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Firm Brochure
(Part 2A of Form ADV)
Item 1 – Cover Page
M & B Investment Advisors, LLC
DBA MBIA Capital Advisors
1248 Springfield Pike
Cincinnati, OH 45215
(513) 324‐2201
www.mbiateam.com
March 31, 2026
This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of M & B
Investment Advisors, LLC (“MBIA”). If you have any questions about the contents of this brochure,
please contact us at (513) 324‐2201 and/or mbain@mbiateam.com. The information in this
brochure has not been approved or verified by the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) or by any state securities authority.
Additional information about M & B Investment Advisors, LLC also is available at the SEC’s website
www.adviserinfo.sec.gov (click on the link, select “investment adviser firm” and type in our firm
name), where you will find both Part 1 and Part 2 of our Form ADV.
M & B Investment Advisors LLC is a registered investment advisor. Registration with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
Item 2 – Material Changes
Since our last posting of this Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A) on the SEC’s public disclosure
website (IAPD) www.adviserinfo.sec.gov dated March 18, 2025, the changes include:
• There have been no material updates since our last annual update.
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Item 3 – Table of Contents
Item 1 – Cover Page ............................................................................................................................................................. 1
Item 2 – Material Changes ................................................................................................................................................... 2
Item 4 – Advisory Business ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Item 5 – Fees and Compensation ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Item 6 – Performance‐Based Fees and Side‐By‐Side Management ..................................................................................... 7
Item 7 – Types of Clients ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Item 8 – Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss ................................................................................ 8
Item 9 – Disciplinary Information ....................................................................................................................................... 14
Item 10 – Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations ............................................................................................ 14
Item 11 – Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading...................................... 15
Item 12 – Brokerage Practices ........................................................................................................................................... 16
Item 13 – Review of Accounts ............................................................................................................................................ 17
Item 14 – Client Referrals and Other Compensation ......................................................................................................... 18
Item 15 – Custody .............................................................................................................................................................. 18
Item 16 – Investment Discretion ........................................................................................................................................ 18
Item 17 – Voting Client Securities ...................................................................................................................................... 19
Item 18 – Financial Information ......................................................................................................................................... 19
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Item 4 – Advisory Business
ABOUT US
Our firm was founded in July 2010 by Michael W. Bain, Jr. and Kurt A. Marty. Mr. Bain and
Mr. Marty are our sole owners and serve as our Managing Members. Mr. Bain also serves
as our Chief Compliance Officer. The firm has no subsidiaries and is not affiliated with any
other financial institutions.
SERVICES WE OFFER
Asset Management and Financial Planning Services
We offer fee‐based investment advice, on a discretionary and non‐discretionary basis, and
financial planning to clients based on individual client needs and investment objectives. The
clients’ money is invested in specific, agreed upon asset classes such as fixed income
instruments and common stocks. We do fundamental analysis of the global economy,
industries, companies and products and investment markets. We utilize both publicly
available and proprietary data sources, including financial newspapers and magazines,
corporate ratings services, company filings with the SEC, company press releases, and
proprietary research.
We believe a well‐managed portfolio should be diversified across several types of securities,
and we therefore do not limit our advice to only certain types of securities. Depending on a
client’s circumstances, we offer advice as to all types of domestic and foreign equity
securities, corporate and governmental debt securities, options, exchange traded funds
(ETFs) and mutual funds, as well as advice regarding life insurance, annuities, and futures.
We generally do not provide advice on warrants or commercial paper. We occasionally
offer advice regarding direct participation vehicles such as oil and gas or real estate
partnerships and private equity offerings.
We offer our asset management and financial planning services as a wrap fee and a non‐
wrap fee. Wrap fee arrangements are generally executed with clients for that portion of
their assets under management with an independent/third party manager. All other client
assets under management are generally covered under a non‐wrap fee arrangement. All
fees charged under both arrangements are set forth under Item 5 ‐ Fees and
Compensation. Additional information regarding the Wrap Fee program is available in the
Wrap Fee Program Brochure (Appendix 1).
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Clients may and sometimes do impose restrictions on investing in certain securities or types
of securities.
We do not issue any publications or reports on a subscription basis or for a fee.
Recommendation of Independent Advisers
Where warranted and agreed to with the client, we may use a third‐party manager to make
recommendations regarding specific securities within the agreed upon asset allocation and
execute the investment recommendations.
ZEGA Financial LLC
ZEGA Financial LLC (ZEGA), a licensed Investment Advisory Firm with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC), is a third‐party manager whose investment services we may
engage. We have entered into a Third‐Party Advisory Agreement with ZEGA for their
services the details of which are as follows:
Relationship with ZEGA: There is no affiliation between our firm and ZEGA. Our firm
acts as an independent contractor with ZEGA, not as their agent, representative or
employee.
Fees: Our firm pays ZEGA from the management fee we receive from the Client’s
account. ZEGA does not charge our clients any additional fees or expenses because of
the Third‐Party Advisory Agreement. ZEGA’s fees are set forth in their disclosure
documents (ADV Part 2A and/or Wrap Brochure) which is/are provided by our firm.
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT
As of December 31, 2025, we had discretionary assets under management of $290,225,013.
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Item 5 – Fees and Compensation
Our Basic Fee Schedule
We offer our asset management and financial planning services as a wrap fee and a non‐
wrap fee program. Generally, assets managed by an agreed upon third party/independent
adviser are covered by a wrap fee arrangement. All other asset management services are
on a non‐wrap fee arrangement.
We charge fees in one of two ways:
A. Fixed Fee: Clients pay a fixed fee in an amount agreed in advance and set forth in
the Client Agreement.
B. Percentage of Managed Assets:
Our fees are the same for our wrap and non‐wrap fee arrangements. All fees are
negotiable. In general, our fees are based on a percentage of assets we manage as
follows:
Assets Under Management
Annual Fee
Up to $1,000,000
1%
Next $4,000,000
0.75%
Amount over $5,000,000
Negotiable
For accounts in which we serve as the sub‐advisor for a third‐party money management
firm (see Item 5 – Sub‐Advisory Services), the above fee schedule would not include any
fees charged by third‐party money management firm.
Depending on the arrangements made at the inception of the engagement, we may agree
to bill our management fees in advance or arrears. Fees are billed quarterly based upon the
asset value as of the last day of the quarterly billing period for accounts billed in arrears or
the first day of the current quarterly billing period (or the initial value of the assets in the
case of the establishment of a new account) for accounts billed in advance.
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Fee Payment Options
Our clients may select from two options to pay for our services:
• Direct debiting (preferred). For each quarterly billing period, we will notify your
custodian of the amount of the fee due and payable to us through our fee schedule
and contract. You and your custodian will see exactly how our requested fee is
calculated and will be able to check the calculation. The custodian will deduct the
fee from your account or, if you have more than one account, from the account you
have designated to pay our advisory fees. Each month, you will receive a statement
directly from your custodian showing all transactions, positions, and credits/debits
into or from your account, including in applicable months the advisory fees you have
been charged.
• Pay‐by‐check. For each quarterly billing period, we will send the client an invoice for
our services. You will see exactly how our requested fee is calculated and you will
be able to check the calculation. You may pay us by check or wire transfer.
Additional Fees and Expenses
Advisory fees payable to us do not include all the fees you will pay when we purchase or sell
securities for your account(s). The following list of fees or expenses are what you may pay
directly to third parties, whether a security is being purchased, sold, or held in your
account(s) under our management. Fees charged are by the broker‐dealer or custodian, not
M & B Investment Advisors, LLC. We do not receive, directly or indirectly, any of these fees
charged to you, except as noted above. They are paid to your broker, custodian or the
mutual fund or other investment you hold. Possible third‐party fees include:
• Brokerage commissions
• Transaction fees
• Exchange fees
• SEC fees
• Mutual fund sales loads or 12b‐1 fees
• Advisory fees and administrative fees charged by mutual funds and exchange traded
funds
• Advisory fees charged by sub‐advisers (if any are used for your account)
• Custodial fees
• Deferred sales charges (on mutual funds or annuities)
• Odd‐lot differentials
• Deferred sales charges (charged by mutual funds)
• Transfer taxes
• Wire transfer and electronic fund processing fees
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Insurance commissions and referral fees
• Commissions or mark‐ups / mark‐downs on security transactions
•
Please see Item 12 of this brochure for further discussion of our brokerage practices.
Account Cancellation and Refunds
Client accounts may be cancelled at any time by either the client or M & B Investment
Advisors, LLC upon 15 days prior written notice.
For fees paid in advance, a refund will be due to you in the event your account is closed
before the end of the billing period for which fees were paid, after the fifteen‐day account
closure notice period. Refunds are calculated by dividing the number of days remaining in
the billing period after the 15‐day notice takes effect by the total number of days in the
billing period, times the total amount of fees that were collected in advance for that billing
period.
Sub‐Advisory Services
We offer sub‐advisory services to unaffiliated third‐party money management firms (the
“Primary Investment Advisor”). As part of these services, we will provide model portfolios,
which the Primary Investment Advisor and their client choose.
Item 6 – Performance‐Based Fees and Side‐By‐Side Management
We do not charge advisory fees on a share of the capital appreciation of the funds or
securities in a client account (so‐called performance‐based fees). Our advisory fee
compensation is charged only as disclosed in Item 5 above.
Item 7 – Types of Clients
We may provide our services to all types of clients, including among others the following:
Individuals, including high net worth individuals
•
• Trusts, estates, and charitable organizations
• Corporations or other business entities
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• Endowments and foundations
• Not for profit entities
IRAs and Roth IRAs
•
• 401(k) plans (or individuals' accounts in such plans)
• 403(b) plans (or individuals' accounts in such plans)
There is no minimum account size required to open an account or to maintain an account
once opened.
Under certain Department of Labor fiduciary regulations which were originally scheduled to
become effective on April 10, 2017, our firm, and all our supervised persons, are deemed to
be fiduciaries with respect to all clients who are ERISA plans, ERISA plan participants, and/or
owners of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) – referred to generally as “Retirement
Investors.” ERISA refers to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. While
the effectiveness of these regulations has now been postponed, and they may or may not
become effective, we have always been deemed to be fiduciaries to all or our clients (both
Retirement Investors and all others) under existing federal and state securities laws and will
continue to govern ourselves accordingly.
Item 8 – Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss
Analysis
We study individual companies and their products; the industries in which they operate;
and how they are affected by global economic and monetary policy. We pay particular
attention to corporate financial statements. We study projected earnings per share growth
rates and the price/earnings ratio we might have to pay for the projected earnings per
share growth.
We place great emphasis upon dividend growth, projecting how fast individual dividends
might grow in percentage terms and relative to the projected growth of the average
Standard & Poors’ 500 Index dividend yield. We also note dividend pay‐out ratios, and
whether the dividend pay‐out ratio might rise, fall, or stay the same.
We make extensive use of corporate bonds as well as governmental bonds. When analyzing
bonds for potential investment, we assess the following factors:
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• purpose of the debt issue proceeds
finances of the issuer
•
• size of the debt issue
• debt ratings
• debt covenants
• debt ratios
interest coverage ratios
•
• demographic trends (in the case of government bonds)
taxation trends (in the case of government bonds)
•
Investment Strategy
We follow an equity strategy that combines large cap value stocks with multi‐cap growth
and momentum stocks. We also provide individuals with custom portfolios to meet their
personal investment strategies, designed to achieve each client’s unique financial goals.
In certain situations, a strategy we devise for a client may involve frequent trading, for
example, where a client wishes to maximize account cash flow and opportunities to realize
capital gains or to obtain higher income yielding bonds present themselves frequently. In
such cases our goal is to maximize return through trading, but clients must recognize that
frequent trading can negatively affect overall investment performance, particularly through
increased brokerage and other transaction costs and taxes.
In addition to purchasing and holding securities, we may recommend option writing
strategies such as covered calls. This strategy involves use of a call option written against an
existing position. The investment risk of a covered call option includes the risk of the price
of the underlying security rising above the option strike price plus option premium resulting
in a potential loss.
Finally, we may recommend the use of structured products to gain exposure to a specific
asset (e.g., one or more individual stocks) or asset type (e.g., US equity markets) without
purchasing that asset.
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Risk of Loss
We do not believe that our particular investment strategies, or the specific securities we
recommend to our clients, involve significant or unusual risks that are not inherent in
investing generally. However, all investments in securities involve a potential risk of loss of
principal (invested amount) and any profits that have not been realized (the securities were
not sold to “lock in” the profit), and we cannot guarantee any level of performance or that
you will not experience a loss of your account assets. Some, but certainly not all the
reasons for this inherent risk of any investing include the following:
• When interest rates rise, bond prices decline. Generally, long maturity bonds are
more volatile than short maturity bonds; low coupon bonds are more volatile than
high coupon bonds; low quality bonds may be more volatile than high quality bonds.
• Recession, depression, or other economic conditions
• Events such as a credit crisis, followed by prolonged periods of economic instability
or recession, which lead to:
o Significant or prolonged decline in the value of a particular security or group of
securities and impairment of assets
o Significant decline in investment income due to reduced or eliminated dividend
payouts from a particular security or group of securities
• Prolonged low interest rate environments or other factors that limit the ability to
generate growth in investment income, or interest rate fluctuations that result in
declining values of fixed maturity investments
• Actions of federal, state, or local governments or agencies defaulting on debt
obligations or threatening to do so, or raising taxes
• Adverse outcomes from legal or regulatory developments
• An event such as when the U.S. stock market declined from October 2007 into early
March 2009, and only U.S. Treasury Bills maintained their value as the
creditworthiness of assets around the world such as money funds, mortgages,
stocks, and bonds were called into question.
• Events or actions, including unauthorized intentional circumvention of controls,
which reduce a government’s, government agency’s, corporation’s, municipalities,
or money fund’s internal accounting controls.
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• Events such as an epidemic, natural catastrophe or terrorism that could hamper or
disrupt the operations of a government, government agency, corporation,
municipality, or money fund
• The investment risk of a covered call option includes the risk of the price of the
underlying security rising above the option strike price plus option premium
resulting in a potential loss.
Additionally, certain types of investments have specific risks including, but not limited to the
following:
• Foreign/International Equity – The value of foreign securities can be influenced by
currency volatility, higher transactions costs, geopolitical instability, difficulties in
obtaining financial information and possibly limited liquidity.
• Corporate and Government Bonds – Investing in bonds include the following risks:
o
Interest Rate Risk ‐ The value of bonds decline as interest rates increase and
vice versa.
o Credit Risk – A decline in the credit rating of the issuer often results in the
value of their issued bonds to decline.
o Duration Risk – The longer the duration (i.e., average maturity) of the bond,
the larger the decline in the value of a bond when interest rates rise.
• Options – Options are complex securities that involve risks and are not suitable for
everyone. Option trading can be speculative in nature and carry substantial risk of
loss. However, option investing can also be used to protect investment capital when
used as a hedging strategy.
An option is a contract that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to
buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price on or before a certain date (the
"expiration date"). Their two types of options are calls and puts:
o A call gives the holder the right to buy an asset at a certain price within a specific
period of time. Calls are similar to having a long position on a stock. Buyers of calls
hope that the stock will increase substantially before the option expires.
o A put gives the holder the right to sell an asset at a certain price within a specific
period of time. Puts are similar to having a short position on a
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stock. Buyers of puts hope that the price of the stock will fall before the
option expires.
Selling options is more complicated and can be even riskier. The option trading
risks pertaining to options buyers are:
o Risk of losing your entire investment in a relatively short period of time.
o The risk of losing your entire investment increases if, as expiration nears,
the stock is below the strike price of the call (for a call option) or if the
stock is higher than the strike price of the put (for a put option).
o European style options which do not have secondary markets on which to
sell the options prior to expiration can only realize their value upon
expiration.
o Specific exercise provisions of a specific option contract may create risks.
o Regulatory agencies may impose exercise restrictions, which stops you
from realizing value.
The option trading risks pertaining to options sellers are:
o Options sold may be exercised at any time before expiration.
o Covered Call traders forgo the right to profit when the underlying stock rises above
the strike price of the call options sold and continue to risk a loss due to a decline in
the underlying stock.
o Writers of Naked Calls risk unlimited losses if the underlying stock rises.
o Writers of Naked Puts risk unlimited losses if the underlying stock drops.
o Writers of naked positions run margin risks if the position goes into significant
losses. Such risks may include liquidation by the broker.
o Writers of call options can lose more money than a short seller of that stock on the
same rise on that underlying stock. This is an example of how the leverage in
options can work against the option trader.
o Writers of Naked Calls are obligated to deliver shares of the underlying stock if
those call options are exercised.
o Call options can be exercised outside of market hours such that effective remedy
actions cannot be performed by the writer of those options.
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o Writers of stock options are obligated under the options that they sold even if a
trading market is not available or that they are unable to perform a closing
transaction.
o The value of the underlying stock may surge or ditch unexpectedly, leading to
automatic exercises.
Other option trading risks include:
o The complexity of some option strategies is a significant risk on its own.
o Option trading exchanges or markets and option contracts themselves are open to
changes at all times.
o Options markets have the right to halt the trading of any options, thus preventing
investors from realizing value.
o Risk of erroneous reporting of exercise value.
o
If an options brokerage firm goes insolvent, investors trading through that firm may
be affected.
Internationally traded options have special risks due to timing across borders.
o
• Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) ‐ 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 ETF 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 of managing 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
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"closed end" or "open end". So‐called "open end" mutual funds continue to
allow in new investors indefinitely which can dilute other investors' interests.
Item 9 – Disciplinary Information
Registered investment advisers are required to disclose all material facts regarding any legal
or disciplinary events that would be material to a client’s evaluation of MBIA or the integrity
of our management. MBIA has no disciplinary information to disclose.
Neither the firm nor its management have been involved in administrative enforcement
proceedings.
Neither the firm nor its management have been involved in legal or disciplinary events
related to past or present investment clients.
Item 10 – Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
We are not a registered broker‐dealer, and none of our supervised persons or other
employees are registered representatives of any broker‐dealer firms. We have no affiliation
and will receive no compensation from:
Investment companies
•
• Other investment advisers
• Financial planning firms
• Banking or thrift institutions
• Law firms
• Pension consultants
• Real estate brokers or dealers
• Sponsors or syndicators of limited partnerships
Mr. Bain and Mr. Marty are owners of the certified public accounting firms Tax and Wealth Planning
Strategies, LLC, and MMB CPAs & Advisors, respectively. They do provide tax planning and
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preparation services mostly during the tax season.
Mr. Bain and Mr. Marty offer insurance services and sales. Mr. Bain offers these services through a
wholly owned business, Tax and Wealth Planning Strategies, LLC. Mr. Marty offers these services
through an independent insurance agency, Ted Marty & Associates, Inc., in which he is a
shareholder.
Item 11 – Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and
Personal Trading
As a matter of best practice, we have chosen to include a Code of Ethics as part of our
Policies and Procedures Manual. This Code of Ethics is designed to ensure we meet our
fiduciary obligation to our clients (and prospective clients) and to create a culture of
compliance within our firm. We will provide a copy of our Code of Ethics to any client or
prospective client at any time upon request.
Our Code is comprehensive, is distributed to each employee at the time of hire, and
annually thereafter (if there are changes). We also supplement the Code with annual
training and on‐going monitoring of employee activity.
Our Code includes the following:
• Requirements related to the confidentiality of your account information
• Prohibitions on:
o Insider trading (if we are in possession of material, non‐public information)
o The acceptance of gifts and entertainment that exceed our policy standards
• Reporting of gifts and business entertainment
• Pre‐clearance of employee and firm transactions
• Reporting (on an on‐going and quarterly basis) all personal securities transactions
(what we call “reportable securities” as mandated by regulation)
• On an annual basis, we require all employees to re‐certify to our Code, identify
members of their household and any account over which they have “beneficial
ownership” (i.e., an account they directly own or an account over which they have
authority to purchase and sell or vote the securities, securities held in certificate
form and all securities they own at that time).
Our Code does not prohibit personal trading by employees (or our firm). As you may
imagine, as a professional investment advisor, we follow our own advice. As a result, we
may simultaneously purchase or sell the same or similar securities (or securities that are
suitable for an employee or related account but not suitable for any client, including you) on
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the same terms as our clients. We recognize that there is a possibility that our firm or its
employees who trade in the same securities as clients might benefit from a client’s market
activity in that security. However, considering the relatively small volumes involved, we
believe it is unlikely to occur. Nevertheless, we attempt to minimize any such conflicts of
interest through the operation of our Code of Ethics, which requires all personal
transactions by our supervised persons to be reviewed and approved in advance, and
because any personal trading may only be conducted after client trading is completed.
Item 12 – Brokerage Practices
Broker‐Dealer Recommendations and Selection
For client assets not managed by a third‐party manager, we recommend that the client use
Charles Schwab or Morgan Stanley as the custodian. We recommend Charles Schwab and
Morgan Stanley because their trading platforms are robust and trading fees are competitive
and among the lowest in the industry.
Charles Schwab has agreed to reimburse us for certain expenses that MBIA might incur while
using their platform, provided we exceed various thresholds of assets custodied there. While
we do not choose brokers based solely on “soft dollar” benefits we might receive from them,
this does present a conflict of interest when recommending you use Charles Schwab as your
custodian.
For client assets managed by a third‐party manager, we recommend that the client use the
custodian recommended and used by the third‐party manager. The third‐party managers
we are currently using recommend UBS Financial Services, Inc and Charles Schwab.
If a client chooses to designate a specific broker‐dealer for the client’s transactions, we will
attempt to honor that designation. However, this may not be possible.
Brokerage For Client Referrals
Our broker selections and recommendations are not based upon client referrals we might
receive from brokerage firms. We do not compensate any broker/dealer firms for referrals.
Client Directed Brokerage
Our clients may, by written notice to us, direct that transactions for their account be placed
with specific brokers, dealers, or banks. We will attempt to honor such client requests but
that is not always possible. However, the client must recognize that any such direction may
result in the account paying higher brokerage commissions or receiving less favorable prices
than might otherwise be possible.
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Block Trading
From time to time, we may recommend the purchase or sale of a security by several of our
clients at the same point in time. This will provide an opportunity to obtain favorable
terms from a brokerage firm by grouping or “bunching” multiple trades together. In such
cases, we employ procedures designed to ensure that all our clients share the benefits of
such blocked trades on a pro rata basis. These procedures include:
• A requirement to document in advance all client accounts which will participate in a
block trade and the means of allocating available securities among our accounts (the
“Allocation Statement”).
• That all participating accounts will receive the same execution price or average share
price for all transactions made by M & B Investment Advisors, LLC in a particular
security on a particular day (subject to the differences caused using brokerage firms
specified by clients which may have their own differing fee schedules.)
• When block trades are filled in their entirety, they will be allocated as stated in the
advance Allocation Statement. If the order is only partially filled, it will be allocated
on a pro rata basis, or in the case of very small accounts or accounts with special
requirements (such as cash flow or tax exposure), on a de minimus basis in which
such accounts may receive a full allocation before other accounts are allocated on
the pro rata basis.
Item 13 – Review of Accounts
All accounts will be assigned to and reviewed formally by Kurt Mary (Owner), Lionel Bey
(Senior Portfolio Manager) or Michael W. Bain, Jr. (Chief Compliance Officer), monthly.
Each account will be reviewed by reviewing the percentage invested in each broad class of
assets (e.g., equities, fixed income, or temporary cash equivalents) to the total amount of
assets; reviewing the percentage that each security in a class is to the total assets in the
class; examining each asset in the account to see if the assets are believed to still be
allocated appropriately to best achieve the client's stated investment objectives within the
risk parameters that the client is willing to accept.
Our clients receive regular monthly brokerage statements from their chosen broker‐dealers.
We also conduct in‐person or telephone meetings with each of our clients on a monthly,
quarterly or semiannual basis, depending upon client needs, in which we personally review
their account status.
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Item 14 – Client Referrals and Other Compensation
We do not receive any compensation or economic benefits for providing investment advice
to our clients, other than the fees paid by the clients. We do not presently compensate any
third parties for referring clients to us.
Item 15 – Custody
We do not maintain custody of any client assets, except in the limited circumstances
described below. Clients must appoint an independent broker‐dealer, bank, or other
qualified custodian to hold and maintain their investment assets. All such custodians should
provide statements to the clients at least quarterly. We strongly urge you to carefully
review such statements and compare such official custodial records to the account
statements that we may provide to you. Our statements may vary from custodial
statements based on accounting procedures, reporting dates, or valuation methodologies of
certain securities.
Because some fees we bill quarterly in advance, we will receive fees from our clients prior
to the time they are earned by us by providing services for the quarter in question. The
unearned fees in our possession, which can be for up to three months, is a form of custody.
Likewise, in the case of clients who authorize us to directly debit their custodial accounts for
the payment of fees (see Item 5 above), our ability to do so is also a form of custody of
client funds. However, in both cases these practices are permitted by applicable federal
and state rules and therefore do not subject our firm to regulatory requirements applicable
to custodial investment advisers, such as the requirement to have and to provide to clients
an audited balance sheet each year.
Item 16 – Investment Discretion
We accept discretionary authority to manage accounts on behalf of our clients. This
authority is established by means of express language included in our portfolio
management agreement as well as through authorization forms required by the applicable
brokerage firms. Our clients do not customarily restrict our discretionary authority but are
free to do so if they wish.
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Item 17 – Voting Client Securities
We do not accept authority from our clients to vote on the securities they own, and we do
not, as a matter of course, advise our clients or take any other actions with respect to voting
client securities.
In most cases, clients will receive proxy or other solicitation materials directly from the
account custodian or transfer agent. In the event we were to receive any written or
electronic proxy or other solicitation materials, we would forward them directly to our
client by mail, unless the client has authorized our firm to contact them by electronic mail,
in which case, we would forward any such materials to our client via electronic mail.
Item 18 – Financial Information
MBIA is not required to disclose any financial information pursuant to this Item due to the
following:
• The firm does not require or solicit the prepayment of more than $500 in fees six
months or more in advance;
• The firm does not have a financial condition that is reasonably likely to impair its
ability to meet contractual commitments to clients; and
• The firm has not been the subject of a bankruptcy petition at any time during the
past ten years.
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