View Document Text
Cauble & Harre Wealth Management, Inc.
(D/B/A Cauble Harre & Freeman Wealth Management, Cauble Harre
Freeman Wealth Management, and CHF Wealth)
12977 North 40 Drive, Suite 213
St. Louis, MO 63141
314-576-1112
www.caubleharre.com
August 19, 2025
This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of
Cauble & Harre Wealth Management, Inc. (the “Firm” or “CHF Wealth”) If you have any
questions about the contents of this brochure, please contact us at 314-576-1112, or by
email at peter@caubleharre.com.
The information in this brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission, or by any state securities authority. Registration
with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
Additional information about CHF Wealth is available on the SEC’s website at
www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
2. Material Changes
Annual Update
This section discusses only the material changes since the last annual update
brochure.
Material Change since the Last Update
There have been no material changes since the last ADV annual update dated March 26,
2025, but the Firm did adopt and begin using the names “Cauble Harre & Freeman
Wealth Management,” “Cauble Harre Freeman Wealth Management,” and “CHF Wealth”
as part of its new marketing.
Full Brochure Availability
The Firm Brochure is available by contacting Peter Harre at 314-576-1112 or
peter@caubleharre.com.
ii
3. Table of Contents
Contents
2. Material Changes ........................................................................................................ ii
3. Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ iii
4. Advisory Business ....................................................................................................... 4
5. Fees and Compensation ............................................................................................. 5
6. Performance-Based Fees & Side-by-Side Management ............................................ 7
7. Types of Clients .......................................................................................................... 7
8. Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss .................................... 8
9. Disciplinary Information ............................................................................................. 11
10. Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations ................................................... 11
11. Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transaction and Personal Trading
...................................................................................................................................... 11
12. Brokerage Practices ................................................................................................ 13
13. Review of Accounts ................................................................................................ 15
14. Client Referrals and Other Compensation .............................................................. 16
15. Custody ................................................................................................................... 16
16. Investment Discretion ............................................................................................. 17
17. Voting Client Securities ........................................................................................... 17
18. Financial Information ............................................................................................... 17
Privacy Policy................................................................................................................ 18
iii
4. Advisory Business
Firm Description
Cauble & Harre Wealth Management, Inc. (D/B/A Cauble Harre & Freeman Wealth
Management, Cauble Harre Freeman Wealth Management, and CHF Wealth) is a fee-
only wealth management firm offering financial planning and investment management
services. As a Registered Investment Advisor, we have a fiduciary duty to our clients to
place their interest first. The Firm is independent and we work exclusively for our clients,
not for an insurance company, brokerage firm, or bank. We are paid only by our clients.
We do not accept commissions from the sale of financial products.
Principal Owners
The Firm was founded in 2007 by siblings Liz H. Cauble, CFP® and Peter B. Harre, CFA.
We each own 50% of the company.
Types of Advisory Services
Portfolio Management Services
CHF Wealth will prepare an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that will describe the
client’s financial circumstances, asset class targets, investment objectives and any
special instructions or limits that client wishes CHF Wealth to follow in managing the
account. The IPS will incorporate by reference any financial planning objectives
addressed by the financial plan. Thereafter, on an ongoing basis, CHF Wealth will
provide a continuous investment program and will direct, in its sole discretion and
without first consulting the client, the investment and reinvestment of the assets in
client’s investment account in securities and cash or cash equivalents. CHF Wealth will
supervise the client’s account and will monitor the performance of investments in the
account.
Financial Planning Services
For clients with at least $500,000 managed by our Portfolio Management Services, we
offer a comprehensive financial plan as part of our Portfolio Management Services. The
financial plan may address any or all the following areas: Retirement Planning, Asset and
Income Protection, Debt Management, Estate Planning, Income Protection and
Investment Goal Funding Sufficiency. In its discretion, CHF Wealth will at times provide
these services to clients with less than $500,000 in managed assets in such instances as
family members of clients and persons associated with the firm, and clients whose assets
are anticipated to grow to meet the needed account size.
While the client is ultimately responsible for the implementation of many of the
recommendations in the financial plan, we stand ready to help the clients do this
throughout the year. It is the client’s responsibility to promptly inform us and any
changes in their financial situation or investment objectives so that we can review any
4
recommendations we have made in the past. Clients may choose to engage us with all
of the planning components or only a subset of them.
To the extent that topics covered include estate planning, insurance coverage or tax
issues, we either work with the clients’ exiting advisors in these areas or help identify
resources for them.
Other Advisory Services
CHF Wealth may from time to time provide a client with a stand-alone project that
involves financial planning or investment analysis or review. The scope of any work and
the fees to be charged will be agreed to prior to beginning any work. Once CHF Wealth
provides its recommendations the engagement ends.
Tailored Relationships
The Investment Policy Statement that we create will address any specific requirements
or limitations the client has requested. CHF Wealth reserves the right to refuse an
investment management engagement if we feel a restriction would inhibit our ability to
effectively deliver our service.
CHF Wealth hereby acknowledges that it is a "fiduciary" when the firm’s services are
subject to the provisions of ERISA of 1974, as amended. When CHF Wealth provides
investment advice to you regarding your retirement plan account or individual retirement
account, we are fiduciaries within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable, which are laws
governing retirement accounts. The way we make money creates some conflicts with
your interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best
interest and not put our interest ahead of yours.
Wrap Fee Programs
CHF Wealth does not currently participate in any wrap fee programs.
Client Assets
As of December 31, 2024, CHF Wealth managed $255,112,294 in assets on a discretionary
basis.
5. Fees and Compensation
Description
Portfolio Management Services
The annual fee for our portfolio management services will be charged as a percentage
of assets under management, according to the schedule below:
Assets Under Management Annual Fee (%)
5
$0 - $2,000,000
$2,000,001 - $5,000,000
$5,000,001 - $10,000,000
$10,000,001 and above
1.00%
0.75%
0.60%
0.50%
There may be clients under a different fee schedule or service contract than the one
above. Some CHF Wealth clients may have been grandfathered to a different fee
schedule or service contract. Our fees are negotiable and may be waived in whole or in
part in certain circumstances in the sole discretion of CHF Wealth.
Minimum Fee Requirements
Clients engaging CHF Wealth will be subject to a minimum fee of $10,000 annually.
Fee Billing
Portfolio Management Service fees are billed quarterly, in arrears, at the beginning of
each calendar quarter based upon the average daily balance of the client's assets under
management during the previous quarter.
CHF Wealth will assume the quarter ends of March 31, June 30, September 30, and
December 31. Clients have the option of having us deduct the fee directly from their
accounts with the custodian or receiving an invoice. In either case, we send a record to
the client disclosing the total fee and the fees for each account.
For relationships with multiple accounts, we will combine values for purposes of fee
calculation. The total fee will be allocated to each account as agreed upon with the client.
Clients can request that fees for multiple accounts be allocated on a pro-rata basis and
be aggregated and deducted from one or more taxable accounts or may direct the order
in which they want accounts applied to the tiered fee structure.
A report is available to clients showing the calculation of the average daily balance of
client accounts. Clients are welcome to request a copy of this report to verify the
accuracy of our fee calculations using the fee schedules in this document. Please note
that the custodian does not verify fee calculations.
If a client relationship begins during a quarter, our fee will be levied for the number of
days the assets were under our management.
If any asset does not have a readily available market value, we retain the right to leave
out the value of this asset for fee calculation purposes. If such an asset is included, we
will need to document and defend the value.
6
Other Fees
Mutual Fund, ETF and Brokerage Fees: All fees paid to CHF Wealth for investment
advisory services are separate and distinct from the fees and expenses charged by
mutual funds and ETFs to their shareholders and fees charged for brokerage services.
For mutual fund and ETF fees, these fees and expenses are described in each fund's
prospectus. They will generally include a management fee, other fund expenses, and a
possible distribution fee. A client could invest in mutual funds or ETFs directly, without
the services of CHF Wealth. In that case, the client would not receive the services
provided by CHF Wealth which are designed, among other things, to assist the client in
determining which mutual fund or funds are most appropriate to each client's financial
condition and objectives. Accordingly, the client should review both the fees charged by
the funds and the fees charged by CHF Wealth to fully understand the total amount of
fees to be paid by the client and to thereby evaluate the advisory services being
provided. The brokerage firm/custodian will have its own commission schedule which is
outside the control of CHF Wealth. Section 12 discusses additional brokerage practices.
Fees Paid in Advance
Termination of Advisory Relationship: A client agreement may be canceled at any time,
by either party, for any reason upon receipt of 30-day prior written notice. Upon
termination of any account, any prepaid, unearned fees will be promptly refunded. The
client has the right to terminate an agreement without penalty within five business days
after entering into the agreement. In the event of the withdrawal of funds or the
termination of any account, any fees, commissions, or other expenses associated with
rebalancing or liquidating the account holdings may be assessed to the client's account.
Additional Compensation
Adviser restricts its compensation solely and exclusively to the professional fees it
receives directly from its clients for professional services rendered to its clients.
Whenever Adviser recommends that Client own a specific financial product or utilize
the services of a specific Custodian, Adviser and its employees will not accept sales
commissions (including 12b-1 fees), prizes, vacation trips, gifts or meals valued
more than $300 per year from those specific financial product vendors or custodians.
6. Performance-Based Fees & Side-by-Side Management
Sharing of Capital Gains or Capital Appreciation
The fee charged is calculated as described above and is not charged on the basis of
a share of capital gains upon or capital appreciation of the funds or any portion of the
funds of an advisory client (Section 205(a) (1) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940).
7. Types of Clients
7
Description
We currently work with individuals, high net worth individuals, pension and profit-sharing
plans, trusts, estates, corporations, foundations and/or other business entities.
Account Minimums
Clients engaging CHF Wealth will be subject to a minimum fee of $10,000 annually
subject to the sole discretion of CHF Wealth to waive or reduce this minimum.
8. Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss
Methods of Analysis
We currently use a number of data resources for information regarding potential
investments, whether stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or ETF’s. These resources include
research materials, corporate rating services, financial newspapers and/or magazines,
annual reports, prospectuses, filings with the SEC, and company press releases. In all
cases, information is considered by us, and we make an independent decision on how
and if to use the information presented.
Typically, we will not use margin or recommend margin accounts. We typically will not
use options directly. It should be noted that this discussion of investment strategies
does not include the strategies used within a mutual fund or exchange traded fund that
may be purchased for a client account. Those strategies and risk factors are included in
the particular investment vehicles’ prospectus.
Overview of Investment Process
Our investment goal at CHF Wealth is to generate real rates of return that will help our
clients achieve their objectives. This real return objective can be tied to a financial plan,
or it can be linked to other investment objectives.
Model Allocation Construction
Our firm uses model allocations. These are not model portfolios but rather model asset
allocations that represent different levels of expected risk and return. It is our expectation
that these model allocations can achieve their expected real rates of return over time.
They are intended to be a helpful tool in our overall effort to generate real returns and
can be used as benchmarks against which we measure our actual returns.
Actual portfolios will relate to these model allocations but can differ in their precise asset
class weightings. Investments and strategies selected for individual portfolios will be
chosen to create a diversified portfolio that has a likely chance of producing real returns
over time at a reasonable level of risk (defined here as volatility).
8
Portfolio Construction
Portfolios will likely consist of individual securities, mutual funds and exchange traded
funds. Both index funds and actively managed funds can be part of this mix.
Investments will be limited to securities that trade in the public markets such as stocks,
bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, publicly traded limited partnerships, and
money market instruments.
Mutual funds and exchange traded funds are selected on their ability to fulfill a role in
the portfolio. The goal in portfolio construction is for the combination of investment
vehicles to represent a cost effective, diversified portfolio that is expected to generate a
target real rate of return over time.
Review of Investment Vehicles
Criteria for a particular mutual fund or exchange traded fund to be included into portfolios
can include strategy, management tenure, historical performance, and expenses. The
fund’s ability to meet expectations over time will affect its ability to remain in the portfolio.
Comingled investment vehicles (funds) are reviewed at least annually.
If a component of the equity portfolio is comprised of individual stocks, this component
will be diversified across economic sectors.
Investment Strategy
Investment strategy can include some tactical allocation moves within asset classes,
including cash. Tactical changes are used primarily to over- or underweight certain
sectors as opposed to taking portfolios completely out of an asset class.
Risk of Loss
Selection of a particular asset allocation model portfolio will indicate a potential level of
loss based on historical returns. Individual securities have their own potential for losses
as follows:
The value of stocks will fluctuate in response to changes occurring in the individual
company as well as changes in the stock market and economic conditions. Changes
impacting an individual company can be related to products, management, financial
condition, access to important resources and/or competitors’ actions. Smaller
companies may have less diversified businesses and can be more prone to adverse
changes. Larger companies may be able to react and deal with these changes. Because
of this, it is reasonable to assume that the value of smaller companies might be more
volatile than mid-sized companies, which again might be more volatile than larger
companies.
9
Some companies operate in foreign countries. In addition to the above sources of risk,
you would have currency risk, meaning that the earnings earned in a foreign currency
might be worth more, or less, depending on whether the foreign currency gained or lost
value against the U.S. dollar. Equity securities can experience large swings in value,
and investors should have a long-term investment horizon when investing in them.
Fixed income or bond investments also present risks. A decline in interest rates will cause
the market value of fixed income investment to rise. Likewise, a rise in interest rates will
cause the market value of fixed income investments to fall. Generally, the amount of
change in market value is proportional to the length of maturity of the bond.
Convertible securities and preferred securities are types of fixed income securities and
can be impacted by changes in interest rates as well.
Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk and liquidity risk. Credit risk
deals with the risk that you will not receive interest payments and/or principal
repayments when they are due to be paid to you. All fixed income securities have some
credit risk. Corporate bonds are subject to the company’s ability to repay the debt.
Municipal bonds are subject to the issuer’s ability to repay. The issuer might be as large
as a state, or as small as a single project, such as tax receipts from a new strip mall.
Government Bonds, even U.S. Treasuries, have some credit risk. If investors believe an
issuer is less likely to repay what is owed, the price of the bond can decline long before
any actual bankruptcy.
Liquidity risk deals with the ability to sell a bond at a reasonable price when you need to
do so.
Investing in foreign bonds can also subject you to currency risk. Investing in bonds in
foreign countries can also expose you the potential volatility in other economic systems
and/or political systems. These risks would likely be higher in emerging markets but can
be prevalent in mature foreign countries as well.
in
Foreign companies are not subject to the same accounting, auditing and financial
reporting standards and practices as companies
this country. Regulatory
requirements can differ as well. We will generally make most of our foreign investments
within mutual funds and/or exchange traded funds, allowing these fund managers to
identify and manage these risks.
Significant acts of nature can have an impact on the value of investments, as collective
investor appetite to take on risk can impact the value of securities. We have also seen
that acts of war or other acts that impact energy supplies can have an impact on investor
risk appetite as well as on the economic welfare of investors and consumers. Avoidance
of all risks is not possible. Intelligent acceptance and management of risks is our goal
and why many of our clients hire us. Diversification goes a long way to managing these
risk factors.
10
9. Disciplinary Information
Legal and Disciplinary
Neither CHF Wealth nor its investment advisory representatives have been subject to
legal or disciplinary action.
Criminal or Civil Action
There are no criminal or civil actions to disclose.
Administrative Proceeding
There are no administrative proceedings to disclose.
Self-Regulatory Proceeding
There are no self-regulatory proceedings to disclose.
10. Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
Broker-dealer or Registered Representative
CHF Wealth is not affiliated with a broker-dealer.
Futures Commission Merchant, Commodity Pool Operator, Commodity Trading
Adviser or Associated Person
CHF Wealth does not act and is not registered as a Futures Commission Merchant,
Commodity Pool Operator, Commodity Trading Adviser or as an Associated Person.
Material Relationships or Arrangements with Financial Industry
CHF Wealth does not have any material relationships or arrangements with the Financial
Industry except as noted in the section below discussing our recommendation of Fidelity
Investments and Schwab as custodians for client assets.
Recommend or Select Other Investment Advisers
CHF Wealth does not currently recommend or select other investment advisers.
11. Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transaction
and Personal Trading
11
Code of Ethics
As an investment adviser, we operate with a fiduciary standard. We owe our
clients/investors the highest duty of loyalty and we rely on each employee to avoid
conduct that is or may be inconsistent with that duty. It is also important for all our
employees to avoid actions that, while they may not actually involve a conflict of interest
or an abuse of a client/investor's trust, may have the appearance of impropriety.
Because CHF Wealth may serve as general partner, investment manager and/or
investment adviser to a number of investment partnerships, investment funds and other
types of separate accounts (collectively throughout "clients/investors") we have adopted
a code of ethics setting forth policies and procedures, including the imposition of
restrictions on our employees, to the extent reasonably necessary to prevent certain
violations of applicable law.
The Code of Ethics and Conduct (the "Code") is intended to set forth those policies and
procedures and to state the Adviser's broader policies regarding its duty of loyalty to
clients/investors. A copy of our Code of Ethics is available upon request.
Our Code is intended to comply with the various provisions of the Advisers Act and
requires that all supervised persons comply with the various applicable provisions of the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and applicable rules and regulations
adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Section 204A of the
Advisers Act requires the establishment and enforcement of policies and procedures
reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of material, nonpublic information by
investment advisers. Such policies and procedures are contained in this Code. The
Code also contains policies and procedures with respect to personal securities
transactions of all CHF Wealth's supervised persons. These procedures cover
transactions in a reportable security in which a supervised person has a beneficial
interest in or accounts over which the supervised person exercises control as well as
transactions by members of the supervised person's immediate family.
Recommend Securities with Material Financial Interest
The employees of CHF Wealth will not recommend securities in which they hold a
material financial interest. These securities are defined as those in which a CHF Wealth
employee owns 5% or more of the entity.
Invest in Same Securities Recommended to Clients
The employees of CHF Wealth can purchase the same securities that are recommended
to clients. They must adhere to the personal trading policies below.
Personal Trading Policies
It is the Adviser's policy to impose specific requirements related to each covered
person's personal trading and investment activity. The Adviser's policy is to consider the
12
effects of various types of trading, including short term trading and trading in new issues
as a potential conflict of interest. Similarly, the Adviser may impose specific
requirements related to investments in private placements. Approval may be refused for
any proposed trade by an employee that:
1. Involves a security that is being or has been purchased or sold by the Adviser
on behalf of any client/investor account or is being considered for purchase or
sale.
2. Is otherwise prohibited under any internal policies of the Adviser (such as the
Adviser's Policy and Procedures to Detect and Prevent Insider Trading).
3. Breaches the employee's fiduciary duty to any client/investor.
4. Is otherwise inconsistent with applicable law, including the Advisers Act and the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended; or
5. Creates an appearance of impropriety.
CHF Wealth may buy or sell for itself securities that it also recommends to clients. As a
general rule, when batching orders, accounts of CHF Wealth or its access persons will
be included. For individual trades, if executed the same day, the orders of CHF Wealth
or its access persons will be executed after any batch order, and after any additional
client orders in that same security executed that same day. Open-ended mutual funds
are excluded from this requirement as are U.S. Treasury securities and corporate bonds.
12. Brokerage Practices
Selecting Brokerage Firms
We do not have the discretion to select brokerage firms or to negotiate commission rates
to be paid. Clients will designate the brokerage firm to use as the custodian of assets,
as well as the brokerage firm that will handle the trading of securities. We currently
recommend the use of Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. for this
purpose. Since our clients are subject to the rules and commission rates established by
Fidelity and Schwab, a disparity in commission charges may exist between the
commissions charged to other clients.
CHF Wealth has an arrangement with National Financial Services LLC and Fidelity
Brokerage Services LLC (collectively, and together with all affiliates, “Fidelity”) and
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., and Schwab Institutional Service Group (collectively, and
together with all affiliates, “Schwab”) through which Fidelity and Schwab provide CHF
Wealth with “institutional platform services.” The institutional platform services include,
13
among others, brokerage, custody, and other related services. Fidelity and Schwab’s
institutional platform services that assist CHF Wealth in managing and administering
clients’ accounts include software and other technology that (i) provide access to client
account data (such as trade confirmations and account statements); (ii) facilitate trade
execution and allocate aggregated trade orders for multiple client accounts; (iii) provide
research, pricing and other market data; (iv) facilitate payment of fees from its clients’
accounts; and (v) assist back-office functions, recordkeeping and client reporting.
Fidelity and Schwab also offer introductions to other services intended to help CHF
Wealth manage and further develop its advisory practice. Such services include, but
are not limited to, performance reporting, financial planning, contact management
systems, third party research, publications, access to educational conferences,
roundtables and webinars, practice management resources, access to consultants
and other third-party service providers who provide a wide array of business-related
services and technology with whom CHF Wealth may contract directly.
CHF Wealth is independently operated and owned and is not affiliated with Fidelity or
Schwab.
Fidelity and Schwab generally do not charge its advisor clients separately for custody
services but are compensated by account holders through commissions and other
transaction-related or asset-based fees for securities trades that are executed through
Fidelity or Schwab that settle into Fidelity and Schwab accounts (i.e., transactions fees
are charged for certain no-load mutual funds, commissions are charged for individual
equity and debt securities transactions). Fidelity and Schwab provide access to many
no-load mutual funds without transaction charges and other no-load funds at nominal
transaction charges.
Research and Soft Dollars
CHF Wealth receives benefits that it would not receive if it did not offer investment advice
from service providers. We may receive an economic benefit from external sources in the
form of the support products and services they make available to us and other
independent investment advisors. The availability to us of an external source's products
and services is not based on our offering particular investment advice, such as buying
particular holdings for our clients. We will not “pay up” to receive additional services from
a service provider.
Brokerage for Client Referrals
CHF Wealth does not exchange brokerage commissions for client referrals.
Directed Brokerage
If a client directs CHF Wealth to use a particular broker-dealer, it is understood that
under those circumstances CHF Wealth will not have authority to negotiate commissions
14
or to obtain volume discounts, participate in block trades and best execution may not be
achieved.
Order Aggregation
Transactions for each client account may be executed independently. If CHF Wealth
decides to purchase or sell the same security for several clients at approximately the
same time, it may, but is not obligated to, bundle or batch such orders. Doing so would
help allocate equitably among CHF Wealth's clients any price differences that might have
been obtained if the orders were placed separately.
The number of shares to be bought or sold in a client's account will be determined prior
to a batch trade being submitted for execution. In the event an order is not filled
completely, the executed portion will be allocated in an equitable fashion, typically on
a pro-rata basis. Adjustments to the pro rata allocation may be made to avoid having
odd amounts of shares held in any client account, or to avoid deviations from pre-
determined minimum/maximum holdings limits (established for any account).
13. Review of Accounts
Periodic Reviews
While the underlying securities within Investment Management Services accounts are
continuously monitored, these accounts are reviewed at least quarterly by CHF Wealth.
Accounts are reviewed in the context of each client's stated investment objectives and
guidelines. More frequent reviews may be triggered by material changes in variables
such as the client's individual circumstances, or the market, political or economic
environment.
Review Triggers
Reviews will typically occur on a quarterly basis. Reviews may be triggered by material
changes in variables such as the client's individual circumstances, or the market,
political, or economic environment.
Client Reports
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SERVICES REVIEW: In addition to the quarterly
statements and confirmations of transactions that Portfolio Management Services
clients receive directly from their custodian, CHF Wealth will provide a quarterly report
summarizing account performance, balances, and holdings. If contracted for by the
client, CHF Wealth may provide additional and/or more frequent reports.
15
We encourage our clients to compare our quarterly reports with the account statements
they receive directly from the custodian. If they find any discrepancies, we ask that they
inform us immediately.
FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES REVIEW: These client accounts will be reviewed
as contracted for at the inception of the advisory relationship.
14. Client Referrals and Other Compensation
Economic Benefits
Because our planning work is comprehensive, it is normal for us to interact with a client’s
other professional advisors such as an accountant, attorney, or insurance professional.
When a client needs a referral, we will strive to provide multiple names to the client for
their consideration.
We may, in the normal course of business, receive a referral from one of these outside
professionals. CHF Wealth has no formal arrangement to receive or offer referrals to
these outside professionals. There is no compensation for doing so. We attempt to
provide choices that are suitable for the client’s situation. We do not receive any
compensation from recommending any third party.
CHF Wealth holds membership in professional industry associations, such as the
National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), and the Certified
Financial Planner Board of Standards. Generally, participation in a professional
association requires membership fees to be paid, adherence to ethical guidelines, as
well as meeting experience and educational requirements. CHF Wealth may receive
referrals from its membership in these professional organizations, but CHF Wealth does
not pay or compensate these professional associations for referrals.
15. Custody
CHF Wealth is deemed to have custody of client funds based on our authority to deduct
our advisory fees from client accounts, and due to our acceptance and use of Standing
Letters of Authorization by clients to transfer monies out of their brokerage account held
at the custodian to third parties.
Rule 206(4)-2(b)(3) provides exceptions to the surprise examination requirement for
advisors with custody if they meet certain requirements. CHF Wealth meets the
requirements to avoid custody that would trigger the need for the surprise examination:
no SLOAs are allowed by CHF Wealth for any transfer of money from a client’s account
16
to CHF Wealth or a related party of CHF Wealth, the direct fee deductions are authorized
by the client in their advisory agreement, the account is held at an independent
custodian, and clients receive statements and confirmations directly from the custodian
that show all deductions and transfers from the account including our advisory fee
deduction. We encourage our clients to compare information in these statements with
those reports received from CHF Wealth, and to let us know of any discrepancies
immediately.
16. Investment Discretion
CHF Wealth provides investment advice to clients on a discretionary basis. Clients sign
a trading authorization as part of the Fidelity or Schwab Brokerage Account Application
that authorizes Fidelity or Schwab to accept trades, servicing, account-related, or other
instructions on clients’ account from CHF Wealth without direct instructions from client.
Clients may place restrictions or limitations on trading. These restrictions and limitations
are recorded in the clients’ Investment Policy Statement. Clients should notify CHF
Wealth if there are any changes to their circumstances or any restrictions that they would
like to put in place.
17. Voting Client Securities
Proxy Voting
CHF Wealth does not vote proxies for securities held in client accounts.
18. Financial Information
Prepayment of Fees
As a rule, we will not require or solicit prepayment of fees of more than $1,200 per client,
six months or more in advance.
Financial Condition
CHF Wealth does not believe there are any financial conditions that are reasonably
likely to impair our ability to meet contractual commitments to clients.
17
Privacy Policy
CHF Wealth requires that you provide current and accurate financial and personal
information. CHF Wealth will protect the information you have provided in a manner that
is safe, secure, and professional. CHF Wealth and its employees are committed to
protecting your privacy and to safeguarding that information.
Safeguarding Client Documents
We collect non-public client data in checklists, forms, in written notations, and in
documentation provided to us by our clients for evaluation, registration, licensing or
related consulting services. We also create internal lists of such data. During regular
business hours access to client records is monitored so that only those with approval
may access the files. During hours in which the company is not in operation, the client
records will be locked.
No individual who is not so authorized shall obtain or seek to obtain personal and
financial client information. No individual with authorization to access personal and
financial client information shall share that information in any manner without the specific
consent of a firm principal. Failure to observe CHF Wealth procedures regarding client
privacy will result in discipline and may lead to termination.
Sharing Nonpublic Personal and Financial Information
CHF Wealth is committed to the protection and privacy of its clients’ personal and
financial information. CHF Wealth will not share such information with any affiliated or
nonaffiliated third party except:
When necessary to complete a transaction in a client account, such as with the clearing
firm or account custodians;
When required to maintain or service a client account. This could include sharing
information with non-affiliated third parties, such as outside service providers who
perform services to us including, but not limited to, data storage or analysis;
To resolve client disputes or inquiries;
With persons acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity on behalf of the client;
With persons assessing compliance with industry standards, or to the attorneys,
accountants, and auditors of the firm;
18
To protect against or prevent actual or potential fraud, identity theft, unauthorized
transactions, claims or other liability;
To comply with federal, state, local laws, rules and other applicable legal requirements;
In connection with a written agreement to provide investment management or advisory
services when the information is released for the sole purpose of providing the products
or services covered by the agreement;
In any circumstances with the client’s instruction or consent.
When clients decide to close their account(s), or when accounts are otherwise
terminated, we adhere to the privacy guidelines described in this notice.
19