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500 SW 116th Avenue
Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office
Part 2A of Form ADV:
Firm Brochure
September 26, 2025
Firm Contact: Nancy L. Congdon, President
Item 1 – Cover Page
contact us by
telephone at
This Firm Brochure (“brochure”) provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Blue
Water Wealth, Inc., doing business as Blue Water Wealth. If you have any questions about the contents of
(503) 296-8700 or by email at
this brochure, please
pdxoffice@bluewaterwealth.com. The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) or by any state securities authority.
Additional information about Blue Water Wealth, Inc. is also available on the SEC’s website at
www.adviserinfo.sec.gov by searching for CRD No. 164432.
Please note that the use of the term “registered investment advisor” and the description of Blue Water
Wealth, Inc. and/or our associates as “registered” does not imply a certain level of skill or training. You are
encouraged to review this brochure and brochure supplements for our firm’s associates who advise you for
more information on the qualifications of our firm and our employees.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
2
Item 2 – Material Changes
Blue Water Wealth, Inc. is required to advise you of any material changes to this brochure from
our last annual update dated February 27, 2025. This brochure contains the following material
changes :
• This brochure has been amended to reflect that effective October 1, 2025, our Portland,
Oregon offices will be relocated to 500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97225. Our
office hours at this address are also by appointment only effective as of October 1, 2025.
• This brochure has been amended to reflect that we now require a minimum fee of $2,000
to prepare a written financial plan. Previously the minimum fee was $1,200. Please see
Item 5 for details.
We will update this brochure and summarize in this Item 2 the occurrence of any material changes
with respect to our business in accordance with applicable law. All current clients will receive a
Summary of Material Changes to this and subsequent brochures within 120 days of the close of
our fiscal year and certain additional updates regarding changes with respect to our firm and our
business practices as they may occur. Updated information concerning these changes will be
provided to you free of charge. A Summary of Material Changes is also included within our
brochure found on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. You can obtain additional
information about our firm by searching for us on the foregoing website by our firm name or by
our unique IARD/CRD number (164432).
Currently, our brochure may be requested by contacting Nancy L. Congdon, Chief Compliance
Officer, at the telephone number appearing on the cover page of this brochure or by contacting
us by e-mail at pdxoffice@bluewaterwealth.com. A copy of this brochure will be provided to you
free of charge.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
3
Item 3 – Table of Contents
ITEM 1 - COVER PAGE ....................................................................................................................................... 1
ITEM 2 - MATERIAL CHANGES ......................................................................................................................... 2
ITEM 3 - TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ 3
ITEM 4 - ADVISORY BUSINESS ......................................................................................................................... 4
ITEM 5 - FEES AND COMPENSATION ............................................................................................................. 8
ITEM 6 - PERFORMANCE-BASED FEES AND SIDE-BY-SIDE MANAGEMENT ........................................... 14
ITEM 7 - TYPES OF CLIENTS AND ACCOUNT REQUIREMENTS ................................................................. 15
ITEM 8 - METHODS OF ANALYSIS, INVESTMENT STRATEGIES, AND RISK OF LOSS .............................. 15
ITEM 9 - DISCIPLINARY INFORMATION ........................................................................................................ 22
ITEM 10 - OTHER FINANCIAL INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES AND AFFILIATIONS .............................................. 22
ITEM 11 – CODE OF ETHICS, PARTICIPATION OR INTEREST IN CLIENT TRANSACTIONS, AND
PERSONAL TRADING ....................................................................................................................................... 23
ITEM 12 - BROKERAGE PRACTICES ............................................................................................................... 25
ITEM 13 - REVIEW OF ACCOUNTS AND FINANCIAL PLANS ...................................................................... 29
ITEM 14 - CLIENT REFERRALS AND OTHER COMPENSATION .................................................................. 30
ITEM 15 - CUSTODY ........................................................................................................................................ 30
ITEM 16 - INVESTMENT DISCRETION ........................................................................................................... 31
ITEM 17 - VOTING CLIENT SECURITIES ........................................................................................................ 31
ITEM 18 - FINANCIAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................................... 31
BlueWaterWealth.com
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
4
Item 4 – Advisory Business
Blue Water Wealth, Inc. is an Oregon corporation formed in 2012. The firm has been in business
as an investment advisor since the year of its formation and is registered as an investment advisor
with the SEC. The firm is 100% owned by Nancy L. Congdon and maintains offices in Portland,
Oregon and Seattle, Washington.
The information contained in this brochure describes our investment advisory services, practices,
and fees. Please refer to the description of each investment advisory service below for information
on how we tailor our services to the needs of our clients. As used throughout this firm brochure,
the words “we,” “our,” “firm,” “BWW,” “Blue Water Wealth,” and “us” refer to Blue Water Wealth,
Inc., and the words “you,” “your,” and “client” refer to you as either a client or prospective client of
our firm.
As a fiduciary, it is our duty to always act in your best interests. This is accomplished in part by
knowing our clients, their unique investment objectives, and overall financial circumstances. We
have established a service-oriented advisory practice with open lines of communication for many
different types of clients to help meet their financial goals, while remaining sensitive to our clients’
unique risk tolerances and time horizons. Working with clients to understand their investment
objectives while educating them about our process facilitates the kind of working relationship our
clients value. A description of our advisory services is as follows:
A. Types of Advisory Services
Financial Planning:
We provide a variety of financial planning services to individuals, families, and other clients
regarding the management of their financial resources based upon an analysis of the client’s
current financial situation, goals, and objectives. Generally, such financial planning services will
involve the preparation and delivery to the client of a written financial plan or other report based
on the client’s financial goals and objectives. This planning may encompass one or more of the
following financial topics, and others, depending on your unique financial situation, assets and
income, employment, tolerance for investment risk, time horizon for investments, investment
objectives, and other factors:
• multi-generational planning;
• charitable/planned giving;
• estate/legacy planning; and
• estate settlement services.
strategic asset allocation;
retirement income planning;
•
retirement planning;
• goal funding analysis;
• protection planning;
•
•
BlueWaterWealth.com
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
5
The written financial plans, reports, and summaries we provide to clients typically include general
recommendations for a course of activity or specific actions to be taken by the client with respect
to the covered financial topics. For example, recommendations may be made that the client begin
or revise certain investment programs, create or revise wills or trusts, obtain or revise insurance
coverage, commence or alter retirement savings, or establish education savings or charitable giving
programs. The client is provided with a written summary of their financial situation, our
observations, and financial planning recommendations.
Our financial planning services are available either in the form of comprehensive and holistic
financial planning or on a one-time project basis. For comprehensive financial planning
engagements, we will consult with you to obtain an understanding of your unique financial
circumstances, goals, and key areas of financial concern. We will then deliver an initial written
financial plan, report, or summary of observations and recommendations designed to address your
unique situation and needs and meet with you (in person, telephonically and/or by electronic
means) at least once annually thereafter to review your financial plan, report, or summary, track
progress towards your goals, and update our financial recommendations as necessary. We will also
remain reasonably available throughout the course of our relationship to assist you with ad-hoc
financial advice regarding common financial matters or concerns which touch upon the topics
covered in your written financial plan. Comprehensive and holistic financial planning services
engagements automatically renew annually, unless terminated earlier by BWW or the client. In
rare instances where we determine that you have requested ad-hoc financial advice that falls
outside the scope of your financial plan (or which would otherwise entail substantial additional
work for our firm), we reserve the right to charge additional fees.
For one-time financial planning engagements, the client may select a discrete financial topic or
topics upon which they would like to receive our financial advice. One-time engagements are of
limited scope and do not include comprehensive financial planning or the provision of ongoing ad-
hoc financial planning advice. Depending on the number of financial topics selected and their
complexity, we will deliver our advice and recommendations in the form of a written financial plan
or a shorter written report, summary, or checklist reflecting our recommendations. Once the
written plan, report, summary, or checklist is delivered to you the engagement is concluded and
no further update or review of our financial planning advice is provided. We will only update and
review our one-time financial planning advice at your specific request, subject to your payment of
an additional fee and execution of a separate written agreement for these services.
Irrespective of whether you choose a comprehensive and holistic financial planning engagement
or a one-time financial planning engagement, all financial plans and reports are typically completed
and delivered to the client within six (6) months of the client signing a contract with us, assuming
that all the information and documents we request from the client is provided to us promptly.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
6
Financial planning is a non-discretionary service – you always retain the sole and absolute discretion
to accept or reject any of our financial planning recommendations, in whole or in part. You will be
solely responsible for the implementation of any accepted investment recommendations; for the
determination of the manner, timing, and service providers to be utilized in connection with the
same; and for the ongoing monitoring of your investments and accounts. At your specific request,
and only upon your execution a separate written agreement for investment management services
under our Coordinated Asset Management Program, we will assist you with the implementation
and ongoing monitoring of certain recommended investments. Additional fees will apply. Clients
are never obligated to engage BWW for these additional services and are always free to choose
their preferred service providers for investment implementation. Details regarding the nature of
our Coordinated Asset Management Program are below.
As part of our financial planning services, we may recommend that you engage certain third-party
professionals, for example, attorneys, accountants, and insurance agents. We do not provide any
legal, tax, or accounting advice. Clients may elect to engage any recommended third-party
professionals at their own discretion and risk. We are not liable for the acts, errors or omissions of
any recommended third-party service providers and do not receive any referral fees in connection
with the recommendation of third-party service providers to clients.
Coordinated Asset Management Program:
We offer ongoing discretionary portfolio management services under our Coordinated Asset
Management Program (“CAMP” or the “Program”). CAMP is separate and distinct from our offering
of financial planning services. In this Program, we provide you with investment strategy selection,
portfolio design, investment implementation, and ongoing and regular supervision of your
investment account(s), all of which services are provided in a manner that is consistent with your
unique investment profile. All services under the Program are provided pursuant to a written
advisory agreement (a “CAMP Agreement”) that you will enter with our firm.
You will be required to grant us ongoing and continuous discretionary authority to execute our
investment recommendations within your account without obtaining your approval prior to each
specific transaction. Stated plainly, this means that you authorize us to purchase and sell securities
and instruments in your account(s), arrange for delivery and payment in connection with the
foregoing, and act on your behalf in all other matters necessary or incidental to the management
of your investment account, including monitoring of your assets, all without seeking your approval
for each specific transaction. This authority further includes our ability to hire and fire third-party
money managers (“TPMMs”) to manage all or a portion of your assets, and to allocate and
reallocate your assets among the selected TPMMs as we believe to be in your best interests. We
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
7
will only exercise our discretionary authority over your account in strict accordance with your
individual needs, stated goals, and investment objectives.
We will consult with you and gather information regarding your financial goals, investment
objectives, risk tolerance, and the time horizon for investments. The information we typically
request during this process will include your current and expected income level, tax information,
investment experience, current portfolio construction/asset allocation, and expected
expenses/liquidity needs, among other items. Based on our analysis of these factors, we will
develop, design, and implement an investment strategy and portfolio within your account held at
an independent qualified custodian (“Custodian”). CAMP client portfolios focus on Sustainable,
Responsible & Impact (“SRI”) investing and typically include a customized selection of individual
stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), cash and cash equivalents, and/or
other public and private securities or investments, as appropriate, based on the client’s unique
investment profile and needs.
As referenced above, where appropriate, we may also recommend that certain TPMMs be
engaged for the direct management of all or a portion of your CAMP account. The TPMMs we
recommend may contract with us directly to provide sub-advisory services to your account or may
be accessible to us via the investment platform of your Custodian. In other instances, we may
recommend that a client directly contract with a TPMM. In all cases, you will be provided with the
Form ADV Part 2A (or equivalent disclosures) for any recommended TPMMs at or prior to the
time of the engagement of their services for your account. You may further be required to execute
a separate advisory agreement and/or trading authorization in favor of such TPMMs at the time
of their engagement.
Where TPMMs are engaged to manage your account, we will continue to serve as your primary
advisor, and will act in a co-advisory capacity with respect to any assets managed by the TPMMs.
We will remain responsible for the ongoing monitoring of your TPMM accounts and the
determination of the suitability of the TPMM’s overall investment program. The TPMM shall be
responsible for discretionary portfolio management and all trading decisions and functions related
to the allocated assets. We will implement adjustments to your TPMM allocations and hire and
fire TPMMs as we believe to be appropriate and in your best interests.
Each client’s individual investment strategy is tailored to their specific needs and may include some
or all of the previously mentioned securities or TPMM managed accounts. Each portfolio will be
initially designed to meet a particular investment goal, which we determine to be suitable to the
client’s financial circumstances and in the client’s best interests. Once the appropriate investment
strategy and portfolio has been determined for the client, we will regularly monitor the progress
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
8
of your account and formally review it at least annually, rebalancing and/or reallocating your
account as necessary, based upon your individual needs, stated goals, and investment objectives.
B. Tailoring of Advisory Services; Investment Restrictions
Our financial planning and CAMP services are tailored to the unique financial circumstances of
each client. Each client has the opportunity to request reasonable restrictions or limitations on the
types of investments to be held in their portfolio. All such requests must be submitted to BWW in
writing. Restrictions of certain investments may not be possible due to the level of difficulty this
would entail in managing the client’s account. Accordingly, we reserve the right to accept or reject
any client requested investment restriction or limitation that we believe would frustrate our
management of the client’s account.
C. Participation in Wrap Fee Programs
We do not sponsor, recommend, or participate in any wrap fee program(s).
D. Assets under Management
As of December 31, 2024, our firm provided ongoing investment management services to
$384,236,117 of client assets on a discretionary basis and $0 of client assets on a non-
discretionary basis.
Separate, and in addition to, the foregoing amounts, as of December 31, 2024, we also advised on
$664,839,729 of additional client assets consisting of 401(k) plan assets and other client assets on
which we provide periodic financial planning and investment consulting advice.
Item 5 – Fees and Compensation
Advisory fees for our specific service offerings are set forth below.
A. & B. Compensation for Advisory Services
Financial Planning Advisory Fees:
We charge on a fixed fee basis for financial planning services, with fees typically ranging from
$2,000 - $20,000 per engagement, although the specific fixed fee charged to you may vary outside
of this range. The fee you will pay for these services is agreed upon in advance and will be set forth
in a written advisory agreement you will enter with our firm. The fixed fee amount we charge you
will be determined based on our evaluation of the complexity of your financial circumstances and
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
9
financial planning needs. As part of this analysis, we will consider, among other factors, your net
worth, the complexity, amount, location, and types of investable assets you hold or expect to
obtain, your income, liabilities, cash reserves, retirement time horizon, educational funding needs,
and the time, resources and personnel expected to be required from our firm to complete your
engagement.
We typically collect 100% of the financial planning fee at the start of our relationship. On an annual
basis, we will automatically send comprehensive financial planning clients an invoice and a new
advisory contract offering to renew our financial planning services. These fees are due within thirty
(30) days of the invoice date and are payable by check or credit card. One-time financial planning
engagements conclude with our delivery of the requested written financial plan, report, summary,
or checklist to the client.
We do not require a retainer exceeding $1,200 when financial planning services cannot be
rendered within 6 (six) months.
CAMP Advisory Fees:
Advisory fees for CAMP services are charged as an annual percentage of the market value of the
client’s assets under management within the Program, as set forth in the following fee schedule:
CAMP FEE SCHEDULE
Assets Under
Management
Fee Tiers
Annualized
Percentage of
Asset Charge
Up to $500,000
Monthly
Percentage
of Assets
Charge
0.1250%
1.50%
$500,001 - $1,000,000
0.1042%
1.25%
$1,000,001 - $3,000,000
0.0833%
1.00%
$3,000,001 - $10,000,000 0.0625%
0.75%
$10,000,001 and greater
0.0420%
0.50%
We may amend the fee applicable to your account only upon thirty (30) days’ prior written notice
to you. Advisory fees for CAMP services will be charged to you monthly in arrears at the rates set
forth in the fee schedule above, based on the total market value of your account(s) within the
Program (exclusive of any cash balances) as of the last day of the previous billing period, as
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
10
calculated by the Custodian of your account(s). Our advisory fee shall be calculated using the
“linear” billing method, meaning that the lowest fee rate available based on the market value of
your account within the above fee schedule shall be charged across your entire account. For
example, a client account with a market value of $600,000 would be charged an advisory fee of
0.1042% per month on the value of their entire account.
At our sole discretion, we may agree to reduce or eliminate our advisory fees as they relate to
certain specific holdings in your account to include, for example, legacy stocks held in your account
at the inception of our relationship. We may also reduce or eliminate our advisory fees as they
relate to our management of certain insurance products and securities, including, without
limitation variable annuity sub-accounts. In circumstances where we determine in our sole
discretion that a client’s portfolio management, information, and/or reporting needs exceed our
ordinary CAMP program service level (“Curated Management”), your CAMP account may be
subject to an additional fee of up to 0.25% per annum from the annualized rates set forth in the
fee schedule above. Any such fee adjustments will be reflected in our CAMP Agreement with the
client.
Our CAMP advisory fees will be directly deducted from your account held at the Custodian upon
your written approval of such arrangement and our periodic submission to the Custodian of a
written invoice reflecting the amount of advisory fees to be charged to your account. Your
authorization for direct fee deduction is set forth in our CAMP Agreement and/or the account
opening documents of the Custodian. We will liquidate money market shares or use cash balances
from your account to pay our advisory fee, however, if money market shares or cash value are not
available other investments may be liquidated. Please note that unexpected or premature
liquidation of investments to pay our advisory fees may impair the performance of your account.
BWW does not offer direct paper or electronic invoicing.
The Custodian will typically send an account statement to you monthly, but no less than quarterly,
identifying the amount of funds and each security in your account at the end of the period and
setting forth all transactions in the account during that period, including the amount of any
advisory fees paid directly to us. The Custodian is not responsible to verify our fee calculations.
We encourage you to review our reports and the Custodian’s account statements carefully and promptly
upon receipt. If you believe we have miscalculated the advisory fees applied to your account or if
you have any other questions your account, you should contact us immediately at the phone
number and e-mail address listed on the cover page of this brochure.
The value of any privately offered investments in your account shall only be included for purposes
of calculating our asset based advisory fees where BWW is able to determine their reasonable
“fair value.” BWW is authorized to use a variety of fair value techniques or methodologies and is
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
11
permitted to rely on third-party pricing services to assist in determining valuations when market
quotations are not readily available or are believed by BWW to be unreliable. These processes, as
well as any information and/or underlying assumptions utilized, will not always allow us to
correctly capture the fair value of an asset; rather fair valuation is intended to yield a good faith
approximation of the value of an asset and cannot be guaranteed to have reflected the actual or
empirical value of any asset, as might be determined with the benefit of hindsight or through
liquidation. Where fair value cannot be determined, BWW may instead charge an advisory fee
based upon the occurrence of a liquidation event with respect to the private investment and/or
certain fixed due diligence and monitoring fees. We make reasonable efforts to agree to any such
alternative fee arrangements with the client in advance of the client’s decision to participate in any
privately offered investments.
NOTE REGARDING NEGOTIATION OF FEES: We reserve the right to negotiate advisory fees for
any of our services with clients on an individual basis. As a firm, we value having a diverse client
base and our ability to individually negotiate fees affords us the flexibility to ensure that our
services remain reasonably accessible to clients from all walks of life. Accordingly, we may
negotiate fee arrangements that are materially different from those described above, based on any
factors we deem relevant, such as the client’s level of assets and income, relationships with other
clients or employees of our firm, our expectation of future assets under management, and the
honoring of the client’s fee arrangements with prior financial advisors. While we believe our
advisory services to be reasonably priced in view of the value provided to our clients, please be
aware that similar services may be offered by other advisors at a lower fee.
C. Other Fees and Expenses
As part of our investment advisory services, we may recommend that you invest in mutual funds,
ETFs, and in appropriate circumstances, certain privately offered investments. You will separately
bear the costs of all internal management, administration, and/or operating fees and expenses
associated with your investment in these pooled investment vehicles. These additional fees and
costs will typically be described in a separate prospectus or private offering memorandum issued
by the sponsor of the investment vehicle.
TPMM advisory fees are separate and in addition to the advisory fees paid to BWW. The amount
of any TPMM’s advisory fees, billing schedule, and payment procedures will be set forth in their
separate written disclosure documents and/or the account opening documents of your Custodian.
You should carefully review the disclosure and account opening documents of each selected
TPMM to fully understand the amount of their advisory fees, billing schedule, and payment
procedures.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
12
You will also pay the Custodian of your account transaction charges, custodial, and/or brokerage
fees and commissions, mark-ups and mark-downs, spreads paid to market makers, wire transfer
fees and other fees and taxes associated with activity in your brokerage account, whether directed
by our firm or a TPMM. These fees are described in the account opening documentation of the
Custodian.
We do not share in any portion of the foregoing additional fees and expenses. To fully understand
the total cost you will incur when engaging our services you should review the prospectus of each
mutual fund, ETF, private investment vehicle, and/or TPMM account in which you are invested
and the contractual arrangement with the Custodian of your account. For more information on
our brokerage practices, please refer to Item 12 of this brochure.
D. Termination of Advisory Services
If the client does not receive our brochure and brochure supplements at least forty-eight (48)
hours prior to entering into an advisory agreement, the client has the right to terminate our
services, without incurring advisory fees and without penalty, within five (5) business days of
entering into the advisory agreement. Otherwise, you may cancel any of our advisory services at
any time by notifying us in writing of your desire to terminate our relationship.
Where CAMP services are terminated, our asset-based advisory fees shall be pro-rated based
upon the number of days in the terminating period during which services were provided. Any
earned but unpaid advisory fees owed to us through the date of termination shall become
immediately due and payable to BWW and shall be deducted from your account at the qualified
Custodian.
Where financial planning services are terminated prior to our delivery of the written financial plan,
report, or checklist, our fixed fees shall be pro-rated based upon our good faith determination of
the total percentage of work completed at the time of termination. Our determination shall be
final and binding on the client and any unearned fees paid in advance shall be refunded to the
client. We will retain the earned portion of any such fees. Clients should note that we consider
substantially all of our financial planning services to be complete upon our delivery of the written
financial plan, report, or checklist to the client, irrespective of whether the engagement is for
comprehensive services or on a one-time project basis. Accordingly, any refunds after delivery of
our written recommendations will be nominal.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
13
E. Other Compensation
No Compensation Related to Sales of Securities and Insurance Products. BWW is a fee-based
investment advisory firm and does not sell investment or insurance products. No commissions in
any form are accepted by the firm or its associated financial professionals. We do not pay referral
fees, nor do we accept such fees from other firms. We are compensated solely by the investment
advisory and financial planning fees paid by our clients. We will only recommend securities and
insurance products to you when we believe them to be in your best interests in accordance with
our fiduciary duty to you.
Rollover Recommendations
As part of our investment advisory services to you, we may recommend that you roll assets from
your employer’s retirement plan, such as a 401(k), 457, or ERISA 403(b) account (collectively, a
“Plan Account”), to an individual retirement account, such as a SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA, Traditional
IRA, or Roth IRA (collectively, an “IRA Account”) that we will manage on your behalf. We may also
recommend rollovers from IRA Accounts to Plan Accounts, from Plan Accounts to Plan Accounts,
and from IRA Accounts to IRA Accounts. When we provide any of the foregoing rollover
recommendations we are acting as fiduciaries within the meaning of Title I of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), as applicable,
which are laws governing retirement accounts.
If you elect to roll the assets to an IRA that is subject to our management, we will charge you an
asset-based fee as set forth in the advisory agreement you executed with our firm. This creates a
conflict of interest because it creates a financial incentive for our firm to recommend the rollover
to you (i.e., receipt of additional fee-based compensation). You are under no obligation,
contractually or otherwise, to complete the rollover. Moreover, if you do complete the rollover,
you are under no obligation to have the assets in an IRA managed by our firm. Due to the foregoing
conflict of interest, when we make rollover recommendations, we operate under a special rule that
requires us to act in your best interests and not put our interests ahead of yours.
Under this special rule’s provisions, we must:
• meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (give
prudent advice);
• never put our financial interests ahead of yours when making recommendations (give loyal
advice);
• avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
•
follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in your best
interests;
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• charge no more than a reasonable fee for our services; and
• give you basic information about conflicts of interest.
Many employers permit former employees to keep their retirement assets in their company plan.
Also, current employees can sometimes move assets out of their company plan before they retire
or change jobs. In determining whether to complete the rollover to an IRA, and to the extent the
following options are available, you should consider the costs and benefits of a rollover.
Note that an employee will typically have four options in this situation:
1. leaving the funds in your employer’s (former employer’s) plan;
2. moving the funds to a new employer’s retirement plan;
3. cashing out and taking a taxable distribution from the plan; or
4. rolling the funds into an IRA rollover account.
Each of these options has positives and negatives. Because of that, along with the importance of
understanding the differences between these types of accounts, we will provide you with a written
explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of both account types and the basis for our belief
that the rollover transaction we recommend is in your best interests.
As an alternative to providing you with a rollover recommendation, we may instead take an entirely
educational approach in accordance with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Interpretive Bulletin 96-
1. Under this approach, our role will be limited only to providing you with general educational
materials regarding the pros and cons of rollover transactions. We will make no recommendation
to you regarding the prospective rollover of your assets and you are advised to speak with your
trusted tax and legal advisors with respect to rollover decisions. As part of this educational
approach, we may provide you with materials discussing some or all of the following topics: the
general pros and cons of rollover transactions; the benefits of retirement plan participation; the
impact of pre-retirement withdrawals on retirement income; the investment options available
inside your Plan Account; and high level discussion of general investment concepts (e.g., risk versus
return, the benefits of diversification and asset allocation, historical returns of certain asset classes,
etc.). We may also provide you with questionnaires and/or interactive investment materials that
may provide a means for you to independently determine your future retirement income needs
and to assess the impact of different asset allocations on your retirement income. You will make
the final rollover decision.
Item 6 – Performance-based Fees and Side-by-Side Management
We do not charge performance-based fees to our clients, nor do we participate in side-by-side
management of accounts.
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Performance-based fees refer to fees paid to an investment advisor that are based on a share of
the capital gains on or the capital appreciation of a client’s assets. Side-by-side management refers
to an investment advisor’s simultaneous management of both accounts that are charged a
performance-based fee and accounts that are charged another type of fee, such as an hourly or
fixed fee or an asset-based fee. Performance-based fee arrangements create an incentive for our
firm to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than would be the case absent such
arrangements. Likewise, side-by-side management of accounts creates an incentive for us to
allocate limited and/or high growth investment opportunities to clients who are charged
performance-based fees over clients who are exclusively charged asset-based fees, fixed fees, or
hourly fees.
Item 7 – Types of Clients and Account Requirements
A. Types of Clients
We typically provide investment advisory services to individuals and high net worth individuals.
B. Account Requirements
We typically impose the following requirement(s) to open or maintain an account:
• The minimum account balance for our CAMP service is $5,000.
• We charge a minimum fee of $2,000 for written financial plans.
We reserve the right to waive these requirements for individual clients in our sole discretion.
Item 8 – Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies, and Risk of Loss
A. Methods of Analysis
The types of investments we typically recommend are discussed in Item 4 of this brochure.
We may use some or all of the following methods of analysis in providing investment advice to
you:
Fundamental Analysis. In using fundamental analysis, we attempt to determine the intrinsic value
of target securities through a review of, among other things, company specific financial disclosures,
the strength and track record of management personnel, industry sector financial health, and at a
macro level, the overall direction of the economy at large. We use this information as a basis to
determine if such securities are underpriced or overpriced relative to current market prices and
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then to make a buy or sell recommendation to you. Relying on this type of analysis leaves open
the risk that the price of a security may move along with the overall direction of the market,
irrespective of the economic and financial factors which may have indicated that an opposite
movement would have been expected.
Technical Analysis. We analyze past market movements and apply that analysis to the present in
an attempt to recognize recurring patterns of investor behavior and potentially predict future price
movement. Technical analysis does not consider the underlying financial condition of a company
or security. This presents a risk in that a poorly managed or financially unsound company may
underperform regardless of overall market movement.
Cyclical Analysis. Cyclical analysis is the statistical analysis of specific events occurring at a
sufficient number of relatively predictable intervals that can be forecasted into the future. Cyclical
analysis asserts that cyclical forces drive price movements in the financial markets. Risks include
cycle inversion or disappearance. There is no expectation that this type of analysis will pinpoint
turning points, instead it may be used in conjunction with other methods of analysis.
Asset Allocation. Rather than focusing on selecting the particular securities or other assets to
invest for your account, we attempt to identify an appropriate ratio of various types of investments
(for example, equity securities, fixed income, and cash) suitable to investment goals, time horizon,
and risk tolerance. A risk of asset allocation is that you may not participate in sharp increases in a
particular security, industry, or market sector. Another risk is that the ratio of equity securities,
fixed income, and cash will change over time due to stock and market movements and, if not
corrected, will no longer be appropriate to meet with your investment goals.
Mutual Fund and ETF Selection and Analysis. We evaluate and select mutual funds and/or ETFs
for your account based on several factors which may include, without limitation, (1) the experience
and track record of the underlying portfolio manager(s), (2) the performance of the mutual fund or
ETF over time and through various market conditions; (3) expected market conditions that might
impact the underlying holdings of the mutual fund or ETF or applicable market sector; and (4)
whether and to what extent the underlying holdings of the mutual fund or ETF overlap with other
assets held in your account. We also monitor the mutual fund or ETF in an attempt to determine
if the fund is continuing to follow its stated investment strategy.
A risk of mutual funds and ETF analysis is that past performance does not guarantee future results.
A fund manager’s past track record of success cannot be relied upon as a predictor of success in
the future. In addition, the underlying holdings of the fund are determined by independent fund
managers and may change overtime without advance warning, creating the potential for overlap
with other investments held in your account. This increase in the correlation of your holdings will
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increase the risk of loss where the value of any overlapping holdings should decrease. There is also
a risk that a manager may deviate from the stated investment mandate or strategy of the mutual
fund or ETF, which could make the holding(s) less suitable for the client’s portfolio.
TPMM Selection and Analysis. This is the analysis of the experience, investment philosophies, and
past performance of independent TPMMs to determine if that manager has demonstrated an
ability to invest over a period of time and in different economic conditions. Key factors we consider
when evaluating TPMMs are their investment process and philosophy, risk management methods
and procedures, historical performance, investment strategy and style, fees and operating
expenses, assets under management and number or clients, and tax‐efficiencies. Our evaluation
also may incorporate both qualitative and quantitative fundamental analysis to validate and
confirm a TPMM’s investment style and skill, as well as to compare them to other managers of
similar style. We may utilize various research databases, proprietary models, financial periodicals,
prospectuses and filings with the SEC, industry contacts and manager data, among other items, as
part of the research process. Monitoring the TPMM’s underlying holdings, strategies,
concentrations and leverage as part of our overall periodic risk assessment completes the analysis.
As part of the due-diligence process, the TPMM’s compliance and business enterprise risks are
surveyed and reviewed.
Methods of analysis such as charting, fundamental, technical, or cyclical analysis may be used by
the TPMMs we recommend to clients. Please refer to the disclosure brochure of the TPMM for
more information.
B. Investment Strategies
Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact (“SRI”) Investing. BWW is committed to SRI investing. Given
this fact, a key strategy deployed in our investment research on behalf of clients is to consider
three critical factors in evaluating prospective investments. Those factors are referred to by the
acronym “ESG,” which stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. In short, we seek to
invest in companies that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability, pursue positive societal
and/or environmental impact, and affirm ethical conduct and diversity in their corporate
governance.
Long-term Purchases. We may recommend a long term, “buy and hold” approach to investing client
assets. In this type of investment strategy, we suggest the purchase of securities with the idea of
holding them in a portfolio for a year or longer. Typically, we employ this strategy when (1) we
believe the securities to be currently undervalued, and/or (2) we want the portfolio to have
exposure to a particular asset class over time, regardless of the current projection for this class. A
risk in a long-term purchase strategy is that by holding the security for this length of time, we may
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not take advantage of short-term gains that could be profitable to a client. Moreover, if our
predictions are incorrect, a security may decline sharply in value before we make the
recommendation to sell.
Short-term Purchases. We may recommend a short-term approach to investing client assets. This
typically entails the purchase of securities with the idea of selling them within a relatively short
time (typically a year or less). We do this in an attempt to take advantage of conditions that we
believe will soon result in a price swing in the securities we recommend for purchase. A short-term
purchase strategy poses risks should the anticipated price swing not materialize; we are then left
with the option of having a long-term investment in a security that was designed to be a short-
term purchase, or potentially taking a loss.
Active Management/Trading. We may purchase or recommend the purchase of securities with the
idea of selling them very quickly (typically within 30 days or less). We do this to take advantage of
our predictions of brief price swings. A trading strategy poses risks should the anticipated price
swing not materialize; we are then left with the option of having a long-term investment in a
security that was designed to be a short-term purchase, or potentially taking a loss. Active or more
frequent trading may also result in less favorable tax treatment of capital gains and increased
transaction-related costs.
C. Risk of Loss
While the value of the securities markets (or any individual security) may increase and your
account(s) could enjoy a gain, it is also possible that the value of the securities markets (or any
individual security) may lose value and your account(s) could suffer a loss. Investing in securities
involves risk of loss that clients should be prepared to bear. The following list of investment risks
is not intended to be an exhaustive description of all risks you may encounter in engaging our firm
for advisory services. It is important that you understand the risks associated with investing in
securities, are appropriately diversified in your investments, and ask us any questions you may
have.
The investments recommended by our firm are based solely upon the investment objectives and
financial circumstances disclosed to us by the client. We strive to meet and confer with our clients
at regular intervals (at least annually, unless otherwise agreed) to discuss any changes in the client’s
financial circumstances. Such meetings may take place in person, telephonically, or by electronic
means. Notwithstanding this client contact, the lack of constant and continuous communication
presents a risk insofar as your liquidity, net worth, risk tolerance and/or investment goals could
change abruptly, with no advance notice to our firm, resulting in a mis-aligned investment portfolio
and the potential for losses or other negative financial consequences.
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It is your continuing and exclusive responsibility to give us complete information and to notify us
of any changes in your financial circumstances, income level, investment goals or employment
status. We encourage you to contact us regularly and promptly to discuss any such changes.
Capital Risk. Capital risk is one of the most basic, fundamental risks of investing; it is the risk that
you may lose 100% of your money. All investments carry some form of risk, and the loss of capital
is generally a risk for any investment instrument.
Economic Risk. The prevailing economic environment is important to the health of all businesses.
Some companies, however, are more sensitive to changes in the domestic or global economy than
others. These types of companies are often referred to as cyclical businesses. Countries in which
a large portion of businesses are in cyclical industries are thus also very economically sensitive and
carry a higher amount of economic risk. If an investment is issued by a party located in a country
that experiences wide swings from an economic standpoint or in situations where certain elements
of an investment instrument are hinged on dealings in such countries, the investment instrument
will generally be subject to a higher level of economic risk.
Interest Rate Risk. Certain investments involve the payment of a fixed or variable rate of interest
to the investment holder. Once an investor has acquired or has acquired the rights to an
investment that pays a particular rate (fixed or variable) of interest, changes in overall interest rates
in the market will affect the value of the interest-paying investment(s) they hold. In general,
changes in prevailing interest rates in the market will have an inverse relationship to the value of
existing, interest paying investments. In other words, as interest rates move up, the value of an
instrument paying a particular rate (fixed or variable) of interest will go down. The reverse is
generally true as well.
Liquidity Risk. Certain assets, particularly private investments, but also other investment types,
may not be readily converted into cash or may have a very limited market in which they trade.
Thus, you may experience the risk that your investment or assets within your investment may not
be able to be liquidated quickly, thus, extending the period of time by which you may receive the
proceeds from your investment. Liquidity risk can also result in unfavorable pricing when exiting
(i.e., not being able to quickly get out of an investment before the price drops significantly) a
particular investment and therefore, can have a negative impact on investment returns.
Market Risk. The value of your portfolio may decrease if the value of an individual company or
multiple companies in the portfolio decreases or if our belief about a company’s intrinsic worth is
incorrect. Further, regardless of how well individual companies perform, the value of your portfolio
could also decrease if there are deteriorating economic or market conditions. It is important to
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understand that the value of your investment may fall, sometimes sharply, in response to changes
in the market, and you could lose money. Investment risks include price risk as may be observed
by a drop in a security’s price due to company specific events (e.g., earnings disappointment or
downgrade in the rating of a bond) or general market risk (e.g., such as a “bear” market when stock
values fall in general). For fixed-income securities, a period of rising interest rates could erode the
value of a bond since bond values generally fall as bond yields go up. Past performance is not a
guarantee of future returns.
Strategy Risk. There is no guarantee that the investment strategies discussed herein will work
under all market conditions and each investor should evaluate his/her ability to maintain any
investment he/she is considering in light of his/her own investment time horizon. Investments are
subject to risk, including possible loss of principal.
While we seek to take advantage of investment opportunities for our clients by weighing the
potential for positive investment returns with the risk of loss, there is no guarantee that such
opportunities will ultimately benefit our clients. We will change client portfolios in response to
market conditions that are unpredictable and may expose our clients to greater market risk than
seen in previous market cycles. There is no assurance that our investment strategy will enable our
clients to achieve their investment objectives.
TPMM Risk. A TPMM’s past track record of success cannot be relied upon as a predictor of success
in the future. In addition, the underlying holdings of your TPMM account(s) are determined by the
TPMM directly, and may change overtime without advance warning to us, creating the potential
for overlap with other investments held in your account. This increase in the correlation of your
holdings will increase the risk of loss where the value of any overlapping holdings should decrease.
There is also a risk that a TPMM may deviate from the stated investment mandate or strategy of
the account, which could make the holding(s) less suitable for the client’s portfolio. Our firm does
not control any TPMM’s daily business and compliance operations, and thus our firm may be
unaware of any lack of internal controls necessary to prevent business, regulatory or reputational
deficiencies.
SRI/ESG Investing Risk. Potential returns on investments which are screened for SRI/ESG factors
may be limited relative to a portfolio of investments which is not subject to such limitations. For
the same reasons, SRI/ESG limitations placed on a client’s account may result in a portfolio of
investments that is not as well diversified among asset classes as a similar portfolio that is not
subject to SRI/ESG screening. Clients are further advised that the universe of potential
investments available for implementation in an SRI/ESG conscious portfolio will be more limited
than it would be without such limitations in place. Therefore, there could be a more pronounced
positive or negative impact on an SRI/ESG-focused portfolio and/or an SRI/ESG-focused portfolio
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may experience higher or lower performance due to the limited number of public companies that
meet the firm’s SRI/ESG investment parameters.
Private Investment Risk. Your participation in any privately offered investments or purchase of
any privately offered securities involves a substantially higher degree of risk and is generally more
speculative than investments in publicly offered (registered) securities. Private investments may
include privately offered real estate investment trusts, Delaware Statutory Trusts, private equity
funds, hedge funds, commodity pools, and other similar investment vehicles. Private investments
are not appropriate for all clients and may be entirely illiquid. You should be financially capable of
accepting an extremely high degree of risk and should have significant resources beyond those
invested in any private investment(s). Stated differently, your private investments should purely
represent “risk capital” within your overall portfolio, the complete loss of which would have an
immaterial and insubstantial effect on your overall financial circumstances and financial goals.
Clients should carefully review any disclosure documents, operating agreements, subscription
materials, private placement memoranda, prospectuses and similar documentation provided by the
issuers of private securities with their independent legal and tax advisors before investing.
Risks Related to Analysis Methods. Our analysis of securities relies in part on the assumption that
the issuers whose securities we recommend for purchase and sale, the rating agencies that review
these securities, and other publicly-available sources of information about these securities, are
providing accurate and unbiased data. While we are alert to indications that data may be incorrect,
there is always a risk that our analysis may be compromised by inaccurate or misleading
information.
Cybersecurity Risk. We rely on the use of various electronic technologies to conduct our
investment advisory business and are therefore susceptible to operational, information security,
and related risks, including risks of unintentional cyber incidents and deliberate cyber-attacks.
Cyber-attacks include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g.,
through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes of corrupting data, or causing
operational disruption, as well as denial-of-service attacks on websites. Cyber incidents may cause
disruptions and impact on our business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses,
interference with a client’s ability to value their investments, impediments to trading, violations of
applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement
or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. While the firm and its most significant
counterparties and vendors have established business continuity plans and risk management
systems to help mitigate cyber incidents, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems
that are inherently outside of our control.
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reductions,
travel
Pandemic Risk. Large-scale outbreaks of infectious disease can greatly increase morbidity and
mortality over a wide geographic area, crossing international boundaries, and causing significant
economic, social, and political disruption. It is difficult to predict the long-term impact of such
events because they are dependent on a variety of factors including the global response of
regulators and governments to address and mitigate the worldwide effects of such events.
responses and policies and
restrictions, governmental
Workforce
macroeconomic factors may negatively impact investment returns.
Securities Transactions at the Direction of Clients. All assets are held at an independent qualified
Custodian in your name. You will typically maintain the concurrent ability to self-direct
transactions within your account. We are not responsible for the consequences, costs, and fees
generated by your self-directed investment transactions or transactions you instruct us to
implement on your behalf where we have advised you that such transactions are not in your best
interests. While our advisory fees will not be applied to any assets acquired as a result such self-
directed transactions, as your fiduciary, we will take all client assets known to us into account
when making investment recommendations to you.
D. Cash Balances in Client Accounts
We generally invest client’s cash balances in money market funds, FDIC insured certificates of
deposit, high-grade commercial paper and/or government backed debt instruments. In most cases,
at least a partial cash balance will be maintained in a money market account so that our firm may
debit its advisory fees for CAMP services.
Item 9 – Disciplinary Information
There are no legal or disciplinary events that are material to a client’s evaluation of our advisory
business or the integrity of our management.
Item 10 – Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
A. & B. Financial Industry Activities
Our firm and our associated persons are not registered, nor do they an application pending to
register, as a broker-dealer, futures commission merchant, commodity pool operator, commodity
trading advisor, or registered representative or associated person of any of the foregoing.
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C. Relationships Material to Our Advisory Business
Except for our receipt of certain benefits from the custodians we recommend to clients (as
disclosed in Items 12 and 14 of this brochure), BWW and its associated persons do not have any
relationships, industry activities, affiliations or arrangements and do not collect any additional
compensation, directly or indirectly, that create a material conflict of interest with our advisory
clients.
D. Selection of Other Advisors
We may directly engage or recommend TPMMs to our advisory clients based on their unique
investment needs and objectives. We do not receive any portion of the advisory fees paid to any
TPMMs by the client (which are separate and in addition to our advisory fees), nor do we receive
any referral fees or other similar compensation as a result of recommending any TPMMs to clients.
We always act in the best interests of our clients when recommending TPMMs. We take
reasonable measures to ensure the TPMMs we recommend to clients are properly licensed.
Item 11 – Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions, and Personal Trading
A. Our Code of Ethics
We subscribe to an ethical and high standard of conduct in all our business activity in order to
fulfill the fiduciary duty we owe to our clients. Included in these ethical obligations is the duty to
put our clients’ interests ahead of our own, along with duties of loyalty, fairness, and good faith
towards our clients. We disclose to clients material conflicts of interest which could reasonably be
expected to impair our rendering of unbiased and objective advice.
BWW has a Code of Ethics (“Code”) which all employees are required to follow at all times. Our
Code outlines proper conduct related to all services provided to clients and will be made available
to you, free of charge, upon request by contacting us at the phone number listed on the cover
page of this brochure. Upon employment or affiliation with our firm and at least annually
thereafter, all employees are required to sign an acknowledgement that they have read,
understand, and agree to comply with our Code. Our fiduciary duty is considered the core
underlying principle of our Code, which also includes policies addressing insider trading and
personal securities transactions. Prompt reporting of internal violations is mandatory under our
Code. BWW’s Chief Compliance Officer (or designee) evaluates employee performance to ensure
compliance with our Code.
Designed to prevent conflicts of interest between the financial interests of clients and the interests
of the firm and its staff, our Code requires, among other procedures, that our “access persons”
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report their personal securities transactions quarterly; report all securities positions in which they
have a beneficial interest upon initial hire and annually thereafter; and to pre-clear certain
anticipated transactions with BWW’s supervisory personnel. These reporting requirements allow
supervisors at the firm to determine whether to allow or prohibit certain employee securities
purchases and sales based on transactions made, or anticipated to be made, in the same securities
which may be purchased or sold for client accounts. The Code is required to be reviewed annually
and updated as necessary.
B. Material/Proprietary Interests in Securities Recommended to Clients
Our firm and individuals associated with our firm do not have any proprietary or material interests
in or any role in the management of any companies or investments that we recommend to our
clients.
C. & D. Personal Trading and Participation in Client Transactions
BWW and/or individuals associated with our firm may manage accounts which belong either to
themselves, individually, or to their family or their affiliates (collectively, “Proprietary Accounts”)
while simultaneously managing client accounts. Proprietary Accounts may buy and sell some of
the same securities as we buy or sell for client accounts. While we believe that it is logical, and
even desirable, that there be common ownership of some securities with our clients, our practices
with respect to trading of Proprietary Accounts create an actual conflict of interest with our clients
insofar as our firm or individuals associated with our firm have a financial incentive to trade in
securities for Proprietary Accounts in advance of or opposite to transactions in the same securities
for client accounts.
To address this conflict, our policy is that, assuming the purchase or sale is otherwise appropriate
for the subject client accounts, we will purchase or sell securities for our clients’ accounts, as the
case may be, before purchasing or selling any of the same securities for any Proprietary Accounts.
The only exception to this general rule is where our Proprietary Accounts may participate in an
aggregate (“block”) trade simultaneously with client accounts. In summary, our practice of buying
and selling for Proprietary Accounts the same securities that we buy or sell for client accounts is
restricted by the following controls:
• we are required to uphold our fiduciary duty to our clients;
• we are prohibited from misusing information about our clients’ securities holdings or
transactions to gain any undue advantage for ourselves or others;
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• we are prohibited from buying or selling any security that we are currently recommending
for client accounts, unless we participate in an aggregated trade with clients, or unless we
place our orders after client orders have been executed; and
• we are required to periodically report our securities holdings and transactions to the firm’s
Chief Compliance Officer, who must review those reports for improper trades.
We act in a fiduciary capacity. If a conflict of interest arises between us and you, we shall make
every effort to resolve the conflict in your favor. Conflicts of interest may also arise in the
allocation of investment opportunities among the accounts that we advise. We will seek to allocate
investment opportunities according to what we believe is appropriate for each account. We strive
to do what is equitable and in the best interest of all the accounts we advise.
We do not engage in principal transactions or agency cross trades with clients.
Item 12 – Brokerage Practices
A. Recommendation of Broker-Dealers; Best Execution; Soft Dollars and Other Benefits
Received from Broker-Dealers
When you engage us for CAMP services, we generally require that you engage the custodial and
trade execution services of Charles Schwab & Company, Inc. (“Schwab”). Schwab is an independent
SEC registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC. We may recommend other broker-dealers
to clients in the future. We are not affiliated with Schwab and they do not monitor or control the
activities of our firm or our personnel. Where you agree to engage Schwab, they will custody your
assets, execute transactions for your account upon our instructions, and determine the
commission rates to be charged in connection with such transactions.
In recommending broker-dealers we seek to obtain “best execution,” for our clients, meaning that
we seek to execute securities transactions for clients so that the total costs or proceeds in each
transaction are the most favorable under the circumstances. The factors we consider when
evaluating for best execution include the recommended broker’s:
the value of any research services/brokerage services provided; and
• execution capability;
•
transaction fee rate;
•
financial responsibility;
•
responsiveness;
• custodian capabilities;
•
• any other factors that we consider relevant.
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Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
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26
Generally speaking, we will continue to require that clients establish brokerage accounts with
Schwab so long as they continue to meet our best execution criteria. We have selected Schwab
based on administrative convenience and also because we believe that they provide good value to
our clients in view of their overall services and cost structure for our clients’ accounts. Clients
should review the best execution policies of each TPMM engaged for management of their
account.
Soft dollar arrangements refer to arrangements under which a broker-dealer agrees to provide an
investment advisor with benefits or services (other than execution of trades) contingent upon the
advisor’s commitment to direct a certain number or size of brokerage transactions (and related
trade commissions) to the broker-dealer. While BWW does not participate in any soft dollar
arrangements, we do receive certain benefits and services from Schwab (as described below) in
connection with our recommendation of their custodial and trade execution services to our clients.
These benefits and services are provided to all investment advisors who participate in Schwab’s
platform and are not contingent upon the number or size of brokerage transactions we direct
through Schwab for client accounts.
Benefits Received from Schwab. Where your account is maintained at Schwab, our firm will use
Schwab as the broker to execute trades. Schwab generally does not charge a separate fee for
custody services but is compensated by charging commissions or other fees to clients on trades
that are executed or that settle into the client’s Schwab account. Schwab’s commission rates
applicable to client accounts were negotiated based on our firm’s commitment to maintain a
minimum threshold of assets in accounts custodied at Schwab. This commitment benefits clients
because the overall commission rates paid are lower than they would be if our firm had not made
the commitment. In addition to commissions, Schwab charges a flat dollar amount as a “prime
broker” or “trade away” fee for each trade that our firm has executed by a different broker-dealer
but where the securities bought or the funds from the securities sold are deposited (settled) into
the client’s Schwab account. Since trades for accounts custodied at Schwab are expected to be
executed exclusively utilizing Schwab’s execution services, we generally do not expect to incur
any “trade away fees” in client accounts, although it is possible that they occur on occasion. These
fees are in addition to the commissions or other compensation paid to the executing broker-dealer.
Because of this, in order to minimize client trading costs, our firm has Schwab execute most, if not
all, trades for the accounts.
Schwab Advisor Services™ is Schwab’s business serving independent investment advisory firms
like BWW. They provide our firm and clients with access to institutional brokerage services –
trading, custody, reporting and related services – many of which are not typically available to
Schwab retail customers. Schwab also makes available various support services. Some of those
services help manage or administer our client accounts while others help manage and grow our
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
27
business. Schwab’s support services are generally available on an unsolicited basis (our firm does
not have to request them) and at no charge as long as our firm keeps a total of at least $275 million
of client assets in accounts at Schwab. If our firm has less than $275 million in client assets at
Schwab, our firm may be charged quarterly service fees.
Here is a more detailed description of Schwab’s support services: Schwab’s institutional brokerage
services include access to a broad range of investment products, execution of securities
transactions, and custody of client assets. The investment products available through Schwab
include some to which our firm might not otherwise have access or that would require a
significantly higher minimum initial investment by firm clients. Schwab’s services described in this
paragraph generally benefit clients and their accounts.
Schwab also makes available other products and services that benefit our firm but may not directly
benefit clients or their accounts. These products and services assist in managing and administering
our client accounts. They include investment research, both Schwab’s and that of third parties.
This research may be used to service all or some substantial number of client accounts, including
accounts not maintained at Schwab. In addition to investment research, Schwab also makes
available software and other technology that:
• provides access to client account data (such as duplicate trade confirmations and account
•
statements);
facilitates trade execution and allocates aggregated trade orders for multiple client
accounts;
facilitates payment of our fees from our clients’ accounts; and
• provides pricing and other market data;
•
• assists with back-office functions, recordkeeping and client reporting.
Schwab also offers other services intended to help manage and further develop our business
enterprise. These services include:
technology, compliance, legal, and business consulting;
• educational conferences and events;
•
• publications and conferences on practice management and business succession; and
• access to employee benefits providers, human capital consultants, and insurance providers.
Schwab may provide some of these services itself. In other cases, Schwab will arrange for third-
party vendors to provide the services to our firm. Schwab may also discount or waive fees for
some of these services or pay all or a part of a third-party’s fees. Schwab also offers and provides
our firm with other benefits, such as occasional business entertainment for our personnel.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
28
Irrespective of direct or indirect benefits to our client through Schwab, our firm strives to enhance
the client experience, help clients reach their goals and put client interests before that of our firm
or associated persons.
While we do not believe that our receipt of the benefits and services from Schwab discussed above
has any influence on our investment recommendations to clients, it creates an incentive for us to
continue to recommend, use, or expand our use of Schwab’s custodial and trade execution
services. Our firm examined this potential conflict of interest when we chose to enter into these
arrangements with Schwab and we have determined that the relationships we have established
are in the best interests of our clients and satisfies our client obligations, including our duty to seek
best execution.
B. Brokerage for Client Referrals
We do not receive client referrals in exchange for recommending broker-dealers to clients.
C. Directed Brokerage
We typically do not permit clients to direct brokerage to a broker-dealer other than Schwab. You
are advised that not all investment advisors require that clients use a particular broker-dealer for
custody and execution of transactions. Although we believe the commissions expected to be
charged by Schwab to be reasonable, and their execution services to be competitive, the use of
any one broker-dealer exclusively may result in our firm being unable to achieve for its clients the
most favorable execution at the best price available, and accordingly, may cost clients more money
than other arrangements.
D. Trade Aggregation and Allocation
We may aggregate client orders, so long as it is done for purposes of achieving best execution, and
so long as no client is systematically advantaged or disadvantaged. Before aggregating client
orders, we document the participating accounts and the allocation instructions. We submit
allocation instructions to the broker-dealer before the market closes on the day of the order. We
allocate aggregated orders to client accounts at the average price obtained. We allocate partially
filled orders pro rata based on the size of the order placed by each account. If we judge that we
cannot or should not allocate a partially filled order pro rata (e.g., if the quantity of securities
obtained is too small or would not have a material impact if distributed among each account), then
we apply the following procedures:
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701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
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29
• we allocate the order to client accounts only (i.e., no employees that participated in the
order may receive any allocation); and
• we document the allocation decision.
Item 13 – Review of Accounts and Financial Plans
A. Regular Account Reviews
While we monitor CAMP accounts on an ongoing basis (including any assets allocated to TPMMs),
we conduct formal account reviews at least annually. The nature of these reviews is to ensure
clients’ accounts remain aligned with their investment objectives (including, without limitation, the
client’s goals, cash flow needs, risk tolerance, time horizon for investments, and tax circumstances)
and investment policies (if applicable) and appropriately positioned based on market conditions.
Only licensed investment advisor representatives of BWW will conduct such reviews.
Comprehensive financial planning clients receive updated annual financial plans. Our financial
advisors conduct these reviews in person, over the phone or via the internet. In addition, we meet
with comprehensive financial planning clients at least annually and offer ongoing advice regarding
common financial issues that are pertinent to their financial plan. One-time or project based
financial plans are not reviewed or updated after their delivery to the client unless the client
specifically requests such review and pays an additional advisory fee.
B. More Frequent Account Reviews
We may review client accounts more frequently than described above. Among the factors which
may trigger an off-cycle review are major market or economic events, the client’s life events,
requests by the client, large additions or withdrawals from client accounts, etc. You will be
expected to notify us promptly of any changes in your financial situation, investment objectives,
or account restrictions that could affect your account. You may also directly contact any TPMMs
managing a portion of your assets.
C. Reporting to Clients
Clients will receive standard account statements and trade confirmations from their Custodian at
least quarterly. We provide CAMP and comprehensive financial planning clients with
independently prepared written reports as may be reasonably requested by the client from time-
to-time. The reports we provide to you will contain relevant account and/or market-related
information such as an inventory of account holdings and account performance, as examples.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
30
Item 14 – Client Referrals and Other Compensation
A. Other Compensation Arrangements
As referenced above in Item 12A, Schwab provides services and products to us without cost or at
a discount that we may use to service some or all of our client accounts. We may enter into similar
arrangements with other Custodians in the future. As part of its fiduciary duties to clients, BWW
endeavors at all times to put the interests of its clients first. Clients should be aware, however,
that the receipt of economic benefits by our firm and/or our associated persons from Schwab in
and of itself creates a potential conflict of interest and influences our choice to require our clients
to engage Schwab for custody and brokerage services. Except as described in this Section 14A,
we have no additional compensation arrangements to disclose.
B. Client Referrals
We do not pay referral fees to independent solicitors or any other persons or entities in exchange
for the referral of clients to our firm.
Item 15 - Custody
With the exception of our ability to directly debit fees as outlined in Item 5, we do not hold, directly
or indirectly, client funds or securities, or have any authority to obtain possession of them. All
client assets are held at the qualified Custodian. To the extent we maintain any standing letters of
authorization (each a “SLOA”) on behalf of our clients, we abide by the safeguarding conditions set
forth in the SEC’s no action letter to the Investment Adviser Association dated February 21, 2017.
Assuming we have otherwise met our fiduciary duty to you, we shall have no liability to you for
any loss or other harm to any property in your account held at the Custodian, including any harm
to any property in the account resulting from the insolvency of the Custodian (including, without
limitation, Schwab) or the independent acts of the agents or employees of the Custodian, whether
or not the full amount of such loss is covered by the SIPC or any other insurance which may be
carried by the Custodian. Clients understand that SIPC provides only limited protection for the
loss of property held by a Custodian. Private investments generally are not covered by the SIPC.
All of our clients receive account statements directly from their qualified Custodian(s) at least
quarterly, upon opening of an account. If our firm decides to also send account statements to
clients, such notices and account statements include a legend that recommends that the client
compare the account statements received from the qualified Custodian with those received from
our firm. Clients are encouraged to raise any questions with us about the custody, safety or
security of their assets and our custodial recommendations.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax
31
Item 16 – Investment Discretion
As described in Item 4, we accept discretionary authority over your CAMP account by your
execution of our written “CAMP Agreement.” Under this arrangement, we will have the ability to
direct trades in your account without obtaining your prior consent for each transaction. We are
authorized to determine the particular securities and the amount of such securities to be bought
and sold in your account and the timing of all such transactions. Our discretionary authority further
includes the ability to hire and fire TPMMs and to reallocate client assets among TPMMs without
first seeking your authorization. Except for direct deductions of our advisory fees and any SLOAs
authorized by the client, our discretion does not extend to the withdrawal or transfer of your
account funds without obtaining your prior written approval. Financial planning services are
provided exclusively on a non-discretionary basis.
Item 17 – Voting Client Securities
We do not accept authority to vote client securities or offer to provide clients with advice related
to the voting of any proxies. Clients will receive proxies or other solicitations directly from their
Custodian or a transfer agent. In the event that proxies are sent to our firm, we will forward them
on to you and ask the party who sent them to mail them directly to you in the future.
Item 18 – Financial Information
As an advisory firm that maintains discretionary authority for client accounts, we are required to
disclose any financial condition that is reasonable likely to impair our ability to meet our
contractual obligations. We have no such financial circumstances to report.
Under no circumstances do we require or solicit payment of fees in excess of $1,200 per client six
months or more in advance of services being rendered. Therefore, we are not required to include
a financial statement.
BWW has not been the subject of a bankruptcy petition at any time.
BlueWaterWealth.com
Seattle Office
701 N 36th Street, Suite 310, Seattle, WA 98103
206-292-2103 Office | 206-438-4839 Fax
Portland Office
500 SW 116th Avenue, Portland, OR 97225
503-296-8700 Office | 503-296-8701 Fax