continue to be an “emerging growth company,” we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We could remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenues exceed $1 billion, (ii) the date that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of an issuer’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter before the end of that five-year period, or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt during the preceding three-year period. We cannot predict whether investors will find our Class A common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Class A common stock less attractive as a result of any decisions to reduce future disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our Class A common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We are, however, choosing to “opt out” of such extended transition period, and as a result, we will comply with new

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or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that our decision to opt out of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards is irrevocable.

The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and distract our management, which could make it difficult to manage our business, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.”

Following the completion of this offering, we will be required to comply with various regulatory and reporting requirements, including those required by the SEC. Complying with these reporting and other regulatory requirements will be time-consuming and will result in increased costs to us and could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. As a public company, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and requirements of Sarbanes Oxley. These requirements may place a strain on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. Sarbanes Oxley requires that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting. To maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, we will need to commit significant resources, hire additional staff and provide additional management oversight. We will be implementing additional procedures and processes for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies, including consideration of an upgrade to our financial reporting systems. Sustaining our growth also will require us to commit additional management, operational and financial resources to identify new professionals to join our company and to maintain appropriate operational and financial systems to adequately support expansion. In addition, as a public company, we must also enhance our investor relations, legal and corporate communications functions. All of these activities and additional efforts may increase our costs, strain our resources and divert management’s attention from other business concerns, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

As an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, we may take advantage of certain temporary exemptions from various reporting requirements including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of Sarbanes Oxley (and rules and regulations of the SEC thereunder, which we refer to as Section 404) and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. When these exemptions cease to apply, we expect to incur additional expenses and devote increased management effort toward ensuring compliance with them. We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur as a result of becoming a public company or the timing of such costs.

You will suffer immediate and substantial dilution and may experience additional dilution in the future.

We expect that the initial public offering price per share of our Class A common stock will be substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock immediately after this offering, and after giving effect to the exchange of all outstanding Class B units held by our principals for shares of our Class A common stock. As a result, you will pay a price per share that substantially exceeds the per share book value of our assets after subtracting our liabilities. At an offering price of $         (the midpoint of the range set forth on the cover of this prospectus), you will incur immediate and substantial dilution in an amount of $         per share of our Class A common stock. In addition, you will experience further dilution upon the issuance of restricted Class B units or restricted shares of our Class A common stock, or upon the grant of options or other equity awards to purchase Class B units or shares of our Class A common stock, in each case under our 2012 Equity Incentive Plan.

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We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds to us from this offering and may not use them in a manner in which our stockholders would consider appropriate.

We cannot specify with certainty the particular uses of the net proceeds remaining after the repurchase of Class B units from existing limited partners that we will receive from this offering. Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, including for any of the purposes described under the heading “Use of Proceeds” included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our stockholders may not agree with the manner in which our management chooses to allocate and spend the net proceeds. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could have an adverse effect on our business. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.

Anti-takeover provisions in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could discourage a change of control that our stockholders may favor, which also could adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

Provisions in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may make it more difficult and expensive for a third party to acquire control of us, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our stockholders. For example, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which will be in effect at the time this offering is consummated, will authorize our board of directors to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of our preferred stock and to designate the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of unissued series of our preferred stock, each without any vote or action by our stockholders. We could issue a series of preferred stock to impede the consummation of a merger, tender offer or other takeover attempt. In addition, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors. The anti-takeover provisions in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may impede takeover attempts, or other transactions, that may be in the best interests of our stockholders and, in particular, our Class A stockholders. Moreover, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected to the extent that provisions of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws discourage potential takeover attempts, or other transactions, that our stockholders may favor.

We will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, will qualify for, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

Upon the closing of this offering, our principals will continue to control a majority of our Class A common stock. As a result, we will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under the Nasdaq rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, including:

Following this offering, we do not intend to utilize these exemptions. As a result, we will have a majority of independent directors and our Nominating/Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees will consist entirely of independent directors and we will have an annual performance evaluation of the Nominating/Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees. See “Management” section. However, if we decide to utilize these exemptions in the future, you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.

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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Class A common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of our company, the trading price for our Class A common stock would be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.

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