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Jackson Financial Services, LLC
1311 Chuck Dawley Blvd., Suite 103
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina 29464
Phone: 800-752-2354
Fax: 843-881-1557
Website: www.jacksonfinancial.org
March 29, 2025
FORM ADV PART 2
BROCHURE
This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Jackson
Financial Services, LLC. If you have any questions about the contents of this brochure, please
contact us at 800-752-2354. 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 Jackson Financial Services, LLC is also available on the SEC's
website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. The searchable IARD/CRD number for Jackson Financial
Services, LLC is 132252.
Jackson Financial Services, 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 Summary of Material Changes
Form ADV Part 2 requires registered investment advisers to amend their brochure when information
becomes materially inaccurate. If there are any material changes to an adviser's disclosure brochure,
the adviser is required to notify you and provide you with a description of the material changes.
Since our last annual updating amendment dated February 22, 2024, there are no material changes
to report.
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Item 3 Table Of Contents
Item 1 Cover Page
Item 2 Summary of 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 Additional Information
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Item 4 Advisory Business
Description of Services and Fees
We are a registered investment adviser based in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. We are organized as a
limited liability company under the laws of the State of South Carolina. We have been providing
investment advisory services since 2004. Mason Moise is our principal owner. Currently, we offer the
following investment advisory services, which are personalized to each individual client:
• Selection of Other Advisers
• Portfolio Management
• Pension Consulting Services
• Consulting Services
• Financial Planning Services & Investment Policy Statement Preparation
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. As used in this brochure, the words "we", "our" and "us" refer to Jackson Financial
Services, 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.
Selection of Other Advisers
As part of our investment advisory services, we may recommend that the use of the services of a third
party investment adviser ("TPA") to manage your entire, or a portion of your, investment portfolio,
and/or the management of some or all of any of the Funds described above.
After gathering information about your financial situation and objectives, we will recommend that you
engage a specific TPA or investment program. Factors that we take into consideration when making
our recommendation(s) include, but are not limited to, the following: the TPA's performance, methods
of analysis, fees, your financial needs, investment goals, risk tolerance, and investment objectives. We
will periodically monitor the TPA(s)' performance to ensure its management and investment style
remains aligned with your investment goals and objectives.
We do not charge you a separate fee for the selection of other advisers. We will share in the advisory
fee you pay directly to the TPA. The advisory fee you pay to the TPA is established and payable in
accordance with the disclosure brochure provided by each TPA to whom you are referred. The fee
charged to you by the TPA is not increased due to this relationship. These fees may or may not be
negotiable.
You will be required to sign an agreement directly with the recommended TPA(s). You may terminate
your advisory relationship with the TPA according to the terms of your agreement with the TPA. You
should review each TPA's disclosure brochure for specific information on how you may terminate your
advisory relationship with the TPA and how you may receive a refund, if applicable. You should contact
the TPA directly for questions regarding your advisory agreement with the TPA.
Portfolio Management
We offer portfolio management services to individuals and employee benefit plans based upon the
needs of the client. In general, these services will include the design, implementation and monitoring of
mutual fund portfolios. These services may be used in combination with TPA referrals as well.
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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.
The fee for this service will be 0.50% annually, based on the value of your account on the last day of
the previous quarter billed quarterly in advance. 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.
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 - 10 days 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.
Financial Planning & Investment Policy Statement Preparation
We offer comprehensive financial planning services to individuals on a fee basis. The financial plans
are prepared on a contract basis as requested. These plans will address a client's current situation,
goals, investment strategies, tax and retirement planning. A financial plan will be specific in its
recommendations, at the same time; a client may implement those strategies with their preferred
service provider. In addition, we offer investment policy statement preparation. The IPS will be used to
determine an appropriate investment strategy for the individual. The fees for these services range from
$500 to $2,500 depending on the complexity of the case.
Fees are due at the inception of the advisory relationship. We will not require prepayment of a fee
more than six months in advance and in excess of $1,200.
You may terminate the financial planning agreement by providing written notice to our firm. You will
incur a pro rata charge for services rendered prior to the termination of the agreement. If you have pre-
paid advisory fees that we have not yet earned, you will receive a prorated refund of those fees.
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 may include an existing plan review and analysis, plan-level advice regarding fund selection
and investment options, education services to plan participants, investment performance monitoring,
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and/or ongoing consulting. 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.
We may also assist with participant enrollment meetings and provide investment-related educational
seminars to plan participants on such topics as:
• Diversification
• Asset allocation
• Risk tolerance
• Time horizon
Our educational seminars may include other investment-related topics specific to the particular plan.
The annual fee for Pension Consulting Services will be charged as a percentage of assets under
advisement ranging from 0.20% to 1.00%. You will be invoiced in arrears at the beginning of each
calendar quarter based upon the value (market value or fair market value in the absence of market
value, plus any credit balance or minus any debit balance), of your account at the end of the previous
quarter.
We may also provide 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 included 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. Our advisory fees for these customized services will be negotiated with the plan
sponsor or named fiduciary on a case-by-case basis.
Either party to the pension consulting agreement may terminate the agreement upon written notice to
the other party. 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.
General - Advisory Services to Retirement Plans and Plan Participants
As disclosed above, we offer various levels of advisory and consulting services to employee benefit
plans ("Plan") and to the participants of such plans ("Participants"). The services are designed to assist
plan sponsors in meeting their management and fiduciary obligations to Participants under the
Employee Retirement Income Securities Act ("ERISA"). Pursuant to adopted regulations of the U.S.
Department of Labor, we are required to provide the Plan's responsible plan fiduciary (the person
who has the authority to engage us as an investment adviser to the Plan) with a written statement of
the services we provide to the Plan, the compensation we receive for providing those services, and our
status (which is described below).
The services we provide to your Plan and the compensation we receive for these services are
described above, and in the service agreement that you have previously signed. We do not
reasonably expect to receive any other compensation, direct or indirect, for the services we provide to
the Plan or Participants, unless the plan sponsor directs us to deduct our fee from the plan or directs
the plan record-keeper to issue payment for our fee out of the plan. If we receive any other
compensation for such services, we will (i) offset the compensation against our stated fees, and (ii) we
will promptly disclose the amount of such compensation, the services rendered for such compensation
and the payer of such compensation to you.
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Status
In providing services to the Plan and Participants, our status is that of an investment adviser registered
under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and we are not subject to any disqualifications under
Section 411 of ERISA. In performing fiduciary services, we are acting either as a non-discretionary
fiduciary of the Plan as defined in Section 3(21) under ERISA, or as a discretionary fiduciary of the
plan as defined in Section 3(38) under ERISA.
Advisory Consulting Services
We offer consulting services which primarily involves advising clients on specific financial-related
topics. The topics we address may include, but are not limited advice on estate planning, retirement
planning, or any other specific topic that you may address with our firm. We also provide specific
consultations and/or administrative services regarding investment and financial concerns. We may also
provide advice on non-securities matters. Generally this is in connection with rendering estate
planning, insurance and/or annuity advice.
Consulting service fees will be charged in one or both of the two ways:
• As a fixed fee, typically ranging from $2,500 to $5,000, depending on the nature and complexity
of each your circumstances and upon mutual agreement; and/or
• On an hourly basis, ranging from $100 to $ 250 per hour, depending on the nature and
complexity of each your circumstances and upon mutual agreement.
We will provide an estimate of the total hours at the start of the advisory relationship. We require a
deposit of 25 % with the balance (based on actual hours) due upon presentation of the plan or the
completion of the services. We will never hold client funds greater than $500 for more than six months
in advance of completion of the consulting service.
You may terminate the agreement by providing written notice to our firm. You will incur a pro rata
charge for services rendered prior to the termination of the agreement. If you have pre-paid advisory
fees that we have not yet earned, you will receive a prorated refund of those fees.
Types of Investments
We offer advice on equity securities, warrants, corporate debt securities, commercial paper, certificates
of deposit, municipal securities, investment company securities, US Government securities, options
contracts on securities, and interest in partnerships investing in real estate, and oil and gas interests.
Additionally, we may advise you on any type 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.
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.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2024, we provide continuous management services for $324,432,000 in client
assets on a discretionary basis, and $151,459,488 in client assets on a non-discretionary basis.
Item 5 Fees and Compensation
Please refer to the "Advisory Business" section in this Brochure for information on our advisory fees,
fee deduction arrangements, and refund policy according to each service we offer.
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Additional Fees and Expenses
As part of our investment advisory services to you, we may invest, or recommend that you invest, in
mutual funds and exchange traded funds. 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 will also incur transaction charges and/or
brokerage fees when purchasing or selling securities. 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 Disclosure Brochure.
Item 6 Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management
We do not accept performance-based fees or participate in side-by-side management. 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.
Performance-based fees are fees that are based on a share of capital gains or capital appreciation of a
client's account. Our fees are calculated as described in the Advisory Business 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, banks and thrift institutions, investment
companies, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, and other business entities.
Item 8 Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss
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:
• 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's
industry. The resulting data is used to measure the true value of the company's stock compared
to the current market value.
• 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.
• 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.
• Short Sales - a securities transaction in which an investor sells securities he or she borrowed in
anticipation of a price decline. The investor is then required to return an equal number of shares
at some point in the future. A short seller will profit if the stock goes down in price.
• Margin Transactions - a securities transaction in which an investor borrows money to purchase
a security, in which case the security serves as collateral on the loan.
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• Option Writing - a securities transaction that involves selling an option. An option is the right,
but not the obligation, to buy or sell a particular security at a specified price before the
expiration date of the option. When an investor sells an option, he or she must deliver to the
buyer a specified number of shares if the buyer exercises the option. The seller pays the buyer
a premium (the market price of the option at a particular time) in exchange for writing the option.
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.
Fundamental Analysis - 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.
We may use short-term trading (in general, selling securities within 30 days of purchasing the same
securities) as an investment strategy when managing your account(s). Short-term 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.
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.
Recommendation of Particular Types of Securities
As disclosed under the "Advisory Business" section in this Brochure, we recommend all types of
securities and we do not necessarily 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 it.
Commercial Paper (CP) is, in most cases, an unsecured promissory note that is issued with a maturity
of 270 days or less. Being unsecured the risk to the investor is that the issuer may default. There is a
less risk in asset based commercial paper (ABCP). The difference between ABCP and CP is that
instead of being an unsecured promissory note representing an obligation of the issuing company,
ABCP is backed by securities. Therefore, the perceived quality of the ABCP depends on the underlying
securities.
Certificates of deposit are generally the safest type of investment since they are insured by the federal
government. However, because the returns are generally very low, it's possible for inflation to outpace
the return. Likewise, US Government securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United
States government but it's also possible for the rate of inflation to exceed the returns.
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
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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.
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, more well established companies
("large cap") tend to be safer than smaller start-up companies ("small cap") 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 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.
Exchange traded funds 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 which can dilute other investors' interests.
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.
Options and warrants give an investor the right to buy or sell a stock at some future time at a set price.
Options are complex investments and can be very risky, especially if the investor does not own the
underlying stock. In certain situations, an investor's risk can be unlimited. The main difference between
warrants and call options is that warrants are issued and guaranteed by the issuing company, whereas
options are traded on an exchange and are not issued by the company. Also, the lifetime of a warrant
is often measured in years, while the lifetime of a typical option is measured in months.
A limited partnership is a financial affiliation that includes at least one general partner and a number of
limited partners. The partnership invests in a venture, such as real estate development or oil
exploration, for financial gain. The general partner does not usually invest any capital, but has
management authority and unlimited liability. That is, the general partner runs the business and, in the
event of bankruptcy, is responsible for all debts not paid or discharged. The limited partners have no
management authority and confine their participation to their capital investment. That is, limited
partners invest a certain amount of money and have nothing else to do with the business. However,
their liability is limited to the amount of the investment. In the worst case scenario for a limited partner,
he/she loses what he/she invested. Profits are divided between general and limited partners according
to an arrangement formed at the creation of the partnership.
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A structured product, also known as a market-linked product, is generally a pre-packaged investment
strategy based on derivatives, such as a single security, a basket of securities, options, indices,
commodities, debt issuances and/or foreign currencies, and to a lesser extent, swaps. Structured
products are usually issued by investment banks or affiliates thereof. They have a fixed maturity, and
have two components: a note and a derivative. The derivative component is often an option. The note
provides for periodic interest payments to the investor at a predetermined rate, and the derivative
component provides for the payment at maturity. Some products use the derivative component as a
put option written by the investor that gives the buyer of the put option the right to sell to the investor
the security or securities at a predetermined price. Other products use the derivative component to
provide for a call option written by the investor that gives the buyer of the call option the right to buy the
security or securities from the investor at a predetermined price. A feature of some structured products
is a "principal guarantee" function, which offers protection of principal if held to maturity. However,
these products are not always Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insured; they may only be
insured by the issuer, and thus have the potential for loss of principal in the case of a liquidity crisis, or
other solvency problems with the issuing company. Investing in structured products involves a number
of risks including but not limited to: fluctuations in the price, level or yield of underlying instruments,
interest rates, currency values and credit quality; substantial loss of principal; limits on participation in
any appreciation of the underlying instrument; limited liquidity; credit risk of the issuer; conflicts of
interest; and, other events that are difficult to predict.
Item 9 Disciplinary Information
Jackson Financial Services, LLC has been registered and providing investment advisory services since
2004. Neither our firm nor any of our associated persons has any reportable disciplinary information.
Item 10 Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
We have not provided information on any of the other financial industry activities and affiliations listed
below because we do not h ave any relationship or any of the types of entities listed below.
1. broker-dealer, municipal securities dealer, or government securities dealer or broker
2. investment company or other pooled investment vehicle (including a mutual fund, closed-end
investment company, unit investment trust, private investment company or "hedge fund," and
offshore fund)
3. other investment adviser or financial planner
4. futures commission merchant, commodity pool operator, or commodity trading advisor
5. banking or thrift institution
6. accountant or accounting firm
7. lawyer or law firm
8. insurance company or agency
9. pension consultant
10.real estate broker or dealer
Recommendation of Other Advisers
We may recommend that you use a third party adviser ("TPA") based on your needs and suitability.
We will receive compensation from the TPA for recommending that you use their services. These
compensation arrangements present a conflict of interest because we have a financial incentive to
recommend the services of the third party adviser. You are not obligated, contractually or otherwise, to
use the services of any TPA we recommend.
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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 800-752-2354.
Participation or Interest in Client Transactions
Individuals associated with our firm may buy or sell - for their personal account(s) - investment
products identical to those purchased by the Funds. This practice may create a conflict of interest
because we have the ability to trade ahead of the Funds and potentially receive more favorable prices
than the Funds will receive. To eliminate this conflict of interest, it is our policy that neither our
Associated Persons nor we shall have priority over the Funds in the purchase or sale of securities.
Personal Trading Practices
Our firm or persons associated with our firm may recommend securities to you at the same time we or
persons associated with our firm purchase such securities for our own account.
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 eliminate 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.
Item 12 Brokerage Practices
We will endeavor to select those brokers or dealers which will provide the best services at the lowest
commission rates possible. The reasonableness of commissions is based on the broker's ability to
provide professional services, competitive commission rates, research and other services which will
help us in providing investment management services to our clients.
You should note that we participate in Schwab Institutional division of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
("Schwab Institutional"), member SIPC/NYSE and utilize the services of the Fidelity Investments
Institutional Brokerage Group (FIIBG) program sponsored by Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc.
('Fidelity'), member SIPC/NYSE. As a result, we receive certain benefits that it would not otherwise
receive if it did not provide advisory services to clients.
PENSION CONSULTING / FINANCIAL PLANNING/CONSULTING
If you contract with our firm for either Pension or Financial Planning consulting, you will be required to
select your own broker dealers and insurance companies for the implementation of the pension and/or
financial planning consulting recommendations. We may recommend any one of several brokers. You
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must independently evaluate these brokers before opening an account. The factors considered by us
when making this recommendation are the broker's ability to provide professional services, our
experience with the broker, the broker's reputation, and the broker's financial strength, among other
factors. Our pension consulting, financial planning and consulting clients may use any broker or dealer
of their choice.
Research and Other Soft Dollar Benefits
We participate in Charles Schwab's Institutional program. Schwab Institutional provides us with access
to its institutional trading and operations services, which are typically not available to Schwab retail
investors. These services generally are available to independent investment advisers at no charge to
them so long as a total of at least $10 million of the adviser's clients account assets are maintained at
Schwab Institutional. Schwab Institutional services may include research, brokerage, custody, access
to mutual funds and other investments that are otherwise available only to institutional investors or
would require significantly higher minimum initial investments. Schwab Institutional also makes
available to us other products and services that we benefit from but may not benefit all clients'
accounts. These include software and other technology that provide access to your account data (such
as trade confirmations and account statements), facilitate trade execution, provide research, pricing
information and other market data, facilitate payment of our fees from its clients' accounts, and assist
with back-office support, recordkeeping and client reporting. Schwab Institutional also makes available
to us other services intended to help us manage and further develop its business enterprise. These
services may include consulting, publications and conferences on practice management, information
technology, business succession, regulatory compliance, and marketing. In addition, Schwab may
make available, arrange and/or pay for these types of services rendered to us by independent third
parties. Schwab Institutional may discount or waive fees it would otherwise charge for some of these
services or pay all or a part of the fees of a third-party providing these services to us. We endeavor to
act in its your best interests, and our recommendation that you maintain your assets in accounts at
Schwab may be based in part on the benefit to us of the availability of some of the foregoing products
and services and not solely on the nature, cost or quality of custody and brokerage services provided
by Schwab, which may create a potential conflict of interest.
We will act as a solicitor for various registered investment advisers, and for doing so will receive an
ongoing solicitation fee ranging from 0.20% to 0.50% of referred assets under management. We are
aware of the special considerations promulgated under Section 206(4)-3 of the Investment Advisers
Act of 1940. As such, appropriate disclosure shall be made and all applicable Federal and State laws
will be observed.
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.
Directed Brokerage
We routinely require that you direct our firm to execute transactions through either Schwab or Fidelity..
As such, we may be unable to achieve the most favorable execution of your transactions and you may
pay higher brokerage commissions than you might otherwise pay through another broker-dealer that
offers the same types of services. Not all advisers require their clients to direct brokerage.
Block Trades
We combine multiple orders for shares of the same securities purchased for advisory accounts we
manage (this practice is commonly referred to as "block trading"). We will then distribute a portion of
the shares to participating accounts in a fair and equitable manner. The distribution of the shares
purchased is typically proportionate to the size of the account, but it is not based on account
performance or the amount or structure of management fees. Subject to our discretion regarding
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factual and market conditions, when we combine orders, each participating account pays an average
price per share for all transactions and pays a proportionate share of all transaction costs. Accounts
owned by our firm or persons associated with our firm may participate in block trading with your
accounts; however, they will not be given preferential treatment.
Item 13 Review of Accounts
MONEY MANAGER SEARCH AND MONITORING: Money Manager Search and Monitoring Service
client accounts will be reviewed by us as contracted for at the inception of the advisory relationship.
You should refer to the independent advisers' disclosure documents for information on the nature and
frequency of reviews provided by the independent registered investment adviser. You should refer to
the independent registered investment adviser's disclosure document for information on the nature and
frequency of account reports provided by that independent registered investment adviser. We will not
provide additional reports.
PENSION CONSULTING/FINANCIAL PLANNING/CONSULTING: Pension Consulting, Financial
Planning and Consulting accounts will be reviewed as contracted for at the inception of the advisory
relationship. Financial Planning and Consulting clients receive reports as agreed upon at the inception
of the advisory relationship.
Item 14 Client Referrals and Other Compensation
Please refer to the Brokerage Practices section above for disclosures on research and other benefits
we may receive resulting from our relationship with Schwab and Fidelity.
Item 15 Custody
We directly debit your account(s) for the payment of our advisory fees. This ability to deduct our
advisory fees from your accounts causes our firm to exercise limited custody over your funds or
securities. We do not have physical custody of any of your funds and/or securities. Your funds and
securities will be held with a bank, broker-dealer, or other independent, qualified custodian. You will
receive account statements from the independent] 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. You should carefully review
account statements for accuracy.
You should compare our statements with the statements from your account custodian(s) to reconcile
the information reflected on each statement. If you have a question regarding your account statement
or if you did not receive a statement from your custodian, please contact us at 800-752-2354.
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. 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.
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Item 17 Voting Client Securities
Proxy Voting
We will determine how to vote proxies based on our reasonable judgment of the vote most likely to
produce favorable financial results for you. Proxy votes generally will be cast in favor of proposals that
maintain or strengthen the shared interests of shareholders and management, increase shareholder
value, maintain or increase shareholder influence over the issuer's board of directors and
management, and maintain or increase the rights of shareholders. Generally, proxy votes will be cast
against proposals having the opposite effect. We will generally vote with the Board of Directors
recommendations. If we fail to agree with the board, we will vote against the recommendations and sell
the position. Unless we receive specific instructions from you, we will not base votes on social
considerations.
In the event you wish to direct our firm on voting a particular proxy, you provide those wishes in writing
to JFS.
Conflicts of interest between you and our firm, or a principal of our firm, regarding certain proxy issues
could arise. If we determine that a material conflict of interest exists, we will take the necessary steps
to resolve the conflict before voting the proxies. For example, we may disclose the existence and
nature of the conflict to you, and seek direction from you as to how to vote on a particular issue; we
may abstain from voting, particularly if there are conflicting interests for you (for example, where your
account(s) hold different securities in a competitive merger situation); or, we will take other necessary
steps designed to ensure that a decision to vote is in your best interest and was not the product of the
conflict.
We keep certain records required by applicable law in connection with our proxy voting activities. You
may obtain information on how we voted proxies and/or obtain a full copy of our proxy voting policies
and procedures by making a written request to our firm.
Item 18 Financial Information
We are not required to provide financial information to our clients because we do not:
require the prepayment of more than $1,200 in fees and six or more months in advance, or
take custody of client funds or securities, or
•
•
• have a financial condition that is reasonably likely to impair our ability to meet our commitments
to you.
Item 19 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 never 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 us 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 in 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, you will keep the profit.
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