Overview

Assets Under Management: $476 million
Headquarters: MT. PLEASANT, SC
High-Net-Worth Clients: 3
Average Client Assets: $50 million

Services Offered

Services: Financial Planning, Portfolio Management for Individuals, Pension Consulting, Investment Advisor Selection

Clients

Number of High-Net-Worth Clients: 3
Percentage of Firm Assets Belonging to High-Net-Worth Clients: 31.41
Average High-Net-Worth Client Assets: $50 million
Total Client Accounts: 958
Discretionary Accounts: 958

Regulatory Filings

CRD Number: 132252
Filing ID: 1982295
Last Filing Date: 2025-05-14 11:16:00
Website: https://jacksonfinancial.org

Form ADV Documents

Primary Brochure: JACKSON FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC (2025-03-29)

View Document Text
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. 1 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. 2 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 Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 7 Page 8 Page 8 Page 8 Page 11 Page 11 Page 12 Page 12 Page 14 Page 14 Page 14 Page 14 Page 15 Page 15 Page 15 3 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. 4 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, 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 • 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 9 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. 10 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. 11 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 12 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 13 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. 14 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. 15 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. 16