← Back to Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated profile
ADVISORY CONSULTING SERVICES BROCHURE
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (CRD 793), brochure dated April 6, 2026. Text extracted from the firm's SEC Form ADV Part 2 brochure.
View firm on SEC ↗ · Current Form ADV (PDF) ↗
SEC Number: 801-10746
ADVISORY CONSULTING SERVICES
Disclosure Brochure
March 31, 2026
This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated.
This brochure focuses on our Advisory Consulting Services; we also offer wrap fee programs and fee-based financial planning,
which are covered in separate brochures. If you have any questions about the contents of this brochure, please contact us at the
address or telephone number provided below. 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 Stifel,
Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated is available on the SEC’s website at adviserinfo.sec.gov. Registration with the SEC does not
imply a certain level of skill or training.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated
501 North Broadway
St. Louis, Missouri 63102
(314) 342-2000
Stifel.com
INVESTMENT AND INSURANCE PRODUCTS: NOT FDIC INSURED • NOT A BANK DEPOSIT • NOT INSURED BY ANY
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE
Page 1 of 45
SF1601-3/26
MATERIAL CHANGES
This section describes the material changes that have been made to Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel” or the
“Firm”)’s brochure since March 2025. This Brochure, dated March 31, 2026, has been prepared according to the SEC’s disclosure
requirements.
The following material changes to this Brochure have occurred since its last annual amendment:
New material changes:
• Stifel Independent Advisors, LLC (“SIA”) has been acquired by Equitable Holdings, Inc. All references throughout this
Brochure to SIA being an affiliate of Stifel Financial Corp or its affiliates, and any mention of an affiliation have been updated to
reflect the new ownership.
• Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies, and Risk of Loss. Section updated to provide additional details regarding the
risks associated with indirect investments in digital assets, including that some recommended funds/ETPs may have exposure to
cryptocurrencies, which are highly speculative and can be extremely volatile—so investors could lose some or all of their
investment and may have fewer protections than with traditional products. It also warns of additional risks like fraud, hacking
and loss of access (e.g., private keys), limited oversight, pricing differences versus net asset value, and the fact that crypto trades
24/7 while related ETFs/brokerage products trade only during market hours, creating potential gaps and price impacts.
• Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies, and Risk of Loss. A new subsection has been added to discuss the firms use of,
and the risks associated with, artificial intelligence (“AI”). Stifel expects to expand its use of AI technologies across investment
and middle-/back-office operations under its governance, security, and risk-management frameworks, with protocols that will
evolve over time. It also notes that AI is rapidly changing and data- and algorithm-dependent, creating risks such as errors,
regulatory constraints/costs, third-party dependency, and potential data leakage or performance failures that could materially
harm Stifel and/or clients.
Instead of providing an updated brochure each year, we generally provide this summary of material changes by April 30 of each year. Because it is a summary, it
does not contain all of the updates that were made to the brochure. Please read the full brochure, which is available to you at no charge at
stifel.com/disclosures/investment-advisory-services/program-disclosures under the section “Stifel Form ADV 2A Disclosure Brochures” or by contacting your
Financial Advisor. Capitalized terms used in this section have the meanings assigned to them in the main body of this brochure.
Page 2 of 45
SF1601-3/26
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
ADVISORY BUSINESS ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
ADVISORY PROGRAMS OFFERED BY STIFEL ................................................................................................................... 6
WRAP FEE PROGRAMS ............................................................................................................................................................. 6
FEE-BASED FINANCIAL PLANNING ...................................................................................................................................... 6
OTHER ADVISORY PROGRAMS ............................................................................................................................................. 6
STIFEL VANTAGE PROGRAM ................................................................................................................................................. 6
STIFEL SUMMIT PROGRAM .................................................................................................................................................... 7
OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAMS ............................................................................................................ 8
MANAGEMENT AND ADVISORY SERVICES TO PRIVATE FUNDS ............................................................................... 9
FEES AND COMPENSATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 9
PERFORMANCE-BASED FEES AND SIDE-BY-SIDE MANAGEMENT ........................................................................... 20
ACCOUNT REQUIREMENTS AND TYPES OF CLIENTS .................................................................................................. 20
METHODS OF ANALYSIS, INVESTMENT STRATEGIES, AND RISK OF LOSS .......................................................... 20
DISCIPLINARY INFORMATION………………………………………………………………………………………….....28
OTHER FINANCIAL INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES AND AFFILIATIONS ............................................................................ 30
CODE OF ETHICS, PARTICIPATION OR INTEREST IN CLIENT TRANSACTIONS, AND PERSONAL TRADING
......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32
BROKERAGE PRACTICES ...................................................................................................................................................... 33
REFERRAL PROGRAMS .......................................................................................................................................................... 37
CASH SWEEP OPTIONS ........................................................................................................................................................... 39
REVIEW OF ACCOUNTS .......................................................................................................................................................... 41
CLIENT REFERRALS AND OTHER COMPENSATION ..................................................................................................... 42
CUSTODY ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 42
INVESTMENT DISCRETION ................................................................................................................................................... 43
VOTING CLIENT SECURITIES ............................................................................................................................................... 43
FINANCIAL INFORMATION ................................................................................................................................................... 43
ERISA RULE 408(B)(2) DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR QUALIFIED RETIREMENT PLANS .......................... 43
Page 3 of 45
SF1601-3/26
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
standards of care, and separate contracts with clients govern
each. While there are similarities among brokerage and
Advisory services, our firm’s contractual relationship with and
legal duties to you are subject to a number of important
differences, depending on whether we are acting in a
brokerage or Advisory capacity.
ADVISORY BUSINESS
About Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel” or the
“Firm”) is a broker-dealer that has been registered with the SEC
since 1936 and an investment adviser that has been registered
with the SEC since May 7, 1975. Stifel is owned by Stifel
Financial Corp., a publicly held company whose common stock
trades under the symbol “SF.” Stifel is a leading full-service
wealth management, investment advisory, broker-dealer, and
investment banking firm, serving the investment and capital
needs of clients. Stifel is a member of the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the Securities Investor
Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) and various exchanges.
Information about Stifel’s qualifications, business practices,
portfolio management techniques, and affiliates is accessible on
our website at Stifel.com as well as via publicly available filings
with the SEC at adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Types of Advisory Services Offered by Stifel
Our services include discretionary and non-discretionary1
Advisory services, which generally involve account and/or
portfolio management, asset allocation and related services, and
recommendation of, or assistance with the selection of, securities
and/or investment managers (“Managers”). Such Managers
include firms that are independent of our firm (“Independent
Managers”) as well as firms owned by our parent company,
Stifel Financial Corp., or one of its subsidiaries (“Affiliated
Managers”).
In this brochure, the pronouns “we,” “our,” “us,” and similar
words will refer to Stifel. The pronouns “you,” “your,” and
similar words will refer to you as the client. References to the
singular throughout this brochure include the plural and vice
versa. Capitalized terms shall have the meanings assigned to
them in this brochure.
Services We Provide
We offer both investment advisory (“Advisory”) and brokerage
services to our Clients. As a dually registered broker-dealer and
investment adviser, most of our registered representatives are
licensed and qualified to provide both brokerage and investment
advisory services. It is important that you understand the cost
and benefits of each option and discuss any questions you may
have with your representative.
We believe that investment advisory services are suitable and
appropriate for a wide variety of our clients; however, these
services are not for everyone. There likely will be situations
where the fees and expenses associated with investment advisory
services may exceed those that would apply for brokerage-only
services. We encourage you to review both options very
carefully before settling on one option.
We enter into written advisory agreements (each, an “Advisory
Agreement”) with clients acknowledging our Advisory
relationship and disclosing our obligations when acting in an
Advisory capacity to the client. We provide Advisory services to
a variety of clients, including individuals, corporations and other
businesses, pension or profit sharing plans, employee benefit
plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, state and
municipal government entities, private funds, educational
institutions, insurance companies, and banks or thrift institutions
(“Clients”). We generally provide Advisory services through our
investment advisory representatives (“Financial Advisors”), who
determine the services that are most appropriate for Clients
based on each Client’s stated individual investment goals,
financial circumstances, and other information provided by the
Client. We are able to fulfill a Client’s wealth management
needs by acting as broker-dealer, investment adviser, or both.
Our Advisory services cover many types of debt and equity or
equity-related securities of domestic and foreign companies, as
well as national, state, and local government issuers, whether
trading on an exchange or over-the-counter. In addition to stocks
and fixed income securities, we recommend or invest Client
assets in other types of investments, such as rights and warrants,
options, certificates of deposit (“CDs”), mutual funds and other
open and closed-end funds, exchange traded products (“ETPs”),
including exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), unit investment
trusts (“UITs”), real estate investment trusts (“REITs”),
American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), foreign ordinary
shares, publicly traded master limited partnerships (“MLPs”),
private investment vehicles (including, but not limited to, hedge
funds and private equity funds), and other investments deemed
appropriate for our Clients.
This brochure focuses primarily on our advisory services;
however, we also discuss various aspects of our brokerage
services throughout this brochure, particularly under the section
“Brokerage Practices” below. You can also obtain additional
information relating to our brokerage services by referencing the
Stifel Account Agreement and Disclosure Booklet provided in
connection with your custodial account at Stifel, a copy of which
is also available under the “Important Disclosures” section of
Stifel.com (“Account Agreement and Booklet”).
You should understand that brokerage services are separate
and distinct from Advisory services, and that different laws,
Throughout this brochure and depending on the type of program
referenced, the term “Portfolio Manager” shall refer to, as
applicable, a) Stifel where our firm or your Financial Advisor (as
1 In discretionary investment services, Financial Advisors have discretion to select and allocate eligible investment products within the
Client’s portfolio. In non-discretionary investment services, Financial Advisors either select for the Client or recommend and assist
the Client in the selection of eligible investment products in which to invest and the Client makes the final decision on when to
invest/divest what investments.
Page 4 of 45
SF1601-3/26
may be purchased or sold by mutual funds, ETFs, private funds,
or other collective investment vehicles in Advisory accounts.
the firm’s agent) provides discretionary portfolio management
services and/or b) an Independent Adviser or Affiliated Adviser
that provides discretionary portfolio management services.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately
$126,839,531,130 of Client assets that were managed on a
discretionary basis and $70,692,702,372 in non-discretionary
assets.
For accounts in which Stifel has discretionary trading authority,
where an investment restriction applies to prevent the purchase
of a security, the funds that would have been invested in the
restricted position will either be invested in cash equivalents
(including short-term fixed income instruments), other substitute
securities, or reallocated among other positions at our discretion.
A higher than usual allocation to cash, cash equivalents, or other
securities as a result of investment restrictions will impact the
performance of the account relative to other accounts that are
fully invested.
We define and/or identify certain permissible category
restrictions (e.g., prohibiting investments in particular industries
or based on social consciousness) by reference to information
provided by a third-party service provider using the provider’s
proprietary methodologies. If you elect to impose investment
category restrictions on a discretionary account, we will apply
the restrictions based on our internal policies, by referencing the
third-party service provider’s information. The service provider
typically flags securities as violating specific category
restrictions based on the issuer’s revenue or asset levels from the
restricted activity(ies). The threshold or level at which revenue
or assets are considered to have violated a particular restriction
can change at any time, without notice to you. In addition, you
should note that Managers with trading responsibility over your
account(s) may use their own trading systems and, as a result,
use different reference points than Stifel in defining prohibited
investments, activity, or revenue levels for category restrictions.
As set forth above, we accept investment restrictions only if we
conclude that those restrictions are reasonable and can be
accommodated through our current monitoring processes. We
will reject any proposed investment restriction that does not
meet this standard, in which case you have the option of (i)
modifying your restrictions until acceptable to us or (ii) not
opening or otherwise terminating your discretionary account(s)
with us.
Our Responsibilities as an Investment Adviser
When serving as an investment adviser to Clients in our
Advisory programs (“Programs”), we are acting as a fiduciary
with respect to the assets held in accounts covered by the
Advisory Agreements. In our capacity as an investment adviser,
we are held to the legal standards set forth in the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”), certain state laws,
and common law standards applicable to fiduciaries as well as,
where applicable obligations imposed under the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended
(“ERISA”) or other relevant regulations for Advisory retirement
accounts. Such standards include the duty of care, including the
obligation to have a reasonable basis for believing that our
investment recommendations are suitable and consistent with
Client’s stated objectives and goals (including any applicable
investment restrictions) and the duty of loyalty, including the
obligation to provide Clients with full disclosure of material
conflicts of interest. Our duties of care and loyalty differ
depending on the terms of relationship with the Client, the type
and level of agreed services, and other factors, including whether
we provide non-discretionary versus discretionary services or
when we provide episodic (e.g., financial planning) versus
continuous advice. Our duty of care may be defined in our Client
agreement, and our duty of loyalty may be modified or limited
through Client disclosure and affirmative or implied Client
consent by receiving and not objecting to the disclosure.
Additional information about our fiduciary obligations,
including some of the policies and procedures that we undertake
to fulfill those obligations, is available throughout this brochure,
including under the section entitled “Participation or Interest in
Client Transactions.”
We generally do not accept the responsibility for monitoring
investment restrictions in non-discretionary accounts. As a non-
discretionary account, you must approve recommendations for
your account before the related trades can be implemented. We
expect you to consider your applicable investment restrictions
when considering recommendations for your non-discretionary
account(s), and to approve a trade only to the extent you
conclude that the recommendation does not violate your
investment restrictions.
Investment Restrictions
If you have accounts in our discretionary programs, you may
request investment restrictions on any of those accounts (or
specific assets within the accounts), such as restricting
investments in specific securities, types of securities, industries,
or sectors. We generally require Clients to provide requests for
investment restrictions in writing. If we determine that your
proposed investment restrictions are reasonable and accept them,
we and/or the Adviser you have selected will be responsible for
managing the account consistent with the restrictions that you
have imposed. It is important for you to understand that, if the
restrictions are approved and imposed on your account, the
performance of your account will differ (even significantly)
from the performance of other accounts in the same portfolio,
without similar restrictions. You may request in writing that
specific mutual funds or ETFs not be purchased in your
discretionary Advisory account(s); however, we cannot
accommodate requests to restrict the underlying securities that
Investment Policy Statements
We do not accept any responsibility for monitoring compliance
with a Client’s investment policy statement (“IPS”) unless the
Client account is in one of our discretionary programs and the
Client is using a Stifel-approved template for the IPS, or our
home office personnel have reviewed the Client’s IPS and
determine that the requirements and limitations of the IPS are
reasonable and that we are capable of monitoring them, and we
have confirmed in writing that we have accepted responsibility
for monitoring compliance with the IPS.
Page 5 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Clients may submit their IPS for review and will be notified in
writing if and when their IPS has been accepted by Stifel.
Each of these wrap Programs is further described in the Stifel
Wrap Fee Programs Brochure, which is available to you free,
upon request.
Fee-Based Financial Planning
Please note that you are solely responsible for monitoring
compliance with your own IPS, even where you have provided
a copy of the IPS to your Financial Advisor(s) until you have
received written notice from Stifel of its acceptance of your
IPS.
We offer fee-based financial planning services that are covered
in great detail in a separate disclosure brochure. Clients signing
up for our fee-based financial planning services should note that
wealth planning services are generally provided at no charge as a
service incidental to our brokerage relationship with Clients.
Other Advisory Programs
We also offer Advisory services to Clients under a number of
non-wrap fee Programs. You may select from the following
other non-wrap fee Advisory Programs as appropriate for your
needs:
In the event that you update your IPS, you are responsible for
providing Stifel with the updated document for our review and
approval. If we agree that we can continue to monitor your IPS
with the new guidelines, we will notify you in writing of our
acceptance. Stifel will not be responsible for monitoring any
new guidelines until we have notified you of our acceptance.
Stifel’s goal is to follow your IPS. However, market, economic,
or geopolitical conditions may impact our ability to do so and, in
those cases, Stifel’s policy is to do what it deems to be in the
client’s best interest.
Stifel Vantage Program
ADVISORY PROGRAMS OFFERED BY STIFEL
Our Vantage Program (“Vantage”) offers discretionary account
management by certain Financial Advisors who are approved to
participate in the Vantage Program.
Wrap Fee Programs
As set forth on the cover page, we offer various Advisory
Programs to our Clients, including “wrap fee” Programs for
which we are the sponsor and, in certain Programs, both the
sponsor and Portfolio Manager for investment portfolios
(“Portfolio(s)”) within the Program. A “wrap fee” is an annual
fee paid by the Client that is intended to cover applicable
services to the account, including investment advice and, where
applicable, may include portfolio management, trade execution,
clearing, settlements, custody, administrative, and account
reporting services provided by Stifel, as well as investment
advice and/or portfolio management services provided by an
Adviser to the Portfolio. To the extent that portfolio
management or similar services for a Portfolio are provided by
an Adviser, a portion of the wrap fee is paid to the Adviser for
its services – please refer to the section “Fees and
Compensation” below for additional details about our wrap fees
(also called Advisory Account Fees).
If you choose to enroll in the Vantage Program, your Financial
Advisor will assist you in selecting an appropriate strategy for
your Vantage account once you have established your
investment objectives, goals, risk level, and an overall asset
allocation. To implement your investment objectives for the
account and based on your risk level, your Financial Advisor
may utilize fundamental, qualitative, quantitative, and/or
technical research published by Stifel or another source. Your
Financial Advisor may also employ short-term purchases and/or
limited options trading in your Vantage account, provided such
strategies are appropriate for you and, as applicable, approved
for the account. Our Financial Advisors use different strategies
to manage their discretionary Client accounts; your Financial
Advisor may utilize multiple strategies and/or may customize a
strategy to fit your particular situations in ways that are different
from other Clients. As such, the performance of your Vantage
account will differ (at times, materially) from the accounts of
similarly situated Clients for your Financial Advisor and/or other
Stifel Financial Advisors.
Subject to such limitations as we may impose from time to time,
our Financial Advisors invest in various kinds of equity and
fixed income securities in Vantage accounts. You are
encouraged to discuss with your Financial Advisor and review
how your Vantage account will be managed, the types of
investments to be made, as well as the risks that will be
applicable to your Vantage account. As with our other
discretionary Programs, you may impose reasonable investment
restrictions on your Vantage account.
Vantage Commission Schedule: If you enroll an account in the
Vantage Program, you will pay transaction-based charges
(commissions) for the services provided by your Financial
Advisor and Stifel. Commissions are charged based on our
The wrap fee Programs that we offer include the Opportunity,
and Investment Management Consulting Programs, whereby an
Affiliated or Independent Adviser acts as your discretionary
portfolio manager, or provides their model Portfolio to us for our
implementation. Stifel also offers discretionary investment
advisory services through the Solutions and Fundamentals wrap
fee Programs. Our non-discretionary investment advisory wrap
fee Programs include the Horizon and Connect Program (where
Stifel recommends an Adviser with which you enter into a
separate advisory agreement). Finally, under the Custom
Advisory Portfolio (“CAP”) Program, our firm offers clients
investment management services utilizing various investment
products within a single account, whose Portfolios may be a
combination of any of internal and/or external model Portfolios,
mutual funds and/or ETFs. Clients determine their selection of
either the Client-Directed option or the Financial Advisor-
Directed option.
Page 6 of 45
SF1601-3/26
standard commission schedule (subject to negotiation in certain
circumstances) for brokerage transactions.
The Vantage Program is generally not available to IRAs and is
not available to retirement accounts subject to ERISA.
In all cases and without regard to whether our Financial Advisor
is providing discretionary or non-discretionary services under
the Summit arrangement, you will be solely responsible for all
brokerage and custodial charges imposed by your independent
qualified custodian.
If you elect to enroll in the Summit Program in connection
with your assets at other institutions, you should be aware that,
through our wrap Programs, you could pay a wrap fee for
investment management, execution, and custodial services
through Stifel. These wrap Programs may be a cheaper
alternative than using the Summit Program and paying
separate fees to different institutions for advice, custody, trade
execution, and clearing; we highly encourage you to review all
available options at Stifel with your Financial Advisor(s).
Summit Fee Schedule: For our services under a Summit
arrangement, we charge a fee at an annual rate of up to 1.00% of
the total value of investments under the arrangement. You can
typically negotiate the fee for your specific arrangement with
your Financial Advisor. In certain circumstances, we may agree
to a flat dollar fee arrangement, which may be payable at once or
in installments (e.g., monthly, quarterly, or other agreed
frequency).
Conflicts of Interest
It is important that you understand that, due to the
commission-based structure of the Vantage Program, Stifel
and your Financial Advisors have a conflict of interest with
respect to transactions implemented in your Vantage account
due to the fact that your Financial Advisor’s compensation
rises as more transactions are implemented in the account
(conversely, the Financial Advisor is not paid if no
transactions are implemented in the account). You should
carefully consider whether a Vantage account is appropriate
for your investment objectives, risk level, time horizon, and
investment experience. While we do not consider the
appropriateness of the Vantage Program for a Client solely
based on a comparison to wrap fee programs, the Vantage
Program may not be appropriate for you if you (and/or your
Financial Advisor) anticipate a high level of trading activity
where the transaction costs could potentially exceed those that
would otherwise be charged under a discretionary wrap
Program. We highly encourage you to review all available
options at Stifel with your Financial Advisor(s).
Stifel Summit Program
In general, the initial fee for any Summit arrangement is
calculated based on the account’s most recent account statement,
quarterly or otherwise. The fee is typically billed quarterly in
advance, although some relationships may bill in arrears and/or
at a frequency that is not quarterly.
Under our Summit Program (“Summit”), our Financial Advisors
serve Clients who are seeking investment advice for assets held
and traded through other custodians or other broker-dealer firms.
Clients that may benefit from a Summit relationship include (but
are not limited to): municipalities, endowments, foundations,
corporations, high-net-worth individuals, and sponsors and/or
trustees of qualified retirement plans subject to the ERISA.
Additional Information on Services to Retirement and
Benefit Plans: We provide investment advice, education, and
other services to various kinds of retirement and benefit plans,
including defined contribution plans (e.g., 401(k) plans), defined
benefit plans, nonqualified retirement plans, deferred
compensation plans, and others. Our services to plans typically
include one or more of the following non-discretionary services:
• Assisting plan fiduciaries in reviewing the plan design to
improve efficiency and/or reduce costs. This may include an
analysis of plan terms, as well as an evaluation of service
providers;
• Assisting plan fiduciaries in creating, reviewing, and/or
updating investment policy statements;
• Asset allocation and creating an investment menu, including
diligence of potential investments and/or periodic
monitoring of the selected investments (other than any
securities that are specifically excluded pursuant to the
agreement with the plan); and,
We typically offer non-discretionary advice under the Summit
Program. Our services include, for example: analysis of asset
allocation and style consistency; due diligence and/or advice
regarding use of third-party investment managers; evaluation of
investment risk and performance; and analysis and/or
recommendations on the purchase and sale of individual
investment vehicles including stocks, bonds, mutual funds,
UITs, ETFs, closed-end funds, and/or options. Our Financial
Advisors provide investment advice to Clients in accordance
with each Client’s stated investment objectives, risk level, time
horizon, and investment experience. If you sign up for such an
arrangement, you will be solely responsible for implementing
any non-discretionary advice provided by the Financial
Advisor(s).
• Participant education services on investment-related topics
(under limited circumstances, note that these services may
include provision of investment advice to participants).
We may also provide such other agreed-upon services as are set
forth in our agreement with the plan. For example, from time to
time, we may agree to provide discretionary investment services
to plans, including in selecting and implementing a plan
investment menu, creating and managing default investment
In limited circumstances, we will approve arrangements under
which our Financial Advisors provide discretionary investment
management services through the Summit Program. In such
event, you (not Stifel or the Financial Advisor) will determine
the specific qualified independent custodian and the broker-
dealer firm(s) to execute transactions in your account. In such
cases, while our Financial Advisors may direct the specific
securities to buy and sell for the account, your directed broker-
dealer firm(s) provide brokerage execution services.
Page 7 of 45
SF1601-3/26
options, and/or creating and managing risk-based model
portfolios for the plan.
otherwise authorize enrollment into a Program or Portfolio)
and the eventual investment of the account in the selected
strategy. Prior to enrolling into any Program, you should talk to
your Financial Advisor about the expected processing period for
that Program.
Processing Ongoing Account Maintenance Requests
Availability of Funds/Securities Added to Discretionary
Accounts for Trading – When you add funds or securities to
your discretionary accounts at Stifel, those funds and/or
securities are generally available for trading no earlier than the
next business day.
It is important to note that, in our arrangements with plans under
the Summit Program, our agreement is with the plan and our
Client is the plan (not any individual participant with whom we
may interact). In these arrangements, we may provide fiduciary
advice to participants, but will not assume any discretionary or
other authority over a participant’s selection of any investment
option or product on the plan’s investment menu. In limited
circumstances, we may agree to provide individualized advisory
services to participants in a plan; in those cases, we may require
the participant to, among other things, complete and execute
agreements, certifications, or other documents.
OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAMS
As discussed above, we enter into written Advisory Agreements
with Clients acknowledging our Advisory relationship,
disclosing our obligations when acting in an Advisory capacity,
and describing the roles and responsibilities of each party.
Your Advisory account is expected to hold some level of
otherwise uninvested cash at all times to facilitate its ongoing
operations (“maintenance cash”). Levels of maintenance cash
will fluctuate over time and may vary by investment strategy,
objective or implementation vehicle(s). Maintenance cash is
intended to meet the account’s short-term liquidity needs
(including trade settlement, account and administrative fees, and
rebalancings) and avoid having to liquidate investments at
inopportune times. Clients should refer to the sections “Cash
Balance Risks” and “Cash Sweep Options” below for
information on cash balances in Advisory accounts.
Processing Guidelines for Advisory Accounts
Processing Partial Liquidation/Withdrawal Requests in
Discretionary Accounts – To the extent possible, where your
Financial Advisor has trading discretion over your account, the
Financial Advisor will process liquidation requests promptly. To
the extent other Stifel internal teams and/or an Adviser directs
the investments in your account, liquidation instructions are
processed after our trading and/or processing staff receive those
instructions from your Financial Advisor. If your account is
traded by an Adviser, we will then relay those instructions to the
Adviser for implementation. You should note that, in periods of
unusually high volumes (which may occur, for example, during
highly volatile market conditions), we can take more than one
business day to implement these requests. Additionally, if you
are invested in a Portfolio that is traded by an Adviser, you
should also note that even after we relay a request to an Adviser,
the Adviser may take some time (such as multiple days) to
implement the request. You should refer to each Manager’s
Form ADV 2A for applicable disclosures. In each case, please
note that frequent withdrawals from your account will affect
your account’s performance. We reserve the right to terminate
any account that falls below the minimum account value for the
applicable Program due to partial liquidations/withdrawal
requests.
You should refer to the section “Terminations; Refund of Fees
Upon Terminations” below for a discussion of the processing
guidelines relating to account terminations from our Advisory
Programs.
Other Maintenance Requests – You may also experience delays
in connection with other on-going account maintenance requests.
During times of unusually high volumes of requests from
Clients, it can take multiple business days to process and
implement ongoing maintenance requests.
New Account Processing – As set forth in our Advisory
Agreements, our Advisory relationship with you begins after we
have accepted a fully executed Advisory Agreement (referred to
as the “effective date” in the Advisory Agreements). In general,
this occurs after (i) your Financial Advisor has submitted all
required account opening documentation through the appropriate
channels (typically through our account opening systems); (ii)
all required internal approvals have been documented and
submitted; (iii) our processing personnel have confirmed that the
account documentation is in good form (for example, Client
signatures are generally required to be dated within 90 days of
submission); (iv) your account is funded with no less than the
minimum amount required for the particular Program in which
you are seeking to invest; and (v) the account has been coded as
an Advisory account in our recordkeeping systems.
In each case, we recommend that you communicate your
maintenance requests to your Financial Advisor as early as
possible. You should note that, for certain securities (such as
mutual funds), we are not able to process trade instructions
received after 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Neither Stifel nor any Adviser is responsible for changes in
market prices that occur between the time you communicate an
account maintenance request for any discretionary account to
your Financial Advisor and the eventual implementation of
that request by Stifel and/or an Adviser.
Processing times may vary due to a number of factors, including
(but not limited to) the volume of new Advisory accounts being
processed, whether additional verification activities are needed,
etc. In general, you should note that the turnaround time for
processing new Advisory accounts or conversions between
Programs or Portfolios may require several business days to
complete, even under normal market conditions. Stifel is not
responsible for changes in market prices that occur between
the time you execute Advisory account documentation (or
Page 8 of 45
SF1601-3/26
MANAGEMENT AND ADVISORY SERVICES TO
PRIVATE FUNDS
Our firm also serves as investment adviser to private investment
funds (the “Private Funds”), each of which invests in underlying
private funds, including hedge funds and private equity funds
(“Underlying Funds) managed by unaffiliated investment
managers. Further information on the process for selecting the
Underlying Funds for these Private Funds can be found in the
“Portfolio Manager Selection and Evaluation” section of this
brochure.
The actual fee that you pay for your Advisory account(s) will be
set out on the fee schedule(s) to the Advisory Agreement you
have with us for that account. You can generally negotiate the
Stifel Fee with your Financial Advisor, subject in certain cases
to final approval from Stifel (e.g., if the proposed fee is below
certain ranges). Factors that Financial Advisors may consider in
setting the Stifel Fee include (but are not limited to) the nature
and size of the overall client relationship; your particular advice
requirements and product preferences, and/or the level, type, and
frequency of advisory and other services expected to be provided
to you under the relationship.
In each such case, the applicable Financial Advisor will consider
a Client’s eligibility to invest in the Private Funds based on a
review of the Client’s stated investment objectives, goals, and
limitations, and a comparison of the same to the Private Fund’s
stated objectives and other limitations. At a minimum, investors
in each Private Fund must be “accredited investors” within
meaning of the federal securities laws; provided, however, that
depending on the requirements of the Underlying Fund(s) in
which a particular Private Fund invests, we may require that
Clients seeking to invest in that Private Fund meet the “qualified
purchaser” standard of the federal securities laws. Interested
Clients should refer to the applicable Private Fund’s offering
documents for a discussion of the definition of these investor
standards.
As set forth above, you should generally consider the level of
services that you are expecting to receive under the relationship
when negotiating your fee(s) with your Financial Advisor. You
should note, however, that once you agree to a fee for an
account, we will not reduce our fees if you decide not to take
advantage of any of the services that would otherwise be
covered by the wrap fee. For example, if you open an account in
a non-discretionary wrap fee program, your fee will not be
reduced if you decide not to implement your Financial Advisor’s
recommendations and, as a result, experience a low level of
trades in your account. Similarly, we will not reduce our fee if
you decide to move your assets to another custodian and, as a
result, do not receive the custodial services that would otherwise
have been covered by your Stifel Fee. Finally, if you negotiate
fees with different tiers, including flat fees, you may end up
paying a higher fee than as set forth in our brochures as a result
of fluctuations in the amount of your assets under management/
advisement and account performance.
Each Private Fund’s investment objectives are set forth in its
offering documents; a Client that invests in a Private Fund may
not impose restrictions on the investments to be made by such
Private Fund.
Please refer to the section “Fees and Compensation – Private
Fund Management Fee” below for a discussion of our
remuneration in connection with the Private Funds.
FEES AND COMPENSATION
Your Advisory Agreement with us will indicate whether you
must approve, in writing, any increase in the Advisory Account
Fee for your account, or if we can increase the Advisory
Account Fee with prior written notice to you. We may however,
determine to lower any portion of the Advisory Account Fee at
any time, without notice to you.
How We Charge For Advisory Services Covered in This
Brochure
Except with respect to the Vantage Program and certain Private
Funds as discussed below, Clients generally pay an annual
Advisory fee, typically based on a percentage of assets; we may
also agree to a fixed dollar fee covering one or more Client
accounts (the “Advisory Account Fee,” the “fee,” or the
“Advisory fee”). The Advisory Account Fee consists of: (i) a fee
for the services provided by Stifel (referred to as the “Stifel Fee”
or “Stifel Advisory Fee”) and, if applicable, (ii) a fee for the
portfolio management services with respect to each Portfolio in
which a Client’s Advisory account is invested (the “Product
Fee(s)”). For Portfolios with no Product Fee (such as for the
Summit Program), the Stifel Fee constitutes the entire Advisory
Account Fee. If applicable, the fee rate set forth in our brochures
with respect to each Advisory Program represents the maximum
rate that may be charged for the Program. There are certain other
fee schedules that are no longer offered to new Clients or are
only offered to a limited number of Clients, depending on their
individual circumstances. There are also other fee schedules that
may apply to certain strategies in the Programs offered at Stifel.
Calculation of Advisory Account Fees
The Advisory Account Fee is generally due quarterly in
advance. In limited circumstances, we may agree to alternative
billing terms (e.g., monthly, semi-monthly, in arrears, etc.) based
on negotiations with a specific Client. Where the fee is payable
in advance, the initial Advisory Account Fee for an account is
typically charged in full as of the effective date of the Advisory
relationship relating to that account (see the discussion under
Processing Guidelines for Advisory Accounts above), in each
case based on the account’s opening market value. In calculating
quarterly installments of the annual Advisory Account Fee, we
assume a 360-day annual period. For the initial fee, the period
for which the Advisory Account Fee relates is the effective date
through the last day of the calendar quarter in which the account
is opened and is prorated accordingly, based on the actual
number of days remaining in the quarter. Thereafter, the
Advisory Account Fee is based on the account’s closing market
value on the last business day of the previous calendar quarter,
as reflected on your custodial account statement (except as set
forth below). The Advisory Account Fee is generally due on the
business day following the assessment day. If we have agreed to
a different fee billing arrangement for your relationship, please
refer to your Advisory Agreement with us for information on
Page 9 of 45
SF1601-3/26
how that fee will be calculated, including (in certain cases) the
party responsible for the calculation.
there will be separate “Advisory Fee” lines, one described as
“Advisory Fee” and a second as “Manager Fee.”
In valuing assets in all Client accounts held at our firm, we rely
on publicly recorded information, use various vendor systems
that we have reviewed and reasonably believe to be reliable,
and/or rely on valuations provided by the entities holding assets
and/or accounts that are part of a Client’s Advisory relationship
with us (such as, for example, administrators or other service
providers to hedge funds or other private funds in which our
clients are investors or other brokerage firms, banks, or other
entities serving as qualified custodians of our client assets). For
assets held at Stifel, if prices are unavailable, we determine
prices in good faith to reflect an understanding of the assets’ fair
market value.
Billable Value vs. Net Portfolio Value: As set forth above, your
Advisory Account’s Fee is typically calculated based on the
account’s closing market value, generally as reflected on your
custodial account statement for that same period. There may be
times when the amount used to calculate the fee (i.e., the billable
value) does not match the net portfolio value reflected on your
custodial account statement (i.e., the statement value). For
example, the billable value will be less than its net portfolio
value if you hold assets in your account that are excluded from
our Advisory arrangement with you (“unsupervised assets”).
Fee Householding
You may request to household eligible fee-based Advisory
accounts held at our firm (that is, combine multiple eligible
Advisory accounts for purposes of calculating the Stifel Fee in
order to qualify for available lower fee tiers in each Program).
Fee householding can result in lower overall fees if the
aggregate household value is high enough to qualify for lower
fee tiers in the applicable Programs. You can fee household
eligible Advisory accounts across multiple Programs. You
should note, however, that it is your responsibility, not Stifel’s,
to determine whether you have multiple eligible Advisory
accounts that could be placed in a billing household and
potentially result in lower overall fees to you. You should also
note that special tax rules apply to the inclusion of IRAs and
Keogh plans in a household (you should consult your tax advisor
for more information), and that Stifel will not accept requests to
combine retirement accounts subject to ERISA with non-
retirement accounts into a single fee household. Finally, you
should note that, in cases where your assets are held with other
custodians, due to expected lag times in receiving account
information from such unaffiliated custodians for billing
purposes, we usually cannot household these accounts with
accounts held at Stifel. You should contact your Financial
Advisor(s) for more detailed information about householding
fee-based Advisory accounts, including whether your accounts
are eligible to be grouped into a fee household for this purpose.
Assets Held With Other Custodians
For the Summit Program, your assets are held with other
qualified custodians that you select, most of which are
independent of our firm. Similarly, you may elect to hold your
assets for accounts enrolled in our wrap fee Advisory Programs
at other custodial firms. We require that such other custodian be
“qualified” within the meaning of the Advisers Act.
Intra-Period Fee Adjustments. Once the quarterly Advisory
Account Fee has been assessed and deducted from your account,
if your account held at Stifel and is subject to an Advisory
Account Fee payable in advance, we will charge a prorated fee
on additional contributions made during a quarter and/or issue a
rebate for withdrawals from your Account, to the extent such
additions or withdrawals are valued at more than $25,000 and
would generate a prorated quarterly fee or rebate of more than
$25. In each case, the fee addition and/or rebate will be
calculated based on the actual number of calendar days
remaining in the quarter. You should refer to the section
“Termination; Refund of Fees Upon Termination” for applicable
rebates in the event of a termination. We may, in our sole
discretion, make changes to these thresholds at any time, without
notice to you. We will neither charge a prorated fee on intra-
quarter contributions nor provide a rebate on intra-quarter
withdrawals from the account if your account is (i) subject to a
flat-fee arrangement, or (ii) held with other custodians, or (iii)
billed in arrears.
In cases where your assets are held by other custodians, the other
custodian (or other service provider, such as the administrator)
determines the value of your account assets and, where our firm
is responsible for calculating the fee, we use the values provided
to us for purposes of calculating the Advisory Account Fees. In
cases where assets are held by other custodians, we require that
you provide us with duplicate copies of account/custodial
statements (preferably directly from the custodian). We do not
independently verify the values in such account/custodial
statements. You should understand that we reserve the right to
terminate the agreement if you consistently fail to promptly
provide us with updated account statements on which to base
our fees.
Fee Charges on Customer Account Statement. Scheduled
quarterly charges of the Stifel Fee and Product Fee are typically
reflected as a single line “Advisory Fee” on the Stifel monthly
account statement that you receive from us for the applicable
period. If your Stifel account experiences activity that results in
intra-period fee adjustments as set forth above, those charges
will show as separate fee line items on the Stifel account
statement for each net fee adjustment. As a result, there may be
times when you will see multiple fee charges on a single
monthly account statement. Where a Product Fee is charged (or
rebated) separate from a Stifel Fee, the Product Fee may be
reflected on your statement as a Manager Fee). If you’ve elected
to utilize a third-party manager through the Connect Program,
Alternatively, you may (with our consent) direct your qualified
custodian or administrator to calculate and remit the advisory fee
directly to us. If you elect to have your other service provider
calculate the fee, you should understand that your other service
provider will be responsible for determining the total value of
your account as well as the dollar value of the fee installment for
each billing period. In such cases, we require that you direct the
service provider to provide us (upon request) the basis of the
service provider’s fee calculation (which may be in the form of
Page 10 of 45
SF1601-3/26
• We similarly reserve the right to terminate our Agreement
with you at any time, for any reason, at our sole discretion.
• Depending on the Portfolio in which your account is
duplicate account statements). You should carefully review the
other service provider’s calculations and confirm that the fees
deducted for Stifel’s services are consistent with the terms of
our Advisory Agreement with you. You are strongly
encouraged to promptly notify us in the event of any
discrepancies.
invested and in our sole discretion, we will also consider
instructions to liquidate all or a significant portion of an
account enrolled in a discretionary Program as direction to
terminate the account from the Advisory Program.
• Finally, we will treat the receipt of any account transfer
instructions from you as termination of your Advisory
relationship with us with respect to that account (once we
have received notice and have had reasonable time to act on
the notice).
In connection with each termination event, we will implement
any accompanying liquidation instructions consistent with the
guidelines set forth below.
Effect of Termination
1. Accounts Billed in Advance:
•
Deduction of Advisory Account Fees
Unless we agree otherwise, the Advisory Account Fee is
automatically deducted each quarter from available cash or cash
equivalents, including money market funds, in your Advisory
account held at Stifel on the due date. Per the direction in our
Advisory Agreements with you, if your account is held at Stifel
and, where necessary, we rebalance or liquidate sufficient
securities in your account at Stifel to generate sufficient funds to
cover the fee in the following order: first, we liquidate mutual
fund positions, followed by equities securities (including ETFs),
unit investment trusts, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and
any other securities. You should note that incidental, special, or
indirect damages (including, but not limited to, lost profits,
trading losses, or tax consequences) may be incurred in the
account as a result of such rebalance or liquidation to pay for
fees. You (not Stifel) are responsible for any such damages or
losses.
In addition, subject to agreement between us, other permissible
fee payment options may include:
• Alternate Billing Account (Alter-Bill): The Advisory
In the event of a termination, you generally will receive
a pro rata refund of any pre-paid quarterly fee based on
the number of days remaining in the quarter of
termination. However, we reserve the right to retain
pre-paid quarterly fees if you terminate the Advisory
Agreement at any time within the first quarter of the
first year of service. This is intended to discourage
clients from opening an Advisory account, executing
multiple trades at no transaction costs, then seeking to
close the Advisory account before the end of the
calendar quarter.
•
Account Fee may be deducted from a separate Stifel account
on the due date each quarter. In certain cases, a signed Letter
of Authorization (“LOA”) will be required. If the designated
account has insufficient funds, we reserve the right to
automatically debit the Advisory account to collect the amount
due.
• Client Invoice: In certain limited cases (such as where the
If you provide liquidation instructions with your
termination request (including where your request for a
significant or complete liquidation of a discretionary
account results in termination), we will liquidate those
positions at no additional cost to you as part of
terminating any fee-based account from the Advisory
relationship. However, any liquidations processed after
your account has been fully terminated from an
Advisory Program and converted into a regular
brokerage arrangement will be subject to customary
transaction fees.
•
account is held at another custodian), we may agree to provide
you with an invoice setting out the fees due each billing period
in return for your agreement to remit the fee payment
promptly. If we do not receive the fee payment from you
within a reasonable time, we reserve the right to automatically
debit your Advisory account to collect the amount due. You
should note that if the fee payment is debited from a qualified
plan and funds are received thereafter, applicable law requires
the receivable to be classified a contribution to your retirement
account.
As set forth above, your custodian or other service provider
may calculate and remit the fee on your held-away account,
based on the fee terms set forth in our Advisory Agreement
with you. We require each Client to establish a Stifel billing
account for the sole purpose of processing fees. You will be
required to sign appropriate agreements with us in order to set
up the billing account at our firm.
In connection with account transfer instruction, if we
are unable to transfer any of the securities in your
account to the new custodian, we typically will
liquidate those securities in order to facilitate the
transfer of your account. Any liquidations to facilitate
the transfer of your account to another institution will
be undertaken in our capacity as a registered broker-
dealer. In our capacity as a broker-dealer, we may
liquidate the securities that cannot transfer by
purchasing them for our own account (that is, through
a principal transaction).
Terminations; Refund of Fees Upon Termination
2. Accounts Billed in Arrears
Termination Events
Where Advisory Account Fees are billed in arrears, no
refunds are necessary when a Client terminates an account;
• You can terminate your Advisory Agreement with respect to
any account at any time with notice to your Financial
Advisor.
Page 11 of 45
SF1601-3/26
however, a Client will be billed for any earned but unpaid
fees as of the termination date.
dealer effecting transactions for your account. Where Stifel is
providing trade execution services to your account, you should
refer to the “Brokerage Practices” section for more details about
Stifel’s execution services.
Other Fees and Expenses Not Included in the Advisory
Account Fee
In addition to the Advisory Account Fee, you will also be
responsible for and separately bear the cost of (i) any fees or
expenses assessed to your investments or account by third
parties (or by Stifel in order to pay such third parties), and (ii)
other fees and expenses set forth below:
• Brokerage commissions, markups, markdowns, spreads, and
odd-lot differentials on orders effected through a broker and/or
dealer other than Stifel or its affiliates (that is, costs relating to
trades away from our firm).
• All account fees, costs, and expenses, including (but not
limited to) custody and/or account maintenance fees charged
by your custodian or other party in connection with
maintaining your assets outside of Stifel.
• Unless specified otherwise in the applicable Advisory
Agreement, all fees and expenses relating to any third-party
manager managing any part of your Summit Program assets
(whether or not such third-party manager was recommended
by our Financial Advisor).
Processing Liquidations in Connection With Terminations
Termination and related liquidation instructions are processed as
promptly as possible following receipt by our processing staff.
However, you should note that in certain cases, we will not be
able to process liquidation requests on the day that we receive
the request. Those cases include when we experience an
unusually high volume of liquidation and/or termination requests
in a single day (such as during periods of significant market
volatility). Even during relatively normal market conditions and
low liquidation/termination volume, we generally are not able to
process requests received late in the trading day (typically after
3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). You should therefore
communicate your liquidation requests as early as possible
to increase the likelihood that your instructions can be
processed on the same day. If you are invested in an Adviser
Portfolio, you should note that certain Managers (particularly
Managers with complex strategies and/or securities with limited
liquidity) require advance notice of termination, and may take
multiple days to process termination and related liquidation
request(s). You should review each applicable Manager’s Form
ADV 2A for relevant information. Finally, you should note that,
in some Portfolios (for example, those investing in affiliated
mutual fund completion shares), all or some of the positions in
your account will be liquidated upon termination, even if you do
not specifically request a liquidation in connection with your
account termination instructions.
• To the extent permitted by applicable law, markups and
markdowns on principal trades resulting from orders an
Investment Manager places through our firm or an affiliate.
• Any interest expense charged to the account including, but not
limited to, margin interest charged with respect to any direct or
cross-collateralized margin loans).
Compensation in Connection With the Termination of a
Client’s Account Relationship With Stifel. Although we do not
charge additional fees in connection with the termination of an
Advisory Agreement, if you elect to distribute or transfer all of
your assets from the account held at our firm to an account at
another financial institution, you will be charged a $100 account
transfer fee.
• The public offering price (including underwriting commissions
or discounts) on securities purchased from an underwriter or
dealer (including the firm or an affiliate to the extent permitted
by applicable law) in a distribution or public offering of
securities. Even where such securities are purchased from a
broker-dealer other than our firm or an affiliate may directly or
indirectly benefit if our firm or an affiliate is a member of the
underwriting syndicate from which the security is purchased.
• Account maintenance fees and expenses, account
administration fees, transactional expenses, custody fees,
and/or any other expenses charged by the custodian or other
party in connection with maintaining those assets. These
include, but are not limited to, administration and other fees
associated with qualified retirement plans (including IRAs).
Unsupervised Assets
If your account includes “unsupervised assets” that are excluded
from billing (which may include but are not limited to positions
in our parent company stock, Stifel Financial Corp. (SF),
annuities, or other assets that are deemed ineligible for the
Program in which the account is enrolled), you should note that
those unsupervised assets are not considered part of our
Advisory relationship with you. We periodically allow Clients to
hold unsupervised assets in Advisory accounts solely as an
accommodation to the Client. Our firm specifically disclaims
any fiduciary obligations with respect to unsupervised assets
held in an Advisory account. This means that we do not
undertake to monitor any such assets even though they are held
in the Advisory account. You can request a list of the
unsupervised assets (if any) held in your accounts at any time,
without charge, from your Financial Advisor.
• Fees or expenses related to trading in foreign securities (other
than commissions payable to Stifel). This includes “Pass-
through fees” charged by third parties with respect to foreign
securities, including, but not limited to, transaction processing
fees, creation fees and/or conversion fees in connection with
ADRs, custody-related expenses charged by third parties for
such securities, as well as any wire charges related to payments
for transactions in those securities.
• Exchange fees, transfer or other taxes, and other fees required
by law, including (but not limited to) taxes or fees imposed by
Transaction-Based Charges (Commissions)
As set out in the Program descriptions above, you will pay
transaction-based commissions either to (i) Stifel (in the case of
the Vantage Program) in lieu of an Advisory Account Fee for all
transactions executed in your account through Stifel, or (ii) the
separate custodian holding your assets or other executing broker-
Page 12 of 45
SF1601-3/26
any foreign entity in connection with securities transactions in
the account.
responsible for) the short-term redemption fee even in your
Advisory accounts. In certain limited circumstances, a fund may
offer waivers for short-term redemptions – please refer to each
applicable fund’s prospectus or offering document, and discuss
with your Financial Advisor.
• Electronic fund and wire transfer fees (including, but not
limited to, those associated with alternative investment
transactions).
Each Client should carefully consider the overall cost when
selecting a Program.
• Fees or expenses associated with preparing and/or filing tax
forms in connection with privately-issued securities or other
investments that generate unrelated business taxable income
(including, but not limited to Form 990T for IRAs).
• Any fees or charges associated with cash management options
or privileges selected for an account (including, but not limited
to, check-writing, debit or credit card services, and e-bill
services).
• Fees, charges, and other costs and expenses related to
collective investment vehicles, including, but not limited to,
closed-end funds, mutual funds, money market funds, ETFs,
unit investment trusts, REITs, and private funds. These fees
and expenses include, but are not limited to, operating
expenses, portfolio management, distribution and marketing,
redemption fees, and similar fees, in each case as outlined in
the fund prospectus, private offering memorandum, or similar
document. Additionally, the value of account assets invested in
shares of collective investment vehicles is included in
calculating the Advisory Account Fee to the extent permitted
by applicable law.
• Exchange and auction fees, transfer or other taxes, and other
fees required by law.
• Any other costs associated with products or services not
specifically included in the services described in the applicable
Stifel Advisory Agreement, but set forth in the Account
Agreement and Disclosure Booklet, and any other charges
mandated by applicable law.
Private Fund Management Fees
We generally receive a management or advisory fee from each
Private Fund based on the net asset value of such Private Fund,
as described in its offering documents. Each investor is
responsible for its pro rata share of the fee. The management fee
is deducted and paid quarterly, in advance or in arrears, as
specified in each Private Fund’s offering documents. The
amount of the management fee varies by Private Fund and may
also vary by class of interest within a particular Private Fund.
Additionally, in our capacity as investment adviser to the Private
Funds, we may (in our sole discretion) waive, rebate, reduce, or
calculate differently all or a portion of the management fee
attributable to any investor in a Private Fund, particularly for
investors that hold such Private Fund shares in accounts enrolled
in our Advisory Programs. If you invest in a Private Fund as part
of any of our other Advisory Programs (e.g., the Horizon
Program or other wrap fee Programs), either (i) the Private Fund
position is excluded from the billable value of the Advisory
account, or (ii) the Private Fund position is included in the
billable value of the account; however, as an investor in the
Private Fund, you will pay no management fee or a reduced
management fee intended to approximate the annual fee rate
payable by the Private Fund to the Fund Manager for its
services. Because Advisory Account Fees are negotiable
between Stifel and the applicable Client, to the extent that
you do not pay Private Fund-level fees but instead pay an
Advisory Account Fee attributable to the Private Fund’s
shares held in your Advisory account, the Client may pay
more or less than other investors in the Private Fund for
Stifel’s services to such Private Fund.
If applicable, you will be separately charged said fees, charges,
and expenses in addition to the Advisory Account Fee or (in the
case of Vantage) commissions to Stifel for trades in the account.
If an investment product purchased for the benefit of your
account is offered by a prospectus or other offering document,
you should review the information about the related fees,
charges, and expenses set forth in such prospectus or other
offering document.
Compensation to Financial Advisors
We pay a percentage (“Payout Rate”) of the Stifel Advisory Fee
or, if applicable, commissions that we receive from you to your
Financial Advisor(s). Payout Rates generally range from 25% to
50%; the applicable percentage paid to your Financial Advisor
will depend on your Financial Advisor’s employment agreement
and arrangements with us, and the total amount of revenue your
Financial Advisor generates from all clients (including from
brokerage clients) (referred to as “Production”). Our
compensation to the Financial Advisor can also include a bonus
that is also based on the Financial Advisor’s Production.
Additional Information on Certain Fund-Related Charges and
Fees. As set forth above, any fees or expenses charged by
investment funds in which your account invests are excluded
from the Advisory Account Fee or commissions charged in
connection with your Vantage account, and, therefore, are your
sole responsibility. You should pay particular attention to each
investment fund’s prospectus and/or other offering documents
for a full understanding of all applicable charges and fees. For
example, certain mutual funds and closed-end funds also charge
short-term redemption fees if shares of the fund to be redeemed
have been held for less than the fund’s prescribed minimum
holding period (typically anywhere from less than thirty (30)
days to twelve (12) months). Where applicable, short-term
redemption fees are imposed without regard to the share class
held – which means that you may incur (and be separately
Your Financial Advisor’s Payout Rate will be the same
regardless of the Advisory Program in which your accounts are
enrolled. However, as a general matter, your Financial Advisor’s
total cash compensation increases as his or her Production
increases, and this creates an incentive for your Financial
Advisor to recommend certain Programs or Portfolios over
others and/or other products or services in order to increase his
or her Production. In connection with the Programs covered by
this brochure, we mitigate these conflicts by limiting Advisory-
Page 13 of 45
SF1601-3/26
related Production compensation to Stifel’s share of the
Advisory Account Fees or commissions (that is, your Financial
Advisor generally does not share in any additional fees and
expenses that your account incurs as a result of types of
investments made (or transactions effected) in the account). We
also seek to mitigate these conflicts by disclosing them to you,
and by establishing other risk-based supervision policies and
procedures (including, e.g., to review certain new Advisory
account enrollments).
supervision and administrative or sales support. When a
supervisor is compensated based on the Production of the person
he or she is supervising, this creates a conflict of interest since
the supervisor has an incentive for you to make investments that
generate greater compensation for the supervisor. The particular
compensation arrangements between your Financial Advisor and
his or her branch manager also create incentives for your
Financial Advisor to recommend transactions, investment
products, and services that generate greater amounts of revenue
for us, the branch manager, and your Financial Advisor.
Discount Sharing. Financial Advisors receive less than their
standard payout when accounts are priced below the set
minimum fee level for the applicable Program. While Financial
Advisors may be allowed to set the Stifel Fee for an account
below the minimum fee level, doing so typically results in a
reduction to the Financial Advisor’s Payout Rate (generally
referred to as discount sharing) potentially down to 0%. The fee
levels at which discount sharing starts to apply vary by Program
and/or style: for example, the discount sharing level for equity
strategies is different than for fixed income strategies. In general,
discount sharing creates an incentive for Financial Advisors to
price accounts above the set minimum fee level in order to
receive their standard Payout Rate.
Outside Business Activities. Your Financial Advisor is permitted
to engage in certain business activities approved by us, other
than the provision of brokerage and advisory services through
Stifel. In certain cases, these outside business activities can
cause conflicts with the Advisory services that your Financial
Advisor provides to you and your account(s). We mitigate these
conflicts by requiring your Financial Advisor to disclose to us
and obtain approval for outside business activities by
establishing certain other policies and risk-based procedures to
the approval of outside business activities. Where such activities
are deemed material (as determined by regulation), we disclose
them to you through the Financial Advisor’s Form ADV Part
2B.
Other Benefits. Equity awards from our parent company, SF, are
a standard component of our Financial Advisors’ compensation.
Your Financial Advisor is eligible to receive other benefits based
on his or her Production. These benefits include recognition
events, conferences (e.g., for education, networking, training,
and personal and professional development), and other forms of
noncash compensation that generally increase in value as the
amount of the Production your Financial Advisor generates
increases. These benefits create an incentive for your Financial
Advisor to recommend certain Programs over others and/or
transactions, products, and services that generate additional fees
and expenses in order to obtain the most benefits.
Certain Compensation in Addition to the Stifel Advisory Fee
or Direct Commissions
Stifel, our Financial Advisors, and our affiliates may receive
additional compensation in connection with certain types of
assets in which your Advisory accounts are invested, as
discussed in more detail below. To the extent received in
connection with Advisory accounts, this compensation is in
addition to the Advisory fee (or in the case of Vantage account,
to the direct commissions) that you pay to us for our Advisory
services. The receipt of such additional compensation
presents a conflict of interest for us as it creates an incentive
for our Financial Advisors to recommend investment
products based on the additional compensation received
from third parties rather than solely based on your
investment needs. You have the option to purchase
investment products that we recommend through brokers
who are not affiliated with us.
Recruiting Transition Assistance. Some Financial Advisors are
eligible for special incentive compensation and other benefits
based on client assets in accounts at our firm (including assets
held in your retirement accounts) and the Production the
Financial Advisor generates for us (including in connection with
brokerage accounts). These incentives and benefits can be in the
form of recruitment and retention bonuses, and eligibility for
repayable loans or loans for which repayment is made under
certain conditions, for your Financial Advisor by an entity
affiliated with us. These incentives and benefits generally
increase as the Financial Advisor brings more client assets to us
and generates more revenue. These benefits create an incentive
for your Financial Advisor to recommend that you transition
accounts held at other financial institutions to our firm, as well
as to recommend certain transactions, products, and services
over others in order to obtain the benefits.
Compensation From Funds
If you invest in mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end funds, UITs
and/or money market funds (collectively, referred to as
“Funds”), you will bear your proportionate share of each Fund’s
fees and expenses, including, but not limited to, investment
management fees and performance-based compensation paid to
the Fund’s investment adviser, fees paid to service providers,
transaction costs, and other operating costs. Each Fund’s fees
and expenses are included in the price of a Fund’s shares, are
described in the Fund’s prospectus or other offering document,
and are in addition to the Advisory fee you pay in the Programs.
Branch Manager/Supervisory Activities. In addition, we pay
compensation to branch managers based on aggregate
Production generated by the Financial Advisors operating from
the manager’s branch office. In some cases, a portion of a
Financial Advisor’s Production can result in compensation to his
or her branch manager or another Financial Advisor for
When structuring the Programs, we determine the Funds that
will be made available in the Programs. We may add new
Funds and/or remove existing Funds from the platform
generally, or from one or more Programs, at any time and in our
sole discretion. When we terminate or remove a Fund from our
platform or the Programs, you will not be able to purchase
Page 14 of 45
SF1601-3/26
additional shares of that Fund after such termination or
removal, which will have an adverse impact on any future
investment plans that include that Fund. Moreover, in certain
cases (such as where we have discretionary authority over the
accounts, or where you have otherwise provided us the relevant
authority), we may also decide to sell any shares held by our
Client accounts with the terminated or removed Fund to further
limit our exposure to that Fund. A sale of Fund shares may have
tax consequences for you, depending on the type of account that
you hold. You should consult with your tax advisor about
potential tax consequences of your investment(s) in our
Programs.
offer those share classes in the Programs, including based on
whether the Funds pay us Omnibus Fees and/or Networking Fees.
With respect to the Vantage Program, when you purchase shares
of a Fund, the shares are typically in a class that is subject to a
front-end sales load that is deducted from your investment. The
Fund pays us all or part of this sales load (as a commission) to
compensate us for our selling activities with respect to the
transaction. We have generally restricted the purchase of Fund
shares in our Vantage Programs – Clients seeking Portfolios
investing in Fund shares are directed to our Wrap Programs.
When we designate a new (lower cost) share class to be used in
our Advisory Programs, we will seek to convert the share class
then held by our Advisory accounts (both discretionary and non-
discretionary) into the newly designated share class, in each case
without seeking Client approval. However, our success in
effecting such conversions will depend entirely on each Fund
company’s willingness to cooperate with us in effecting a
conversion that does not otherwise trigger tax consequences for
our account holders.
We consider various factors, including our costs to operate the
Programs and compensation we receive from Fund companies
and/or their affiliates, in deciding which Funds and share classes
to make available in the Programs. You should expect that we
will receive certain payments from Fund companies and/or their
affiliates in connection with your investment in a Fund, and that
amounts we receive will depend on the share class, interest, or
CUSIP you hold. he additional compensation varies between
Funds, poses a conflict of interest, and can influence the
selection of Funds and share classes we make available through
the Programs. We seek to address this conflict of interest by
disclosing it to you, as well as through our policies designed to
ensure that the fees we charge are fair and reasonable. If we did
not receive this additional compensation, you should expect that
we would charge higher fees or other amounts to you for the
services we provide. In addition, we are not obligated to
negotiate more favorable terms with Funds or, except as
otherwise described below, to rebate any portion of the
additional compensation we receive. You should carefully
consider this compensation when evaluating the reasonability of
our fees and the total compensation we receive for providing you
these Advisory services.
In each of our Programs, you should expect that we will receive
various fees and compensation with respect to your investments
in Fund shares, including (but not limited to):
Funds typically offer multiple share classes, each with different
levels of fees and expenses. The share classes of Funds
available through the Programs will not necessarily be the least
expensive share classes available at the Funds and will depend
on our agreement with the Fund companies and their affiliates.
Other Funds and share classes may have different charges, fees,
and expenses, which may be lower than the charges, fees, and
expenses of the Funds and share classes we make available
through our Programs. For example, there may be a share class
of a Fund available through our Programs that does not include
the additional compensation discussed below. These other
Funds and share classes may be available through other
financial intermediaries, or directly from the Funds themselves.
Because each share class of a Fund with multiple share classes
generally invests in the same portfolio of assets, an investor
who holds a less-expensive share class of the Fund will pay
lower fees and expenses over time – and earn higher investment
returns – than an investor who holds a more-expensive share
class of the same Fund. We generally strive to invest client
assets in the least expensive share class, interest, or CUSIP that
is made available to our firm and for which our Advisory
accounts are eligible (for this purpose, such share class, interest,
or CUSIP will be referred to as “advisory” share classes);
provided that those Funds and share classes pay us “Omnibus
Fees” and/or “Networking Fees” (as discussed below). This
means that the Funds and share classes we offer or choose
will not necessarily be the lowest cost share class for which
you may be eligible because there may be less expensive
share classes that do not pay us Omnibus Fees and/or
Networking Fees. Use of a more expensive share class will
reduce the performance of your investment. This limitation does
not apply to Funds on our Recommended List, which are offered
without regard to whether they pay Omnibus Fees and/or
Networking Fees to us. We may make exceptions and offer or
choose Funds that do not pay us Omnibus Fees and/or
Networking Fees in certain circumstances. Ask your Financial
Advisor for details.
(i) Omnibus Fees: A number of Fund companies and/or their
affiliates compensate us for providing record-keeping and
related services associated with Fund shares held in client
accounts (both brokerage and Advisory). Our firm
processes some fund transactions with Fund companies on
an “omnibus” basis, which means we consolidate our
clients’ trades into one daily trade with the Fund, and
therefore maintain all pertinent individual shareholder
information for the Fund. The compensation for these
services is commonly referred to as “omnibus fees.” For
traditional omnibus trades, we receive omnibus fees that
typically range from 0.02% to 0.12% annually, or $16.00
to $19.00 per position per year. For super-omnibus trades
(i.e., those involving trades for multiple Programs), we
Certain Funds may not offer multiple share classes, or may not
allow us to make the “advisory” share class available to certain
Programs (e.g., in our Vantage Program). Moreover, we may
allow a limited universe of legacy “non-advisory” share classes
to be held in some of Advisory accounts for a period, pending a
conversion into the appropriate “advisory” share class. In
addition, Funds may offer new share classes with lower fees or
expenses or change the investment minimums or other
restrictions for certain share classes. Where this occurs, we will
determine, at our own discretion, whether and in what manner to
Page 15 of 45
SF1601-3/26
connection with Advisory non-retirement accounts,
networking payments are in addition to the Stifel Fee (or,
in the case of the Vantage Program, commissions) that we
earn directly from the relevant Clients invested in those
Funds.
receive a blended rate that typically ranges from 0.0868%
to 0.2409% annually or $18.00 to $19.72 per position per
year. The omnibus fees that we receive vary by Fund
company, by Fund, and by share class. Any omnibus
payments paid to our firm are paid from investor assets in
the Funds (and, like other Fund expenses, are included in
the “annual operating expenses” or “expense ratio” charged
and reported by each Fund and disclosed in the Fund’s
prospectus), but in some cases may be paid or subsidized in
part by or by the adviser or distributor of the Funds or their
affiliates. Where we receive omnibus fees from or with
respect to a Fund, we generally receive omnibus fees with
respect to all share classes of the Fund held by our clients,
including (for example) share classes held in our Vantage
Program and “advisory” share classes held in our Wrap
Programs, but not necessarily in the same amounts. These
fees and fee rates are subject to change from time to time,
and may be received individually or as part of a “bundled”
arrangement with a Fund that includes other types of fees,
such as administration and distribution payments. We do
not require our Financial Advisors to recommend Funds
that pay us omnibus fees; additionally, to mitigate the
conflict as to Fund and share class recommendations, we
do not share any omnibus fees received with respect to
Funds with our Financial Advisors. Moreover, we rebate
omnibus fees received in connection with Fund shares held
in fee-based retirement accounts. To the extent received in
connection with Advisory non-retirement accounts,
omnibus payments are in addition to the Stifel Fee (or, in
the case of the Vantage Program, commissions) that we
earn directly from the relevant Clients invested in those
Funds.
(ii) Networking Fees. Fund companies that are not traded
(iii) 12b-1 Distribution Fees (“12b-1s Fees”). 12b-1 fees
are paid by Funds to compensate us for providing
distribution-related, administrative, and informational
services, as applicable, associated with each Fund. 12b-1
fees are included in the “annual operating expenses” or
“expense ratio” charged and reported by each Fund, and
are deducted directly from the Funds automatically. In
general for our Advisory Programs, we seek to make
available share classes that do not have any associated
12b-1 fees. There may, however, be some Funds
available through our Programs that have 12b-1 fees due
to share class availability due to the nature of the Program
(e.g., Vantage) or if a share class subject to 12b-1 fees is
the only share class on which we can receive Omnibus
Fees and/or Networking Fees. To mitigate against the risks
associated with Fund shares that pay 12b-1 fees held
through Vantage Program, we have restricted the purchase
of new Fund shares in the Program; however current
account may continue to hold shares purchased prior to the
restriction. To the extent we do receive 12b-1 fees with
respect to shares held in our Advisory Programs
(including, for example, shares purchased in Vantage
accounts prior to the restriction), we rebate back to the
Client any 12b-1 fees received (including Omnibus Fees
and/or Networking Fees that are paid from the 12b-1 fees)
in connection with Fund shares held in Advisory accounts,
but only to the extent that such 12b-1 fees relate to the
period during which the account has been enrolled in one
of our Advisory Programs.
omnibus are traded on a networked basis, which means our
firm submits a separate trade for each individual client to
the Fund companies and therefore maintains certain
elements of the shareholder information. Such Fund
companies and/or their affiliates may compensate us for
maintaining shareholder information, which the Fund
companies would otherwise be required to maintain
themselves. We receive networking fees that typically
range from $5.00 to $12.00 per position per year. Not all
Fund companies pay networking fees, and networking fees
that we receive vary by Fund company, by Fund and by
share class. Any networking fees that Fund companies pay
to us are deducted from the Fund’s assets, but in some
cases may be subsidized in part by affiliates or the
distributor of the Funds. As with omnibus fees, to the
extent received, we generally receive networking fees with
respect to all share classes of the Fund held by our clients,
including (for example), share classes held in our Vantage
Program and “advisory” shares held in our Wrap
Programs, but not necessarily in the same amounts. We do
not require our Financial Advisors to recommend Funds
that pay networking fees; additionally, to mitigate the
conflict as to Fund and share class recommendations, we
do not share any networking fees received from Funds with
our Financial Advisors. Moreover, we rebate networking
fees received in connection with Fund shares held in
Advisory retirement accounts. To the extent received in
(iv) Marketing Support and Revenue-Sharing Payments. We
receive revenue-sharing payments from the assets of the
Fund manager or its affiliate (and not the Fund) for
providing ongoing marketing, training, and education to our
Financial Advisors with respect to the Fund sponsor and its
products. Revenue sharing payments (which typically range
from 0.02% to 0.08% annually on assets under management
and can be up to 0.15% on new sales) do not directly reduce
the amount invested by an investor. Not all Fund managers
or affiliates make revenue-sharing payments to us, and the
revenue-sharing payments we receive vary between Fund
companies. Revenue-sharing payments may include fixed
payments, payments based on the total assets placed by our
Clients at a Fund company or in a particular Fund or Fund
share class (i.e., a percentage of total client purchases, both
brokerage and Advisory), or a combination of the two.
Because the amount of revenue-sharing payments we
receive can vary between Funds or share classes of a
particular Fund, we have an incentive to recommend to you
a Fund (or a share class of a particular Fund) that pays us a
higher amount of revenue sharing than another Fund or
share class. We seek to mitigate this potential conflict
through a number of measures, including, as described
above, the manner in which we make share classes
available. In addition, our Financial Advisors do not directly
Page 16 of 45
SF1601-3/26
share in any revenue-sharing payments we receive and we
do not require our Financial Advisors to recommend Funds
providing revenue-sharing payments to us. Moreover, we
rebate revenue sharing fees received in connection with
Fund shares held in Advisory retirement accounts. To the
extent received in connection with Advisory non-retirement
accounts, marketing and revenue share payments are in
addition to the Stifel Fee (or, in the case of the Vantage
Program, commissions) that we earn directly from the
relevant Clients invested in those Funds.
(v) Training and Education Expense Contributions: Fund
companies and/or their affiliates may pay all or a part of
the cost of particularized and/or firm-wide training
education programs and seminars for our Financial
Advisors. For example, a Fund company might host events
for Financial Advisors designed to provide training and
education about their Funds and products. In doing so, they
agree to bear the cost (or part of the cost) for our Financial
Advisors and other personnel to attend the events. The
amounts paid by Fund companies vary, and Stifel does not
require any Fund company to host, participate in or
contribute to the costs of these events as a condition of
Stifel making a Fund company’s Funds available on our
platform. A Financial Advisor’s attendance and
participation in these events, as well as the increased
exposure to Fund companies who sponsor the events, may
lead the Financial Advisor to recommend Funds of those
Fund companies as compared to Funds of Fund companies
that do not sponsor these events.
to the limitations discussed below. We may also decide, in
our sole discretion, to provide similar rebates to non-
retirement accounts in discretionary Programs if such
Funds are otherwise allowed in the relevant Program. We
generally will not provide rebates for Funds held by non-
retirement accounts in our non-discretionary Programs.
Clients should understand that rebates are calculated
retroactively, based on the value of the Fund shares held in
the Client account as of a pre-determined date (typically, as
of the last business day of the calendar month), and are
credited back to the account one quarter or more in arrears
(without interest). Moreover, our rebating process applies
only to Funds held in the Client’s account as of the first
business day of the calendar month and assumes that such
Funds are held for the entire month. As such, an Advisory
account that purchases a Fund on a day other than the first
business day of the calendar month will not be eligible for
the rebate with respect to the fees and compensation our
affiliates earn with respect to the Fund for that month.
Similarly, an Advisory account that sells a Fund prior to
the last business day of the calendar month will receive a
month’s rebate based on the assumption that the Fund was
held for the entire calendar month even though it was not.
Our policies and procedures require that our Financial
Advisors purchase and sell interests in Funds, or
recommend that a Client purchase or sell interests in
Funds, at times when it is appropriate for the Client to do
so, based on the Client’s investment objectives and needs,
and not to avoid rebating compensation the Firm’s
affiliates receive in connection with such investments.
Funds generally are sold by prospectus or other offering
document only. The prospectus or other offering document
contains important information about the specific Fund being
offered and should be reviewed carefully before investing. Any
compensation set forth above that we receive from Fund
companies and/or their affiliates is derived, directly or indirectly,
from fees that investors pay to the Funds. The amount of
compensation received will vary depending on our arrangement
with the applicable Fund company. Each Fund’s prospectus
typically describes the amount of compensation to be paid for
specified services provided to its shareholders. If such payments
are received in connection with shares held in Advisory
accounts, the Fund companies will continue to pay us for such
shares for the duration of the Advisory arrangement and, in some
circumstances, may extend payments beyond the termination of
the Advisory Agreements if Clients continue to hold Fund shares
through brokerage accounts held at Stifel. A listing of the types
and ranges of compensation that we receive from various Fund
companies is also available under the Important Disclosures
section of Stifel.com. We highly encourage all Clients to review
this information carefully.
(vi) Fees Received By Our Affiliates for Providing Services to
Funds: Some of our affiliates serve as investment adviser
or model providers, or provide other services to various
Funds that are made available in some Programs. For
example, a number of our affiliates (including Affiliated
Managers) receive licensing and other fees from ETFs for
which the affiliate provides the constituent index or other
services. Such licensing and other fees depend on the
amount of assets invested in the ETF and the amount of
shares outstanding, including (but not limited to)
investments made, and shares held, through our Advisory
Programs. Our Financial Advisors may recommend and/or
purchase these Funds to or for Advisory Clients where
allowed in a Program. If our affiliate provides services to a
Fund that is purchased or held in a Client’s Advisory
account, the affiliate generally will receive fees (or a share
thereof) from the Fund and/or its affiliates, in connection
with the Client’s investment in the Fund, even though the
Client’s investment in the Fund is also subject to Stifel
Advisory Account Fees. Neither our firm nor our
Financial Advisors directly share in any of the fees
received by our affiliates for their services to these Funds.
However, as part of an affiliated group, we may receive
indirect benefits from such compensation through our
parent company. We may limit the purchase of such Funds
in our Programs at any time, in our sole discretion. If a
Client’s retirement Advisory account invests in such a
Fund, we rebate an amount representing the fee or other
compensation our affiliate receives in connection with the
Client retirement account’s investment in the Fund, subject
Compensation From Other Products
From time to time, Stifel may receive compensation from third-
party vendors or dealers in the way of volume discounts that are
paid to firms that place several million dollars’ worth of
securities with the issuer. Volume discounts can take into
account investments made across both brokerage and Advisory
accounts. For example, we may receive volume discounts from
sponsors/issuers of structured products as well as Funds made
Page 17 of 45
SF1601-3/26
long-term effects) that each of these practices will have on their
overall account.
Finally, to the extent that a Client uses Advisory assets as
collateral for loans taken from our Affiliated Banks (“Credit
Line Loans”), we typically (but not always) receive a fee
(expressed as a percentage of the outstanding loan balance) from
the applicable affiliated bank for the duration of the loan. To the
extent received, we pay a portion of any such fees received to
the Financial Advisor. These payments present a material
conflict of interest for us as they create a financial incentive for
the Financial Advisor to recommend such Credit Line Loans on
the basis of the additional compensation to be received.
Additional information about Credit Line Loans is provided
under the section “Referral Programs” below.
Cash Sweep
As set out in the section “Cash Sweep Options” below, if we
serve as custodian of your assets, uninvested cash in your
account, including maintenance cash, will generally be swept in
accordance with the applicable sweep option for your account.
For most clients, the applicable sweep option is our insured bank
deposit sweep program. We and our affiliated banks earn fees
and receive other benefits for deposit balances in the insured
bank deposit sweep program.
available in our brokerage and/or Advisory accounts. Our
affiliates may also be compensated for non-Fund products in
which our Clients’ assets are invested. For example, some of our
affiliates may issue investment products, such as brokered
certificates of deposits (“CDs”), which are made available for
purchase on our platform. We may limit the purchase of such
products in our Programs at any time, in our sole discretion. If
such products are allowed in an Advisory Program, we rebate an
amount representing the pro-rated fee or other compensation
received (if any) by our affiliate in connection with those
products held in Client’s retirement accounts. We may also
decide, in our sole discretion, to provide similar rebates to non-
retirement accounts in discretionary Programs if such Funds are
otherwise allowed in the relevant Program. We generally will
not provide rebates for such products held by non-retirement
accounts in our non-discretionary Programs. Clients should
understand that rebates are determined retroactively, based on
the value of the product (e.g., fund shares) in the Client account
as of a pre-determined date (typically at month-end), and are
paid a quarter or more in arrears (without interest). Moreover,
our process only reviews whether a product is held in Advisory
accounts as of the beginning of the month and, thereafter,
assumes that each such product is held (or not held) in the
account(s) for the remainder of the month. As such, an eligible
Advisory account that purchases a product other than on the
first business day of the month will not receive any rebate for
that month and, similarly, an eligible Advisory account that sells
a product in the middle of the month will receive a rebate for the
entire month even though the position was only held for part of
the month.
Notwithstanding, some investment products (e.g., brokered CDs)
may not have any embedded fees that can be rebated back to the
Client, even where such products are held in an Advisory
account. Clients should carefully consider any and all
disclosures provided in connection with transactions in such
products. Clients investing in Stifel brokered CDs authorize
deposits in the appropriate Affiliate Bank (defined in the section
OTHER FINANCIAL INDUSTRY AFFILIATIONS below) and
acknowledge the benefits that Stifel, the Affiliated Bank, and the
Financial Advisor derive from the Stifel brokered CDs as
disclosed in applicable offering documents. With respect to
retirement accounts, such deposits will bear a reasonable rate of
interest as required by 29 C.F.R. Section 2550.408b-4(b)(2).
Please contact your Financial Advisor for additional
information.
Float
As set out in the section “Cash Sweep Options” below, if we
serve as custodian of your assets, un-invested cash in your
account will generally be swept in accordance with your sweep
option for the account. If we receive a cash deposit from you
before the close of business on a day in which the NYSE was
open, the deposited funds will be credited to your sweep account
as of the end of the next business day; if you deposit a check, the
funds will be credited to your sweep account as of the end of the
second business day following deposit. If we receive deposits
after the close of business on a day in which the NYSE was open
or on a day the NYSE was closed, the funds will be considered
received the following business day and will be credited to your
sweep account consistent with the timeline discussed above. As
such, depending on the time that cash is received, we may earn
interest or receive other benefits (referred to as “float”) during
the interim period between when funds are received in our firm’s
account, and the time those funds are credited to your cash
sweep account. Similarly, if you are withdrawing money from
your account (or we otherwise issue funds to you) by check or
an ACH payment, we will generally earn float on those funds
until you have cashed the check or the ACH payment has settled.
We retain any float earned (generally at Federal Funds Rates)
during any of these periods.
Interest and Similar Compensation
As discussed elsewhere in this brochure, we do not allow
Advisory accounts to use margin except in limited
circumstances. With respect to any such margin transactions,
Client accounts that are specifically approved to engage in such
margin transactions should note that we charge interest on the
amount borrowed and, if the proceeds are used to purchase
securities in the Advisory account, our Advisory fees for the
account are based on the market value of the account without
regard to the amount borrowed. We do not reduce our fees (or
commissions) by the value of any interest or similar payments
that we receive from Clients in this regard. Each Client is
strongly advised to carefully review the impact (including the
Revenue Sharing and Other Compensation Arrangements
With Other Private Investment Funds or Their Sponsors
We may allow certain Financial Advisors to recommend
investments in approved private investment funds with respect to
accounts invested in certain Advisory Programs. From time to
time, we may enter into revenue-sharing and other compensation
arrangements with such private investment funds (the managers
or sponsors of such private investment funds) with respect to our
clients’ investments in such private investment funds. For
example, we may enter into placement agent agreements
Page 18 of 45
SF1601-3/26
pursuant to which our firm and our Financial Advisors receive
upfront and/or ongoing placement fees from funds, or their
agents, or affiliates as compensation for recommending and/or
selling shares or interests of the fund to our clients. In certain
cases, the fees that we receive from such private investment
funds may be in addition to, and in other cases, in lieu of, the
Advisory Account Fee (or other direct commissions) otherwise
chargeable with respect to the investment. To the extent that we
receive placement fees and/or have a revenue-sharing or other
compensation arrangement with respect to private investment
fund shares or interests purchased in an Advisory account, the
affected Client will typically receive, at or prior to the time the
investment is made, disclosures relating to the fees and
compensation that our firm and/or the Financial Advisor(s) will
receive in connection with the investment (including, to the
extent applicable, any ongoing payments to be received in
connection with the investment). Clients should carefully
consider such arrangements in determining whether to
implement a Financial Advisor’s recommendations relating to
private investment funds.
General Disclosure on Conflicts of Interest
As set forth above, the additional compensation associated with
the Programs and/or investments described in the preceding
section, to be paid to and retained by Stifel (which may be
shared with your Financial Advisor) and/or one or more of our
affiliates, may present a conflict between your interests on the
one hand and those of the Financial Advisor, our firm or
affiliates on the other hand. This additional compensation
provides an incentive to us, in exercising discretion or making
recommendations for your account, to choose or recommend
investments that result in higher compensation to our firm, your
Financial Advisor, and/or our affiliates. For example, for certain
Programs, your Financial Advisor will receive a portion of the
Advisory Account Fee that we retain after paying, as applicable,
the portion due to the Adviser. As a result, our Financial
Advisors could have an incentive to offer Advisory Programs in
which the fee is not shared with a third-party Adviser (e.g.,
Solutions) in order to receive a higher portion of the fee.
Additionally, for those Programs in which we pay a portion of
the Advisory Account Fee to Managers, which tends to be less if
we trade the Portfolio internally than if it is traded directly by
the Adviser, Financial Advisor may have an incentive to
recommend Portfolios that we trade over those that are traded
directly by the Adviser, or Portfolios where the fee to the
Adviser is low, in order to retain a larger portion of the fee.
Finally, even where you are not charged a separate Advisory
Account Fee or direct commission in connection with an
investment with respect to which Stifel has a compensation
arrangement with the product sponsor, a Financial Advisor may
still have an incentive to recommend the investment if the
compensation received from the product sponsor is higher than
the Advisory Account Fee or direct commission that would
otherwise have been charged in connection with the investment.
Training and Education Expense Contributions From
Managers. Managers (Independent or Affiliated) may pay for all
or part of the cost of particularized and/or firm-wide training and
education programs and seminars for our Financial Advisors and
other personnel. For example, an Adviser might host events for
Financial Advisors designed to provide training and education
about the Adviser and its strategies and agree to bear the costs of
our Financial Advisors and other personnel to attend these
events. The amounts paid by the Managers vary, and Stifel does
not require an Adviser to host, participate in, or contribute to the
cost of these events as a condition of Stifel making the
Manager’s Portfolios available on our platform. A Financial
Advisor’s attendance and participation in these events, as well as
the increased exposure to the Managers who sponsor these
events, may lead the Financial Advisor to recommend Portfolios
offered by such Managers as compared to Managers that do not
sponsor these events.
In these circumstances, it is our duty to determine that an
investment made in your Account or recommended to you that
results in such additional compensation is appropriate for you
based upon the information you have provided to us.
Insurance Commissions
In addition to being a dual registrant, our firm is also licensed as
an insurance agency with various states. Some of our Financial
Advisors are licensed as insurance agents and, in such capacity,
are able to offer various insurance products to Clients and can
effect the resulting insurance transactions for separate and
customary commission compensation. Clients that determine to
purchase insurance products offered by our Financial Advisors
should note that such products will not be held in our Advisory
accounts, and will not be part of the Advisory arrangement
between Stifel and such Client. Our firm receives a portion of
any commissions that the issuing insurance company pays with
respect to insurance products sold by our Financial Advisors.
Non-Cash Compensation
Subject to firm’s policies, Financial Advisors may receive non-
cash compensation in the form of occasional gifts, meals, tickets,
and/or other forms of entertainment from third parties, including
mutual fund companies (or their agents or their affiliates),
Managers, insurance vendors, and/or sponsors of products that
we make available for purchase to our clients.
It is important to note that the services provided to you under
our Programs (particularly the Wrap Programs) may be obtained
on an unbundled basis and may result in overall lower costs.
You could use a non-discretionary commission-based brokerage
account instead of a fee-based Advisory account or a
discretionary commission-based Advisory account, or
independently retain a third-party adviser to manage your
account. In certain cases, the total charges that you pay in
Advisory Account Fees may be higher than the commissions that
would have been charged for brokerage-only services. There
may also be cases where the Advisory Account Fees charged for
fee-based Programs may be higher than if you obtained the
services covered by such fees separately (that is, if you paid
separately for advisory services, portfolio management services,
trade execution, custody and related services. Even in cases
where additional compensation (such as 12b-1 fees) is rebated
back to you, there may be cases where your total return on the
investment would have been better in a fund/share class that did
not pay such rebated compensation, where available. As set forth
above in the discussion of the Vantage Program, your Financial
Advisor has discretion over the transactions in the Vantage
account, including the frequency and amount of such
Page 19 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Program Minimums: The following minimum account sizes
are generally required to open an account in the Programs
outlined in this brochure. Specific minimums may vary
depending on the investment strategy that you select; exceptions
to the stated minimums can be granted in our discretion.
• Vantage Program: $50,000
• Summit Program: $1,000,000
As set forth elsewhere in this brochure, we offer a number of
Wrap Programs; the account minimums for these Wrap
Programs are set forth in our Wrap Program Disclosure
Brochure, which can be accessed on our website at
stifel.com/disclosures/investment-advisory-services/program-
disclosures.
You should contact your Financial Advisor for more
information on account and investment minimums.
METHODS OF ANALYSIS, INVESTMENT
STRATEGIES, AND RISK OF LOSS
transactions. In contrast, if you retain the ultimate decision-
making authority over your account, as is the case with a regular
brokerage account, you can control the volume and frequency of
trades (and, therefore, the related transaction costs) for your
account. For all these reasons, it is important that you understand
that Stifel and your Financial Advisor have a financial incentive
to recommend a commission-based discretionary program (i.e.,
Vantage) or a fee-based Advisory Program over a regular
brokerage account. You should consider the value of the
Advisory services provided or to be provided under each
Program when evaluating costs or the appropriateness of the
Advisory account in general. The combination of brokerage and
Advisory services may not be available separately, or may
require multiple accounts and varying forms of payment. You
are responsible for determining whether an Advisory
Program, including the transaction-based discretionary
Program (i.e., Vantage), is appropriate for you. Therefore,
you should understand the investment strategy you have
selected, the types of investments to be made, and the
amount of anticipated trading activity in assessing the
overall cost of the Program. Relative transaction infrequency
could have a bearing on whether an asset-based fee account or a
discretionary commission-based account is more appropriate for
you than a non-discretionary commission-based account.
PERFORMANCE-BASED FEES AND SIDE-BY-SIDE
MANAGEMENT
We do not charge performance-based fees for our Advisory
services.
ACCOUNT REQUIREMENTS AND TYPES OF CLIENTS
Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies
Our Traditional Products Working Group (the “TPWG”) is
responsible for the analysis, selection, and onboarding of the
mutual funds, ETFs, and Managers (including their specific
Portfolios) to be made generally available at our firm. After the
applicable program or product management assesses whether a
product meets the business and operations requirements for
onboarding, the applicable program or product management may
ask the Stifel CIO Office to conduct an initial due diligence
review limited to the product firm’s response to Stifel’s general
investment adviser onboarding questionnaire. Based on these
reviews, the applicable program or product management brings
the product to Stifel’s TPWG for approval to onboard to the
platform. Note that we conduct such a due diligence review for
most SMAs, but only do so for mutual funds and ETFs on an
exception basis.
We offer our Advisory services to a variety of Clients, including
individuals, corporations, institutions, pension or profit sharing
plans, employee benefit plans, trusts, estates, charitable
organizations, other business and government entities,
educational institutions, and banks or thrift institutions.
However, please note that not all types of investors are eligible
for each Program or each Portfolio within a Program.
We may decide at any time to restrict any of our Programs
and/or Portfolios within a Program to U.S. residents only. Even
where open to foreign citizens and/or residents, we may decide
not to accept potential clients that are located in certain
countries, in each case in our sole discretion.
In reviewing certain mutual funds and/or ETFs to be made
available for purchase broadly at Stifel, the TPWG considers
many factors, including, but not limited to, a fund’s investment
objectives and style, long-term performance records, and annual
expense ratios (i.e., costs). Note that TPWG may provide
minimum criteria to Product Management to allow them to
onboard mutual funds or ETFs that meet such criteria. In these
cases, such additions will be reported to the TPWG at its next
meeting. From time to time, select mutual funds, ETF, and/or
Portfolios from the broad universe of those that are approved for
Stifel’s platform are selected for the firm’s Traditional and/or
Alternative Mutual Fund Recommended Lists, ETF
Recommended List, and/or SMA Recommended List, as
applicable by the appropriate unit.
You should generally select a Program or a Portfolio within a
Program based on an analysis of the Portfolio’s objectives and
risk profile versus your particular situation and needs. In general,
(i) you should consider your specific circumstances (such as age,
net worth, income and liquidity needs, as well as risk level)
compared to the investment strategy, recommended time horizon
and risk profile for the Portfolio; and (ii) the amount that you
allocate to any one Program or Portfolio within a Program
should be reasonable in light of your overall asset allocation and
investment goals.
Private Funds for which our firm serves as investment adviser
are available only to investors that meet the qualification
standards set forth in each Fund’s offering documents.
Each Recommended List contain products that, in that unit’s
opinion, are among the strongest offerings of their product type
available at Stifel. We do not require our Financial Advisors to
limit mutual fund or ETF recommendations in Advisory
accounts, or recommendations of Portfolios to the products that
are on the applicable Recommended List. Additional
information about factors considered in selecting Funds or
Page 20 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Adviser Portfolios (SMAs) to be including on the Stifel
Recommended Lists is provided under the section “Portfolio
Manager Selection and Evaluation” in our Wrap Program
Disclosure Brochure.
Underlying Fund’s performance history and relative
performance, service provider relationships and regulatory
filings as well as constituent documents and offering documents.
The factors considered may vary among the Underlying Funds.
From time to time in connection with the Private Funds, our
personnel review, among other things, Underlying Fund
performance, financial results and assets; the review may be
conducted quarterly (such as where the Underlying Fund is a
hedge fund) or semi-annually (such as where the Underlying
Fund is a private equity fund). Ongoing review of each
Underlying Fund may also include in-person meetings with its
investment advisor, typically every two to four years, unless
circumstances warrant a more frequent or less frequent visits.
Depending on its investment objective, our personnel may
recommend replacing an Underlying Fund in a particular Private
Fund based on a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to,
personnel or ownership changes at the Underlying Fund’s
investment adviser, or prolonged periods of lagging
performance. We do not verify, or engage a third party to verify,
performance data provided by the Underlying Funds, however
do review that data for reasonableness by comparing it to the
Underlying Funds’ audited financial statements.
In cases where Financial Advisors are directing and/or
recommending specific securities or investments, they use
information obtained from various sources including financial
publications, inspections of corporate activities, company press
releases, research material prepared by affiliates and/or third
parties, rating or timing services, regulatory and self-regulatory
reports, and other public sources. Financial Advisors use
research provided by our research department, our internal
product specialists and/or from other sources relating to a broad
range of research and information about the economy, industries,
groups of securities and individual companies, statistical
information, market data, accounting and tax law interpretations,
political developments, pricing and appraisal services, credit
analysis, risk measurement analysis, performance analysis, and
other information that may affect the economy or securities
prices. The research used may be in the form of written reports,
telephone contacts, and personal meetings with research
analysts, economists, government representatives, and corporate
and industry spokespersons. Additional information about the
various research sources that our Financial Advisors may use in
connection with Advisory accounts is provided below under the
section “Brokerage Practices – Research and Other Benefits.”
Financial Advisors use any and/or a combination of
fundamental, technical, quantitative, and statistical tools and
valuation methodologies. The use of these different
methodologies may result in technical or quantitative research
recommendations that may differ from, or be inconsistent with,
fundamental opinions for the same security.
Risk of Loss
You should understand that all investment strategies and the
investments made when implementing those investment
strategies involve risk of loss and you should be prepared to bear
the loss of assets invested. The investment performance and the
success of any investment strategy or particular investment can
never be predicted or guaranteed, and the value of your
investments will fluctuate due to market conditions and other
factors.
In consideration of this information, the Stifel CIO Office seeks
to evaluate the security across multiple dimensions, which may
include, but not be limited to, economic trends, management,
business strategy, financial strength, profitability, competitive
strength, and valuation.
Our Financial Advisors may recommend a wide array of
investments, and as discussed above, each Program and/or
Portfolio covers a wide range of securities. As such, the specific
type(s) of risks that each Client is exposed to will vary
depending on the particular Program and/or the Portfolio in
which the Client is enrolled, as well as the investments held in
the Client’s Advisory account. We do not offer any guarantees
that any investment recommendations made with respect to our
Programs will be profitable. Moreover, Clients should note that
past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
With respect to fixed income securities, Financial Advisors can
assist a Client to determine, or recommend to a Client, the
appropriate type of security (government, corporate, or
municipal), the appropriate maturity and diversification, and the
appropriate parameters that will apply to the fixed income
securities to be purchased for the Client account.
In general, our Advisory services typically combine asset
allocation and periodic rebalancing with the aim of growing
and/or preserving principal. Our Financial Advisors generally
assist Clients in designing investment portfolios with a long-
term perspective, and periodically rebalance (or recommend
rebalancing) the portfolios, as they deem appropriate, to manage
risk.
Portfolio Manager Selection and Evaluation.
The Private Funds invest in Underlying Funds managed by
unaffiliated investment managers. The Underlying Funds and
their managers go through an initial due diligence process that
includes reviewing certain quantitative and qualitative
factors. Among other things, applicable personnel review the
Material Risks
Equities, ETFs, mutual funds, options and fixed income
securities are the primary investments in our Advisory Programs.
The material risks described below do not include every
potential risk associated with the Programs and investment
products, and you should not rely solely on the descriptions
provided below. You should ask questions about risks applicable
to particular Programs and investment products, read all product-
specific risk disclosures, and decide whether a particular
Program and investment product is appropriate for you based on
your specific circumstances, investment objectives, and financial
situation. For example, you should read the prospectus and other
offering documents (or, in the case of a Manager’s Portfolio, the
Manager’s Form ADV Part 2A) for a full description of risks
associated with the particular investments. You should consider
all disclosed risks associated with the types of transactions and
Page 21 of 45
SF1601-3/26
securities involved in the Portfolio and/or product in which you
are contemplating an investment, as well as any potential impact
that engaging in any of the below transactions may have on an
account’s overall performance.
The following material risks may also be applicable to Advisory
accounts invested in our Programs:
shares “in-kind” instead of in cash in connection with such
large redemption requests. In that event, your account in the
Program may receive the actual underlying (i.e., non-Fund)
securities held by the Fund. The underlying securities could
lose value before we are able to sell them (if our Firm or an
FA has discretion). To the extent possible, we will work with
Fund companies to minimize the potential adverse impact of
large volume redemptions to accounts in our Programs, but
there is no assurance that you will be able to avoid the risk of
loss and other adverse consequences.
Exchange Traded Product Risks: Exchange Traded Products
(“ETPs”) are types of securities that derive their value from a
basket of securities such as stocks, bonds, commodities or
indices, and trade intra-day on a national securities exchange.
Generally, ETPs take the form of ETFs or exchange traded notes
(“ETNs”). ETFs are discussed above under Investment Company
Securities Risks; ETNs are senior unsecured debt obligations of
an issuer, typically a bank or another financial institution;
however, ETNs are not categorized as typical fixed income
products.
General Economic and Market Conditions Risk: The success
of the firm’s activities will be affected by general economic and
market conditions, such as interest rates, availability of credit,
inflation rates, economic uncertainty, changes in laws, trade
barriers, currency exchange controls, energy prices, commodity
prices, national and international political circumstances
(including government intervention in financial markets, wars,
terrorist acts, or security operations), natural disasters, and
regional, national, and global health crises (for example, the
global outbreak of the coronavirus disease in 2019-20). These
factors may affect the volatility of securities prices and the
liquidity of your investments. Volatility or illiquidity could
impair your profitability or result in losses. The firm’s clients
may maintain substantial trading positions that can be adversely
affected by the level of volatility in the financial markets.
Management Style Risks: A number of our Advisory Programs,
including (but not limited to) Opportunity, Custom Advisory
Portfolio, IMC, and Connect, are, or may be, managed or
advised by Independent or Affiliated Managers. In general, we
consider a Manager’s performance track record, among other
things, during the selection process. However, a Manager’s past
performance is not a guarantee of its future results; as such, its
investment strategies may fail to produce the intended results.
Investment Company Securities Risks: Accounts in number of
our Programs are heavily invested in mutual funds. In addition,
our Advisory accounts may also invest in other investment
companies, including ETFs, UITs, and/or closed-end funds.
Each Fund in a Client’s account may be subject to a variety of
risks, depending on its investment strategies and/or the securities
held. For example, mutual funds that primarily hold a portfolio
of small capitalization companies will be subject to small
capitalization risks, which may include increased volatility and
decreased liquidity (relative to large capitalization companies).
Each of these investments is subject to internal fees, which affect
its net asset value and reduce the return that a Client will realize
with respect to the investment.
• Delayed Redemptions or Redemptions In-Kind – Stifel
Clients may collectively own a large percentage of certain
Funds through the Programs covered in this brochure (e.g.,
through Fundamentals and CAP). If the aggregate ownership
exceeds certain thresholds set by a Fund company, the Fund
may determine to delay or otherwise limit redemptions in our
Client accounts, particularly in connection with large volume
redemptions (for example, where our portfolio managers
determine to reduce or exit out of a Fund position held in one
or more Portfolios in the Fundamentals Program). This may
result in delays in our firm’s ability to fully liquidate or
redeem out of the Fund, which could in turn result in
increased risk of loss for participating accounts. If allowed
under its prospectus, a Fund could also decide to redeem
Fixed Income Securities Risks: A number of Portfolios and/or
Financial Advisors may invest Client accounts in a variety of
fixed income securities. Fixed income securities are subject to
credit risk, interest rate risk, and liquidity risk. Credit risk is the
risk the issuer or guarantor of a debt security will be unable or
unwilling to make timely payments of interest or principal or to
otherwise honor its obligations. Interest rate risk is the risk of
losses due to changes in interest rates. In general, the prices of
debt securities rise when interest rates fall, and the prices fall
when interest rates rise. Duration measures the change in the
price of a fixed income security based on the increase or
decrease in the overall interest rates. Bonds with higher duration
carry more risks and have higher price volatility than bonds with
lower duration. Therefore, if interest rates are very low at the
time of purchase of the bonds, when interest rates eventually do
rise, the price of such lower interest rate bonds will decrease,
and anyone needing to sell such bonds at that time, rather than
holding them to maturity, could realize a loss. High-yield debt
securities (junk bonds) generally are more sensitive to interest
rates. Such securities are also highly subject to liquidity risk.
Liquidity risk is the risk that a particular security may be
difficult to purchase or sell and that an investor may be unable to
sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. There are
also special tax considerations associated with investing in high-
yield securities structured as zero coupon or pay-in-kind
securities. Municipal bonds may also have a call feature,
entitling the issuer to redeem the bond prior to maturity. A
callable security’s duration, or sensitivity to interest rate
changes, decreases when rates fall and increases when rates rise
because issuers are likely to call the bond only if the rates are
low. Investors in callable bonds are therefore subject to
reinvestment risk – that is, the risk that they will need to reinvest
their proceeds at lower rates. Municipal bonds are also subject to
state-specific risks, such as changes in the issuing state’s credit
rating, as well as the risk that legislative changes may affect the
tax status of such bonds. Investments in government-sponsored
entity securities also exhibit these risks, although the degree of
such risks may vary significantly among the different
government-sponsored entity securities. Some securities issued
Page 22 of 45
SF1601-3/26
or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities
are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. and may
only be supported by the right of the agency or instrumentality to
borrow from the U.S. Treasury.
1. Income Risk. Many Structured CDs do not pay a fixed rate of
interest; instead, such products’ return may be realized at
maturity based upon the underlying asset or basket of assets
or index. The interest rate earned may be lower than the
interest rate available on other investments with the same
maturity and could even be as low as zero. Some, but not all,
Structured CDs may have maximum rates of return,
regardless of the performance of the underlying index or
strategy.
2. Principal Risk. Although Structured CDs are insured CDs,
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) limit of
$250,000 per depositor only applies to the principal amount
of the CD purchased. If sold prior to maturity, the sale will be
subject to market prices and the principal may not be fully
returned.
Brokered Certificates of Deposit Risks. Clients in certain
Programs may invest in brokered CDs issued by U.S. depository
institutions (each, a “CD Issuer”). These CDs are insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) up to
applicable limits, and Clients are responsible for monitoring the
total amounts of deposits with any one CD issuer for FDIC
guarantee limits. Brokered CDs held in Advisory accounts are
subject to the Advisory Account Fee, and Clients should
consider the impact of the Advisory Account Fee on the yield of
any brokered CDs in their Client account. Among the risks
relating to CDs are adverse changes in general economic
conditions, as well as exposure to credit losses arising from
possible financial difficulties of CD Issuers. Although Stifel
generally seeks to select CDs of highly qualified CD Issuers that
are subject to extensive governmental regulations, a CD Issuer’s
profitability largely depends on the availability and cost of funds
for the purpose of financing lending operations under prevailing
money market conditions. Redeeming CDs before maturity may
result in loss of principal due to fluctuations in the interest rate,
lack of liquidity, or transaction costs. CDs sold prior to maturity
may be worth less or more than the original purchase. Rates paid
on brokered CDs may be lower or higher than the rates available
directly through the CD Issuer or through a Stifel brokerage
transaction. Clients should refer to the disclosures
stifel.com/docs/pdf/Disclosures/Certificates-Of-Deposit.pdf for
additional general information regarding CDs, including terms,
important investment consideration, and the extent of and
limitations on FDIC insurance, and to the “Specific Investment
Product Disclosure” Section of the Stifel Account Agreement
and Important Disclosures Booklet for additional information
regarding Brokered CDs.
Structured Investments Risks: We may allow accounts in
certain Programs to invest in structured investments. We may, in
our sole discretion, refuse to allow any Client account to invest
in structured investments, even if that account is enrolled in a
Program that otherwise allows for their use. Structured
investments are financial instruments that are generally derived
from or based on a single security, basket of securities, an index,
one or more interest rates, a commodity or basket of
commodities, a debt issuance, a foreign currency or basket of
currencies, and/or an actively or passively managed fund or
collection of funds (each, a “Structured Investment”). Structured
Investments may not be suitable for all investors. Clients that
invest in Structured Investments (or in a Portfolio that invests in
Structured Investments) should be prepared to hold the
Structured Investment until maturity. Clients that do not fully
understand how Structured Investments work, as well as their
associated risk, should not invest in these products (or in
Portfolios that invest in these products). Structured Investments
require the investor to assess several characteristics and risks
that may not be present in other forms of investment, including
structure risks (risks related to movements in the underlying
asset and the effect of such movements on payouts under the
Structured Investment), currency risks, liquidity risks, tax-
treatment risks, loss of principal risk, call risk, and other types of
risks. Some Structured Investments offer protection of the
principal invested (contingent on the ability of the issuer to
repay its senior unsubordinated obligations at maturity), whereas
others offer more limited or no protection of the principal.
Because the principal or interest payment on a Structured
Investment is tied to the value of another asset or assets, a
change in the value of that asset can affect the return on the
Structured Investments in a manner not characteristic of non-
structured obligations. In certain cases, an affiliate of Stifel may
receive compensation from the issuer of the notes in connection
with research and other services provided by the affiliate to the
issuer of Structured Investments that we may offer to clients.
Except in connection with retirement accounts, the affiliate’s
compensation generally will not affect our firm’s compensation
in connection with clients that hold these investments in their
advisory accounts – you should refer to the section “Additional
Information on Fees and Other Compensation” for more details
on affiliate compensation on certain products that we offer.
Important information and risks specific to each Structured
Investment offering will be disclosed in the offering materials
for the specific product, and you should carefully review all
related disclosures prior to investing in any Structured
Investment.
Additional information is also available in the Structured Products
Disclosure available on our website (under Important
Disclosures).
Cash Balance Risks:
Cash balances, including maintenance cash, in Advisory
accounts are subject to the Advisory Account Fee. Depending on
prevailing interest rates, it is likely that cash balances held in
Advisory accounts will underperform, including resulting in
negative returns after application of Advisory Account Fees, as
compared to alternative arrangements for holding cash positions.
This is particularly true if such cash balances are held through an
automatic sweep option, as the return that a Client will earn on
cash held through a sweep option will most likely be less than
the applicable Advisory Account Fee. For most Clients in our
Programs, the applicable sweep option is our insured bank
Other Risks for Structured Certificates of Deposits (CDs). To the
extent that the Structured Investments purchased in advisory
accounts are CDs, the investments could also be subject to the
following additional risks:
Page 23 of 45
SF1601-3/26
deposit sweep program. Our insured bank deposit sweep
programs pay comparable market interest rates to insured bank
checking accounts but may have significantly lower rates when
compared to unaffiliated money market funds or other cash
equivalents that could otherwise be used to hold cash in Client
accounts. Under certain market conditions, holding cash results
in lower overall account return, such as when riskier assets
outperform cash. Moreover, while maintaining Advisory account
assets in cash may protect those assets from the risk of loss in
the event of a market downturn, holding cash, particularly high
cash concentrations for long periods of time, through an
Advisory account may result in underperformance given the
impact of Advisory Account Fee(s) and the rates of return on
maintenance cash and other cash equivalents.
short position(s) will lose money when the value of the
underlying (borrowed) security rises, a result that is the opposite
of traditional strategies. The existence (and volume) of short
positions can also lead to more volatile performance of the
underlying security, which will in turn affect the performance of
the shorting strategy. Short sales expose a Client’s account to the
risk that it will be required to acquire, convert, or exchange
securities to replace the borrowed securities (also known as
“covering” the short position) at a time when the securities sold
short have appreciated in value, thus resulting in a loss. An
account’s investment performance may also suffer if required to
close out a short position earlier than initially anticipated.
Moreover, under certain market conditions (such as during
periods of high volatility), regulators may also limit or otherwise
impose significant requirement on short sales, which would have
an adverse effect on the strategy and, therefore, the Client’s
account. In addition, an account may be subject to expenses
related to short sales that are not typically associated with other
Advisory accounts in the Program, such as borrowing costs (or
short sale charges) and margin account maintenance costs. Each
Client is urged to carefully consider the impact that engaging in
any of these transactions will have on the account’s overall
performance.
In all cases, each Client has the option to hold cash in a
brokerage account at Stifel and/or in deposit accounts through
the Affiliated Bank or with other banks, in which case such cash
would not be subject to the Advisory Account Fee. Clients also
have the option of using (including directing their Financial
Advisors to use) other cash equivalents in their accounts; while
subject to the Advisory Account Fee, these cash equivalents will
likely earn higher interest rates than cash held through our
insured bank deposit sweep programs. Clients should compare
the terms, interest rates, required minimum amounts, and other
features of the automatic sweep option with other cash
equivalent investments. More information about our automatic
sweep option is available at
stifel.com/agreementanddisclosurebooklet. Information about
current interest rates for our insured bank deposit sweep
programs is available by contacting your Financial Advisor or
through Stifel.com.
Alternative Investments Risks: A number of Portfolios may
invest in and/or Financial Advisors may recommend a variety of
alternative investments. Alternative investments, including (but
not limited to) the Private Fund or other hedge funds or private
equity funds, alternative mutual funds, non-traditional ETFs,
managed futures products, and/or real estate (related)
investments may also present unique risks, such as decreased
liquidity and transparency and increased complexity. Alternative
investments typically use derivative instruments (such as
options, futures, or index-based instruments) and/or leveraging
strategies. The use of derivative instruments involves multiple
risks, as discussed in more detail above. In addition, to the extent
that the alternative investment uses commodities (or commodity-
based derivatives) as part of its investment strategy, the
investment return may also vary as a result of fluctuations in the
supply and demand of the underlying commodities. Real estate-
related investments will be subject to risks generally related to
real estate, including risks specific to geographic areas in which
the underlying investments were made. Certain alternative
investments may be less tax efficient than others. Each
alternative investment is typically subject to internal fees
(including, but not limited to, management and/or performance
fees), which affect the product’s net asset value and reduce the
return that a Client will realize with respect to the investment.
Additional risks may include style-specific risk, speculative
investment risk, concentration risk, correlation risk, credit risk
and lower-quality debt securities risk, equity securities risk,
financial services companies’ risk, interest rate risk, non-
diversification risk, small- and mid-cap company risk, and
special risks of mutual funds and/or ETFs, among others.
Derivatives Risks: A number of Portfolios or discretionary
accounts may engage in derivative transactions, including, but
not limited to, hedge funds, options, overlays, and managed
futures products for any purpose consistent with the Client’s
investment objective and/or the Portfolio in which the Client
account is invested. Generally, a derivative is a financial
arrangement, the value of which is derived from, or based on, a
traditional security, asset, or market index. Such transactions
may be used for several reasons, including hedging unrealized
gains. Hedging strategies, if successful, can reduce the risk of
loss by offsetting the negative effect of unfavorable price
movements in the investments being hedged. However, hedging
strategies can also reduce the opportunity for gain by offsetting
the positive effect of favorable price movements in the hedged
investments. A Portfolio (or certain accounts in a Program) may
also use derivative instruments to, amongst other objectives,
obtain market exposure (that is, for speculative purposes rather
than hedging) or generate income. Certain accounts may
establish a position in the derivatives market as a substitute for
buying, selling, or holding certain securities. The use of
derivative transactions is a highly specialized activity that
involves investment techniques and risks that may be more
heightened than those associated with ordinary portfolio
securities transactions.
Short Selling (or Short Sale Exposure) Risks: Certain
Portfolios and other accounts may engage in short selling. A
short sale involves the sale of a security that is borrowed. The
Unrelated Business Taxable Income: Unrelated business
taxable income (“UBTI”) is income regularly generated by a tax-
exempt entity by means of taxable activities. This income is not
related to the main function of the entity, but is needed to
generate a small portion of income. UBTI is typically associated
Page 24 of 45
SF1601-3/26
forth elsewhere in this brochure and/or in the Advisory
Agreement, such taxes and charges are in addition to (i.e., are
not included in) a Client’s Advisory fees or commissions. All
these factors could negatively affect a Client’s realized return on
the investment.
with income received from investments in limited partnerships
and master limited partnerships, which are required to pay out
most of their profits. Clients may also be affected if a Fund in
their account in turn invests in entities that generate income that
qualifies as UBTI for their retirement account(s). When UBTI of
$1,000 or more is received from investments held in a client’s
tax deferred retirement account (such as an IRA), as custodian
Stifel will take the necessary steps to pay the UBTI tax liability
from the assets of the retirement account and will use a vendor
to prepare and file the required Form 990-T with the IRS.
Affected retirement accounts will incur filing fee for each Form
990-T that Stifel files on behalf of the account. Clients with
retirement accounts investing in such securities (directly, or
though Portfolios that in turn invest in these securities) should
refer to the Stifel Account Agreement and Disclosure Booklet
for additional information about the processing fee charged for
these filings.
Emerging Markets Securities Risks: Numerous emerging
market countries have a history of, and continue to experience,
serious and potentially continuing economic and political
problems. Stock markets in many emerging market countries are
relatively small, expensive to trade in, and generally have higher
risks than those in developed markets. Securities in emerging
markets also may be less liquid than those in developed markets,
and foreigners are often limited in their ability to invest in, and
withdraw assets from, these markets. Additional restrictions may
be imposed under other conditions. Frontier market countries
generally have smaller economies or less developed capital
markets, and as a result, the risks of investing in emerging
market countries are magnified in frontier market countries. It is
important to note that emerging markets securities are foreign
securities and also carry all of the foreign securities risks
identified above.
Tax-Exempt Securities Risks: Portfolios (or accounts in a
Program) may seek to invest in tax-exempt securities, including
(but not limited to) municipal bonds as well as tax-exempt
mutual funds and ETFs. In order to attempt to pay interest that is
exempt from federal or state and local income tax, tax-exempt
securities must meet certain legal requirements. Failure to meet
such requirements may cause the interest received and
distributed to shareholders to be taxable. In addition, income
from one or more municipal bonds held in the Portfolio could be
declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax or other
laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service
(“IRS”), state, or other tax authorities, or noncompliant conduct
of a bond issuer. Changes or proposed changes in federal or state
income tax or other laws may also cause the prices of tax-
exempt securities to fall. Finally, income from certain municipal
bonds may be subject to the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”)
and/or state and local taxes, based on the investor’s state of
residence. In addition, as discussed in more detail under the
section “Cash Sweep Options” below, idle cash in Advisory
accounts held at Stifel (including accounts invested in “tax-
exempt” Portfolios) is typically swept into one of our insured
bank cash sweep programs. Any interest earned by the Client in
respect of such cash balances will not be exempt from taxes.
American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) Risks: Certain Program
assets may also be invested in ADRs stocks listed on a U.S.
exchange. An ADR is typically created by a U.S. bank and
allows U.S. investors to have a position in the foreign company
in the form of an ADR. Each ADR represents one or more shares
of a foreign stock or a fraction of a share (often referred to as the
“ratio”). The certificate, transfer, and settlement practices for
ADRs are identical to those for U.S. securities. Generally, the
price of the ADR corresponds to the price of the foreign stock in
its home market, adjusted for the ratio of ADRs to foreign
company shares. There are investment risks associated with
ADRs, including, but not limited to, currency exchange-rate,
inflationary, and liquidity risks as well as the risk of adverse
political, economic, and social developments taking place within
the underlying issuer’s home country. In addition, the underlying
issuers of certain ADRs are under no obligation to distribute
shareholder communications to ADR holders, or to pass through
to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities.
It is important to note that since ADRs are created to allow U.S.
investors to have a position in a foreign company, they also
carry all of the foreign securities risks identified above.
IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: Stifel, its affiliates, agents and
employees are not in the business of providing tax, regulatory,
accounting or legal advice. This brochure and any tax-related
statements provided by Stifel are not intended or written to be
used, and cannot be used or relied upon, by any such taxpayer
for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties. Any such taxpayer
should seek advice based on the taxpayer’s particular
circumstances from an independent tax adviser.
Equity Risks: Equity securities represent an ownership interest,
or the right to acquire an ownership interest, in an issuer. Equity
securities also include, among other things, common stocks,
preferred securities, convertible stocks, and warrants. The values
of equity securities, such as common stocks and preferred
securities, may decline due to general market conditions that are
not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or
perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general
outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency
rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. Equity securities
generally rank junior in a company’s capital structure to debt
securities and consequently have greater price volatility and
entail greater risk of loss than debt securities.
Foreign Securities Risks: Advisory accounts may invest in
foreign securities, directly or through Funds that hold a portfolio
of foreign securities. Foreign securities can be more volatile than
domestic (U.S.) securities. Securities markets of other countries
are generally smaller than U.S. securities markets. Many foreign
securities may also be less liquid than U.S. securities, and are
typically subject to currency risk. Some foreign securities also
may be subject to taxes and other charges imposed by the
issuer’s country of residence or citizenship. Certain foreign
securities may be subject to additional costs and risks. As set
Page 25 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Frequent Trading and High Portfolio Turnover Rate Risk: The
turnover rate within certain discretionary Advisory accounts
(including, for example, in the Vantage Program) may be
significant. Frequent trades may result in high transactions costs,
including substantial commissions, fees, and other transaction
costs. In addition, frequent trading is likely to result in short-
term capital gains tax treatment. As a result, high turnover and
frequent trading in an Advisory account could have an adverse
effect on the cost and therefore the return on the Advisory
account.
Risks Relating to the Use of Third-Party Managers: Our
selection of managers is inherently based on subjective criteria
with the result that the true performance and abilities of any
particular manager may be difficult to assess. The historical
performance of a manager is not indicative of its future
performance, which can vary considerably. We do not have a
role in the day-to-day management of the investments managed
by third-party managers (such as certain of the CAS Funds).
Consequently, the performance of such investments is
substantially dependent on the skill and acumen of key
employees of the managers. If such employees cease to
participate in the manager’s business, the manager’s ability to
select attractive investments and manage its portfolio could be
impaired.
Diversification Risk: Certain Portfolios within Stifel’s Advisory
Programs may have concentration in specific asset classes,
sectors, or individual securities, which could result in increased
exposure to the risks that can be attributed to those specific
investments. Additionally, certain Portfolios may invest in a
specific investment style. As a result, clients in these Portfolios
may not have access to as wide a variety of management styles
as clients in Portfolios. Certain Portfolios also invest in funds of
specific sponsors or fund companies, which means that clients in
these Portfolios only have access to the management style of that
fund company or sponsor. Clients in these Portfolios will be
subject to more risk than Clients in more diversified Portfolios
and, therefore, are intended to complement to other investments.
Mid Cap and Small Cap Company Risk: The securities of mid
cap or small cap companies may be subject to more abrupt or
erratic market movements and may have lower trading volumes
or more erratic trading than securities of larger-sized companies
or the market averages in general.
We rely to a great extent on information provided by the
managers and may have limited access to other information
regarding the managers’ portfolios and operations. There is a
risk that a manager may knowingly, negligently or otherwise
withhold or misrepresent information, including instances of
fraud or similar activities. We are not able to guarantee that its
ongoing monitoring would detect instances of fraudulent or
similar activity. In addition, managers may have similar or
divergent investment views and strategies. Consequently, a
Client whose assets are managed by more than one manager may
at times hold economically offsetting positions in its overall
portfolio, and could indirectly incur transaction costs without
accomplishing any net investment result, or may compete with
its own accounts for the same positions in one or more markets.
Where managers hold similar views or employ similar trading
strategies, a Client’s overall portfolio may hold large positions in
a relatively limited number of the same or similar investments.
Greater concentration of positions across multiple managers will
increase the adverse effect of any unfavorable conditions in the
market, sector, or industry in which the positions are
concentrated.
Municipal Securities Risk: Municipal issuers may be adversely
affected by rising health care costs, increasing unfunded pension
liabilities, and by the phasing out of federal programs providing
financial support. Unfavorable conditions and developments
relating to projects financed with municipal securities can result
in lower revenues to issuers of municipal securities. Issuers often
depend on revenues from these projects to make principal and
interest payments. The value of municipal securities can also be
adversely affected by changes in the financial condition of one
or more individual municipal issuers or insurers of municipal
issuers, regulatory and political developments, tax law changes
or other legislative actions (as discussed under Tax-Exempt
Securities Risk above), and by uncertainties and public
perceptions concerning these and other factors. In recent periods,
an increasing number of municipal issuers in the United States
have defaulted on obligations and commenced insolvency
proceedings.
Dividend Reinvestment Risks: Clients that direct dividend
reinvestment for their Advisory accounts should note that
dividend reinvestment typically leads to the receipt of fractional
shares. Stifel is not able to execute fractional share liquidations
on an agency basis. Clients should therefore understand that
where Stifel liquidates fractional shares, Stifel will purchase the
fractional shares into its inventory. The price allocated to the
fractional component will depend on whether the fractional
shares portion can be processed on the same day as any whole
shares that are part of the same liquidation transaction (in which
case, the price will be the same as the market price received
from the whole shares), or whether the fractional shares are
processed on a different day (in which case, the price allocated
to the fractional shares will be the previous business day’s
closing market price for the security). Stifel may benefit from (or
lose money as a result of) implementing fractional share
liquidation in Advisory Client accounts. In general, Clients
should note that Stifel does not encourage dividend reinvestment
in its Advisory accounts.
Dependence on Key Personnel: In certain situations, we may
rely heavily on certain key personnel of our firm, our affiliates,
and/or the personnel of certain Managers available on our
platform. The departure of any such key personnel or their
inability to fulfill their duties may adversely affect the related
Portfolio, including our firm’s (or the Manager’s, as the case
may be) ability to effectively implement the Portfolio’s stated
objectives as communicated to the Client in respect of such
accounts and, as a result, adversely impact the performance of
the accounts.
Risks Relating to Investments in the Private Funds: The
following is a summary of the principal risks that apply to
investments in the Private Funds and does not attempt to identify
Page 26 of 45
SF1601-3/26
every potential risk associated with a particular investment
strategy or Private Fund.
information that clients request because certain information
may be considered proprietary or otherwise confidential.
This lack of information may make it more difficult for
Clients to evaluate the risks of a continued investment in
the Private Fund.
(vi) Ability to Meet Investment Objectives. Our firm is not
Additional information about applicable risks is set forth in each
Private Fund’s prospectus, private placement memorandum, or
other offering document or disclosure document (collectively,
“risk disclosures”) provided in connection with an investment in
such Private Fund. Clients are encouraged to read those risk
disclosures carefully. This information is qualified in its entirety
by reference to the respective risk disclosures and in the event of
any conflict or inconsistency, Clients should rely on the
respective risk disclosures.
responsible for the investment decisions of the third-party
managers that are hired to manage the Private Funds and/or
any such Private Fund’s underlying investments, as such,
we cannot guarantee that the investment objectives of any
particular Private Fund will be achieved.
(i) Regulatory Environment. Interests in the Private Funds
generally are not registered under federal or state securities
laws, nor are they subject to regulation by the SEC or other
regulators. In addition, when investing in the Private
Funds, Clients may not be protected by federal or state
securities laws, other than certain anti-fraud provisions of
those laws. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is
increased regulatory scrutiny of the private investment
fund industry in general. Any future changes in the
regulations applicable to the private investment fund
industry could have a material adverse impact on the
performance of the Private Funds’ investments.
(ii) Concentration Risk. Certain Private Funds may not
Issuer Concentration Risk: From time to time, a Financial
Advisor (or a Portfolio) may take a significant position in a
particular issuer; for example, a particular Financial Advisor’s
Clients may, in the aggregate, own more than 5% of an issuer’s
outstanding stock. Even where such a position is spread among a
number of Client accounts, the affected Clients will be more
exposed to the issuer’s specific risk than when the firm’s
aggregate position in the issuer is insignificant or immaterial.
Such large positions may also affect the liquidity of the
investment because we may not be able to completely liquidate
the position within a desired timeline or at a desired price if we
own more than the typical daily trading volume. We are required
by applicable regulations to disclose ownership of more than 5%
of the total outstanding shares of certain equity securities held in
our discretionary accounts. There are no similar disclosure
requirements to the extent the positions are held in non-
discretionary Client accounts. Clients are therefore encouraged
to discuss these risks with their Financial Advisor when
considering the Financial Advisor’s investment
recommendations.
establish concentration limits with respect to particular
securities, industries, or sectors. Consequently, a Private
Fund may be relatively concentrated in a particular
security, industry or sector and unfavorable conditions
affecting any such security, industry or sector could have a
material adverse effect on the Private Fund’s overall
financial condition.
(iii) Investment Strategy Risk. Depending on their investment
strategies, certain Private Funds may engage or invest in
highly leveraged transactions, short sales, derivatives,
commodities, or volatile or speculative instruments, and
may concentrate their investments in a limited number of
securities or other interests, including securities that are not
publicly registered, listed or publicly traded, which may
serve to make an investment in such Private Funds highly
speculative and risky. Before investing in a Private Fund,
Clients should understand the attendant risks of its
investment strategy.
(iv) Lack of Liquidity. Interests in the Private Funds are
Indirect Investments in Digital Assets:
Our Financial Advisors may recommend, and portfolios on our
platform may invest in, funds or exchange traded products with
direct or indirect exposure to digital assets, including
cryptocurrencies. Investments in digital assets are highly
speculative and involve substantial risks, including extreme
price volatility, limited operating histories, significant
concentration risk, evolving and uncertain regulatory and tax
treatment, and fewer investor protections than traditional
investment products. Many digital asset products, including
certain spot cryptocurrency ETPs, are not registered under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 and, therefore, do not provide
the same regulatory safeguards as mutual funds or traditional
ETFs.
generally illiquid. No market may exist for the Private
Funds’ interests, and substantial restrictions may exist with
respect to their transferability and resale. The securities
and other interests in which a Private Fund invests
similarly may be illiquid. As a result, Clients should be
prepared to bear the financial risks of investing in a Private
Fund for a significant period of time, and understand that
they may not be able to withdraw assets whenever they
wish to do so.
(v) Lack of Transparency. Private Fund investors generally
Cryptocurrency markets and exchanges may experience fraud,
security breaches, operational failures, business disruptions, or
limited regulatory oversight, increasing the risk of market
manipulation, pricing inefficiencies, or loss. Digital assets may
be permanently lost, stolen, destroyed, or rendered inaccessible
due to cybersecurity events or the loss of private keys, are not
legal tender, and are not FDIC insured. Market prices of digital
asset products may differ materially from net asset value due to
fees, liquidity constraints, trading limitations, or market
conditions. ETFs generally trade only during standard U.S.
market hours, while the underlying cryptocurrency markets
receive periodic reports from the Fund or its manager.
However, a Private Fund may not always provide all the
Page 27 of 45
SF1601-3/26
frameworks, including risk-based review and oversight prior to
deployment. However, the failure of such AI Technologies to be
available or to perform, or data leakage on account of use of
such AI Technologies, could cause material harm to Stifel and/or
our clients.
operate continuously, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
As a result, price movements in cryptocurrency markets that
occur outside of market hours may materially affect the opening
price of related ETFs when the market next opens, and such
products may not be able to reflect real time cryptocurrency
pricing. Products held in brokerage accounts generally trade only
during standard market hours despite continuous cryptocurrency
markets. In addition, digital assets have been associated with
illegal activity, which could result in regulatory restrictions or
enforcement actions that limit or eliminate the ability to trade or
use such products. Investors may lose some or all of their
investment and should review applicable offering documents
before investing.
AI Technologies, the current and potential future applications,
and the legal and regulatory frameworks within which they
operate, continue to rapidly evolve, and it is not possible to
predict the full extent of current or future risks related thereto.
Regulations related to AI Technologies may impose certain
obligations on organizations and costs for monitoring and
responding to such regulations, and may limit or constrain the
manner in which AI Technologies are developed, deployed, or
used.
Financial Institution Risk
Actual events involving reduced or limited liquidity, defaults,
non-performance, or other adverse developments that affect
financial institutions or other companies in the financial services
industry, including banks and other custodians of an investor’s
funds and securities, or impact the financial services industry
generally, as well as concerns or rumors about any events of
these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to
market-wide liquidity problems, defaults on financial
obligations, non-performance of contractual obligations, and
other adverse impacts on these financial institutions, investors
that deposit funds and securities at these institutions, lenders and
borrowers of these institutions, and other companies in the
financial services industry.
Further, AI Technologies are highly reliant on the collection and
analysis of large amounts of data and complex algorithms. Data
in such models may contain a degree of inaccuracy and error,
which could have adverse impacts to the extent Stifel or the
firm’s service providers rely on the work product of such AI
Technologies. Stifel expects to be involved in the collection of
such data only in the context of limited custom development of
tools supporting bespoke AI product developments, but these
tools are likely to contain and produce inaccurate information
from time to time that may be difficult to immediately identify
and mitigate. There can be no assurance that the use of AI
Technologies will achieve intended outcomes or that associated
risks can be fully mitigated. Stifel will not be able to control the
manner in which third-party products are developed, maintained,
or the manner in which they are used to provide services, even
where the firm has sought contractual protections.
DISCIPLINARY INFORMATION
For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, was
closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and
Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation as receiver. Investor concerns regarding the U.S. or
international financial systems could result in less favorable
commercial financing terms, including higher interest rates or
costs and tighter financial and operating covenants, or systemic
limitations on access to credit and liquidity sources, thereby
making it more difficult to acquire financing on acceptable terms
or at all.
Any decline in available funding or access to cash and liquidity
resources could, among other risks, adversely impact the ability
to meet operating expenses, satisfy financial obligations,
liquidate portfolio holdings, withdraw capital, or fulfill other
obligations, or result in breaches of financial and/or contractual
obligations. Any of these impacts, or any other impacts resulting
from the factors described above or other related or similar
factors not described above, could have material adverse impacts
on portfolio holdings, fund performance, or business operations.
1. On September 24, 2024, in connection with the industry-
wide sweep into off-channel communications, the SEC
entered an administrative order against Stifel, Nicolaus &
Company, Incorporated (“Stifel” or the “Firm”). The SEC
found that the Firm willfully violated Section 17(a) of the
Exchange Act and Rule 17a-4(b)(4) thereunder, as well as
Section 204 of the Advisers Act and Rule 204-2(a)(7)
thereunder, due to recordkeeping failures related to
electronic communications. The Firm also failed to
reasonably supervise its personnel to prevent or detect
aiding and abetting violations of these sections. The SEC
ordered Stifel to cease and desist from committing or
causing any violations, censured the Firm, and imposed
undertakings including retaining an independent compliance
consultant. Additionally, a civil money penalty of
$35,000,000 was imposed.
2. On September 1, 2020, Stifel entered into a Letter of
Artificial Intelligence (“AI”): The increasing adoption of AI
and machine learning technologies (collectively, “AI
Technologies”) creates opportunities for Stifel that we believe
can benefit our clients. The firm expects to expand our use of AI
Technologies in investment activities, and middle and back-
office operations. Actual AI Technologies usage will vary across
functions, and Stifel will adjust protocols governing the use of
AI Technologies by its associates on an ongoing basis. The use
of AI Technologies by Stifel is subject to the firm’s enterprise
governance, information security, and risk management
Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”) with FINRA to
settle allegations that, during the period of October 31, 2017
through February 27, 2020, the firm lacked a supervisory
system, including written supervisory procedures (WSPs),
reasonably designed to detect and prevent Stifel and its
registered representatives from executing pre-arranged
transactions in violation of Municipal Securities
Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Rule G-27. While not admitting
Page 28 of 45
SF1601-3/26
6. On November 3, 2017, Stifel entered into a consent
or denying the allegations, the firm consented to a censure
and monetary fine of $40,000 to settle the allegations. As
indicated in the AWC, Stifel updated its supervisory system
and WSPs regarding the cited supervisory deficiencies prior
to the entry of the AWC.
3. In March 2019, Stifel, along with 78 other investment
agreement with the State of North Carolina, as part of a
multi-state task force agreement, regarding the sale of
securities commonly known as Auction Rate Securities
(“ARS”). The state regulatory authority claimed that Stifel
failed to reasonably supervise the sales of ARS by failing to
provide sufficient information and training to its registered
representatives and sales and marketing staff regarding ARS
and the mechanics of the auction process applicable to ARS.
As part of the consent agreement, Stifel agreed to pay the
state $18,088.80, to cease and desist from violating
securities laws and regulations, to retain at Stifel’s expense
a consultant to review the firm’s supervisory and
compliance policies and procedures relating to product
review of nonconventional investments, and to repurchase
certain auction rate securities from the firm’s clients.
7. In June 2017, Stifel entered into an AWC with FINRA to
advisers who voluntarily participated in the SEC’s Share
Class Selection Disclosure Initiative, consented to the entry
of an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist
Proceedings Pursuant to Sections 203(e) and 203(k) of the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and
Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order
(the “Order”) by the SEC instituted pursuant to Sections
203(e) and 203(k) of the Advisers Act without admitting or
denying the findings therein except those related to
jurisdiction and the subject matter of the proceedings. The
Order entered against Stifel alleged that Stifel willfully
violated Sections 206(2) and 207 of the Advisers Act as a
result of its inadequate disclosure of conflicts of interest
related to (a) the selection of mutual fund share classes that
charged 12b-1 fees, which are recurring fees deducted from
fund’s assets, when an alternative share class was available
that did not charge a 12b-1 fee, and (b) the receipt of 12b-1
fees in connection with these investments. The SEC did not
impose a civil penalty against Stifel in recognition of the
fact that Stifel self-reported the issue to the SEC. However,
Stifel was censured and ordered to cease-and-desist from
committing or causing any violations and future violations
of Sections 206(2) and 207 of the Advisers Act, pay
disgorgement and pre-judgment interest in the amount of
$6,037,175.98 to affected investors, and comply with
several undertakings related to notifying affected investors
of the terms of the Order.
settle allegations that Stifel did not provide timely
disclosures to a municipal issuer in connection with its role
as placement agent in a placement of bonds issued by the
municipal issuer in accordance with interpretive guidance
issued by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
(“MSRB”) regarding MSRB Rule G-23. In May 2012, Stifel
recommended that the issuer do a placement, in lieu of a
public offering, in order to save on debt service costs. The
issuer accepted Stifel’s recommendation and agreed that
Stifel would serve as placement agent. However, Stifel did
not provide the disclosures regarding its role in a timely
manner. As a result, the firm was alleged to have violated
MSRB Rule G-23 by serving as both financial advisor and
placement agent on the same issue. While not admitting or
denying the allegations, Stifel agreed to a regulatory censure
and a monetary fine of $125,000.
4. On January 26, 2018, Stifel entered into a Letter of
Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”) with FINRA to
settle allegations that the firm (i) traded ahead of certain
customer orders at prices that would have satisfied the
customer orders; (ii) did not maintain adequate supervisory
controls that were reasonably designed to achieve
compliance with FINRA Rule 5320 and Supplementary
Material .02 of FINRA Rule 5320; and failed to report an
information barrier identifier with its order audit trail system
(OATS) submission for certain orders. These allegations
were considered to be violations of FINRA Rules 2010,
3110, 7440(b)(19), and NASD Rule 3010. While not
admitting or denying the allegations, the firm consented to a
censure, monetary fine of $37,500, plus interest of $318.25,
restitution payments to affected investors, and an
undertaking to revise its written supervisory procedures
relating to Rule 5320 and Supplementary Material .02 of
FINRA to settle these allegations.
5. On January 26, 2018, Stifel entered into an AWC with
8. In March 2017, Stifel consented to the entry of a Cease and
Desist Order (“Order”) by the SEC in which Stifel was
found to have violated Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act
and Rule 206(4)-7 thereunder by failing to adopt or
implement adequate policies and procedures to track and
disclose the trading away practices of certain Investment
Managers in several of Stifel’s discretionary wrap fee
programs, including information about additional costs
incurred by clients as a result of the Investment Manager’s
use of another broker to execute transactions away from
Stifel. Stifel neither admitted nor denied the findings
contained in the Order, except those related to jurisdiction
and the subject matter of the proceeding. Stifel made several
undertakings enumerated in the Order related to the trading
away practices of third-party managers, including a review
and update of its policies and procedures, providing
information to financial advisors and clients, and training
financial advisors. Stifel was ordered to pay a civil penalty
of $300,000 and ordered to cease and desist from violating
Section 206(4) and Rule 206(4)-7 thereunder.
9. On January 4, 2017, an Administrative Consent Order
FINRA to settle allegations that the firm failed to report to
the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (“TRACE”)
transactions in TRACE-eligible securitized products within
the time required by FINRA Rule 6730. While not admitting
or denying these allegations, the firm agreed to a censure
and a fine of $17,500.
(“Order”) was entered against Stifel and a former registered
representative associated with Stifel by the Securities
Division of the Mississippi Secretary of State (“Division”)
resolving an investigation into certain activities occurring in
two branch offices during the period of September 2000
Page 29 of 45
SF1601-3/26
The following affiliates may be involved, directly or indirectly,
in the Advisory services provided to Clients in the Programs
covered in this brochure:
through November 2013. Without admitting or denying the
findings in the Order, Stifel agreed to the entry of the Order
directing Stifel to cease and desist from violating Rule 5.15
of the Mississippi Securities Act of 2010, a books and
records rule, and to pay the Division $49,500 on its behalf
as well as $500 on behalf of the former registered
representative.
10. On December 6, 2016, a final judgment (“Judgment”) was
entered against Stifel by the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Civil Action No. 2:11-cv-
00755) resolving a civil lawsuit filed by the SEC in 2011
involving violations of several antifraud provisions of the
federal securities laws in connection with the sale of
synthetic collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) to five
Wisconsin school districts in 2006. As a result of the Order,
Stifel is required to cease and desist from committing or
causing any violations and any future violations of Section
17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act, and Stifel and a
former employee are jointly liable to pay disgorgement and
prejudgment interest of $2.5million. Stifel was also required
to pay a civil penalty of $22 million. The Judgment also
required Stifel to distribute $12.5 million of the ordered
disgorgement and civil penalty to the school districts
involved in this matter.
Affiliated Managers and Broker-Dealers – We have a number
of arrangements with our Affiliated Managers applicable to
Clients enrolled in our Advisory Programs. As of the date of this
brochure, our Affiliated Managers included 1919 Investment
Counsel, EquityCompass Investment Management, LLC,
Washington Crossing Advisors, LLC, Stifel Capital
Management, LLC, North Atlantic Capital Management, LLC,
501 North, LLC, and InTyce, LLC (aka Stifel Wealth Tracker).
Our affiliations with these entities may change and/or we may
acquire new affiliates at any time, without prior notice to you.
Our Affiliated Managers provide model Portfolios and/or
manage Portfolios on a discretionary basis in a number of our
Programs. We have a conflict of interest when our Financial
Advisors recommend Affiliated Managers rather than
Independent Managers, since any Product Fee received by an
Affiliated Manager remains within the Stifel umbrella and may
have a positive impact on the performance of our parent
company stock (of which the Financial Advisor is likely a
shareholder). Moreover, our Financial Advisors sometimes
develop close personal relationships with employees and
associated persons of our Affiliated Managers and, as a result,
could have an incentive to recommend such Affiliated Managers
over Independent Managers. To mitigate this risk, we do not pay
our Financial Advisors on the basis of recommendations of
Affiliated Managers or affiliated products. In addition, we pay
our Affiliated Managers in the same range as Independent
Managers (i.e., the Product Fees to utilize the services and/or
Portfolios of Affiliated Managers are comparable to Product
Fees associated with Independent Managers).
11. On April 8, 2016, Stifel entered into an AWC with FINRA
to settle allegations that the firm used permissible customer-
owned securities as collateral for bank loans procured by the
firm. However, on several occasions over a period of years,
prior to performing its customer reserve calculation, Stifel
substituted those loans with loans secured with firm-owned
collateral. The substitution thereby reduced the amount that
Stifel was required to deposit into the Customer Reserve
Account. FINRA found the practice to be a violation of
applicable rules, including Section 15(c) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 15c3-3(e)(2) thereunder.
Throughout the relevant period, the firm had sufficient
resources to fund the Customer Reserve Account even if the
substitutions had not occurred. While not admitting or
denying the allegations, the firm consented to a censure and
fine of $750,000.
OTHER FINANCIAL INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES AND
AFFILIATIONS
We also serve as clearing broker and custodian to accounts of
other firms. We also provide portfolio management services to
some of these clients to the extent they are enrolled in a Program
or Portfolio where we maintain discretion. We receive a share of
the fees and/or charges paid by these clients in connection with
the services that we provide. In our capacity as a registered
broker-dealer, we may also serve as clearing broker and
custodian to the accounts. We also provide portfolio
management services to some of these clients to the extent they
are enrolled in a Program or Portfolio where we maintain
discretion. We receive a share of the fees and/or charges paid by
these clients in connection with the services that we provide.
Affiliated Trust Companies and Banks – Our affiliated trust
companies, Stifel Trust Company, National Association (STC)
and Stifel Trust Company Delaware, National Association
(STCD), each provide personal trust services (including serving
as trustee or co-trustee, or custodian) for individuals and
organizations. The fees charged by our trust affiliates are
structured in a manner that is consistent with fiduciary principles
to which such entities are subject. STC’s and STCD’s published
fee schedules provide a listing of the services for which each
receives payment. A copy of the fee schedule is delivered to each
trust client.
As set forth above, our firm is dual registered as an investment
adviser and a broker-dealer, and is also a licensed insurance
agency with various states. We also have a number of affiliates
that are registered as investment managers or broker-dealers (or
both). In addition to being registered representatives of Stifel,
some of our management persons may be registered
representatives of these affiliated broker-dealers. Similarly,
some of our management persons may be management persons
of our affiliates, including Affiliated Managers. Finally, some of
our management persons may be licensed to practice law and/or
may be certified accountants in various states. These individuals
do not provide legal or tax advisory services to Clients. Our
parent company, Stifel Financial Corp., is a publicly traded
company (ticker: SF). We generally prohibit our Financial
Advisors from recommending the purchase of our parent
company securities in Clients’ Advisory accounts.
From time to time, as trustee or co-trustee, these trust affiliates
may open an Advisory account in the Programs covered by this
Page 30 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Affiliated Funds and Other Products – As discussed above in
“Additional Information on Fees and Other Compensation,”
Stifel and its affiliates receive compensation from Funds and
other products.
brochure, and/or access other advisory services that we offer. In
such cases, we generally view our client to be the affiliated trust
companies (i.e., STC or STCD), not their underlying trust clients
on whose behalf our affiliates are acting, for the arrangement
(even where, for example, our Financial Advisor may have
referred the underlying trust client to the affiliate trust company
and, as a result, indirectly shares in the trust fees received).
In connection with the insured bank deposit programs offered as
cash sweep options for our Client accounts, our affiliates, Stifel
Bank, Stifel Bank & Trust, STC, and STCD (each, an “Affiliated
Bank” and collectively, “Affiliated Banks”), are either the sole
participating deposit institutions, or the top participating deposit
institutions into which idle cash swept from eligible Client
accounts may be swept. From time to time, Clients may also
have a direct relationship with an Affiliated Bank and hold other
personal deposit and/or bank accounts at such Affiliated Bank,
in which case, such Clients are solely responsible for any
customary fees that are charged with respect to such deposit or
other bank accounts.
Furthermore, as set forth under the section “Credit Line Loans”
below, our Affiliated Banks may compensate us in connection
with Credit Line Loans that Clients hold at the bank (based on
the outstanding balance). Clients should therefore note that the
Financial Advisor has an incentive to recommend such Credit
Line Loans and, as such, should carefully review the terms of
any proposed Credit Line Loan prior to taking out any such
Loan.
Finally, our Affiliated Banks may, from time to time, issue
brokered certificates of deposit which we may determine to
make available for purchase by our clients.
With respect to IRAs and Coverdell Education Savings
Accounts, Stifel Bank serves as IRA custodian. When acting as
IRA custodian, Stifel Bank does not provide and is not
responsible for brokerage or advisory services for your
account(s).
Affiliated Private Funds – As discussed in the section
“Management and Advisory Services to Private Funds,” our firm
may, directly or through an affiliate, act as a general partner,
manager, or managing member, or otherwise provide investment
advisory services of various Affiliated Private Funds. These
Affiliated Private Funds are offered to eligible investors, some
of whom may also have Advisory accounts with us. Solicitation
activities for Affiliated Private Fund securities are typically
made via an offering memorandum, circular or prospectus and
may only be made to clients for whom such investments are
deemed suitable. Regardless of whether such funds are Affiliated
Private Funds or not affiliated with us, investors will indirectly
incur various fees and expenses as described in the offering
documents for the applicable fund. With limited exceptions,
Clients that invest in Affiliated Private Funds at Stifel are
required to hold such securities in brokerage accounts. To the
extent that Affiliated Private Fund interests are held in brokerage
accounts, these clients are not charged Advisory Account Fees
with respect to the holdings. In certain circumstances, we may
allow investors to purchase and/or hold the Private Fund
interests in their Advisory account. If an exception is granted for
a Client to purchase and/or hold such Affiliated Private Fund
shares in an Advisory account, depending on the particular
Affiliated Private Fund and/or the specific class, series or type of
interest held, Stifel may charge an Advisory Account Fee with
respect to such securities held in the Advisory account, which
Advisory Account Fee will generally be in lieu of fees charged
by the Affiliated Private Fund (but in addition to any fees
charged by any underlying investments which the Affiliated
Private Funds invest), or the management fee or placement fee
may be waived or reduced. Alternatively, the value of such
securities held in the Advisory account will be excluded from
the Advisory Account Fee billing. Stifel generally does not
allow any such Affiliated Private Fund shares to be purchased
subject to commissions through the Vantage Program.
Stifel Nicolaus Insurance Agency, Incorporated – As set forth
above, our firm is licensed as an insurance agency in a number
of states and, as such, is able to sell insurance products to clients
directly. However, in a few states, insurance products are sold
through our affiliate, Stifel Nicolaus Insurance Agency,
Incorporated. In such cases, the affiliate, and not our firm, will
receive customary commissions paid by the insurance companies
issuing Client policies. Financial Advisors who sell insurance
products in such states typically are licensed as agents of the
affiliate and will receive a portion of the insurance commissions
paid. Any insurance is separate from our advisory services and
not covered by your advisory fee.
* * * *
Affiliated Broker-Dealers – We have a number of affiliates that
are registered broker-dealers. As a full-service broker-dealer, we
self-execute client transaction and, as such, generally do not use
the execution services of our affiliated broker-dealers in
providing services to our Advisory Clients. However, a number
of our affiliated broker-dealers may serve as underwriters or
otherwise participate in the distribution of securities that end up
in our Advisory accounts through purchases in the secondary
market (NOTE that our wrap accounts do not participate in
initial public offerings). Our affiliated broker-dealers (for
example, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (“KBW”)) also provide
research used by our Financial Advisors in making investment
decisions for Clients. As set forth above, we do not use these
affiliates (including KBW) to execute Client trades or otherwise
provide services directly to Advisory Client accounts. Your
Financial Advisor can provide or direct you to a full list of our
affiliated broker-dealers, upon request.
Our affiliations with these entities may change and/or we
may acquire new affiliates at any time, without prior notice
to you.
Each Client should note that each relationship set forth
above creates a conflict of interest for our firm and/or
Page 31 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Financial Advisors. Our firm acts as a fiduciary with respect
to all Advisory services. As a fiduciary, we take reasonable
steps to ensure that all material conflicts are fully disclosed
to our Clients.
CODE OF ETHICS, PARTICIPATION OR INTEREST IN
CLIENT TRANSACTIONS, AND PERSONAL TRADING
or another Client account on the other side of the transaction in
connection with the purchase or sale of securities by the Client
account, and our firm receives a commission from the
transaction. We will have a potentially conflicting division of
loyalties and responsibilities to the parties to cross and agency-
cross transactions, including with respect to a decision to enter
into such transaction as well as with respect to valuation,
pricing, and other terms. We have adopted policies and
procedures in relation to such transactions and
conflicts. However, there can be no assurance that such
transactions will be effected in the manner that is most favorable
to a Client account that is a party to any such transaction. Cross
transactions may disproportionately benefit some Client
accounts as compared to other Client accounts due to the relative
amount of market savings obtained by the client accounts. If
effected, cross or agency cross transactions are effected in
accordance with fiduciary requirements and applicable law
(which may include providing disclosure and obtaining client
consent). To the extent such consent is provided in advance of
the cross or agency cross transactions, Clients may revoke the
consent at any time by written notice to Stifel or their Financial
Advisor, and any such revocation will be effective once we have
received and have had a reasonable time to act on it.
Code of Ethics
In addition to Stifel Financial Corp.’s Code of Ethics Policy,
which is applicable to all Stifel personnel, our Advisory
personnel are also subject to our Investment Advisory Code of
Ethics (“IA Code of Ethics”). The IA Code of Ethics applies to
activities that our personnel conduct in our firm’s capacity as a
registered investment adviser, subject to applicable fiduciary
obligations. A copy of the IA Code of Ethics is available upon
request. Set forth in the IA Code of Ethics are standards
reasonably designed to promote honest and ethical conduct,
comply with federal securities laws and governmental rules and
regulations, maintain privacy of Client information, protect
nonpublic information, and encourage associates to report any
known violations. Such standards include placing Client
interests first, avoiding any material or potential conflicts of
interest, and ensuring that personal securities transactions are
conducted appropriately. Compliance periodically reviews the
IA Code of Ethics to ensure adequacy and effectiveness in
complying with applicable regulations.
Our Financial Advisors may also recommend securities issued
by entities that are also clients of our firm, in our firm’s capacity
as investment adviser and/or broker-dealer. For example, our
Financial Advisors may recommend securities of issuers that our
firm has otherwise sponsored or promoted (including serving as
underwriter or selling member in initial public offerings and
other syndicated offerings).
Participation or Interest in Client Transactions
To the extent we execute transactions for Client accounts,
Advisory transactions are generally executed on an agency basis.
However, our firm may trade with Clients and seek to earn a
profit for its own account (such trades generally are referred to
as “principal transactions”). Principal transactions are executed
at prices and commission rates that we believe are competitive
and in accordance with industry practice. Although we may be
able to provide a more favorable price to a Client if we purchase
from or sell to our inventory of securities, we generally are not
able to engage in such transactions with Advisory accounts due
to regulatory requirements, which require written disclosure and
consent on a trade-by-trade basis. Except as set forth below, we
do not permit Advisory accounts to purchase securities in
syndicated offerings from our firm or our affiliates, unless
neither Stifel nor our other affiliates are underwriters for the
offering and the transaction can be effected on an agency basis.
In limited circumstances, we will act in our capacity as a
registered broker-dealer to execute principal trades (including,
but not limited to, syndicate transactions) without having to
obtain Client consent if the transaction is directed by an
Independent Adviser for the Client’s wrap account in accordance
with applicable law and/or regulatory guidance.
When permitted by applicable law and firm policy, we may
cause Client accounts to engage in cross and agency cross
transactions. A cross transaction occurs when we cause a Client
account to buy securities from, or sell securities to, another
Client, and our firm does not receive a commission from the
transaction. We may (but are under no obligation to) cause
Client accounts to engage in cross transactions. An agency cross
transaction occurs when our firm acts as broker for a Client
account on one side of the transaction and a brokerage account
To the extent recommended, those securities will be purchased
in the secondary market, and not during the initial or secondary
offerings. We do not allow accounts over which we are serving
as investment adviser to participate in offerings in which our
firm is also a selling member (this limitation may not apply to
transactions that are directed by unaffiliated Investment
Managers on our platform, to the extent such transactions are
permitted by applicable law). Client participation (if any) in such
offerings must be effected in brokerage accounts, and solely in
the firm’s capacity as broker-dealer. Clients with brokerage
accounts that determine to participate in such offerings should
note, therefore, that neither Stifel nor the Financial Advisor is, in
any way, acting as a fiduciary with respect to any such
transactions. As associated persons of a registered broker-dealer,
our Financial Advisors are generally prohibited from
participating in these offerings. However, some of our affiliates
may, for their own accounts or for accounts of their clients, take
substantial positions in such securities. In such cases, the
affiliate may indirectly benefit from our Financial Advisor’s
investment recommendations if (for example) the later purchase
by our Advisory accounts of the securities (i.e., in the secondary
market) cause the price of those securities to rise. In general, our
policies prohibit Stifel personnel from sharing information
relating to investments made for Client accounts with affiliates
or other parties, unless such parties need to know such
information in order to provide services to any affected client
accounts and such disclosure is permitted by law. To the extent
that associated persons obtain information relating to
investments by Stifel and/or an affiliate, such associated persons
Page 32 of 45
SF1601-3/26
are prohibited from (i) passing such information to any other
person who does not need to know the information in order to
perform required duties and (ii) using such information to
benefit a Financial Advisor or Client.
services. However, when providing brokerage services,
Financial Advisors do not make investment decisions on behalf
of clients and do not charge any fees for any incidental advice
given. Absent special circumstances, Financial Advisors are not
held to fiduciary standards when providing brokerage services.
Legal obligations to disclose detailed information about the
nature and scope of our business, personnel, commissions
charged, material or potential conflicts of interests, and other
matters, are limited when acting as a broker-dealer.
Our Responsibilities as a Broker-Dealer
As a broker-dealer, Stifel is held to the legal standards of the
Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
FINRA rules, and state laws where applicable. Such standards
include fair dealings with clients, reasonable and fair execution
prices in light of prevailing market conditions, reasonable
commissions and other charges, and reasonable basis for
believing that securities recommendations are suitable.
Our officers and/or employees (including our Financial
Advisors) may serve on the boards of companies in Clients’
portfolios. In addition, our firm or affiliates may provide
services to such portfolio companies. The portfolio companies
may compensate us (or our affiliates) for services with options to
purchase stock or other equity interests of the portfolio
companies. If an affiliate owns options or other securities issued
by portfolio companies, a conflict of interest may arise between
the timing of any exercise or sale of these options, and our
decisions about the same portfolio securities for Client accounts.
We do not solicit such information from any affiliate. Our firm,
Financial Advisors, and affiliates frequently have access to non-
public information about publicly traded companies. When this
occurs, our Financial Advisors (and therefore, their Client
accounts) may be prohibited from trading an existing position at
a time that would be beneficial to such Clients, resulting in
investment losses or the failure to achieve investment gains. In
other cases, we may purchase or sell the securities of an issuer at
a time when an affiliate or its employees have material non-
public information about such securities or their issuers if the
affiliates have not otherwise notified us of their possession of
such information. Our affiliates and their respective employees
have no duty to make any such information available to us, and
we have no duty to obtain such information from the affiliates
and do not otherwise solicit such information.
Brokerage clients pay commission charges on a per-transaction
basis for securities execution services in their brokerage
accounts. Clients with accounts in the Vantage Program set forth
in this brochure pay commission charges on a per transaction
basis for the Advisory services provided by the Financial
Advisor; however, unlike regular brokerage accounts, Financial
Advisors exercise discretion over Vantage accounts. With
limited exceptions, Client accounts enrolled in fee-based
Programs on the Stifel platform generally pay a wrap fee that
covers Stifel advisory and portfolio management services,
custodial, execution and administrative services, as well as (if
applicable) advisory or portfolio management services by
Managers. Clients that hold their accounts with another financial
institution typically only receive investment consulting services
from Stifel with respect to those assets and, as such, do not pay
for custodial, execution and administrative services. See “Fees
and Compensation” for more details about Advisory Account
Fees, including wrap fees for Programs that are covered in the
Wrap Fee Brochure.
Personal Trading
Our employees and affiliates may invest in any Advisory
Programs that we offer. We have adopted various policies and
procedures designed to detect and prevent the misuse of
material, non-public information by employees. Our firm and
affiliates, directors, officers, stockholders, employees, and
members of their families may have positions in and, from time
to time, buy or sell securities that we recommend to Advisory
accounts. We prohibit transactions in our firm account(s) and
accounts of associated persons in any security that is the subject
of a recommendation of our Research department until the
recommendation has been disseminated to Clients and a
reasonable time has elapsed following the dissemination. Our
associated persons are prohibited from buying or selling
securities for their personal accounts if the decision to do so is
substantially derived, in whole or in part, by reason of their
employment, unless the information is also available to the
investing public or through reasonable inquiry. We maintain and
regularly review securities holdings in the accounts of persons
who may have access to Advisory recommendations.
BROKERAGE PRACTICES
About Our Broker-Dealer
Our firm’s principal business in terms of revenue and personnel
is that of a securities broker-dealer. As a broker-dealer, we
execute securities transactions per client instructions. As an
integral part of the services offered when providing brokerage
services, Financial Advisors may provide services and provide
advice about securities that are incidental to Stifel’s brokerage
Execution of Transactions
We expect to self-execute trades for accounts to the extent we
have discretion and/or the account is held at Stifel. However, we
may determine to effect transactions for discretionary Portfolios
through other broker-dealers if we determine, in light of all
applicable factors, that executing through the other broker-dealer
would provide better execution than would be the case if we
self-executed. Investment Managers in the following Programs
have discretion to effect trades on behalf of Clients through
broker-dealers other than Stifel: Opportunity, Connect, and IMC
Programs. An Investment Manager in these Programs may trade
away if it determines, in its sole discretion, such trade-aways
would be in the best interests of its clients, such as to satisfy its
best execution obligations. Clients in these Programs pay fees to
Stifel and, as applicable, the Investment Manager for services,
which include costs related to transactions in Client accounts
effected through Stifel. However, for all transactions executed
through other broker-dealers, Clients will likely (but may not
always) incur additional costs, such as commissions or
markups/markdowns embedded in the price of the security that
are in addition to, and not included in, the Advisory Account
Fee. As such, Clients are separately responsible for any
Page 33 of 45
SF1601-3/26
simultaneously placing a number of separate, successive,
and/or competing client orders.
execution costs incurred in connection with such trades. These
additional costs are not reflected on Client account statements;
however, if the Investment Manager has provided the
appropriate information to us regarding such trades and the
related additional costs, the information will be indicated on
trade confirmations, or on quarterly transaction confirmation
reports provided to those Clients who have elected to suppress
immediate trade confirmations.1
1 All other information shown does not reflect any additional execution costs
resulting from trades executed through other broker-dealers.
Investment Managers’ Historical Trading Away Practices. We
maintain a list of Investment Managers with trading discretion
over Client accounts that have notified us that they traded away
from Stifel during the previous year – the list is typically
available no earlier than the second quarter of the following
year. The list includes the names of the applicable Portfolios,
information about the Investment Manager’s trade-away
practices for a particular Portfolio, and the average associated
costs (if any) during the applicable year. The information is
provided to existing investors in the affected Portfolios, as well
as to new Clients seeking to enroll into an affected Portfolio
after such information is available. However, the information
contained on the list is based solely upon information provided
to us by each Investment Manager and is not independently
verified by Stifel. As a result, Stifel does not make any
representations as to the accuracy of the information presented.
The information in the list regarding an Investment Manager’s
prior trade-away practices is not a guarantee that a particular
Investment Manager will exercise or repeat the same practices in
the future and/or with the same frequency. It is possible that an
Investment Manager could trade away more or less frequently,
or at a higher or lower commission rate, fee, or other expenses,
resulting in greater or lesser costs than those indicated.
Individual Clients enrolled in the Portfolios noted may
experience different results. Similarly, it is possible that an
Investment Manager that has not previously, or recently, traded
away from Stifel will do so in the future.
As Managers, Investment Managers have a fiduciary obligation
to act in the best interests of their advisory clients and are
therefore required to seek to obtain “best execution” in effecting
trades on behalf of such clients. Under the Advisers Act, “best
execution” generally means executing transactions in a manner
such that the client’s total cost or proceeds are the most
favorable under the circumstances. Although it is important for
Investment Managers to seek the best price for a security in the
marketplace and minimize unnecessary brokerage costs in
satisfying its obligations, these are not the only factors used to
determine whether the Investment Manager has satisfied its
obligations. It is not an obligation to get the lowest possible
commission cost, or to solicit competitive bids for each
transaction, but rather, the Investment Manager determines
whether the transaction represents the best qualitative execution
for its clients. In selecting a broker-dealer, Investment Managers
may consider the full range and quality of services offered by the
broker-dealer, including the value of the research provided (if
any), execution capability, commission rate charged, the broker-
dealer’s financial responsibility, and its responsiveness. It is also
important to note that Stifel does not monitor, review, or
otherwise evaluate whether an Investment Manager is satisfying
its best execution obligations to clients.
Additional information about an Investment Manager’s
brokerage practices, including the factors that the Investment
Manager considers in satisfying its best execution obligations,
which may vary according to the type(s) of securities traded, is
contained in each Investment Manager’s Form ADV Part 2A
Brochure. Clients investing in our Adviser Portfolios should
review each applicable Investment Manager’s trading away
practices before selecting, or while reviewing, the Investment
Manager’s Portfolios.
Types of Securities Traded. Investment Managers whose
strategies consist primarily (or substantially) of fixed income
securities, foreign securities (including American Depositary
Receipts or ordinary shares), ETFs, and/or small-cap
securities are generally more likely to trade away from Stifel.
This means that Clients investing in such strategies are more
likely to incur execution costs in addition to the Advisory
Account Fee paid to Stifel. Clients should, therefore, take
these costs into consideration when selecting and/or deciding
to remain invested in the affected strategies.
Trade Aggregation. Investment Managers typically manage
wrap client accounts for multiple firms using the same
strategy, and may also manage other directly sourced
accounts side-by-side with Stifel Client accounts. In certain
cases, an Investment Manager may decide to aggregate all
transactions for clients in its Portfolios into a block trade that
is executed through one broker-dealer, rather than separately
through each participating firm (such as Stifel). Aggregating
transactions into a single block may enable the Investment
Manager to obtain a better price or additional investment
opportunities for its clients, as well as allow the Investment
Manager to exercise more control over the execution,
including (for example) potentially avoiding an adverse
effect on the price of a security that could result from
Orders for most Advisory Programs are routed for agency
execution. We do not impose commissions (including markups
or markdowns) on transactions that we execute for fee-based
Advisory accounts (note that commissions, markups/markdowns
will be imposed on Vantage account trades); however, as agency
transactions, the broker on the other side of the transaction may
charge a markup or markdown that may be equal to, or greater,
than any markup or markdown we would have charged if we
executed the trade in a principal capacity). Where permissible by
applicable law (for example, in our Opportunity Program where
an Independent Adviser is directing a trade for non-retirement
accounts), we may act as broker for the transaction and, at the
same time, purchase and/or sell securities for a Client transaction
from our inventory. Consistent with applicable regulations, such
inventory trades are not considered “principal transactions” to
the extent that an Investment Manager (not Stifel) determines
that purchasing the securities from Stifel inventory is in the
underlying Clients’ best interest. In addition, if an Advisory
account holds a position which includes fractional shares, Stifel
will accommodate any requests to liquidate for the fractional
Page 34 of 45
SF1601-3/26
component by processing the transaction through its principal
trading account, while the whole shares are liquidated on an
agency basis.
block trade or at the same average price are assigned to accounts
in a manner that seeks to treat Clients fairly and equitably over
time. This practice does not ordinarily affect or otherwise reduce
fees, commissions, or other costs charged to Clients for these
transactions, but may provide price improvement. A partial fill
of a block trade may be allocated among Client accounts
randomly, pro rata, or by some other equitable procedure. In
certain cases, Managers on our Advisory platform may use
computer systems that allocate purchase and sale transactions
either on a random or pro rata basis. In any case, Clients may
pay higher or lower prices for securities than may otherwise
have been obtained.
In connection with the handling of block orders for accounts
traded through our firm, where permitted by applicable law, our
firm may engage in hedging, offsetting, liquidating, facilitating,
or positioning transactions (“risk-mitigating transactions”) that
may occur at the same time or in advance of a client order, and
these activities may have impact on market prices.
Unless we are informed in writing (“opt out”), we will conclude
that all clients with account held at our firm understand that we
may engage in risk-mitigating transactions in connection with
client orders and will conclude that clients have given us
(including our affiliates) consent to handle block transactions as
described above. Clients can contact their Financial Advisor for
instructions on how to opt out.
On the execution end, Advisory account orders are generally
treated with the same priority and procedural flow as non-
advisory brokerage trades (except, such orders are not routed to
Stifel market makers and may be done as a block order, which
may have different rules and priorities). We generally use
automated systems to route and execute orders for the purchase
and sale of securities for most Advisory accounts, unless
directed by Clients to do otherwise. We use a reasonable
diligence to ascertain the best markets for a security and to buy
and sell in such markets so that the resultant price to the
customer is as favorable as possible under prevailing market
conditions. Certain large orders that require special handling
may be routed to a market center for execution via telephone or
other electronic means. We periodically monitor existing and
potential execution venues and may route orders in exchange-
listed or over-the-counter (“OTC”) securities to other venues if it
is believed that such routing is consistent with best execution
principles. For equity securities, we monitor the performance of
competing market centers and generally route orders to those
that consistently complete transactions timely and at a
reasonable cost and which normally execute at the national best
bid or offer. Whenever possible, orders are routed to market
centers that offer opportunities for price improvement through
automated systems. We execute mutual fund transactions for
Advisory accounts through traditional omnibus vendors, or
through clearing arrangements with other brokerage firms under
so-called super-omnibus arrangements.
Execution and/or Custody Through Unaffiliated Firms
(Directed Brokerage)
Clients in the Summit Program generally select their own
independent qualified custodian, who typically also acts as
executing broker for transactions in the Client’s account(s).
Neither our firm nor our Financial Advisors provide advice or
recommendations as to which third-party custodian a client
should use. Each Client must make an independent decision as to
the specific independent custodian to hold Client’s assets and
execute account transactions. Clients with discretionary Summit
accounts that direct brokerage to a particular independent broker
should note that we may be unable to achieve the most favorable
execution of transactions for the account, and that this practice
may result in higher costs to the Client. Our Advisory Account
Fees do not cover, and Clients are separately responsible for
brokerage commissions, markups, markdowns, and/or other
costs associated with transactions effected through other broker-
dealer firms.
Aggregation of Trades in Advisory Portfolios
To the extent possible and where permitted under applicable
law, and in order to seek a more advantageous trade price, we
may (but are not required to) aggregate orders for the purchase
of a security for accounts of several discretionary Client
accounts for execution in a single transaction (“block trades”).
However, Clients in our FA-directed discretionary Programs
(Solutions or Vantage) should be aware that we do not require
our Solutions or Vantage Financial Advisors to aggregate orders
for accounts of Clients in these Programs into a single block
trade. As a result, Clients with discretionary accounts managed
by the same Financial Advisor (including, for example, in the
same Vantage or Solutions Portfolio) may receive different
execution prices even when trading in the same security on the
same day. Additionally, we generally will not aggregate trades
across Portfolios that we trade even where such Portfolios are
trading in the same securities on the same day. Similarly, we
generally will not aggregate trades for different accounts where
portfolio management decisions for accounts are made
separately (e.g., same-day trades for different Programs). Clients
should, therefore, understand that discretionary accounts in one
or more Stifel-traded Portfolios and/or Programs may get
different prices even if such accounts trade in the same security
on the same day. When used, block trading can allow us to
execute equity trades in a timely, equitable manner. The related
transaction costs are shared equally at an average price per share
and on a pro rata basis between all accounts included in the
block trade, and participating accounts receive the same average
price for the security. Orders that cannot be filled in the same
Order Routing and Payment for Order Flow
Stifel receives payment for order flow for directing orders to
certain exchanges and other trading venues. The source and
nature of any payment received in connection with your
particular transaction will be disclosed upon written request. In
addition, in order to access a wide variety of execution venues,
the firm does participate in the maker/taker model. Certain
exchanges and other trading centers to which the firm routes
equities and options orders have implemented fee structures
under which broker-dealer participants may receive rebates on
certain orders. Under these fee structures, participants are
charged a fee for orders that take liquidity from the venue and
provided a rebate for orders that add liquidity to the venue.
Rebates received by the firm from a venue during any time
Page 35 of 45
SF1601-3/26
over another Client, we attempt to use objective market data in
the correction of any trading errors.
period may or may not exceed the fees paid by the firm to the
venue during that time period. Fees and/or rebates from all
venues are subject to change. Stifel will provide customers
additional information regarding average net fees/rebates
paid/received upon written request. For venues from which Stifel
receives a rebate, Stifel is considered to be receiving payment
for order flow.
Additional information will be provided upon written request,
and certain order routing information is available online at
stifel.com/disclosures/best-execution. On request of a customer
and at no fee, Stifel will disclose to such customer the identity of
the venue to which such customer’s orders were routed for
execution in the six months prior to the request, whether the
orders were directed orders or non-directed orders, and the time
of the transactions, if any, that resulted from such orders. Orders
could be routed and executed internally through Stifel’s trading
desk. In such instances, Stifel stands to share in 100% of any
compensation received (in the case of orders executed as agent)
or profits or losses generated (in the case of orders executed as
principal) as a result of internalizing such orders. Customers
may mail their inquiries to: Stifel – Attn: Equity Trading
Compliance, 501 North Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri 63102.
Research and Other Benefits
Financial Advisors and Clients have access to research published
by our firm’s research analysts (“Stifel Research”), the primary
source of our research. Subject to certain exceptions, we
incorporate the insights and economic perspectives of Stifel
Research, where appropriate, into our products and services.
Clients should be aware that our firm may have conflicts of
interest in connection with research reports published. Stifel and
other affiliates may have long or short positions, or deal as
principal or agent, in relevant securities, or may provide
Advisory or other services to issuers of relevant securities or to
companies connected with issuers covered in research reports
issued by Stifel Research. Our research analysts’ compensation
is not based on investment banking revenues; however, their
compensation may relate to revenues or profitability of Stifel
business groups as a whole, which may include investment
banking, sales, and trading services. Financial Advisors also
have access to proprietary models covering various securities,
including (but not limited to) equities, fixed income, mutual
funds, and municipal securities developed by our firm’s various
business areas, and may use these models in connection with
managing and/or otherwise providing investment advice to
Clients.
Trade Error Correction
In the event we make an error that has a financial impact on a
client’s account, we will seek to correct the error as soon as
possible and in such a manner that the affected client is not
disadvantaged and bears no loss. We will evaluate each situation
independently.
If there is a trade error for which we and/or an Investment
Manager are responsible, trades will be adjusted or reversed as
needed and/or we will take such other steps as are necessary in
order to put the Client’s account in the position that it would
have been in if the error had not occurred. Errors relating to
trades that have not yet settled are corrected at no cost to Client
accounts, by moving the affected securities to our error account
and entering correcting trades in the Client’s account such that
the Client is made whole. We net the correcting trades when
assessing the overall gain or loss associated with the correction,
and retain any gains realized as a result of correcting trade
errors.
In instances where an error occurs such that a trade correction is
not available or practicable to implement (such as, for example,
where a Client’s account is enrolled into the wrong Portfolio,
and the error is not identified and corrected promptly), we will
typically correct the error by reimbursing the Client the negative
performance differential, if any, for the period from the start of
the error to the time the correction is made.
Clients investing in Investment Manager-traded Portfolios
should carefully review the error correction disclosures set forth
in each such Investment Manager’s Form ADV Part 2A for an
understanding of how that Investment Manager will correct trade
and other errors.
Our firm may also use research obtained from other financial
institutions, including our affiliate, KBW, as well as from other
affiliated or unaffiliated broker-dealers and/or investment
managers. In general, we seek third-party research that is in-
depth fundamental corporate research to assist in providing
advisory services to clients. We do not use commission dollars
from Advisory Program accounts to pay for research; our
Financial Advisors have access to research from other financial
institutions provided to our firm under reciprocal arrangements
with Stifel Research. Our firm (or particular Financial Advisors)
may also pay for independent research using hard dollars.
Finally, as set forth in the Training and Education Expenses
from Fund Companies (or Managers), our Financial Advisors
may also obtain research from firms that provide other products
and services to us (for example, a Manager may make its
research reports available to our Financial Advisors). Clients
should be aware that our receipt of these research services may
present a conflict of interest by creating an incentive for our firm
and/or Financial Advisors to recommend the investment
products offered by the research provider firms (or by their
affiliates). In general, our policies prohibit our Financial
Advisors from basing their recommendations of Managers
and/or securities on the research services received from the
Manager or issuer, or any of their related persons. Research
services are generally used to benefit all client accounts, whether
or not such research was generated by the applicable client
account. However, not all research services will be used for all
client accounts; the type of research used with respect to any one
account will depend on, among other things, the types of
investments that are deemed suitable for the account.
We offer many services and, from time to time, may have other
Clients in the same or other Programs trading in opposition to
other Clients’ Advisory accounts. To avoid favoring one Client
Margin and Short Selling
We do not allow the use of margin in Advisory accounts except
in limited cases. For those Clients that are specifically permitted,
Page 36 of 45
SF1601-3/26
benefit from employing margin or short-selling strategies if the
performance of the account does not exceed the total costs
incurred (i.e., the Advisory Account Fee plus all other
applicable fees and expenses).
REFERRAL PROGRAMS
We generally do not act as investment adviser when making the
referrals described in this section. You should consider the
referral compensation Stifel and/or your Stifel Financial Advisor
may be eligible to receive when evaluating your relationship
with us and the reasonability of any fees or other charges you
pay us.
Referrals for Trust Services
Our parent company, Stifel Financial Corp., along with the Firm
(together the “Service Providers”), have entered into Referral,
Operating, and Service agreements with our affiliated trust
companies – Stifel Trust Company, National Association
(“STC”) and Stifel Trust Company Delaware, National
Association (“STCD”) (STC and STCD, individually and
collectively, sometimes referred to hereafter as the “trust
companies”).
Pursuant to these agreements, STC and STCD pay the Service
Providers for providing services, referral services, and client
services. The Service Providers receive, on a quarterly basis,
20% of the net fiduciary fees received by STC and STCD.
Specifically, the Firm pays its Financial Advisors a portion of
net fees on a monthly basis for the life of the account. Fees shall
not be payable with respect to those accounts for which the
Service Providers do not provide the referral services or the
client services. These payments create an incentive for Financial
Advisors to refer you to STC or STCD.
There may be an interim period between the time a referral is
made and the time the trust companies begin to provide services.
Credit Line Loans
In some circumstances, Clients are able to use Advisory account
assets as collateral for variable or fixed rate credit lines (“Credit
Line Loans”) offered by an Affiliated Bank.
An example of a Credit Line Loan is the Stifel Pledged Asset
(“SPA”) Loan, which is offered by Stifel Bank & Trust. The
SPA loan account is subject to application and credit approval
by Stifel Bank & Trust. Please refer to the terms and conditions
outlined in the Stifel Pledged Asset Loan Account Agreement,
which is provided separately to applicants by Stifel Bank &
Trust. Clients repay the principal balance and interest on
outstanding balances on Credit Line Loans to Stifel Bank &
Trust and/or other Affiliated Bank(s). For variable-rate loans,
clients have the option to repay the principal at any time without
prepayment fees. If interest rates rise, your borrowing cost will
also rise. For fixed-rate loans, clients may be subject to
prepayment fees (as described in the loan documents) if the loan
is repaid before the end of the fixed-rate contract. The proceeds
of certain loans may not be used for the purpose of (a)
purchasing, carrying, or trading in securities, (b) repaying or
retiring any indebtedness incurred to purchase, carry, or trade in
securities, or (c) repaying or retiring any debt, and/or otherwise
the use of margin strategies will be limited to eligible non-
retirement Advisory accounts at Stifel. We also allow the use of
margin in connection with approved Portfolios that engage in
short selling. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we generally allow
Clients to use the assets held in their Advisory accounts as
collateral for margin debits held in non-Advisory accounts. The
use of leverage, or investing with borrowed funds, is generally
not recommended in Advisory Programs; however, it may be
approved on an exception basis when specifically requested by
individual Clients, or for use in specialized Portfolios in our
Programs. Certain eligibility requirements must be met and
documentation in the form of a separate margin agreement (and,
in some cases, additional certifications) that must be signed by
the Client prior to using leverage or enrolling in these
specialized Portfolios. In making the decision to set up margin
privileges for an Advisory account or engaging in short-selling
strategies, it is important for Clients to understand the risks
associated with employing margin and/or short-selling strategies,
the impact the use of borrowed funds may have on Advisory
accounts, and how investment objectives may be negatively
affected. Employing these strategies in Advisory accounts is a
more aggressive, higher-risk approach to pursuing investment
objectives. Clients should carefully consider whether the
additional risks are appropriate prior to employing these
strategies due to the increased potential for significantly greater
losses associated with using margin strategies. The use of these
strategies also involves higher costs: for example, Clients pay
short sale charges in connection with each short sale transaction
in the account. Moreover, if the account carries an outstanding
margin loan, the Client will also pay interest to our firm on the
outstanding loan balance. These fees are in addition to any
agreed-upon Advisory Account Fee otherwise due. Furthermore,
Advisory Account Fees are calculated as a percentage of the
total “billable” assets in the account; the amount/value of the
margin loan or short position is not deducted from the total
value of the investments when determining billable value.
Therefore, employing margin to buy securities in Advisory
accounts or otherwise engaging in short sales in Advisory
accounts generally increases the billable value of the account
and, ultimately, our total compensation on the account(s).
Clients that use (or otherwise enroll in strategies that use)
margin or short selling may lose more than their original
investments. Likewise, a positive or negative performance, net
of interest charges and fees, is magnified; gains or losses are
greater than would be the case in accounts that do not employ
margin strategies. A number of the risks discussed above apply
even in cases where the margin debit is held or associated to a
non-Advisory account and Advisory assets are being used to
cross-collateralize the margin loan in the brokerage account. For
Portfolios that use margin or engage in short selling, we may, at
our discretion, choose to cover all existing short positions when
you terminate from the applicable Portfolio. To the extent that
a maintenance call is triggered in connection with a
margined account and we are forced to sell any assets used
as collateral for the margin loan, or if we determine to
liquidate any or all of your short positions in connection with
a termination from a specialized Portfolio, we will act solely
in our capacity as a registered broker-dealer (and not as an
investment adviser or other fiduciary). Moreover, if selling
such assets, we will seek to maximize our interest, and will
not prioritize a Client’s interest. Clients generally will not
Page 37 of 45
SF1601-3/26
purchase any product or service, unless consent is provided by
the lending Affiliated Bank.
present a conflict of interest for us in that they create a financial
incentive for your Stifel Financial Advisor to make
recommendations based on the additional compensation to be
received rather than solely based on your financial needs. For
example, a Financial Advisor may recommend that you open a
Credit Line Loan rather than withdraw money from your
Advisory accounts in order to retain the Advisory Account Fee
or commissions that such assets are otherwise generating, and to
receive the additional compensation from the banking affiliate
with respect to any outstanding Credit Line Loan balance that
you maintain.
If Advisory account assets are used to collateralize Credit Line
Loans, clients are not permitted to withdraw funds or other
assets unless sufficient amounts of collateral remain to continue
supporting the Credit Line Loans (as determined by the
applicable Affiliated Bank in its sole discretion). Client may still
terminate their Advisory relationship with Stifel at any time, at
which time these funds or assets will be maintained in a
brokerage account at Stifel. Clients pay interest to the applicable
Affiliated Bank on Credit Line Loans at customary interest rates.
Certain eligibility requirements must be met and loan
documentation must be completed prior to applying for Credit
Line Loans.
Similarly, a Financial Advisor may recommend the continued
maintenance of such Credit Line Loan to retain such payments.
Finally a Financial Advisor may recommend that you invest or
hold your Advisory account assets in positions that have been
assigned high release rates and/or lower release rates by the
applicable Affiliated Bank for the Credit Line Loan (but which
positions ultimately generate low investment returns for your
Advisory account) in order to avoid maintenance calls on the
Credit Line Loan which would require loan repayment and/or
the liquidation of Advisory assets. Depending on your specific
circumstances, including the intended use of the proceeds from
the Credit Line Loan and the return on your Advisory account,
over the long-term, it may cost you more to take out the Credit
Line Loan than if you had withdrawn the money from your
Advisory account. Clients are therefore encouraged to carefully
consider the total cost of taking out any Credit Line Loan, and
any additional compensation that the Financial Advisor will
receive, when determining to take out and/or maintain Credit
Line Loans.
Finally, to the extent that a maintenance call is triggered in
connection with a Credit Line Loan and we are obligated to
liquidate assets in your Advisory account that have been used as
collateral for such Credit Line Loan, we will act solely in our
capacity as a broker-dealer (and not as an investment adviser or
other fiduciary), even where such collateral is held in an
Advisory account. Moreover, if selling such assets, we will seek
to maximize our interest (and/or those of our Affiliated Bank,
and will not prioritize a Client’s interest. For more
information, please refer to the applicable Affiliated Bank
credit line agreement.
Credit Line Loans extended by Affiliate Banks are typically
demand loans , which allows an Affiliated Bank to demand
repayment at any time, and are subject to collateral maintenance
requirements. If the required collateral value is not maintained,
an Affiliated Bank may require additional collateral, or partial or
entire repayment of any Credit Line Loans extended. Clients
may need to deposit additional cash or securities as collateral on
short notice or repay a partial or entire amount of the funds
borrowed if the value of their portfolio declines below the
required loan-to-value ratio. An Affiliated Bank may refuse to
fund any advance request due to insufficient collateral. An
Affiliated Bank may increase your collateral maintenance
requirement at any time without notice, and may call your Credit
Line Loan at any time and for any reason. Because an Affiliated
Bank assigns different release rates to different asset types, in
some cases, Clients may also be able to satisfy such
requirements by selling securities with a low release rate and
investing and/or holding the proceeds in assets that have a higher
release rate for the loan. In each case, failure to promptly meet
requests for additional collateral or repayment, or other
circumstances including a rapidly declining market, may cause
our banking affiliate to instruct us to liquidate some or all of the
collateral supporting any Credit Line Loan in order to meet
collateral maintenance requirements without needing your prior
approval. You will not be entitled to choose the securities that
will be sold. Depending on market circumstances, the prices
obtained for the securities may be less than favorable. Any
required liquidations may interrupt the account’s investment
strategy and may result in adverse tax consequences or
additional fees being assessed.
The Affiliated Banks typically pay us a fee of up to 0.25% per
annum, on a quarterly basis, of the outstanding SPA Loan
balance, a portion of which is paid to your Financial Advisor. In
addition, the Affiliated Banks pay Stifel up to $50 for each
newly booked loan, which Stifel will then pay to the Financial
Advisor’s Client Service Associate (“CSA”) for the CSA’s
assistance to the borrower in completing the related application.
Neither we, nor Stifel Financial Advisors, currently receive
payment on other credit line loans, which is subject to change.
These payments are in addition to any Advisory Account Fees
charged with respect to (or direct commission charged with
respect to any transactions relating to) the Advisory assets used
to collateralize the Credit Line Loan. As such, these payments
Other Important Considerations Relating to the Use of
Margin or Credit Line Loans in Connection With Advisory
Accounts
Margin and Credit Line Loans involve risk and may not be
appropriate for all borrowers. The return on your Advisory
accounts must be higher than your financing cost in order for
you generate a positive return in your Advisory account. The
market value of your Advisory account may decline, which may
result in the value of that collateral no longer covering an
outstanding loan amount. None of Stifel, our Affiliated Banks, or
our Financial Advisors provide legal or tax advice. Clients
should consult legal counsel and tax advisors before using
borrowed funds as collateral for loans. Neither our firm nor our
affiliates act as investment adviser with respect to the liquidation
of securities held in Advisory accounts to meet margin calls or
Credit Line Loan demands, and as creditors, our firm and our
affiliates may have interests that are adverse to Clients. There
Page 38 of 45
SF1601-3/26
seek to achieve the highest rate of return consistent with their
investment objectives, which can be found in their prospectuses.
are substantial risks associated with the use of borrowed funds
for investment purposes and the use of securities as collateral
for loans. Additional limitations and availability may vary by
state.
We act as your agent and custodian and engage Stifel Bank &
Trust as a sub-custodian in establishing and maintaining a
deposit account at each participating bank. Although the deposit
accounts are obligations of the participating banks and not us,
you will not have a direct relationship with the participating
banks. All deposits and withdrawals will be made by us on your
behalf. You may also establish direct relationships with a
participating bank, open separate deposit and/or savings
accounts, and obtain certificates of deposit to which higher rates
might apply, but will not be provided the same level of services
as those offered through our cash sweep arrangements.
You are responsible for monitoring the total amount of your
deposits at any one participating bank for purposes of ensuring
FDIC coverage for your funds, particularly since you may have
other deposits at a participating bank of which we are unaware.
Investment Banking
Financial Advisors are able to introduce clients and others to
Stifel’s Investment Banking area. Investment Banking helps
corporations with raising capital, structuring mergers and
acquisitions, and navigating other complex financial issues. If
Investment Banking receives any investment banking business
resulting from such introductions, on the first three transactions
with the client, Stifel’s Private Client Group currently receives a
portion of the net fees earned by Investment Banking, a
percentage of which will then be paid to the Financial Advisor.
It is a benefit to your Financial Advisor, and a potential conflict,
to make these introductions. Where appropriate to meet the
needs of a client who may not meet the minimum threshold
required, Stifel’s Investment Banking department may make an
introduction to an unaffiliated partner firm. In these instances,
the Financial Advisor making the original introduction would be
paid a portion of the fees earned on each transaction.
All participating banks, except affiliated banks, pay Stifel Bank
& Trust a fee equal to a percentage (which may be as much as
7.00 percent annually) of the average daily deposit balance in
your deposit accounts. The amount of fee received by Stifel
Bank & Trust will decrease the interest rate that you will receive
in connection with your deposit account balances. Stifel Bank &
Trust reserves the right to increase, decrease, or waive all or part
of its fees at any time.
Mortgage Lending
Residential mortgage loans are loans that are used to purchase a
home, refinance an existing mortgage, or to take cash out for
other purposes. These loans are secured by residential real estate,
and, in certain cases, brokerage or advisory account assets are
used to provide additional collateral support for the mortgage
loans. Clients repay the principal amount borrowed to Stifel
Bank & Trust, plus interest. These loans may have origination
fees, application fees, and certain other fees and costs, including
closing costs, which are disclosed before the loan is made.
Affiliated banks benefit from the use of cash swept from Client
accounts. The affiliated banks receive substantial deposits at a
price that may be less than other alternative funding sources
available to them. Deposits in deposit accounts provide a stable
source of funds for our affiliated banks.
Mortgage loans are originated by Stifel Bank & Trust, Equal
Housing Lender, NMLS# 375103. Your Stifel Financial
Advisor, however, does not offer residential mortgage products
and is unable to accept any residential mortgage loan
applications or to offer or negotiate terms of any such loan.
Financial Advisors may refer current clients of Stifel to Stifel
Bank & Trust for a mortgage loan.
Where permissible by law, the Firm compensates Stifel
Financial Advisors in connection with the origination of any
mortgage loan. Compensation is paid by the firm after the loan is
fully closed and funded.
CASH SWEEP OPTIONS
Cash holdings in the applicable sweep option, including
maintenance cash, constitute an indirect cost of the Program and
result in additional compensation to Stifel and affiliates. If we
(and our affiliates) did not receive this additional compensation,
you should expect that we would charge higher fees or other
amounts to you for the services we provide. Under certain
market conditions, holding cash results in lower overall account
return, such as when riskier assets outperform cash. Moreover,
while maintaining Advisory account assets in cash may protect
those assets from the risk of loss in the event of a market
downturn, holding cash, particularly high cash concentrations for
long periods of time, through an Advisory account may result in
underperformance given the impact of Advisory Account Fee(s)
and the rates of return on maintenance cash and other cash
equivalents.
We offer one or more cash sweep options, depending on the type
of account that you have or are establishing (i.e., retirement
versus non-retirement) at our firm, for available cash balances in
your accounts to be swept into bank accounts with participating
banks (of which our Affiliate Banks are top or sole participating
banks, as discussed below) insured by the FDIC. The interest
rates on deposit accounts are determined by the amount the
participating banks are willing to pay minus the fees and
compensation paid to us or our affiliates (discussed below).
Participating banks do not have to offer the highest rates
available or rates comparable to money market mutual fund
yields. By comparison, money market mutual funds generally
An eligible Advisory account may earn an “Enhanced Advisory
Yield” on certain sweep program balances. Available sweep
program deposit account balances up to a defined percentage,
the “Maintenance Cash Percentage,” of the total value of an
eligible Advisory account, determined account by account, that
is used to calculate Stifel’s advisory wrap fee is referred to as
“Maintenance Cash” and will receive interest at standard interest
rates as discussed in detail in the Stifel Account Agreement and
Disclosure Booklet. Sweep program deposit account balances in
an eligible Advisory account in excess of Maintenance Cash will
Page 39 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Stifel receives an aggregate, annual fee of up to $100 from the
Affiliated Banks on a per-account basis in connection with
accounts that participate in the SIBDP.
earn the Enhanced Advisory Yield. For more information about
the Enhanced Advisory Yield, please contact your Financial
Advisor or visit
stifel.com/docs/pdf/Disclosures/AgreementAndDisclosureBookl
et.pdf.
For additional information on benefits received by Stifel and its
affiliates, refer to Stifel’s website at
stifel.com/disclosures/sweepchoices/insured-deposit-account.
Stifel Insured Bank Deposit Program for Retirement
Accounts
If your account participates in the Stifel Insured Bank Deposit
Program for Retirement Accounts (the “SIBDPRA”) as your
sweep option, available cash balances in your brokerage account
will be deposited into interest-bearing deposit accounts at one or
more Affiliated Banks which include Stifel Bank, Stifel Bank &
Trust, Stifel Trust Company, National Association, and Stifel
Trust Company Delaware, National Association (the “Banks”).
Stifel receives an aggregate, annual fee of up to $100 from the
Banks on a per-Securities account basis in connection with
accounts that participate in the SIBDPRA.
In all cases, Client has the option to hold cash in a brokerage
account at Stifel and/or in deposit accounts through the
Affiliated Bank or with other banks, in which case such cash
would not be subject to the Advisory Account Fee. Clients also
have the option of using (including directing their Financial
Advisors to use) other cash equivalents in their accounts; while
subject to the Advisory Account Fee, these cash equivalents will
likely earn higher interest rates than cash held through our
insured bank deposit sweep programs. Clients should compare
the terms, interest rates, required minimum amounts, and other
features of the automatic sweep option with other cash
equivalent investments. More information about our automatic
sweep option is available at
stifel.com/docs/pdf/Disclosures/AgreementAndDisclosureBookl
et.pdf. Information about current interest rates on our insured
bank deposit sweep programs are available by contacting your
Financial Advisor or through Stifel.com.
For both the SIBDP and SIBDPRA programs, your Financial
Advisor is currently not receiving a fee. Stifel reserves the right
to pay a fee to your Financial Advisor in connection with the
SIBDPRA Retirement Accounts at any time without prior notice.
Upon request, Stifel will provide you with information about
Stifel’s compensation arrangements with respect to its sweep
investments.
Stifel and the Banks receive certain additional benefits in
connection with the Program. For additional information, refer
to Stifel’s website at stifel.com/disclosures/sweep-
choices/insured-deposit-account.
The offering of the cash sweep arrangements poses conflicts of
interest because the fees and benefits received by Stifel and our
Affiliated Banks is an important source of our revenues. Our
affiliate determines how much of the interest it keeps as its fee,
Stifel and affiliates typically receive more fees when your cash
is swept into the cash sweep arrangements than when you
purchase a money market fund, and our Affiliated Banks benefit
from the use of cash swept from your account(s). We seek to
mitigate this conflict through disclosure in this brochure and, at
least as a matter of current practice which is subject to possible
change, by not sharing these fees with our Financial Advisors.
Stifel Insured Bank Deposit Program
If your account participates in the Stifel Insured Bank Deposit
Program (the “SIBDP”) as your sweep option, then available
cash balances in your brokerage account will be deposited into
interest-bearing deposit accounts at one or more Affiliated
Banks or unaffiliated banks (each a “Bank”).
All banks participating in the SIBDP, except Affiliated Banks,
will pay Stifel Bank & Trust fees as discussed above.
Risks Associated With the SIBDP and SIBDPRA
Deposits are insured up to applicable FDIC limits. Any deposits
(including deposit balances maintained through the Stifel Insured
Bank Deposit Program, Stifel Insured Bank Deposit Program for
Retirement Accounts, or certificates of deposit) that you
maintain in the same insurable capacity directly with an
Affiliated Bank or through an intermediary (such as Stifel or
another broker) will be aggregated with funds in deposit accounts
at the respective bank(s) for purposes of the FDIC insurance
limits. You are responsible for monitoring the total amount of
deposits that you have with each bank in order to determine the
extent of FDIC insurance coverage available to you.
In its discretion, Stifel Bank & Trust may reduce its fee and may
vary the amount of the reductions between clients. The fee may
vary from bank to bank. The amount of the fee received by Stifel
Bank & Trust will reduce the interest rate paid by a Bank on
your deposit accounts.
Neither Stifel nor its affiliates, including Affiliated Banks,
monitor the amount of your deposited funds to determine
whether those amounts exceed the FDIC insurance limits
applicable to your deposits at a bank, and they are not
responsible for any insured or uninsured portion of the deposit
accounts at any bank.
Moreover, Stifel Bank & Trust also receives additional financial
benefits (i.e., additional deposits) and regulatory benefits (i.e.,
diversification of depositors) under reciprocal deposit
arrangements with certain banks (including Affiliated Banks).
Under these arrangements, Stifel Bank & Trust is entitled to
receive and accept deposits from customers of such other banks
in amounts similar or equal to amounts added to deposits
accounts under the Program.
The SIBDPRA is offered by Stifel as a broker-dealer and not
Stifel Bank as your IRA Custodian or otherwise. Additional
information about the SIBDP and SIBDPRA is available on
Stifel’s website at stifel.com/ disclosures/sweep-choices/insured-
deposit-account
Page 40 of 45
SF1601-3/26
You should review the sections “The Stifel Automatic Cash
Investment Service” and “Disclosure Documents for Automatic
Cash Investment” of the Stifel Account Agreement and
Disclosure Booklet for the terms, conditions, and other
important information relating to the applicable sweep options,
including a discussion of the various conflicts that we may have
in connection with such options as well as how we seek to
mitigate such conflicts. You may access the Stifel Account
Agreement and Disclosure Booklet, as amended from time
here:
stifel.com/docs/pdf/Disclosures/AgreementAndDisclosureBookl
et.pdf, or you may request a copy from your Financial Advisor.
Reports may differ from the performance shown for the same
account(s) in a report that is limited to Advisory services. If you
hold alternative investments where we receive periodic
valuations (actual or estimated) from the associated
management, administrators, and/or sponsors, you should note
that we may receive delayed valuations monthly, quarterly, or
less frequently. As a result, those investments may show a
historic or, in certain cases, an estimated value. The actual value,
once determined, may differ from the value previously reported
to you and, as a result, you may not be able to realize a
previously shown value upon sale or redemption. We update
actual values upon receipt but will not amend previously issued
Reports due to such changes.
REVIEW OF ACCOUNTS
Account Review
Each new account enrolled in a Program is reviewed by the
applicable Financial Advisor’s supervisor prior to account
opening. Thereafter, Financial Advisors periodically perform
account reviews.
In certain circumstances, you may notice a difference in the
values displayed on custodial statements versus Reports for the
same account. For example, our Reports generally include any
income that is earned (accrued) but has not yet been paid by the
issuer and base the figure on trade date rather than settlement
date.
Regardless of the system where your Report was generated, you
should carefully review the accompanying disclosure for
definitions of relevant terms and calculations used, as well as
other important information you should consider in your review.
Clients should contact their Financial Advisors with any
questions regarding the information they receive in a Report.
Portfolio Review
Clients in the Programs covered in this brochure may request
periodic analyses of their portfolio, including performance
and/or other relevant characteristics and metrics (“Reports”)
from their Financial Advisor(s). The information included in
these Reports is verified by Stifel’s Operations staff who
perform daily transaction reconciliation and performance return
evaluations to identify and address the cause of any unusual
variations or inaccuracies.
With limited exceptions, Stifel generally does not provide
performance reports for Clients in the Summit Program.
Transaction Statements
Clients with discretionary accounts held at Stifel typically
receive monthly (but in no event less than quarterly) statements
that identify buys, sells, dividends, interest, deposits, and
disbursements in their accounts during the previous month, as
well as the overall market value of the portfolio at month’s end.
A summary of portfolio holdings as of the end of each reported
quarter is also listed. Clients may not waive receipt of account
statements. Clients whose accounts are held away from Stifel,
with a qualified custodian (but who trade through Stifel), will
receive a statement with respect to each month in which a
transaction is effected in their Stifel account. All other clients
utilizing an unaffiliated, third-party custodian will receive
statements from their applicable custodian based on the
custodian’s own delivery schedule.
Performance Information
When displaying performance, our primary reporting systems
typically reflect a daily Time-Weighted Return (“TWR”)
calculation methodology, but where specifically identified, may
also present an Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”). TWR measures
the performance of investments, without distorting daily values
or growth rates based on the cash added or removed from an
investment. IRR, on the other hand, considers the effect of all
cash inflows and outflows in its calculation and is often used to
measure the absolute growth of an investment over a certain
period of time. In certain limited cases, we may calculate
performance returns using one of our secondary reporting
systems. Our secondary reporting systems generally calculate
performance returns using a monthly Modified Dietz Method,
which is a time-weighted method that also identifies and
accounts for the timing of cash flows in the account over the
period. If the date of a cash flow is not known, the systems
assume a mid-month date for cash flows. Regardless of the
system from which performance is calculated, a sampling of the
performance returns is reviewed to confirm accuracy or
compliance with presentation standards.
Realized Gain/Loss Summary
Custodial statements from Stifel include annual listings of all
closed transactions in their accounts during each calendar year,
as well as the offsetting cost of each transaction and, thus, the
realized gains/losses for each closing transaction.
Year-End Tax Report
With respect to those accounts for which our firm acts as
custodian, we provide such Clients 1099 statements for the
previous tax year. 1099 statements include both reportable and
non-reportable information, cost basis for securities that have
been sold, and additional information to assist with tax
preparation.
We rely on publicly recorded information, use various vendor
systems, and/or rely on valuations provided by third-party
custodians holding assets and/or accounts that are part of your
relationship with us in determining the values used in our
Reports. Depending on the primary reporting system, your
Reports may or may not include unsupervised assets. The
inclusion of unsupervised assets will distort the performance of
our Advisory services. As a result, the performance on those
Page 41 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Compensation for Client Referrals
Our firm has entered into referral arrangements with certain
investment managers pursuant to which we, or our Financial
Advisors, receive compensation for referring Clients to those
managers. As of the date of this brochure, these arrangements
include Affiliated Managers for which we act as solicitor,
including 1919 Investment Counsel and Stifel Capital
Management, LLC.
Financial Advisors may have an incentive to refer Clients to
Affiliated Managers rather than to unaffiliated managers, as the
receipt of additional revenues by our affiliates may benefit our
affiliated group.
Transaction Confirmations
Clients with discretionary accounts may elect to receive trade
confirmations immediately upon execution in their accounts or
defer confirmations until the end of each quarter. Clients with
eligible accounts who elect to defer confirmations receive
summary reports at the end of each quarter outlining the
transactions posted to their accounts during the most recent
calendar quarter. The election to receive confirmations
immediately or quarterly may be changed at any time upon the
Client’s request. In certain instances, an LOA may be required.
Clients are not eligible to defer confirmations for non-
discretionary accounts. Clients that have signed up for online
access to their Advisory accounts may review their transaction
confirmations through the online portal.
In addition, Financial Advisors may receive compensation for
referring Clients to other affiliates for services, including, but
not limited to, affiliated banks.
Performance Information for External Managers
Private Funds will provide investors with the respective fund’s
unaudited statements on a monthly or quarterly basis, and
schedule K-1s and audited financial statements as soon as such
documents are available following the end of each fiscal year.
CLIENT REFERRALS AND OTHER COMPENSATION
Other Compensation
As described under “Fees and Compensation,” we may receive
revenue sharing or similar payments from certain private fund
sponsors, investment managers, or mutual funds to which we
refer Clients for investment. These arrangements present
additional conflicts of interest, as they may create incentives to
recommend particular investment products or managers.
We seek to address these conflicts through disclosure and by
maintaining policies and procedures designed to identify and
manage conflicts of interest.
Our firm has entered into certain solicitation and referral
arrangements under which individuals or entities are
compensated for referring Clients to us, or under which we
receive compensation for referring Clients to third parties. These
arrangements create conflicts of interest because they provide
financial incentives to recommend our firm, or certain affiliated
or unaffiliated service providers, over others.
CUSTODY
Where our firm acts as an investment adviser in connection with
a referral to us, we require that all such arrangements comply
with applicable regulatory requirements, including the delivery
of written disclosures to Clients describing the solicitation
arrangement and any fees paid or received in connection with
the referral. These disclosures are provided at the time of
solicitation and/or at account opening, and, where applicable,
Clients are required to acknowledge receipt.
Our firm may enter into referral arrangements with investment
managers pursuant to which we act as solicitor for those
managers. Referrals made by our Financial Advisors under these
arrangements are made in our capacity as a registered broker-
dealer, rather than as a registered investment advisor.
Unless agreed upon otherwise, we maintain physical custody of
Client assets in the Vantage Program as well as for accounts
enrolled in our Wrap Programs. We have adopted policies and
procedures that are designed to mitigate risks involved in being a
self-custodial firm (with the exception of IRA assets) in an effort
to ensure that our clients’ assets are protected. Among other
things, we undergo a separate examination by an independent
auditor the purpose of which is to obtain the auditor’s report on
our internal controls designed to safeguard clients’ assets held at
our firm. Our firm also undergoes an annual surprise audit by an
independent registered accounting firm that is designed to verify
the Clients’ assets. At the conclusion of the annual surprise
audit, the independent auditor files a report with the SEC
attesting to, among other things, our compliance with regulatory
requirements.
Certain of our affiliates may also serve as qualified custodians of
our Client assets. In such cases, consistent with applicable
regulations, we receive a report issued by an independent
registered public accountant relating to the affiliate’s internal
controls in connection with its custody services.
Stifel Alliance Program
Under the Stifel Alliance Program (“Alliance”), we may
compensate individuals or entities, directly or indirectly, for
Client referrals by sharing a portion of the advisory fees charged
by our firm. Our policies prohibit Financial Advisors from
increasing client fees to offset amounts paid in connection with
Alliance referrals. We and/or our associated persons may also
pay certain registration or licensing costs, if applicable, to
facilitate a solicitor’s state registration.
These arrangements create an incentive for solicitors to refer
Clients to our firm rather than to other advisory firms.
As set forth above under “Brokerage Practices – Execution
and/or Custody through Unaffiliated Firms,” certain Clients may
elect to have their assets maintained by an independent qualified
custodian.
Page 42 of 45
SF1601-3/26
INVESTMENT DISCRETION
Please note if you have a margin balance in your account, it may
reduce the number of shares in which you are eligible to vote.
For additional details, you should carefully review the provisions
concerning margin in the Stifel Account Agreement and
Disclosure Booklet located at stifel.com/disclosures. If your
account is invested in an Adviser-traded Portfolio and you
choose to delegate proxy voting authority, the Adviser will
typically vote proxies related to the securities in the account or
Portfolio. For this reason, you should carefully review the proxy
voting discussion in each Manager’s Form ADV 2A provided to
you. You should understand the Investment Manager’s proxy
voting process and guidelines, as well as the related risks prior to
granting proxy voting authority to an Investment Manager.
Some Programs may require Clients to provide us with a limited
power of attorney so that account and/or portfolio management
services may be provided on a discretionary basis. Discretion is
authorized by Clients by signing the discretionary Advisory
Agreement. Discretionary authority is limited to selection of
securities as well as the number of shares to buy or sell, if
directed by the Client- proxy voting authority, and trading
discretion (i.e., when and where to buy or sell securities). Clients
may impose reasonable restrictions on our discretionary
authority and modify existing restrictions by notifying us in
writing. Such modifications are honored only after being
reviewed and accepted by our personnel. Clients that elect to
impose investment restrictions on their account should note that
such restrictions generally will affect account performance and
that, in some cases, the impact may be material and adverse.
VOTING CLIENT SECURITIES
We generally do not vote proxies for Clients whose custodial
accounts are held by third-party custodians, including Clients
with accounts in the Summit Program. If your account is held at
another custodial firm, you will be responsible for voting all
proxies relating to securities held in your account.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
We accept proxy voting delegation from Clients with accounts
enrolled in our wrap fee Programs (covered by our Wrap Fee
Disclosure Brochure), or in the Vantage Program covered in this
brochure.
We do not have any adverse financial conditions to disclose
under this Item.
ERISA RULE 408(b)(2) DISCLOSURE INFORMATION
FOR QUALIFIED RETIREMENT PLANS
It is important to note that Stifel does NOT vote proxies for
foreign ordinary shares or ADRs. Voting of those proxies will
remain your responsibility.
This section generally describes the fiduciary status of
investment advisory services provided by and compensation paid
to Stifel with respect to ERISA qualified retirement plans (each,
a “Plan”).
If you have an account in an applicable Program, you can
appoint Stifel or, if applicable, the Investment Manager for your
account or Portfolio to vote appropriate proxies on your behalf.
You can change your proxy voting election at any time.
Requests to revoke proxy voting delegation to Stifel or change
any vote already cast must be in writing. We request 30 days to
allow the Firm sufficient time to process the revocation and
implement the changes with respect to any pending votes with
our vendors. We will make reasonable attempts to implement
your request but cannot assure that it will occur in time for a
particular vote.
General Description of Status and Services Provided by
Stifel to Plans
As set forth above in the section titled “Advisory Programs
Offered by Stifel” of this brochure, we offer and provide a
variety of investment advisory Programs that are intended to
assist responsible Plan fiduciaries with their prudent investment
duties under ERISA. A thorough description of the services
provided to a specific Plan is set forth in the applicable Advisory
Agreement, and may include, investment management, trading,
and/or custody services, as well as participant education and
guidance.
In voting proxies, we have a fiduciary responsibility to make
investment decisions that are in the best interest of our Clients
and vote all Client securities accordingly. As required by
applicable regulations, we have adopted policies and procedures
to govern the proxy voting process for our Client accounts. We
have retained a third-party proxy voting service (“Proxy Voting
Agent”) to provide independent, objective research and voting
recommendations based on its standard proxy voting guidelines,
and to vote proxies in your account(s) on our behalf (other than
foreign ordinary shares and ADRs). If the Proxy Voting Agent is
unable to provide a voting recommendation, Stifel will not vote
your shares.
You may request a copy of our Proxy Voting Policies and
Procedures as well as the Proxy Voting Agent’s standard proxy
voting guidelines at any time, including a record of the proxies
voted in respect of your account(s).
Discretionary Investment Management Services – We
generally do not allow ERISA Plan accounts in our Vantage
Program. Plans seeking discretionary services from us should
talk to their Financial Advisor about the wrap Programs that we
offer. We offer and provide Clients access to discretionary
ERISA fiduciary investment advisory services through the
following Programs: Fundamentals, Solutions, Opportunity,
Investment Management Consulting, Custom Advisory
Portfolio, and Connect. In very limited circumstances, we may
also provide discretionary services to plans through our Summit
Program. Depending on the Program, discretionary and/or
portfolio management services may be provided directly through
a Stifel Financial Advisor, by our home office personnel, or we
may provide the Plan access to an Independent or Affiliated
Adviser that provides such the discretionary investment
management services.
Page 43 of 45
SF1601-3/26
applicable Plan assets, then forwards all such ADR pass-through
fees to the Depository Trust Company (or other applicable
central securities depository).
Non-Discretionary Advisory Services – We also offer and
provide non-discretionary investment advisory and ERISA
fiduciary services through our Summit Program as detailed
above, as well as through our Horizon Program, a fee-based
Program that is covered in a separate brochure. Non-
discretionary services are provided directly by your Financial
Advisor. More detailed information about these services and
Programs is provided in the applicable brochure, under the
section titled “Advisory Programs Offered at Stifel”.
Compensation From Funds and Other Products. For a
description of the credits you may be eligible for in connection
with investments in Funds and other products that pay 12b-1
fees and other types of compensation, please see the sections
titled “Compensation From Funds” and “Compensation From
Other Products” above.
Brokerage Practices. For a description of compensation we
receive in connection with our brokerage practices, please see
the section titled “Brokerage Practices” above.
Our Status
When providing discretionary and non-discretionary advisory
services through a Program, Stifel acts as a registered investment
adviser under the Advisers Act. For a description of Stifel’s
status under the Advisers Act and under ERISA, please refer to
the section titled “ERISA” in the applicable Advisory
Agreement.
Sweep. See the sections “The Stifel Automatic Cash Investment
Service” and “Disclosure Documents for Automatic Cash
Investment” of the Stifel Account Agreement and Disclosure
Booklet for information about sweep services. Our cash sweep
programs create a conflict of interest for us because we have an
incentive for you to maintain and direct otherwise uninvested
cash in your account to deposits of our affiliated banks, which
they can use to generate additional revenue. We also receive
revenue for sending your cash deposits to third-party banks that
participate in our sweep programs. This creates an incentive for
us to recommend or direct investments that result in cash being
invested through our sweep programs. For additional
information, please see stifel.com/disclosures/sweep-
choices/sweep-choices-disclosure
General Description of Compensation Paid to Stifel
Advisory Fees. Our firm accepts direct compensation in the form
of fees paid pursuant to the Advisory Agreement entered into
with the Plan at the time of account opening. Plan Clients should
refer to the applicable Advisory Agreement for the fee
calculation formula specific to the Plan account. For information
about the manner in which these fees are paid, please see the
sections “The Stifel Fee,” “Deduction of Advisory Account
Fees,” and “Other Excluded Fees and Expenses” of this
brochure and the section entitled “Fees and Billing” in the
applicable Advisory Agreement. We typically do not receive
indirect compensation in connection with Plan assets in our
Summit Program.
Deposits in one of our affiliated banks or trust companies (each,
an “Affiliated Bank”) will bear a reasonable rate of interest as
required by 29 C.F.R. Section 2550.408b-4(b)(2). By
participating in a sweep service, you authorize deposits in each
Affiliated Bank and acknowledge the benefits that Stifel, the
Affiliated Bank, and your Financial Advisor derive from the
arrangement. Please contact your Financial Advisor for
additional information.
Private Fund Fees. In limited circumstances and in connection
with certain Plan investments in private funds (including, but not
limited to, hedge funds and private equity funds), we may
receive placement fees or other compensation indirectly from a
private fund and/or its related persons in lieu of advisory fees
paid directly by the Plan with respect to such investment. Where
applicable, such placement fees or other compensation are
disclosed in the subscription documents or other documents you
execute in connection with the Plan’s investment in the private
fund, and are equal to the Advisory fee otherwise applicable to
your account. See the section of this brochure titled “Revenue-
Sharing and Other Compensation Arrangements With Private
Investment Funds or Their Sponsors” for more information.
Trade Errors. As set forth above under “Trade Error
Correction,” our policy is to put a Client’s account in the
position that it would have been in if an error had not occurred.
As a result, to the extent a trade error correction results in a gain,
Stifel will retain the resulting gain, to the extent permitted under
applicable law. Pursuant to applicable guidelines, such gains
may be deemed additional compensation. We maintain a record
of any losses and/or gains resulting from trade error corrections
in a Client account and will provide such information upon
request.
ADR Pass-Through Fees. Plan accounts that invest in ADRs
may also incur pass-through fees, which are typically charged by
the sponsors of certain ADRs as custody-related expenses. When
applicable, Stifel collects ADR pass-through fees from
Float. In general, under ERISA a service provider such as a
custodian may retain the benefit of the use of any funds on hand
that are incidental to the normal operation of the plan and that
constitute earnings on funds that are (i) awaiting investment or
(ii) transferred to a disbursement account for distribution from
the plan. The DOL has issued guidance that requires financial
institutions to make specific disclosures to employee benefit
plans, such as the Plan, regarding the circumstances under which
the institution has use of, or may derive benefit from, un-
invested cash pending investment or distribution (“float”). As
discussed in the section of this brochure titled “Additional
Information on Fees and Other Compensation,” if Stifel serves
as custodian of a Plan Client account, we will earn float on
cash/funds received after the close of the NYSE (or on a day that
the NYSE was closed) for the benefit of Client account, until
such cash/funds are swept into the Client’s selected sweep
option, typically the end of the second business day. Similarly,
to the extent we issue a check to a Client or the Client withdraws
funds through an ACH payment, we earn float on the funds
covered by the check until the Client cashes the check or the
ACH payment settles. In general, the amount of float earned is
equivalent to the effective Federal Funds rate on the date earned.
Page 44 of 45
SF1601-3/26
Training and Education Expense Contributions. For
information about payments we receive from investment
companies and/or their affiliates in connection with training and
achievement seminars offered to our Financial Advisors, please
see the section in this brochure titled “Training and Education
Expense Contributions.” Sponsorship amounts generally do not
vary by vendor and cannot be reasonably allocated to any
particular Plan Client. For additional information on other
compensation received by Stifel (as well as its affiliates) from
various product sponsors, please refer to the information located
at: stifel.com/disclosures/mutual-funds/other-compensation-
stifel
Non-Cash Compensation. Please see the section of this
brochure titled “Non-Cash Compensation” for information about
certain gifts and gratuities we may receive. Based on historic
trends, we do not expect to receive non-cash compensation in
excess of the de minimis threshold under DOL regulations with
respect to a Plan Client.
Termination fees. See the section above titled “Compensation in
Connection With the Termination of a Client’s Account
Relationship With Stifel” for information about fees that may
apply if you transfer assets in your Account upon termination of
your Advisory Agreement.
Plans are directed to the section “Fees and Compensation” in the
brochure for additional details about the various other types of
indirect compensation that we may receive in connection with
Plan assets and, to the extent applicable, the steps that we take to
mitigate the conflicts that may be raised by the receipt of such
indirect compensation.
Financial Advisor Compensation. For information about how
we compensate your Financial Advisor, please see the section
“Compensation to Financial Advisors” in this brochure.
Accounts Managed by Third-Party Managers
Plan accounts enrolled in our Opportunity, IMC, and/or Connect
Programs may utilize the services of an Adviser (which, for
purposes of this section, will encompass Investment Managers
and Connect Managers, as defined above) that is engaged to
provide discretionary investment management services to the
Plan. As the Adviser for the Plan, such Adviser is a fiduciary to
the Plan for purposes of ERISA and a registered investment
adviser for purposes of the Advisers Act. For our Opportunity
Program, the Manager’s direct compensation is part of the total
fee that the client pays under the applicable Advisory Agreement
with Stifel; in our Connect Program, the Connect Manager’s fee
is separate from (and in addition to) the Stifel fee. In addition to
the management fee, a Manager may also receive indirect
compensation, often referred to as “soft dollars” or other
benefits, from other brokerage firms with which the Manager
executes trades for its client accounts. These benefits may or
may not relate to trades effected for the Plan account. Plan
Clients should refer to the applicable Manager’s separate Rule
408(b)2 disclosure statement or Form ADV Part 2A for
information about whether or not the Manager receives soft
dollars or similar benefits and, if so, the specific benefits
received.
Page 45 of 45
SF1601-3/26