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Hedeker Wealth LLC
One Overlook Point, Suite 610
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Phone: 847-913-5594
Fax: 847-913-6793
www.hedekerwealth.com
FORM ADV PART 2
BROCHURE
DEcember 22, 2025
This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Hedeker Wealth LLC. If
you have any questions about the contents of this brochure, please contact Dean Hedeker at 847-913-5594.
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 Hedeker Wealth LLC is also available on the SEC's website at
www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. The searchable IARD/CRD number for Hedeker Wealth LLC is 124341.
Hedeker Wealth LLC is a Registered Investment Adviser. Registration with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission or any state securities authority does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
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Item 2 Material Changes
As a registered investment adviser, we must ensure that our brochure is current and accurate and makes full
disclosure of all material facts relating to the advisory relationship. If there have been any material changes to
our business or advisory practices since our last annual update, we will provide a description of such changes
here.
Since our last annual updating amendment dated March 11, 2024, we have no material changes to our Form
ADV:
ANY QUESTIONS: Our Chief Compliance Officer, Dean Hedeker, remains available to address any questions
regarding the above changes, or any other issue pertaining to this Brochure.
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Item 3 Table Of Contents
Item 1 Cover Page
Item 2 Material Changes
Item 3 Table Of Contents
Item 4 Advisory Business
Item 5 Fees and Compensation
Item 6 Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management
Item 7 Types of Clients
Item 8 Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss
Item 9 Disciplinary Information
Item 10 Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
Item 11 Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading
Item 12 Brokerage Practices
Item 13 Review of Accounts
Item 14 Client Referrals and Other Compensation
Item 15 Custody
Item 16 Investment Discretion
Item 17 Voting Client Securities
Item 18 Financial Information
Item 19 Requirements for State Registered Investment Advisers
Item 20 Additional Information
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Item 4 Advisory Business
Description of Services and Fees
Hedeker Wealth LLC is a registered investment adviser based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. We are organized as a
limited liability company under the laws of the State of Illinois. Our firm has been providing investment advisory
services since 2002.Hedeker Wealth, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bluespring Wealth Partners, LLC,
which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kestra Financial, Inc. and indirect subsidiary of Kingfisher Holding, L.P.
As used in this brochure, the words "we", "our" and "us" refer to Hedeker Wealth LLC and the words "you",
"your" and "client" refer to you as either a client or prospective client of our firm. Also, you may see the term
Associated Person throughout this Brochure. As used in this Brochure, our Associated Persons are our firm's
officers, employees, and all individuals providing investment advice on behalf of our firm.
The following paragraphs describe our services and fees. Please refer to the description of each investment
advisory service listed below for information on how we tailor our advisory services to your individual needs.
Portfolio Management Services
We offer discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management services to our clients. Our investment
advice is tailored to meet our clients' needs and investment objectives. If you retain our firm for portfolio
management services, we will meet with you to determine your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and other
relevant information (the "suitability information") at the beginning of our advisory relationship. We will use the
suitability information we gather from our initial meeting to develop a strategy that enables our firm to give you
continuous and focused investment advice and/or to make investments on your behalf. As part of our portfolio
management services, we may customize an investment portfolio for you in accordance with your risk
tolerance and investing objectives. Once we construct an investment portfolio for you, we will monitor your
portfolio's performance on an ongoing basis, and will rebalance the portfolio as required by changes in market
conditions and in your financial circumstances.
If you participate in our discretionary portfolio management services, we require you to grant our firm
discretionary authority to manage your account. Discretionary authorization will allow our firm to determine the
specific securities, and the amount of securities, to be purchased or sold for your account without 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 for your account) by
providing our firm with your restrictions and guidelines in writing. 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.
We do not hold ourselves out us a financial planning firm, but we may provide financial planning related
services incidental to the portfolio management services. A certain level of financial planning is utilized in order
to set appropriate goals and customize an investment strategy. Information obtained is used to identify risk
tolerance, objectives, and appropriate asset allocation. We are not compensated separately for financial
planning related services.
If you are an accredited investor, we may recommend that you invest in alternative investments in your
portfolio for tax planning purposes. Alternative investment may consist of interest in private investments,
partnerships and other ventures investing in real estate, oil and gas interests, and others business. These
investments are generally structured for the long term and may lock up funds for a period of time before a
client is permitted to sell or redeem their investment. However, we also recommend other alternative
investments that are available to non-accredited investors.
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As part of our investment process, we run tax projections for our clients typically in the fourth quarter. If we see
a client who has significant ordinary income spike during the year, (this could be due to increased wage
income, sale of a business, Roth IRA conversion, implementation of RMD's, etc.) we consider approaches
which reduce the projected taxable income, and thus the projected income tax.
One approach we consider is using an investment in an oil and gas drilling fund. Oil and Gas drilling funds get
the benefit of a deduction for intangible drilling costs. IRC Section 263c of the Internal Revenue Code gives the
taxpayer the option of fully deducting intangible drilling costs ("IDC"). As IDC's are normally paid in the first
year of a partnership's operations, this generally results in a significant ordinary income deduction in the first
year of investment.
In order for us to implement this approach, we first need an accredited investor. If the investor is not
accredited, a oil and gas partnership is not a suitable investment. If an investor is accredited, we then must
review other issues, such as investor suitability. Clients must understand the time horizons of such investments
and we keep such investments below 10 and 5 percent of the portfolio and overall wealth thresholds as well.
The partnership itself is a portfolio diversifier as oil prices are largely uncorrelated to stock market returns or
the direction of the U.S. dollar, and can serve as a hedge and a portfolio diversifier.
Important Disclosures
Morningstar, Inc. In conjunction with the services provided by Morningstar, Inc., we may also provide access
to account aggregation services, which can incorporate all of the client's investment assets, including those
investment assets that are not part of the assets that we manage (the "Excluded Assets"). You and
your other advisors that maintain trading authority, and not us, shall be exclusively responsible for the
investment performance of the Excluded Assets. In addition, Morningstar, Inc. will also provide access to
other types of information, including financial planning concepts, which should not, in any manner whatsoever,
be construed as services, advice or recommendations provided by us. We do not provide investment
management, monitoring or implementation services for the Excluded Assets. You may engage our firm to
provide investment management services for the Excluded Assets pursuant to the terms and conditions of a
properly executed Investment Advisory Agreement.
Types of Investments
We offer advice on equity securities, corporate debt securities (other than commercial paper), certificates of
deposit, municipal securities, variable annuities, mutual fund shares, United States government securities,
private placements, money market funds, ETFs, interests in partnerships investing in real estate, interests in
partnerships investing in oil and gas interests and interests in partnerships investing in Technology company
shares and other alternative investments.
Additionally, we may advise you on various types of investment that we deem appropriate based on your
stated goals and objectives. We may also provide advice on any type of investment held in your portfolio at the
inception of our advisory relationship.
Since our investment strategies and advice are based on each client's specific financial situation, the
investment advice we provide to you may be different or conflicting with the advice we give to other clients
regarding the same security or investment.
You may request that we refrain from investing in particular securities or certain types of securities. You must
provide these restrictions to our firm in writing.
In general, we manage accounts on either a discretionary or a non-discretionary basis, and may include a
short-term investment strategy in managing this type of account. A long-term investment strategy will typically
involve investing in securities that are anticipated to grow in value over a relatively long period of time. On the
other hand, a short-term investment strategy will typically involve purchasing and selling securities within a
relatively short period of time based on these securities' short-term price fluctuations.
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IRA Rollover Recommendations
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:
• Meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (give prudent advice);
• Never put our financial interests ahead of yours when making recommendations (give loyal advice);
• Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in your best interest;
• Charge no more than is reasonable for our services; and
• Give you basic information about conflicts of interest.
Interval Funds/Risks and Limitations
Where appropriate, Hedeker Wealth LLC ("Hedeker") may utilize interval funds. An interval fund is a non-
traditional type of closed-end mutual fund that periodically offers to buy back a percentage of outstanding
shares from shareholders. Investments in an interval fund involve additional risk, including lack of liquidity and
restrictions on withdrawals. During any time periods outside of the specified repurchase offer window(s),
investors will be unable to sell their shares of the interval fund. There is no assurance that an investor will be
able to tender shares when or in the amount desired. There can also be situations where an interval fund has a
limited amount of capacity to repurchase shares, and may not be able to fulfill all purchase orders. In addition,
the eventual sale price for the interval fund could be less than the interval fund value on the date that the sale
was requested. While an interval fund periodically offers to repurchase a portion of its securities, there is no
guarantee that investors may sell their shares at any given time or in the desired amount. As interval funds can
expose investors to liquidity risk, investors should consider interval fund shares to be an illiquid investment.
Typically, the interval funds are not listed on any securities exchange and are not publicly traded. Thus, there
is no secondary market for the fund's shares. Because these types of investments involve
certain additional risk, these funds will only be utilized when consistent with a client's investment objectives,
individual situation, suitability, tolerance for risk and liquidity needs. Investment should be avoided where an
investor has a short-term investing horizon and/or cannot bear the loss of some, or all, of the investment.
There can be no assurance that an interval fund investment will prove profitable or successful. Rather, like
any type of investment, an interval fund, at any specific point in time, or over any specific time-period, can
these enhanced risks, a client may
suffer losses, including the potential for substantial losses. In light of
.
direct
Hedeker, in writing,
not
to purchase
interval funds
for the client's account
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2024, we provide continuous management services for $470,091,063 in client assets on a
discretionary basis, and $0 in client assets on a non-discretionary basis.
MISCELLANEOUS
Limitations of Financial Planning and Non-Investment Consulting/Implementation Services. To the
extent requested, we remain available to provide financial planning and consulting services regarding matters
such as tax and estate planning, insurance, etc. We will generally provide such consulting services inclusive of
our advisory fee set forth at Item 5 below (exceptions could occur based upon assets under management,
extraordinary matters, special projects, for which we may determine to charge a separate or additional fee).
Please Note: We do not serve as an attorney or accountant or an insurance agent, and no portion of our
services should be construed as same. Accordingly, we do not prepare legal or estate planning documents or
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tax returns, nor sell insurance products. To the extent requested by a client, we may recommend the services
of other professionals for certain non-investment implementation purpose (i.e. attorneys, accountants,
insurance, etc.), including our founder and principal, Dean R. Hedeker, in his separate licensed capacity as an
attorney and tax preparer with Hedeker Law, Ltd. ("Law"). See disclosures at Item 10 below. The client is
under no obligation to engage the services of any such recommended professional. The client retains absolute
discretion over all such implementation decisions and is free to accept or reject any recommendation from us
and/or our representatives. Please Note: If the client engages any recommended unaffiliated professional, and
a dispute arises thereafter relative to such engagement, the client agrees to seek recourse exclusively from
and against the engaged professional. Please Also Note-Conflict of Interest: Our recommendation that a
client engage Law for legal or tax preparation services, presents a conflict of interest. Clients are reminded
that they may obtain legal and/or tax preparation services from other, non-affiliated professionals. Our Chief
Compliance Officer, Dean R. Hedeker, remains available to address any questions that a client or
prospective client may have regarding the above conflict of interest.
Please Note: Retirement Rollovers-Potential for Conflict of Interest: A client or prospective client leaving
an employer typically has four options regarding an existing retirement plan (and may engage in a combination
of these options): (i) leave the money in the former employer's plan, if permitted, (ii) roll over the assets to the
new employer's plan, if one is available and rollovers are permitted, (iii) roll over to an Individual Retirement
Account ("IRA"), or (iv) cash out the account value (which could, depending upon the client's age, result in
adverse tax consequences). If we recommend that a client roll over their retirement plan assets into an account
to be managed by us, such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if we will earn new (or increase its
current) compensation as a result of the rollover. When acting in such capacity, we serve as a fiduciary under
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), or the Internal Revenue Code, or both. No client is
under any obligation to roll over retirement plan assets to an account managed by us. Our Chief
Compliance Officer, Dean Hedeker, remains available to address any questions that a client or
prospective client may have regarding the potential for conflict of interest presented by such rollover
recommendation.
Custodian Charges-Additional Fees. As discussed at Item 12 below, when requested to recommend a
broker-dealer/custodian for client accounts, we generally recommend that Schwab serve as the broker-
dealer/custodian for client investment management assets. Broker-dealers such as Schwab charge brokerage
commissions, transaction, and/or other type fees for effecting certain types of securities transactions (i.e.,
including transaction fees for certain mutual funds, and mark-ups and mark-downs charged for fixed income
transactions, etc.). The types of securities for which transaction fees, commissions, and/or other type fees (as
well as the amount of those fees) shall differ depending upon the broker-dealer/custodian. While certain
custodians, including Schwab, generally do not currently charge fees on individual equity transactions
(including ETFs), others do. Please Note: there can be no assurance that Schwab will not change its
transaction fee pricing in the future. The above fees/charges are in addition to our investment advisory fee at
Item 5 below. Registrant does not receive any portion of these fees/charges. ANY QUESTIONS: Our Chief
Compliance Officer, Dean Hedeker, remains available to address any questions that a client or
prospective client may have regarding the above.
Portfolio Activity. We have a fiduciary duty to provide services consistent with the client's best interest. As
part of its investment advisory services, we will review client portfolios on an ongoing basis to determine if any
changes are necessary based upon various factors, including, but not limited to, market conditions, market
fundamentals, the economy, investment performance, fund manager tenure, style drift, account
additions/withdrawals, and/or a change in the client's investment objective. Based upon these factors, there
may be extended periods of time when we determine that changes to a client's portfolio are neither necessary
nor prudent. Of course, as indicated below, there can be no assurance that investment decisions we make will
be profitable or equal any specific performance level(s).
Please Note-Use of Mutual and Exchange Traded Funds: Most mutual funds and exchange traded funds
are available directly to the public. Thus, a prospective client can obtain many of the funds that may be utilized
by us independent of engaging us as an investment advisor. However, if a prospective client determines to do
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so, he/she will not receive our initial and ongoing investment advisory services. Please Note: In addition to our
investment advisory fee described below, clients will also incur, relative to all mutual fund and exchange traded
fund purchases, charges imposed at the fund level (e.g. management fees and other fund expenses).
Cash Sweep Accounts. Certain account custodians can require that cash proceeds from account transactions
or new deposits, be swept to and/or initially maintained in a specific custodian designated sweep account. The
yield on the sweep account will generally be lower than those available for other money market accounts.
When this occurs, to help mitigate the corresponding yield dispersion, Registrant shall (usually within 30 days
thereafter) generally (with exceptions) purchase a higher yielding money market fund (or other type security)
available on the custodian's platform, unless we reasonably anticipate that we will utilize the cash proceeds
during the subsequent 30-day period to purchase additional investments for the client's account. Exceptions
and/or modifications can and will occur with respect to all or a portion of the cash balances for various reasons,
including, but not limited to the amount of dispersion between the sweep account and a money market fund, an
indication from the client of an imminent need for such cash, or the client has a demonstrated history of writing
checks from the account. Please Note: The above does not apply to the cash component maintained within an
actively managed investment strategy (the cash balances for which shall generally remain in the custodian
designated cash sweep account), an indication from the client of a need for access to such cash, assets
allocated to an unaffiliated investment manager, and cash balances maintained for fee billing purposes.
Please Also Note: The client shall remain exclusively responsible for yield dispersion/cash balance decisions
and corresponding transactions for cash balances maintained in any unmanaged accounts.
Please Note: Cash Positions. We continue to treat cash as an asset class. As such, unless we determine to
the contrary, all cash positions (money markets, etc.) shall continue to be included as part of assets under
management for purposes of calculating our advisory fee. At any specific point in time, depending upon
perceived or anticipated market conditions/events (there being no guarantee that such anticipated market
conditions/events will occur), we may maintain cash positions for defensive purposes. In addition, while assets
are maintained in cash, such amounts could miss market advances. Depending upon current yields, at any
point in time, our advisory fee could exceed the interest paid by the client's money market fund. ANY
QUESTIONS: Our Chief Compliance Officer, Dean Hedeker, remains available to address any questions
that a client or prospective may have regarding the above fee billing practice.
Client Obligations. In performing our services, we shall not be required to verify any information received from
the client or from the client's other professionals, and is expressly authorized to rely thereon. Moreover, each
client is advised that it remains his/her/its responsibility to promptly notify us if there is ever any change in
his/her/its financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our
previous recommendations and/or services.
Please Note: Investment Risk. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should
not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy (including the
investments and/or investment strategies that we may recommended or undertake) will be profitable or equal
any specific performance level(s).
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Item 5 Fees and Compensation
Our fee for portfolio management services is based on a percentage of your assets we manage and is set forth
in the following fee schedule:
Equity and Balanced Portfolios:
Assets Under Management
$250,000 to $999,999
$1,000,000 to $4,999,999
$5,000,000 to $9,999,999
$10,000,000 and above
Annualized Fee
1.65%
1.25%
1.00%
0.80%
Please see additional disclosure at Item 7 below
Our annual portfolio management fee is billed and payable quarterly in advance based on the value of your
account on the last day of the previous quarter.
If the portfolio 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.
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 paying a reduced advisory fee based on the available breakpoints
in our fee schedule stated above.
We will send you an invoice for the payment of our advisory fee, or 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 you have given our firm written authorization permitting the fees to be paid directly from your account.
Further, the qualified custodian will deliver an account statement to you at least quarterly. These account
statements will show all disbursements from your account. You should review all statements for accuracy. We
will also receive a duplicate copy of your account statements.
You may terminate the portfolio management agreement upon written notice to our firm. You will incur a pro
rata charge for services rendered prior to the termination of the portfolio management 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.
Additional Fees and Expenses
The fees that you pay to our firm for investment advisory services are separate and distinct from the fees and
expenses charged by mutual funds or exchange traded funds (described in each fund's prospectus) to their
shareholders. These fees will generally include a management fee and other fund expenses. You may also
incur transaction charges and/or brokerage fees when purchasing or selling securities, depending upon the
type of securities purchased. These charges and fees are typically imposed by the broker-dealer or custodian
through which your account transactions are executed. We do not share in any portion of the brokerage
fees/transaction charges imposed by the broker-dealer or custodian. To fully understand the total cost you will
incur, you should review all the fees charged by mutual funds, exchange traded funds, our firm, and others. For
information on our brokerage practices, please refer to the "Brokerage Practices" section of this Brochure.
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Other Financial Activities
Associated persons and/or executive officers of our firm are also separately licensed to practice law. Dean R.
Hedeker, Principal/Chief Compliance Officer/Member of our firm is the owner of Hedeker Law Ltd. a law Firm
specializing in Estate Planning, Tax, and Trust law. Fees and services will be separate and distinct from
advisory fees and services offered through our firm. We expect that our clients to whom we offer advisory
services may also be clients of Hedeker Law Ltd. You are under no obligation to utilize the services offered by
Mr. Hedeker through Hedeker Law Ltd.
Item 6 Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management
We do not accept performance-based fees or participate in side-by-side management. Performance-based
fees are fees that are based on a share of a capital gains or capital appreciation of a client's account. Side-by-
side management refers to the practice of managing accounts that are charged performance-based fees while
at the same time managing accounts that are not charged performance-based fees. Our fees are calculated as
described in the Fees and Compensation section above, and are not charged on the basis of a share of capital
gains upon, or capital appreciation of, the funds in your advisory account.
Item 7 Types of Clients
We offer investment advisory services to individuals, pension and profit sharing plans, trusts, estates,
charitable organizations, corporations, and other business entities.
Fee Dispersion. We generally require a minimum of $500,000 to open and maintain an advisory account. In
our discretion, we may charge a lesser or higher investment advisory fee, waive the amount minimum, charge
a flat fee, waive our fee entirely, or charge fee on a different interval, based upon certain criteria (i.e.
anticipated future earning capacity, anticipated future additional assets, dollar amount of assets to be
managed, related accounts, account composition, complexity of the engagement, anticipated services to be
rendered, grandfathered fee schedules, employees and family members, courtesy accounts, competition,
negotiations with client, etc.). Please Note: As a result of the above, similarly situated clients could pay
different fees. In addition, similar advisory services may be available from other investment advisers for similar
or lower fees. ANY QUESTIONS: Our Chief Compliance Officer, Dean Hedeker, remains available to address
any questions that a client or prospective client may have regarding advisory fees.
Item 8 Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss
Our investment strategies and advice may 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 horizon, financial information, liquidity needs, and other various suitability factors. Your
restrictions and guidelines may affect the composition of your portfolio.
Our Methods of Analysis and Investment Strategies
We may 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 market timing based on technical analysis is that our analysis 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.
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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.
Cyclical Analysis - a type of technical analysis that involves evaluating recurring price patterns and trends.
Economic/business cycles may not be predictable and may have many fluctuations between long-term
expansions and contractions.
Risk: The lengths of economic cycles may be difficult to predict with accuracy and therefore the risk of
cyclical analysis is the difficulty in predicting economic trends and consequently the changing value of
securities that would be affected by these changing trends.
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 times.
Trading - We may use frequent trading (in general, selling securities within 30 days of purchasing the same
securities) as an investment strategy when managing your account(s). Frequent trading is not a fundamental
part of our overall investment strategy, but we may use this strategy occasionally when we determine that it is
suitable given your stated investment objectives and tolerance for risk. This may include buying and selling
securities frequently in an effort to capture significant market gains and avoid significant losses.
Risk: When a frequent trading policy is in effect, there is a risk that investment performance within your
account may be negatively affected, particularly through increased brokerage and other transactional
costs and taxes.
Our investment strategies and advice may 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.
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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 third party money managers. We primarily
rely on investment model portfolios and strategies developed by the third party money managers and their
portfolio managers. We may replace/recommend replacing a third party money manager if there is a significant
deviation in characteristics or performance from the stated strategy and/or benchmark.
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.
Custodians and broker-dealers must report the cost basis of equities acquired in client accounts. 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.
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.
Other Risk Considerations
When evaluating risk, financial loss may be viewed differently by each client and may depend on many
different risks, each of which may affect the probability and magnitude of any potential losses. The following
risks may not be all-inclusive, but 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 that 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.
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Recommendation of Particular Types of Securities
We recommend various types of securities and we do not primarily recommend one particular type of security
over another since each client has different needs and 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.
Money Market Funds: A money market fund is technically a security. The fund managers attempt to keep the
share price constant at $1/share. However, there is no guarantee that the share price will stay at $1/share. If
the share price goes down, you can lose some or all of your principal. The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC") notes that "While investor losses in money market funds have been rare, they are
possible." In return for this risk, you should earn a greater return on your cash than you would expect from a
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") insured savings account (money market funds are not FDIC
insured). Next, money market fund rates are variable. In other words, you do not know how much you will earn
on your investment next month. The rate could go up or go down. If it goes up, that may result in a positive
outcome. However, if it goes down and you earn less than you expected to earn, you may end up needing
more cash. A final risk you are taking with money market funds has to do with inflation. Because money market
funds are considered to be safer than other investments like stocks, long-term average returns on money
market funds tends to be less than long term average returns on riskier investments. Over long periods of time,
inflation can eat away at your returns.
Certificates of Deposit: Certificates of deposit ("CD") are generally a safe type of investment since they are
insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company ("FDIC") up to a certain amount. However, because the
returns are generally low, there is risk that inflation outpaces the return of the CD. Certain CDs are traded in
the marketplace and not purchased directly from a banking institution. In addition to trading risk, when CDs are
purchased at a premium, the premium is not covered by the FDIC.
Municipal Securities: Municipal securities, while generally thought of as safe, can have significant risks
associated with them including, but not limited to: the credit worthiness of the governmental entity that issues
the bond; the stability of the revenue stream that is used to pay the interest to the bondholders; when the bond
is due 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 amount of interest or yield to
maturity.
Bonds: Corporate debt securities (or "bonds") are typically safer investments than equity 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 ("ETF") 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
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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.
Variable Annuities: A variable annuity is a form of insurance where the seller or issuer (typically an insurance
company) makes a series of future payments to a buyer (annuitant) in exchange for the immediate payment of
a lump sum (single-payment annuity) or a series of regular payments (regular-payment annuity). The payment
stream from the issuer to the annuitant has an unknown duration based principally upon the date of death of
the annuitant. At this point, the contract will terminate and the remainder of the funds accumulated forfeited
unless there are other annuitants or beneficiaries in the contract. Annuities can be purchased to provide an
income during retirement. Unlike fixed annuities that make payments in fixed amounts or in amounts that
increase by a fixed percentage, variable annuities, pay amounts that vary according to the performance of a
specified set of investments, typically bond and equity mutual funds. Many variable annuities typically impose
asset-based sales charges or surrender charges for withdrawals within a specified period. Variable annuities
may impose a variety of fees and expenses, in addition to sales and surrender charges, such as mortality and
expense risk charges; administrative fees; underlying fund expenses; and charges for special features, all of
which can reduce the return. Earnings in a variable annuity do not provide all the tax advantages of 401(k)s
and other before-tax retirement plans. Once the investor starts withdrawing money from their variable annuity,
earnings are taxed at the ordinary income rate, rather than at the lower capital gains rates applied to other non-
tax-deferred vehicles which are held for more than one year. Proceeds of most variable annuities do not
receive a "step-up" in cost basis when the owner dies like stocks, bonds and mutual funds do. Some variable
annuities offer "bonus credits." These are usually not free. In order to fund them, insurance companies typically
impose mortality and expense charges and surrender charge periods. In an exchange of an existing annuity for
a new annuity (so-called 1035 exchanges), the new variable annuity may have a lower contract value and a
smaller death benefit; may impose new surrender charges or increase the period of time for which the
surrender charge applies; may have higher annual fees; and provide another commission for the broker.
Unaffiliated Private Investment Funds. Registrant also provides investment advice regarding private
investment funds. Registrant, on a non-discretionary basis, may recommend that certain qualified clients
consider an investment in private investment funds, the description of which (the terms, conditions, risks,
conflicts and fees, including incentive compensation) is set forth in the fund's offering documents. Registrant's
role relative to unaffiliated private investment funds shall be limited to its initial and ongoing due diligence and
investment monitoring services. If a client determines to become an unaffiliated private fund investor, the
amount of assets invested in the fund(s) shall be included as part of "assets under management" for purposes
of Registrant calculating its investment advisory fee. Registrant's fee shall be in addition to the fund's fees.
Registrant's clients are under absolutely no obligation to consider or make an investment in any private
investment fund(s).
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Risk: Private investment funds generally involve various risk factors, including, but not limited to, potential for
complete loss of principal, liquidity constraints and lack of transparency, a complete discussion of which is set
forth in each fund's offering documents, which will be provided to each client for review and consideration.
Unlike liquid investments that a client may own, private investment funds do not provide daily liquidity or
pricing. Each prospective client investor will be required to complete a Subscription Agreement, pursuant to
which the client shall establish that the client is qualified for investment in the fund, and acknowledges and
accepts the various risk factors that are associated with such an investment. Registrant's investment advisory
fee disclosed at Item 5 below is in addition to the fees payable to the private fund.
Valuation. In the event that Registrant references private investment funds owned by the client on any
supplemental account reports prepared by Registrant, the value(s) for all private investment funds owned by
the client shall reflect the most recent valuation provided by the fund sponsor. However, if subsequent to
purchase, the fund has not provided an updated valuation, the valuation shall reflect the initial purchase price.
If subsequent to purchase, the fund provides an updated valuation, then the statement will reflect that updated
value. The updated value will continue to be reflected on the report until the fund provides a further updated
value. Please Also Note: As result of the valuation process, if the valuation reflects initial purchase price or an
updated value subsequent to purchase price, the current value(s) of an investor's fund holding(s) could be
significantly more or less than the value reflected on the report. Unless otherwise indicated, Registrant shall
calculate its fee based upon the latest value provided by the fund sponsor.
Interval Funds: Investments in an interval fund is a non-traditional type of closed-end mutual fund investment
that periodically offers to buy back a percentage of outstanding shares from shareholders. Investments in an
interval fund involve additional risk, including lack of liquidity and restrictions on withdrawals. During any time
periods outside of the specified repurchase offer window(s), investors will be unable to sell their shares of the
interval fund.
Typically, the interval funds are not listed on any securities exchange and are not publicly traded. Thus, there
is no secondary market for the fund's shares. Because interval funds can expose investors to liquidity risk,
investors should consider interval fund shares to be an illiquid investment. As these types of investments
involve certain additional risk, interval funds should only be utilized when consistent with a client's investment
objectives, individual situation, suitability, tolerance for risk and liquidity needs. There can be no assurance that
an interval fund investment will prove profitable or successful.
Item 9 Disciplinary Information
We are required to disclose the facts of any legal or disciplinary events that are material to a client's evaluation
of our advisory business or the integrity of our management. We do not have any required disclosures under
this item.
Item 10 Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
As indicated above at Item 4, to the extent requested by a client, we may recommend the services of other
professionals for certain non-investment implementation purpose (i.e. attorneys, accountants, insurance, etc.),
including our founder and Managing Director, Dean R. Hedeker, in his separate licensed capacity as an
attorney and tax preparer with Hedeker Law, Ltd. ("Law"). Our advisory services are separate and distinct from
the compensation paid for these services. The client is under no obligation to engage the services of any such
recommended professional. The client retains absolute discretion over all such implementation decisions and
is free to accept or reject any recommendation from us and/or our representatives.
Please Note: If the client engages any recommended unaffiliated professional, and a dispute arises thereafter
relative to such engagement, the client agrees to seek recourse exclusively from and against the engaged
professional.
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Please Also Note-Conflict of Interest: Our recommendation that a client or engage Law for legal or tax
preparation services, presents a conflict of interest. Clients are reminded that they may obtain legal and/or tax
preparation services from other, non-affiliated professionals. Any engagement of Law shall be separate and
independent of our services, per the terms and conditions of a separate engagement between the client and
Law. There is no fee sharing arrangement between our firm and Law.
Our Chief Compliance Officer, Dean R. Hedeker, remains available to address any questions that a
client or prospective client may have regarding the above conflict of interest.
Item 11 Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and
Personal Trading
Description of Our Code of Ethics
We strive to comply with applicable laws and regulations governing our practices. Therefore, our Code of
Ethics includes guidelines for professional standards of conduct for our Associated Persons. Our goal is to
protect your interests at all times and to demonstrate our commitment to our fiduciary duties of honesty, good
faith, and fair dealing with you. All of our Associated Persons are expected to adhere strictly to these
guidelines.
Our Code of Ethics also requires that certain persons associated with our firm submit reports of their personal
account holdings and transactions to a qualified representative of our firm who will review these reports on a
periodic basis. Persons associated with our firm are also required to report any violations of our Code of
Ethics. Additionally, we maintain and enforce written policies reasonably designed to prevent the misuse or
dissemination of material, non-public information about you or your account holdings by persons associated
with our firm.
Our Code of Ethics is available to you upon request. You may obtain a copy of our Code of Ethics by
contacting us at 847-913-5594.
Personal Trading Practices
Our firm or persons associated with our firm may buy or sell securities for you at the same time we or persons
associated with our firm buy or sell such securities for our own account. We may also combine our orders to
purchase securities with your orders to purchase securities ("block trading"). Please refer to the "Brokerage
Practices" section in this Brochure for information on our block trading practices.
A conflict of interest exists in such cases because we have the ability to trade ahead of you and potentially
receive more favorable prices than you will receive. To mitigate this conflict of interest, it is our policy that
neither our Associated Persons nor we shall have priority over your account in the purchase or sale of
securities.
Participation or Interest in Client Transactions
Neither our firm nor any persons associated with our firm has any material financial interest in client
transactions beyond the provision of investment advisory services as disclosed in this brochure.
Item 12 Brokerage Practices
We recommend the brokerage and custodial services of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Your assets must be
maintained in an account at a "qualified custodian," generally a broker-dealer or bank. In recognition of the
value of the services the Custodian provides, you may pay higher commissions and/or trading costs than those
that may be available elsewhere. Our recommendation of custodian is based on many factors, including the
level of services provided, the custodian's financial stability, and the cost of services provided by the custodian
to our clients, which includes the yield on cash sweep choices, commissions, custody fees and other fees or
expenses.
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Research and Other Soft Dollar Benefits
We do not have any soft dollar arrangements.
Economic Benefits
As a registered investment adviser, we have access to the institutional platform of your account custodian. As
such, we will also have access to research products and services from your account custodian and/or other
brokerage firm. These products may include financial publications, information about particular companies and
industries, research software, and other products or services that provide lawful and appropriate assistance to
our firm in the performance of our investment decision-making responsibilities. Such research products and
services are provided to all investment advisers that utilize the institutional services platforms of these firms
and are not considered to be paid for with soft dollars. However, you should be aware that the commissions
charged by a particular broker for a particular transaction or set of transactions may be greater than the
amounts another broker who did not provide research services or products might charge.
The custodian and brokers we use
We do not maintain custody of your assets that we manage, although we may be deemed to have custody of
your assets if you give us authority to withdraw assets from your account (see Item 15—Custody, below). Your
assets must be maintained in an account at a "qualified custodian," generally a broker-dealer or bank. We
recommend that our clients use Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab), a registered broker- dealer, member
SIPC, as the qualified custodian.
We are independently owned and operated and are not affiliated with Schwab. Schwab will hold your assets in
a brokerage account and buy and sell securities when we instruct them to. While we recommend that you use
Schwab as custodian/broker, you will decide whether to do so and will open your account with Schwab by
entering into an account agreement directly with them. Conflicts of interest associated with this arrangement
are described below as well as in Item 14 (Client referrals and other compensation). You should consider these
conflicts of interest when selecting your custodian.
We do not open the account for you, although we may assist you in doing so. If you do not wish to place your
assets with Schwab, then we cannot manage your account. Not all advisors require their clients to use a
particular broker-dealer or other custodian selected by the advisor. Even though your account is maintained at
Schwab, we can still use other brokers to execute trades for your account as described below (see "Your
brokerage and custody costs").
How we select brokers/custodians
We seek to recommend a custodian/broker that will hold your assets and execute transactions. When
considering whether the terms that Schwab provides are, overall, most advantageous to you when compared
with other available providers and their services, we consider a wide range of factors, including:
• Combination of transaction execution services and asset custody services (generally without a separate
fee for custody)
• Capability to execute, clear, and settle trades (buy and sell securities for your account)
• Capability to facilitate transfers and payments to and from accounts (wire transfers, check requests, bill
payment, etc.)
• Breadth of available investment products (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds "[ETFs",
etc.)
• Availability of investment research and tools that assist us in making investment decisions
• Quality of services
• Competitiveness of the price of those services (commission rates, margin interest rates, other fees,
etc.) and willingness to negotiate the prices
• Reputation, financial strength, security, and stability
• Availability of other products and services that benefit us, as discussed below (see "Products and
services available to us from Schwab")
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Your brokerage and trading costs
For our clients' accounts that Schwab maintains, Schwab generally does not charge you separately for custody
services but is compensated by charging you commissions or other fees on trades that it executes or that
settle into your Schwab account. Certain trades (for example, many mutual funds, and U.S. exchange-listed
equities and ETFs) may not incur Schwab commissions or transaction fees. Schwab is also compensated by
earning interest on the uninvested cash in your account in Schwab's Cash Features Program.
We are not required to select the broker or dealer that charges the lowest transaction cost, even if that broker
provides execution quality comparable to other brokers or dealers. Although we are not required to execute all
trade through Schwab, we have determined that having Schwab execute most trades is consistent with our
duty to seek "best execution" of your trades. Best execution means the most favorable terms for a transaction
based on all relevant factors, including those listed above (see "How we select brokers/ custodians"). By using
another broker or dealer you may pay lower transaction costs.
Products and services available to us from Schwab
Schwab Advisor Services™ is Schwab's business serving independent investment advisory firms like ours.
They provide us and our clients with access to their brokerage services (trading, custody, reporting, and
related services), many of which are not typically available to Schwab retail customers. However, certain retail
investors may be able to get institutional brokerage services from Schwab without going through our firm.
Schwab also makes available various support services. Some of those services help us manage or administer
our clients' accounts, while others help us manage and grow our business. Schwab's support services are
generally available at no charge to us. Following is a more detailed description of Schwab's support services:
Services that benefit you. Schwab's institutional brokerage services include access to a broad range of
investment products, execution of securities transactions, and custody of client assets. The investment
products available through Schwab include some to which we might not otherwise have access or that
would require a significantly higher minimum initial investment by our clients. Schwab's services described
in this paragraph generally benefit you and your account.
Services that do not directly benefit you. Schwab also makes available to us other products and
services that benefit us but do not directly benefit you or your account. These products and services assist
us in managing and administering our clients' accounts and operating our firm. They include investment
research, both Schwab's own and that of third parties. We use this research to service all or a substantial
number of our clients' accounts, including accounts not maintained at Schwab. In addition to investment
research, Schwab also makes available software and other technology that:
Provide access to client account data (such as duplicate trade confirmations and account
statements)
Facilitate trade execution and allocate aggregated trade orders for multiple client accounts
Provide pricing and other market data
Facilitate payment of our fees from our clients' accounts
Assist with back-office functions, record keeping, and client reporting
Services that generally benefit only us. Schwab also offers other services intended to help us manage
and further develop our business enterprise. These services include:
Educational conferences and events
Consulting on technology and business needs
Publications and conferences on practice management and business succession
Access to employee benefits providers, human capital consultants, and insurance providers
Marketing consulting and support
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Schwab provides some of these services itself. In other cases, it will arrange for third-party vendors to provide
the services to us. Schwab also discounts or waives its fees for some of these services or pays all or a part of
a third party's fees.
Our interest in Schwab's services
The availability of these services from Schwab benefits us because we do not have to produce or purchase
them. We don't have to pay for Schwab's services. These services are not contingent upon us committing any
specific amount of business to Schwab in trading commissions or assets in custody. The fact that we receive
these benefits from Schwab is an incentive for us to recommend the use of Schwab rather than making such
decision based exclusively on your interest in receiving the best value in custody services and the most
favorable execution of your transactions. This is a conflict of interest. We believe, however, that taken in the
aggregate, our recommendation of Schwab as custodian and broker is in the best interests of our clients. Our
selection is primarily supported by the scope, quality, and price of Schwab's services (see "How we select
brokers/custodians") and not Schwab's services that benefit only us.
Brokerage for Client Referrals
We do not receive client referrals from broker-dealers in exchange for cash or other compensation, such as
brokerage services or research.
Non-Soft Dollar Research and Benefits: Although not a material consideration when determining whether to
recommend that a client utilize the services of a particular broker-dealer/custodian, we can receive from
Schwab (or another broker-dealer/custodian, investment manager, platform sponsor, mutual fund sponsor, or
vendor) without cost (and/or at a discount) support services and/or products, certain of which assist us to better
monitor and service client accounts maintained at such institutions. Included within the support services that
can be obtained by us can be investment-related research, pricing information and market data, software and
other technology that provide access to client account data, compliance and/or practice management-related
publications, discounted or gratis consulting services, discounted and/or gratis attendance at conferences,
meetings, and other educational and/or social events, marketing support-including client events, computer
hardware and/or software and/or other products used by us in furtherance of our investment advisory business
operations.
Our clients do not pay more for investment transactions effected and/or assets maintained at Schwab as a
result of this arrangement. There is no corresponding commitment made by us to Schwab, or any other any
entity, to invest any specific amount or percentage of client assets in any specific mutual funds, securities or
other investment products as result of the above arrangement.
ANY QUESTIONS: Our Chief Compliance Officer, Dean Hedeker, remains available to address any
questions that a client or prospective client may have regarding the above arrangements and the
corresponding conflict of interest presented by such arrangements.
Directed Brokerage. We recommend that our clients utilize the brokerage and custodial services provided by
Schwab. We generally do not accept directed brokerage arrangements (when a client requires that account
transactions be effected through a specific broker-dealer). In such client directed arrangements, the client will
negotiate terms and arrangements for their account with that broker-dealer, and we will not seek better
execution services or prices from other broker-dealers or be able to "batch" the client's transactions for
execution through other broker-dealers with orders for other accounts that we manage. As a result, a client
may pay higher commissions or other transaction costs or greater spreads, or receive less favorable net
prices, on transactions for the account than would otherwise be the case. Please Note: In the event that the
client directs us to effect securities transactions for the client's accounts through a specific broker-dealer, the
client correspondingly acknowledges that such direction may cause the accounts to incur higher commissions
or transaction costs than the accounts would otherwise incur had the client determined to effect account
transactions through alternative clearing arrangements that may be available through us. Higher transaction
costs adversely impact account performance. Please Also Note: Transactions for directed accounts will
generally be executed following the execution of portfolio transactions for non-directed accounts.
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Order Aggregation. Transactions for each client account generally will be effected independently, unless we
decide to purchase or sell the same securities for several clients at approximately the same time. We may (but
is not obligated to) combine or "bunch" such orders to obtain best execution, to negotiate more favorable
commission rates or to allocate equitably among our clients differences in prices and commissions or other
transaction costs that might have been obtained had such orders been placed independently. Under this
procedure, transactions will be averaged as to price and will be allocated among clients in proportion to the
purchase and sale orders placed for each client account on any given day. We shall not receive any additional
compensation or remuneration as a result of such aggregation.
Mutual Fund Share Classes
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 cost, tax implications, and other factors. When the fund is available for purchase at net asset
value, we will purchase, or recommend the purchase of, the fund at net asset value. We also review 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 deferred sales charges.
Item 13 Review of Accounts
Dean R. Hedeker, Founder and Managing Partner, of Hedeker Wealth LLC and Thomas Ryan will monitor your
accounts on a continuous basis and will recommend a meeting and formal account review at least quarterly to
ensure the advisory services provided to you and that the portfolio mix are consistent with your investment
needs and objectives. Additional reviews may be conducted upon your request and 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.
The individuals conducting reviews may vary from time to time, as personnel join or leave our firm.
We may prepare reports in conjunction with such meetings and account reviews. You will receive trade
confirmations and monthly or quarterly statements from your account custodian(s).
Item 14 Client Referrals and Other Compensation
We receive an economic benefit from Schwab in the form of the support products and services it makes
available to us and other independent investment advisors whose clients maintain their accounts at Schwab.
We benefit from the products and services provided because the cost of these services would otherwise be
borne directly by us, and this creates a conflict. You should consider these conflicts of interest when selecting
a custodian. These products and services, how they benefit us, and the related conflicts of interest are
described above (see Item 12—Brokerage Practices).
Our clients do not pay more for investment transactions effected and/or assets maintained at Schwab (or any
other institution) as result of this arrangement. There is no corresponding commitment made by us to Schwab,
or to any other entity, to invest any specific amount or percentage of client assets in any specific mutual funds,
securities or other investment products as a result of the above arrangement. ANY QUESTIONS: Our Chief
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Compliance Officer, Dean Hedeker, remains available to address any questions that a client or
prospective client may have regarding the above arrangement and the corresponding conflict of
interest presented by such arrangement.
We do not maintain promoter arrangements/pay referral fee compensation to non-employees for new client
introductions/referrals.
Item 15 Custody
We do not have physical custody of any of your funds and/or securities. Your funds and securities will be held
by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., an independent, qualified custodians.
We shall have the ability to deduct our advisory fee from the client's custodial account. Clients are provided
with written transaction confirmation notices, and a written summary account statement directly from Schwab,
at least quarterly. They will be sent to the email or postal mailing address you provided to Schwab. Please
Note: To the extent that we provide clients with periodic account statements or reports, the client is urged to
compare any statement or report provided by us with the account statements received from the account
custodian. Please Also Note: The account custodian does not verify the accuracy of our advisory fee
calculation.
In addition, certain clients have established asset transfer authorizations that permit the qualified custodian to
rely upon instructions from us to transfer client funds or securities to third parties. Our firm, or persons
associated with our firm, may effect wire transfers from client accounts to one or more third parties designated,
in writing, by the client without obtaining written client consent for each separate, individual transaction, or we
may have signatory and check writing authority for client accounts, as long as the client has provided us with
written authorization to do so. Such written authorization is known as a Standing Letter of Authorization. An
adviser with authority to conduct such third party wire transfers or to sign checks on a client's behalf has
access to the client's assets, and therefore has custody of the client's assets in any related accounts.
However, we do not have to obtain a surprise annual audit, as we otherwise would be required to by reason of
having custody, as long as we meet the following criteria:
1. You provide a written, signed instruction to the qualified custodian that includes the third party's name
and address or account number at a custodian;
2. You authorize us in writing to direct transfers to the third party either on a specified schedule or from
time to time;
3. Your qualified custodian verifies your authorization (e.g., signature review) and provides a transfer of
funds notice to you promptly after each transfer;
4. You can terminate or change the instruction;
5. We have no authority or ability to designate or change the identity of the third party, the address, or any
other information about the third party;
6. We maintain records showing that the third party is not a related party to us nor located at the same
address as us; and
7. Your qualified custodian sends you, in writing, an initial notice confirming the instruction and an annual
notice reconfirming the instruction.
Dean Hedeker, remains
available to address
ANY QUESTIONS: Our Chief Compliance Officer,
any
questions that a
client or prospective
client may have
regarding
.
custody-related issues
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Item 16 Investment Discretion
You may grant our firm discretion over the selection and amount of securities to be purchased or sold for your
account(s) without obtaining your consent or approval prior to each transaction. Before we can buy or sell
securities on your behalf, you must first sign our discretionary management agreement, a power of attorney,
and/or trading authorization forms.
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. Please 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
Separately Managed Accounts
Generally, we will not vote proxies on behalf of separately managed 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
common stock or mutual funds, 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
solicitation to vote proxies.
Item 18 Financial Information
Our firm does not have any financial conditions or impairments 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, and we do not require the prepayment of fees six or more months in
advance and in excess of $1,200. Therefore, we are not required to include a financial statement with this
brochure.
We have not filed a bankruptcy petition at any time in the past ten years.
Item 19 Requirements for State Registered Investment Advisers
We are a federally registered investment adviser; therefore, we are not required to respond to this item.
Item 20 Additional Information
Your Privacy
We view protecting your private information as a top priority. Pursuant to applicable privacy requirements, we
have instituted policies and procedures to ensure that we keep your personal information private and secure.
We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about you to any nonaffiliated third parties, except as
permitted by law. In the course of servicing your account, we may share some information with our service
providers, such as transfer agents, custodians, broker-dealers, accountants, consultants, and attorneys.
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We restrict internal access to nonpublic personal information about you to employees who need that
information in order to provide products or services to you. We maintain physical and procedural safeguards
that comply with regulatory standards to guard your nonpublic personal information and to ensure our integrity
and confidentiality. We will not sell information about you or your accounts to anyone. We do not share your
information unless it is required to process a transaction, at your request, or required by law.
You will receive a copy of our privacy notice prior to or at the time you sign an advisory agreement with our
firm. Thereafter, we will deliver a copy of the current privacy policy notice to you on an annual basis. Please
contact Dean Hedeker at 847-913-5594 if you have any questions regarding this policy.
Trade Errors
In the event a trading error occurs in your account, our policy is to restore your account to the position it should
have been had the trading error not occurred. Depending on the circumstances, corrective actions may include
canceling the trade, adjusting an allocation, and/or reimbursing the account. If a trade error results in a profit,
the trade error will be corrected in the trade error account held at the executing broker-dealer and you will not
keep the profit. Money held in the trade error account can be withdrawn at any time. Any monies remaining in
the error account at the end of the calendar year will be distributed to our firm by the broker- dealer.
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.
ANY QUESTIONS: Our Chief Compliance Officer, Dean Hedeker, remains available to address any questions
regarding this Part 2A.
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