Overview
- Headquarters
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Average Client Assets
- $3.1 million
- SEC CRD Number
- 121435
Fee Structure
Primary Fee Schedule (DWD PORTFOLIO ADV PART 2A JANUARY 2026)
| Min | Max | Marginal Fee Rate |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $500,000 | 1.25% |
| $500,001 | $1,000,000 | 1.00% |
| $1,000,001 | and above | Negotiable |
Illustrative Fee Rates
| Total Assets | Annual Fees | Average Fee Rate |
|---|---|---|
| $1 million | $11,250 | 1.12% |
| $5 million | Negotiable | Negotiable |
| $10 million | Negotiable | Negotiable |
| $50 million | Negotiable | Negotiable |
| $100 million | Negotiable | Negotiable |
Clients
- HNW Share of Firm Assets
- 33.68%
- Total Client Accounts
- 779
- Discretionary Accounts
- 774
- Non-Discretionary Accounts
- 5
Services Offered
Services: Financial Planning, Portfolio Management for Individuals, Portfolio Management for Institutional Clients, Pension Consulting
Regulatory Filings
Additional Brochure: DWD PORTFOLIO ADV PART 2A MARCH 2026 (2026-03-18)
View Document Text
Item 1. Cover Page
DWD Portfolio Solutions, Inc.
151 Roessler Road
Suite 103
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
(412) 341-6642
www.dwdportfolios.com
Form ADV Part 2A
Brochure
March 2026
This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of DWD Portfolio
Solutions, Inc. If you have any questions about the contents of this brochure, please contact us at 412-
341-6642 or info@DWDportfolios.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.
Additional information about DWD Portfolio Solutions, Inc. also is available on the SEC's website at
www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. Registration as an investment adviser does not require any certain level of skill
or training.
Item 2. Material Changes
This brochure dated March 2026 serves as an annual update to the Adviser’s brochure dated
January 2026 (the “prior brochure). This brochure contains routine updates to the prior
brochure.
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Item 3. Table of Contents
Item 1. Cover Page ............................................................................................................................... 1
Item 2. Material Changes .................................................................................................................... 2
Item 3. Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... 3
Item 4. Advisory Business ................................................................................................................... 4
Item 5. Fees and Compensation .......................................................................................................... 7
Item 6. Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management ..................................................... 11
Item 7. Types of Clients ...................................................................................................................... 11
Item 8. Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies, and Risk of Loss .............................................. 12
Item 9. Disciplinary Information ....................................................................................................... 15
Item 10. Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations ............................................................ 16
Item 11. Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions, and Personal Trading ..... 16
Item 12. Brokerage Practices .............................................................................................................. 17
Item 13. Review of Accounts .............................................................................................................. 19
Item 14. Client Referrals and Other Compensation ........................................................................... 19
Item 15. Custody ................................................................................................................................ 19
Item 16. Investment Discretion ......................................................................................................... 20
Item 17. Voting Client Securities ....................................................................................................... 20
Item 18. Financial Information ......................................................................................................... 20
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Item 4. Advisory Business
Description of Firm
DWD Portfolio Solutions, Inc. is a registered investment adviser primarily based in Pittsburgh,
PA. DWD Portfolio Solutions was created in 1994. Our principal owners are:
• Sam D'Alesandro Chief Executive Officer/CCO
• Carla Devlin, President/Chief Investment Officer
• Keith Woerner, Executive Vice President/General Counsel
As used in this brochure, the words “DWD,” "the Company," “(the) firm,” "we," "our," and "us"
refer to DWD Portfolio Solutions, Inc. and the words "you," "your," “investor,” and "client" refer
to you as either a client or prospective client of our firm.
Types of Advisory Services
Portfolio Management Services
DWD offers discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management services. Our
investment advice is tailored to meet our clients' needs and investment objectives.
If you participate in our discretionary portfolio management services, we require you to grant
us discretionary authority to manage your account. Subject to a grant of discretionary
authorization, we have the authority and responsibility to formulate investment strategies on
your behalf. Discretionary authorization will allow us to determine the specific securities, and
the amount of securities, to be purchased or sold for your account without obtaining your
approval prior to each transaction.
Discretionary authority is typically granted by the investment advisory agreement you sign
with our firm, a power of attorney, or trading authorization forms.
You may limit our discretionary authority (for example, limiting the types of securities
that can be purchased or sold for your account) by providing our firm with your
restrictions and guidelines in writing.
As part of our portfolio management services, we may use one or more sub-advisers to manage
a portion of your account on a discretionary basis. The sub-adviser(s) may use one or more of
their model portfolios to manage your account. We will regularly monitor the performance of
your accounts managed by sub-adviser(s) and reserve the right to hire and fire any sub-adviser
without your prior approval. We may pay a portion of our advisory fee to the sub-adviser(s) we
use; however, you will not pay our firm a higher advisory fee as a result of any sub-advisory
relationships.
In addition to other types of investments (see disclosures below in this section), we may invest
your assets according to one or more model portfolios developed by an unaffiliated investment
manager. These models are designed for investors with varying degrees of risk tolerance
ranging from a more aggressive investment strategy to a more conservative investment
approach. Clients whose assets are invested in model portfolios may not set restrictions on the
specific holdings or allocations within the model, nor the types of securities that can be
purchased in the model. Nonetheless, clients may impose restrictions on investing in certain
securities or types of securities in their account. In such cases, this may prevent a client from
investing in certain models that are managed by our firm.
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We also offer non-discretionary portfolio management services. If you enter into non-
discretionary arrangements with our firm, we must obtain your approval prior to executing
any transactions on behalf of your account. You have an unrestricted right to decline to
implement any advice provided by our firm on a non-discretionary basis.
Financial Planning
Financial planning is intended to assist clients with long term goal planning based on an
evaluation of a client’s current and future financial state. Topics we address as part of the
financial planning process may include, but are not limited to, risk assessment/management,
investment planning, financial organization, and financial decision making/negotiation. DWD
does not provide tax advice but may recommend certain tax planning strategies. We
recommend that you consult with a qualified tax professional before initiating any tax planning
strategies. Any reports, financial statement projections, and analyses are intended exclusively
for your use in developing and implementing your financial plan. In view of this limited
purpose, the projections should not be considered a complete financial plan. DWD Portfolio
Solutions will not audit, review, or compile financial statements and, accordingly, we will not
express an opinion or other form of assurance on them, including the reasonableness of
assumptions and other data on which any prospective financial statements are based. It is likely
that there will be material differences between projected and actual results because events vary
and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected.
Our analyses will be highly dependent on certain economic assumptions about the future.
Therefore, we recommend that you establish familiarity with historical data regarding key
assumptions such as inflation and investment rates of return, as well as an understanding of
how significantly these assumptions affect the results of our analyses. We may counsel you as
to the consistency of your assumptions with relevant historical data, but we will not express any
assurance as to the accuracy or reasonableness of your specific data and assumptions. You are
ultimately responsible for the assumptions and personal data upon which our procedures and
projections are based. The financial plan assumptions and reports are primarily a tool to alert
you to certain possibilities. The reports are not intended to, nor do they provide any guarantee
about future events including your investment returns. The implementation of the plan is solely
your responsibility.
Participant Account Management
We use a third-party platform to facilitate management of held away assets such as defined
contribution plan (401k, 403b etc.) participant accounts, with discretion. We are not affiliated
with the platform in any way and receive no compensation from them for using their platform.
Based on our review of the account allocations, we will rebalance the account when appropriate
considering client investment goals and risk tolerance, and any change in allocations will
consider current economic and market trends.
Pension Consulting Services
We offer pension consulting services to employee benefit plans and their fiduciaries based upon
the needs of the plan and the services requested by the plan sponsor or named fiduciary. In
general, these services include an existing plan review and analysis, plan-level advice regarding
fund selection and investment options. These pension consulting services will generally be non-
discretionary and advisory in nature. The ultimate decision to act on behalf of the plan shall
remain with the plan sponsor or other named fiduciary.
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We also offer additional types of pension consulting services to plans on an individually
negotiated basis. All services, whether discussed above or customized for the plan based upon
requirements from the plan fiduciaries (which may include additional plan-level or participant-
level services) shall be detailed in a written agreement and be consistent with the parameters set
forth in the plan documents.
Either party to the pension consulting agreement may terminate the agreement upon written
notice to the other party in accordance with the terms of the agreement for services. The
pension consulting fees will be prorated for the quarter in which the termination notice is given
and any unearned fees will be refunded to the client.
Wrap Fee Programs
We do not participate in any wrap fee program.
Types of Investments Used
We consider many different types of securities when formulating investment advice. If you
come to us with existing investments, we evaluate them with respect to your financial goals, risk
tolerance, and investment time horizon. Depending upon your situation, your account(s)
managed by us may contain individual stocks, corporate and/or government bonds,
government securities, mutual funds, variable annuities, variable life insurance, or exchange
traded funds ("ETFs").
Tailored Services and Investment Restrictions
DWD tailors its advisory services to meet the needs of its clients and seeks to ensure, on a
continuous basis, that client portfolios are managed in a manner consistent with clients’ needs
and objectives. As such, we will consult with you periodically to determine any updates to your
risk tolerance, time horizon, liquidity constraints or other factors that may impact your
investment portfolio. Clients are advised to promptly notify us if there are changes in their
financial situation. Clients may impose restrictions on investing in certain securities or types of
securities by clearly identifying these restrictions in writing to us. DWD will notify you if we are
unable to accommodate any requests.
IRA Rollover Recommendations
Investors considering rolling over assets from a qualified employer-sponsored retirement plan
(“Employer Plan”) to an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) should review and consider the
advantages and disadvantages of an IRA rollover from their Employer Plan. A plan participant
leaving an employer typically has four options (and can engage in a combination of these
options):
(1) Leave the money in the former employer’s plan, if permitted;
(2) Rollover the assets to a new employer’s plan (if available and rollovers are permitted);
(3) Rollover Employer Plan assets to an IRA; or,
(4) Cash out the Employer Plan assets and pay the required taxes on the distribution.
At a minimum, Investors should consider fees and expenses, investment options, services,
penalty-free withdrawals, protection from creditors and legal judgments, required minimum
distributions, and employer stock. We encourage you to discuss your options and review the
above-listed considerations with an accountant, third-party administrator, investment adviser
to your Employer Plan (if available), or legal counsel, to the extent you consider necessary.
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By recommending that you rollover your Employer Plan assets to an IRA advised by us, we will
earn fees as a result. We have an economic incentive to encourage investors to rollover
Employer Plan assets into an IRA managed by us. Investors can face increased fees when they
move retirement assets from an Employer Plan to a Rollover IRA account. Even if there are no
costs associated with the IRA rollover itself, there will be costs associated with account
administration, investment management, or both. In addition to the fees charged by us, the
underlying investment (mutual fund, ETF, annuity, or other investment) can also include fees.
Custodial and trading fees also apply. Investing in an IRA with us will typically be more
expensive than an Employer Plan.
Effective December 20, 2021 (or such later date as the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) Field
Assistance Bulletin 2018-02 ceases to be in effect), for purposes of complying with the DOL’s
Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (“PTE 2020-02”) where applicable, we are
providing the following acknowledgment to you.
When we provide 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. Under this special rule’s provisions, we must:
investment
• Meet a professional standard of care when making
recommendations (give prudent advice);
• Never put our financial interests ahead of yours when making recommendations
(give loyal advice);
• Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in
your best interest;
• Charge no more than is reasonable for our services; and
• Give you basic information about conflicts of interest.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2025, we provide continuous management services for $1,391,992 in client
assets on a non-discretionary basis and $246,928,002 on a discretionary basis.
Item 5. Fees and Compensation
Investment Management Services
Our annual fee for investment management services is based on a percentage of assets
under management. Our annual investment management fee is billed and payable
quarterly in advance, based on the portfolio value of on the last calendar day of the
preceding quarter. Inflows and outflows during the quarter will be prorated and charged
for the number of days the funds were in the account during the quarter. If the investment
management agreement is executed at any time other than the first day of a calendar
quarter, our fees will apply on a pro rata basis, which means that the advisory fee is payable
in proportion to the number of days in the quarter for which you are a client. Our advisory
fee is negotiable, depending on individual client circumstances. Each of our Investment
Adviser Representatives ("IARs") negotiates his or her own fee schedule, provided the
maximum advisory fee shall not exceed 1.25%. Specific fee terms and the calculation
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methodology will be clearly set forth in your investment management agreement.
Our fees are calculated either on a tiered or incremental basis as set forth below. All
assets in each of your account(s) are included in the fee assessment unless
specifically identified in writing for exclusion.
Tiered Fee Schedule
Assets Under Management
Maximum Annual Fee*
Up to $500,000
1.25%
$500,001 - $1,000,000
1.00%
$1,000,001 - $2,000,000
0.80%
$2,000,001 - $3,000,000
0.70%
$3,000,001 - $4,000,000
0.60%
Over $4,000,000
Negotiable
*At our discretion, we may combine the account values of family members living in the same
household to determine the applicable advisory fee. For example, we may combine account
values for you and your minor children, joint accounts with your spouse, and other types of
related accounts. Combining account values may increase the asset total, which may result in
your paying a reduced advisory fee based on the available breakpoints in our tiered fee schedule
stated above.
Blended/Incremental Fee Schedule
Assets Under Management
Annual Rates
First $500,000
1.25%
Next $500,00
0.75%
Next $1,000,000
0.50%
Over $2,000,001
Negotiable
For certain legacy clients, asset-based advisory fees are calculated based on an incremental
pricing schedule. For example, an account valued at $1,000,000 would be charged under the
standard incremental pricing schedule set forth above (sample): First $500,000 in assets
charged at 1.25%; Next $500,000 in assets charged at 0.75% = $10,000 annualized fee (1.00%
annualized rate). This fee schedule is not available to new DWD clients.
Payment Terms
We will deduct our fee directly from your account through the qualified custodian holding your
funds and securities. We will deduct our advisory fee only when the following requirements
are met:
• You provide our firm with written authorization permitting the fees to be paid directly
from your account held by the qualified custodian.
• The qualified custodian agrees to send you a statement, at least quarterly, indicating
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all amounts disbursed from your account including the amount of the advisory fee paid
directly to our firm.
We encourage you to review the statement(s) you receive from the qualified custodian. If you
find the advisory fees charged are inconsistent with your advisory agreement, call our main
office number located on the cover page of this brochure.
You may terminate the Investment Advisory Agreement without fee or penalty by providing
written notice to DWD Portfolio Solutions within five (5) business days from the execution of
the agreement. Thereafter, either party may terminate the Investment Advisory Agreement by
providing written notice. Any fees collected in advance of services being performed will be
returned to you on a pro rata basis.
Financial Planning Services
We also offer Financial Planning services to clients that have not signed an investment advisory
agreement with us. The typical cost of these services is $200 per hour. This cost is negotiable
and depends on the scope and complexity of the plan, your situation, and your financial
objectives. We also offer advice on single subject financial planning/general consulting services
at the same hourly rate.
We will not require prepayment of a fee more than six months in advance and in excess of $500.
At our discretion, we may offset our financial planning fees to the extent you implement the
financial plan through our Portfolio Management Service.
Fixed Fees
You may enter into an Investment Advisory Agreement where the fee for services is determined
through negotiations and agreement between you and DWD Portfolio Solutions. Fixed fees are
not necessarily based upon the value of assets managed or time expended providing services.
Fixed fees are normally agreed to for one year, then renegotiated and agreed to for future
periods. If you are paying a fixed fee you may pay a fee higher or lower than one based upon
the value of assets managed. In the event a fixed fee engagement is terminated, unearned fees
will be returned to you on a pro rata basis.
Hourly Fees
We may perform services for you where the price of the service is based upon the amount of
time to complete the service times an hourly rate. The rate per hour depends upon the level of
complexity of the service and experience and expertise of the personnel used to do the work.
This negotiable rate would normally not exceed $200 per hour. The tasks and services to be
performed are described in an engagement letter that is signed by you and DWD Portfolio
Solutions that also includes the hourly rate, an estimate of time to complete the project, and the
procedure for refund or partial billing if the engagement is terminated before completion.
Pension Consulting Services
Our advisory fees for these customized services will be negotiated with the plan sponsor or
named fiduciary on a case-by-case basis. You may terminate the pension consulting services
agreement upon written notice. You will incur a pro rata charge for services rendered prior to
the termination of the agreement, which means you will incur advisory fees only in proportion
to the number of days in the quarter for which you are a client. If you have pre-paid advisory
fees that we have not yet earned, you will receive a prorated refund of those fees.
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Other Types of Fees and Expenses
In addition to the investment advisory fees you pay to us, you will pay transaction fees
(commissions) to your custodian or broker-dealer for executing securities transactions and
charges for special services elected by you or DWD Portfolio Solutions. These fees may include:
international security transfer fees
• periodic distribution fees
• electronic fund and wire transfer fees
• certificate delivery fees
• reorganization fees
• account transfer fees (outbound)
• returned check fees
•
• overnight mail and check fees
• Rule 144 transfer fees
• transfer agent fees
This list is not meant to be all inclusive. Any fee on a special service incurred by the client will
be fully disclosed. Please refer to Item 12 of this document for an explanation of our brokerage
practices.
Investment Company Fees
Investment company funds (e.g., mutual funds or ETFs) that are held by you will bear their own
internal transaction and execution costs, as well as directly compensate their investment
managers along with internal administrative services. Some funds pay 12b-1 fees, distribution
fees, and/or shareholder service fees to broker-dealers that offer investment company funds to
their clients. These fees affect the net asset value of the fund shares and are indirectly borne by
fund shareholders such as you.
Some fund companies have imposed a redemption fee. A redemption fee is another type of fee
that some funds charge their shareholders when shares are sold or redeemed within a short
period of time from the purchase of the fund shares. Although a redemption fee is deducted
from redemption proceeds just like a deferred sales load, it is not considered to be a sales load.
Unlike a sales load, which is generally used to compensate brokers, a redemption fee is typically
used to defray fund costs associated with a shareholder's redemption and is paid directly to the
fund, not to a broker. The SEC generally limits redemption fees to 2%. In most cases, the funds
will use the "first-in, first-out" (FIFO) method to determine the holding period. Under this
method, the date of the redemption will be compared with the earliest purchase date of shares
held in the account. While it is not the general practice of DWD Portfolio Solutions to sell a
client's securities in a period that would generate a redemption fee, we may do so if we believe
the sale is in your best interests, or if fund shares must be redeemed to pay fees from the
account.
A complete explanation of these charges is contained in the Prospectus and Statement of
Additional Information for each investment company fund. You can get a prospectus through
the investment company website, by telephone, or by mail.
Compensation for the Sale of Securities or Other Investment Products
Certain Investment Adviser Representatives providing investment advice on behalf of our firm
are registered representatives with Fortune Financial Services, Inc. ("FFS"), a registered
broker/dealer and investment advisory firm, and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory
10
Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). IARs who are
registered representatives may suggest that clients place certain direct product transactions
through Fortune Financial Services, Inc.
Accordingly, in their capacity as registered representatives, these persons receive compensation
in connection with the purchase and sale of securities or other investment products, including
asset- based sales charges, service fees or 12b-1 fees, for the sale or holding, of mutual funds.
The commissions these representatives receive for placing securities business through Fortune
Financial Services, Inc. are separate from our firm's advisory fees. This creates a conflict of
interest where recommendations may be based on the commissions they generate and not
solely based on your best interests. However, you are under no obligation, contractually or
otherwise, to purchase securities products through any person affiliated with our firm who
receives compensation as described above.
Some, but not all of our firm's Investment Adviser Representatives are also licensed insurance
agents. Insurance products are offered for personal, estate and business needs. This activity
accounts for a minimal amount of our IARs' time. These persons will earn commission-based
compensation for selling insurance products, including insurance products they sell to you.
Insurance commissions earned by these persons are separate from our advisory fees and creates
a conflict of interest where recommendations may be based on the commissions they generate
and not solely based on your best interests. However, you are under no obligation to purchase
products recommended by our Investment Adviser Representatives of our firm, or to purchase
products either through our firm, or any other company that may be recommended.
Any material conflicts of interest between you and our firm or our employees are disclosed in
this Disclosure Brochure. If at any time additional material conflicts of interest develop, we will
provide you with written notification of the material conflicts of interest or an updated
Disclosure Brochure.
See the "Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations" and "Code of Ethics, Participation
or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading" sections of this Brochure for more
information.
Item 6. Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management
DWD Portfolio Solutions does not charge fees that are based upon a share of capital gains or
capital appreciation of client assets. We provide investment advisory services to other clients in
addition to you. Not all clients receive the same investment advice, nor do they pay the same
fee.
Item 7. Types of Clients
DWD provides financial planning and portfolio management services to individuals, high net
worth individuals, pension plans and other corporations. We do not have a minimum account
size requirement but we have the right to terminate your account if it falls below a minimum
size which, in our sole opinion, is too small to manage effectively.
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Item 8. Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies, and Risk of
Loss
Our investment strategies and advice will vary depending upon each client's specific financial
situation. As such, we determine investments and allocations based upon your predefined
objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, financial information, liquidity needs and other various
suitability factors. Your restrictions and guidelines may affect the composition of your portfolio.
It is important that you notify us immediately with respect to any material changes
to your financial circumstances, including for example, a change in your current
or expected income level, tax circumstances, or employment status.
We will not perform quantitative or qualitative analysis of individual securities. Instead, we will
advise you on how to allocate your assets among various classes of securities or outside money
managers.
DWD reserves the right to replace or recommend replacing a money manager if
there is a significant deviation in characteristics or performance from the stated
strategy and/or benchmark.
Our Methods of Analysis and Investment Strategies
We use one or more of the following methods of analysis or investment strategies when
providing investment advice to you:
Technical Analysis - involves studying past price patterns, trends and interrelationships in
the financial markets to assess risk-adjusted performance and predict the direction of both the
overall market and specific securities.
Risk: The risk of technical analysis is that it may not accurately detect anomalies or predict
future price movements. Current prices of securities may reflect all information known about
the security and day-to-day changes in market prices of securities may follow random
patterns and may not be predictable with any reliable degree of accuracy.
Fundamental Analysis - involves analyzing individual companies and their industry groups,
such as a company's financial statements, details regarding the company's product line, the
experience and
expertise of the company's management, and the outlook for the company and its
industry. The resulting data is used to measure the true value of the company's stock
compared to the current market value.
Risk: The risk of fundamental analysis is that information obtained may be incorrect and
the analysis may not provide an accurate estimate of earnings, which may be the basis for
a stock's value. If securities prices adjust rapidly to new information, utilizing fundamental
analysis may not result in favorable performance.
Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) - a theory of investment which attempts to maximize
portfolio expected return for a given amount of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for
a given level of expected return, by carefully diversifying the proportions of various assets.
Risk: Modern Portfolio Theory relies on making assumptions about the future
performance, volatility and correlations between various asset classes. The risk of using
MPT is that these assumptions might be incorrect and lead to results that are not realized
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in the future. Also, diversification does not eliminate market risk, which is that part of a
security's risk that is common to all securities of the same general class (stocks and
bonds) and thus cannot be eliminated by diversification.
Long-Term Purchases - securities purchased with the expectation that the value of those
securities will grow over a relatively long period of time, generally greater than one year.
Risk: Using a long-term purchase strategy generally assumes the financial markets will
go up in the long-term which may not be the case. There is also the risk that the segment
of the market that you are invested in or perhaps just your particular investment will go
down over time even if the overall financial markets advance. Purchasing investments
long-term may create an opportunity cost - "locking-up" assets that may be better utilized
in the short-term in other investments.
Short-Term Purchases - securities purchased with the expectation that they will be sold
within a relatively short period of time, generally less than one year, to take advantage of the
securities' short- term price fluctuations.
Risk: Using a short-term purchase strategy generally assumes that we can predict how
financial markets will perform in the short-term which may be very difficult and will incur
a disproportionately higher amount of transaction costs compared to long-term trading.
There are many factors that can affect financial market performance in the short-term
(such as short-term interest rate changes, cyclical earnings announcements, etc.) but may
have a smaller impact over longer periods of time.
Risk of Loss
Investing in securities involves risk of loss that you should be prepared to bear. We do not
represent or guarantee that our services or methods of analysis can or will predict future results,
successfully identify market tops or bottoms, or insulate clients from losses due to market
corrections or declines.
We cannot offer any guarantees or promises that your financial goals and objectives will be met.
Past performance is in no way an indication of future performance.
Tax Considerations
Our strategies and investments may have unique and significant tax implications. However,
unless we specifically agree otherwise, and in writing, tax efficiency is not our primary
consideration in the management of your assets. Regardless of your account size or any other
factors, we strongly recommend that you consult with a tax professional regarding the investing
of your assets.
Moreover, custodians and broker-dealers must report the cost basis of equities acquired in
client accounts on or after January 1, 2011. Your custodian will default to the First-In First-Out
("FIFO") accounting method for calculating the cost basis of your investments. You are
responsible for contacting your tax advisor to determine if this accounting method is the right
choice for you. If your tax advisor believes another accounting method is more advantageous,
provide written notice to our firm immediately and we will alert your account custodian of your
individually selected accounting method. Decisions about cost basis accounting methods will
need to be made before trades settle, as the cost basis method cannot be changed after
settlement.
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Other Risk Considerations
When evaluating risk, financial loss may be viewed differently by each client and may depend
on many different factors, each of which may affect the probability and magnitude of any
potential losses. The following risks are not all-inclusive and should be considered carefully by
a prospective client before retaining our services.
Liquidity Risk: The risk of being unable to sell your investment at a fair price at a given time due
to high volatility or lack of active liquid markets. You may receive a lower price or it may not be
possible to sell the investment at all.
Credit Risk: Credit risk typically applies to debt investments such as corporate, municipal, and
sovereign fixed income or bonds. A bond issuing entity can experience a credit event that could
impair or erase the value of an issuer's securities held by a client.
Inflation and Interest Rate Risk: Security prices and portfolio returns will likely vary in response
to changes in inflation and interest rates. Inflation causes the value of future dollars to be worth
less and may reduce the purchasing power of a client's future interest payments and principal.
Inflation also generally leads to higher interest rates, which may cause the value of many types
of fixed income investments to decline.
Horizon and Longevity Risk: The risk that your investment horizon is shortened because of an
unforeseen event, for example, the loss of your job. This may force you to sell investments that
you were expecting to hold for the long term. If you must sell at a time in which the markets are
down, you may lose money. Longevity Risk is the risk of outliving your savings. This risk is
particularly relevant for people who are retired or are nearing retirement.
Use of Sub-advisers: DWD’s analysis of sub-advisers involves the examination of the experience,
expertise, investment philosophies, and past performance of the sub-adviser in an attempt to
determine if that outside manager has demonstrated an ability to invest over a period of time and
in different economic conditions. We monitor the sub-adviser’s underlying holdings, strategies,
concentrations, and leverage as part of our overall periodic risk assessment. A risk of investing
with a sub-adviser who has been successful in the past is that they may not be able to replicate
that success in the future. In addition, as we do not control the underlying investments in a sub-
adviser’s portfolio, there is also a risk that a sub-adviser may deviate from the stated investment
mandate or strategy of the portfolio, making it a less suitable investment for our clients. Moreover,
as we do not control the sub-adviser’s daily business and compliance operations, we may be
unaware of the lack of internal controls necessary to prevent business, regulatory or reputational
deficiencies.
Recommendation of Particular Types of Securities
We primarily recommend mutual funds and ETFs. However, we may advise on other types of
investments as appropriate for you since each client has different needs and a different tolerance
for risk. Each type of security has its own unique set of risks associated with it and it would not
be possible to list here all of the specific risks of every type of investment. Even within the same
type of investment, risks can vary widely. However, in very general terms, the higher the
anticipated return of an investment, the higher the risk of loss associated with the investment.
A description of the types of securities we may recommend to you and some of their inherent
risks are provided below.
Bonds: Corporate debt securities (or "bonds") are typically safer investments than equity
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securities, but their risk can also vary widely based on the financial health of the issuer; the
risk that the issuer might default; when the bond is set to mature; and, whether or not the bond
can be "called" prior to maturity. When a bond is called, it may not be possible to replace it
with a bond of equal character paying the same rate of return.
Stocks: There are numerous ways of measuring the risk of equity securities (also known simply
as "equities" or "stock"). In very broad terms, the value of a stock depends on the financial
health of the company issuing it. However, stock prices can be affected by many other factors
including, but not limited to, the class of stock (for example, preferred or common); the health
of the market sector of the issuing company; and the overall health of the economy. In general,
larger, better-established companies ("large cap") tend to be safer than smaller start-up
companies ("small cap") are but the mere size of an issuer is not, by itself, an indicator of the
safety of the investment.
Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds: Mutual funds and exchange traded funds
("ETFs") are professionally managed collective investment systems that pool money from many
investors and invest in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, other mutual
funds, other securities, or any combination thereof. The fund will have a manager that trades
the fund's investments in accordance with the fund's investment objective. While mutual funds
and ETFs generally provide diversification, risks can be significantly increased if the fund is
concentrated in a particular sector of the market, primarily invests in small cap or speculative
companies, uses leverage (i.e., borrows money) to a significant degree, or concentrates in a
particular type of security (i.e., equities) rather than balancing the fund with different types of
securities. ETFs differ from mutual funds since they can be bought and sold throughout the day
like stock and their price can fluctuate throughout the day. The returns on mutual funds and
ETFs can be reduced by the costs to manage the funds. Also, while some mutual funds are "no
load" and charge no fee to buy into or sell out of the fund, other types of mutual funds do charge
such fees which can also reduce returns. Mutual funds can also be "closed end" or "open end".
So-called "open end" mutual funds continue to allow in new investors indefinitely whereas
"closed end" funds have a fixed number of shares to sell which can limit their availability to new
investors.
ETFs may have tracking error risks. For example, the ETF investment adviser may not be able
to cause the ETF's performance to match that of its Underlying Index or other benchmark,
which may negatively affect the ETF's performance. In addition, for leveraged and inverse ETFs
that seek to track the performance of their Underlying Indices or benchmarks on a daily basis,
mathematical compounding may prevent the ETF from correlating with performance of its
benchmark. In addition, an ETF may not have investment exposure to all of the securities
included in its Underlying Index, or its weighting of investment exposure to such securities may
vary from that of the Underlying Index. Some ETFs may invest in securities or financial
instruments that are not included in the Underlying Index, but which are expected to yield
similar performance.
Item 9. Disciplinary Information
Neither DWD Portfolio Solutions nor any of our owners or management team members have
been involved in any legal or disciplinary event that would be material to a client’s or
prospective client’s evaluation of the firm’s advisory business or the integrity of DWD’s
management.
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Item 10. Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
Registrations with Investment Advisers and Broker/Dealers
Certain Investment Adviser Representatives ("IARs") providing investment advice on behalf of
our firm are registered representatives with Fortune Financial Services, Inc., a registered
broker/dealer and investment advisory firm, and a member of FINRA and the SIPC. IARs who
are registered representatives may suggest that our clients place certain transactions through
Fortune Financial Services, Inc. The commission these representatives receive for effecting
securities transactions through Fortune Financial Services, Inc. is separate from our firm's
advisory fees.
Licensed Insurance Agents
Some, but not all, of our firm's Investment Adviser Representatives are also licensed insurance
agents. Insurance products are offered for personal, estate and business needs. This activity
accounts for a minimal amount of our IARs' time. Insurance commissions earned by these
persons are separate from our advisory fees.
This presents a conflict of interest because representatives may have an incentive to recommend
either investment or insurance products to you for the purpose of generating commissions and
receiving compensation rather than solely based on your needs. The Firm has procedures in
place whereby it seeks to ensure that all recommendations are made in its clients’ best interest.
Moreover, you are under no obligation, contractually or otherwise, to purchase insurance or
investment products through our firm, Fortune Financial Services, Inc., or any other company
that may be recommended. Please also see the section on "Fees and Compensation" in this
Brochure for more information.
Lawyer or Law Firm
Keith Alan Woerner is also an Attorney with Keith A. Woerner, Esq., a law firm. If you require
legal services, we may recommend that you use Keith A. Woerner, Esq. The services provided
and compensation received by Mr. Woerner for legal related activities are separate and distinct
from any fees paid for advisory services provided by our firm. While we believe that Keith A.
Woerner, Esq.'s fees are competitive, such fees may be higher than those charged by other firms
providing the same or similar services. You are under no obligation to use the legal services
provided by Mr. Woerner.
Item 11. Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client
Transactions, and Personal Trading
Description of Our Code of Ethics
DWD’s Code of Ethics (“the Code”) is based on the principle that DWD and all persons
associated with our firm owe a fiduciary duty to the firm’s clients and a duty to comply with
federal and state securities laws and all other applicable laws. The Code of Ethics addresses
issues such as DWD’s fiduciary obligation to its clients, employee personal trading, prevention
of misuse of material non-public information and other areas in which potential conflicts of
interest may arise. All persons associated with DWD are obligated to conduct their personal
securities transactions in a manner that does not interfere with the transactions of any client or
otherwise take unfair advantage of their relationship with clients. Our Code of Ethics includes
policies and procedures for the review of quarterly securities transactions reports as well as
initial and annual securities holdings reports that must be submitted by the firm’s personnel.
Additionally, the Code requires the prior approval of any acquisition of securities in a limited
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offering (e.g., private placement) or an initial public offering. When trading for themselves, all
associated persons must comply with all fiduciary provisions outlined in the DWD Code of
Ethics. Persons associated with our firm are also required to report any violations of our Code
of Ethics. DWD’s Code of Ethics also includes the Firm’s policy prohibiting the use of material,
non-public information.
Clients or prospective clients may obtain a copy of our Code of Ethics by contacting us at the
telephone number on the cover page of this brochure.
Participation or Interest in Client Transactions
Neither our firm nor any persons associated with our firm have any material financial interest in
client transactions beyond the provision of investment advisory services as disclosed in this
brochure.
Item 12. Brokerage Practices
Factors Considered When Recommending Broker-Dealers
DWD recommends that clients use Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. as their qualified custodian and
broker-dealer. When we make this recommendation, we consider:
• reasonableness of commissions, and other costs of trading
• ability to facilitate trades
• access to client records
• computer trading support
• other operational considerations
These factors are reviewed from time to time to ensure that thee best interest of our clients are
upheld.
Research and Other Benefits
We recommend that clients establish brokerage accounts with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
("Custodian" or "Schwab"), a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC/NYSE, to maintain
custody of clients' assets and to execute trades for your account(s). Schwab provides us with
access to its institutional trading and operations services, which are typically not available to
retail investors. These services are offered to independent investment advisors at no charge in
exchange for keeping a minimum amount of account assets at the Custodian. The Custodian's
services include research, brokerage, and custody. Schwab offers access to mutual funds and
other investments that are available only to institutional investors or require a significantly
higher minimum investment. Schwab also makes other products and services available that
benefit us but may not benefit our clients. Some of these other products and services help us
manage and administer client accounts, and include software and other technology that:
• provide access to client account data (such as trade confirmations and account statements)
facilitate trade execution (and allocation of aggregated trade orders for multiple client
•
accounts)
facilitate payment of our fees from your account(s)
• provide research, pricing information, and other market data
•
• help with back-office support, recordkeeping, and client reporting
These services may be used with all or a substantial number of clients' accounts, including
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accounts not maintained at the Custodian. We do not attempt to allocate the benefit to accounts
proportionately to the accounts that generate the benefit.
In addition to those benefits listed above, other benefits may include consulting, publications
and presentations on practice management, information technology, business succession,
regulatory compliance, and marketing. In addition, the Custodian may use independent third
parties to offer these services to DWD Portfolio Solutions. The Custodian may discount or waive
fees it would otherwise charge for some of these business management and development
services or pay all or a part of the fees of a third-party providing these services to us. Because we
receive discounts, research, products, or services we may have an incentive to select or
recommend a broker-dealer based on our interest in receiving the research, products, or
services, rather than on the client's interest in receiving most favorable execution. Schwab may
charge commissions (or markups or markdowns) higher than those charged by other broker-
dealers in return for services and benefits.
Brokerage for Client Referrals
DWD Portfolio Solutions does not have any agreements in place where securities transactions
are directed to certain broker-dealers in exchange for client referrals.
Directed Brokerage
If you direct DWD Portfolio Solutions to execute securities transactions at a broker other than
Schwab, you will forgo any benefit from savings on execution costs that we may have obtained
through our negotiation of volume discounts or batched orders. In directing the use of a
particular broker or dealer, it should be understood that we will not have authority to negotiate
commissions or obtain volume discounts, and best execution may not be achieved. You may
incur higher commissions, other transactions costs, greater spreads, or receive less favorable
net prices on transactions for your account than would otherwise be the case had you used a
broker we prefer.
Aggregated Orders
When we decide to purchase or sell a specific security for multiple clients at the same time, we
will consider aggregating, or combining, the orders. This procedure will result in a single
average price for all client transactions in the aggregated order. The account custodian charges
for each transaction as if it were placed individually.
Mutual Fund Share Class Selection
Mutual funds are sold with different share classes, which carry different cost structures. Each
available share class is described in the mutual fund's prospectus. When we purchase, or
recommend the purchase of, mutual funds for a client, we select the share class that is deemed to
be in the client's best interest, taking into consideration the availability of advisory, institutional
share classes, initial and ongoing share class costs, transaction costs (if any), tax implications, cost
basis and other factors.
Investment Adviser Representatives are responsible for the initial selection of the appropriate
mutual fund share class for clients and for documenting the reason for the selection. The CCO is
responsible for reviewing the mutual funds held in accounts that come under our management
to determine whether a more beneficial share class is available, considering cost, tax
implications, and the impact of contingent or deferred sales charges.
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Item 13. Review of Accounts
Reviews
Your IAR monitors your accounts on an ongoing basis and will conduct formal account reviews
at least annually, to ensure the advisory services provided to you are consistent with your
investment needs and objectives. Additional reviews may be conducted based on various
circumstances, including, but not limited to:
• contributions and withdrawals,
• year-end tax planning,
• market moving events,
• security specific events, and/or
• changes in your risk/return objectives.
Reviews may also be conducted at any time by client request.
Financial plans are reviewed only upon request, unless you retain us to update the plan on a
continuous basis.
Reports
Clients are provided with transaction confirmation notices and regular summary account
statements directly from the financial institutions at which their assets are custodied. From
time to time or as otherwise requested, clients may also receive written or electronic reports
from DWD that contain certain account and/or market-related information, such as an
inventory of account holdings or account performance. Clients should compare the account
statements they receive from their custodian with any documents or reports they receive from
DWD.
Item 14. Client Referrals and Other Compensation
As disclosed under the Fees and Compensation section in this brochure, persons providing
investment advice on behalf of our firm are registered representatives with Fortune Financial
Services, a securities broker-dealer, and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. For information on the conflicts
of interest this presents, and how we address these conflicts, refer to the Fees and
Compensation section.
DWD does not receive any compensation from any third party in connection with providing
investment advice to you nor do we compensate any individual or firm for client referrals.
Refer to the Brokerage Practices section above for disclosures on research and other benefits
we may receive resulting from our relationship with your account custodian.
Item 15. Custody
DWD does not maintain physical custody of client assets. Rather, each client appoints a
qualified custodian to take possession of all client funds and securities. We do not accept cash
or securities. The firm has procedures in place to direct our supervised persons on handling the
inadvertent receipt of any client funds or securities. Nevertheless, we are deemed to have
custody when we are authorized, by the client, to directly debit our advisory fees from the
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client’s custodian account. We are also deemed to have custody when a client establishes certain
types of letters of instruction or other asset transfer authorization arrangement with their
qualified custodian, authorizing us to disburse funds to one or more third parties specifically
designated by the client.
You will receive account statements from the qualified custodian(s) holding your funds and
securities at least quarterly. The account statements from your custodian(s) will indicate the
amount of our advisory fees deducted from your account(s) each billing period. We urge clients
to carefully review account statements for accuracy.
Item 16. Investment Discretion
Before we can buy or sell securities on your behalf, you must first sign our discretionary
management agreement and the appropriate trading authorization forms.
You may grant our firm discretion over the selection and amount of securities to be purchased
or sold for your account(s). You may specify investment objectives, guidelines, and/or impose
certain conditions or investment parameters for your account(s). For example, you may specify
that the investment in any particular stock or industry should not exceed specified percentages
of the value of the portfolio and/or restrictions or prohibitions of transactions in the securities
of a specific industry or security. Refer to the Advisory Business section in this Brochure for
more information on our discretionary management services.
If you enter into non-discretionary arrangements with our firm, we will obtain your approval
prior to the execution of any transactions for your account(s). You have an unrestricted right to
decline to implement any advice provided by our firm on a non-discretionary basis.
Item 17. Voting Client Securities
We will not vote proxies on behalf of your advisory accounts. At your request, we may offer you
advice regarding corporate actions and the exercise of your proxy voting rights. If you own
shares of applicable securities, you are responsible for exercising your right to vote as a
shareholder.
In most cases, you will receive proxy materials directly from the account custodian. However,
in the event we were to receive any written or electronic proxy materials, we would forward them
directly to you by mail, unless you have authorized our firm to contact you by electronic mail,
in which case, we would forward any electronic solicitations to vote proxies.
Class Action Lawsuits
We do not determine if securities held by you are the subject of a class action lawsuit or whether
you are eligible to participate in class action settlements or litigation nor do we initiate or
participate in litigation to recover damages on your behalf for injuries as a result of actions,
misconduct, or negligence by issuers of securities held by you.
Item 18. Financial Information
Our firm does not have any financial condition or impairment that would prevent us from
meeting our contractual commitments to you. We do not take physical custody of client funds
or securities or serve as trustee or signatory for client accounts, nor do we require the
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prepayment of more than $1200 in fees six or more months in advance. Therefore, we are not
required to include a financial statement with this brochure.
DWD has not filed a bankruptcy petition at any time in the past ten years.
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