Paradigm Wealth Management, LLC

Paradigm Wealth Management, LLC 159 Crocker Park Blvd Suite 100 Westlake, OH 44145 Telephone: 440-892-5900 Facsimile: 440-848-8706 http://www.investpwm.com http://www.paradigmwealthmgmt.com March 9, 2026 FORM ADV PART 2A BROCHURE This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Paradigm Wealth Management, LLC. If you have any questions about the contents of this brochure, contact us at 440- 892-5900. 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 Paradigm Wealth Management, LLC is available on the SEC's website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. Paradigm Wealth Management, 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 the filing of our last annual updating amendment, dated March 6, 2025, we have 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 Requirements for State-Registered Advisers Item 20 Additional Information Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 6 Page 8 Page 8 Page 8 Page 13 Page 13 Page 14 Page 14 Page 16 Page 16 Page 17 Page 17 Page 17 Page 17 Page 18 Page 18 3  Item 4 Advisory Business Description of Firm Paradigm Wealth Management, LLC is a federal registered investment adviser based in Westlake, Ohio with a branch office in Chicago, Illinois. We are organized as a Limited Liability Company ("LLC") under the laws of the State of Ohio. We have been providing investment advisory services since 2008. We are primarily owned by Douglas Kuhlman. The following paragraphs describe our services and fees. 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 Paradigm Wealth Management, LLC and the words "you", "your" and "client" refer to you as either a client or prospective client of our firm. Portfolio Management Services We offer both discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management services to our clients. Our investment advice is tailored to meet our clients' needs and investment objectives. If you participate in our discretionary portfolio management services, we require you to grant our firm discretionary authority to manage your account. Discretionary authorization will allow us 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 and the appropriate trading authorization forms. You may limit our discretionary authority (for example, limiting the types of securities that can be purchased or sold for your account) by providing our firm with your restrictions and guidelines in writing. We also offer non-discretionary portfolio management services. Where we provide discretionary management services, our investment advice is tailored to meet our clients' needs and investment objectives. If you enter into non-discretionary arrangements with our firm, we must obtain your approval prior to executing any transactions on behalf of your account. You have an unrestricted right to decline to implement any advice provided by our firm on a non-discretionary basis. Financial Planning Services We offer financial planning services which typically involve providing a variety of advisory services to clients regarding the management of their financial resources based upon an analysis of their individual needs. These services can range from broad-based financial planning to consultative or single subject planning. If you retain our firm for financial planning services, we will meet with you to gather information about your financial circumstances and objectives. We may also use financial planning software to determine your current financial position and to define and quantify your long-term goals and objectives. Once we specify those long-term objectives (both financial and non-financial), we will develop shorter-term, targeted objectives. Once we review and analyze the information you provide to our firm and the data derived from our financial planning software, we will deliver a written plan to you, designed to help you achieve your stated financial goals and objectives. Financial plans are based on your financial situation at the time we present the plan to you, and on the financial information you provide to us. You must promptly notify our firm if your financial situation, goals, objectives or needs change. 4  You are under no obligation to act on our financial planning recommendations. Should you choose to act on any of our recommendations, you are not obligated to implement the financial plan through any of our other investment advisory services. Moreover, you may act on our recommendations by placing securities transactions with any brokerage firm. Participant Account Management (Discretionary) We use a third party platform called Pontera to facilitate management of held away assets such as defined contribution plan participant accounts, with discretion. Pontera allows us to avoid being considered to have custody of Client funds since we do not have direct access to Client log-in credentials to affect trades. We are not affiliated with the platform in any way and receive no compensation from them for using their platform. A link will be provided to the Client allowing them to connect an account(s) to the platform. Once Client account(s) is connected to the platform, Adviser will review the current account allocations. When deemed necessary, Adviser will rebalance the account considering client investment goals and risk tolerance, and any change in allocations will consider current economic and market trends. The goal is to improve account performance over time, minimize loss during difficult markets, and manage internal fees that harm account performance. Client account(s) will be reviewed at least quarterly and allocation changes will be made as deemed necessary. Selection of Other Advisers We may recommend that you use the services of a third party money manager ("MM") to manage all, or a portion of, your investment portfolio. After gathering information about your financial situation and objectives, we may recommend that you engage a specific MM or investment program. Factors that we take into consideration when making our recommendation(s) include, but are not limited to, the following: the MM's performance, methods of analysis, fees, your financial needs, investment goals, risk tolerance, and investment objectives. We will monitor the MM(s)' performance to ensure its management and investment style remains aligned with your investment goals and objectives. The MM(s) will actively manage your portfolio and will assume discretionary investment authority over your account. We will assume discretionary authority to hire and fire MM(s) and/or reallocate your assets to other MM(s) where we deem such action appropriate. Educational Seminars We may also provide investment-related educational seminars to plan participants on such topics as: • Diversification • Asset allocation • Risk tolerance • Time horizon However, we do not charge any fees for such educational seminars. Wrap Fee Program(s) We are not a portfolio manager to, nor sponsor of, a wrap fee program. Types of Investments We primarily offer advice on certificates of deposit, municipal securities, equities, mutual fund shares, exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), real estate investment trusts ("REITs") and options contracts on both securities and commodities. 5  Additionally, we may advise you on various types of investments 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. Assets Under Management As December 31, 2025, we provide continuous management services for $541,947,638 in client assets on a discretionary basis, and $21,456,366 in client assets on a non-discretionary basis. Item 5 Fees and Compensation Portfolio Management Services Our fee for portfolio management services is based on a percentage of your assets we manage and is set forth in the following fee schedule: Annual Fee Schedule Assets Under Management $0 - $500,000 $500,001 - $2,000,000 $2,000,001 -$5,000,000 $5,000,001 - $10,000,000 $10,000,001 and Above Annual Fee 1.00% 0.75% 0.65% 0.50% 0.30% No minimum amount is required to open an account. Our advisory fee is negotiable, depending on individual client circumstances. Our annual portfolio management fee is billed and payable quarterly in arrears based upon the average daily value in your account throughout the quarter. You may terminate the portfolio management agreement upon 30 days' written notice to our firm. 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. At our discretion, we may combine the account values of family members living in the same household to determine the applicable advisory fee. For example, we may combine account values for you and your minor children, joint accounts with your spouse and other types of related accounts. Combining account values may increase the asset total, which may result in your paying a reduced advisory fee based on the available breakpoints in our fee schedule stated above. We will send you an invoice for the payment of our advisory fee, or we will deduct our fee directly from your account through the qualified custodian holding your funds and securities. We will deduct our advisory fee only when you have given our firm written authorization permitting the fees to be paid directly from your account. Further, the qualified custodian will deliver an account statement to you at least quarterly. These account statements will show all disbursements from your account. You should review all statements for accuracy. Financial Planning Services 6  We charge an hourly fee of $200 for financial planning services, which is negotiable depending on the scope and complexity of the plan, your situation, and your financial objectives. An estimate of the total time/cost will be determined at the start of the advisory relationship. In limited circumstances, the cost/time could potentially exceed the initial estimate. In such cases, we will notify you and request that you approve the additional fee. The initial consultation and analysis for our financial planning services is complimentary. We request $500 of the hourly fee in advance and the remaining portion or our fees are due upon the completion of the services rendered. All financial planning services are rendered within six months of the initial consultation and analysis session. 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. At our discretion, we may offset our financial planning fees to the extent you implement the financial plan through our Portfolio Management Service. Selection of Other Advisers We will share in the advisory fee you pay directly to the MM, with the exception of certain portfolios managed by Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC and Neuberger Berman Group, LLC. Where either Boyd Watterson Asset Management, LLC or Neuberger Berman Group, LLC act as your MM, you may pay our advisory fee based upon our charges in the portfolio section above plus an advisory fee to the respective MM. Otherwise, advisory fees charged by MMs are separate and apart from our advisory fees. Advisory fees that you pay to the MM are established and payable in accordance with the brochure provided by each MM to whom you are referred. These fees may or may not be negotiable. Our compensation may differ depending upon the individual agreement we have with each MM. As such, a conflict of interest exists where our firm or persons associated with our firm has an incentive to recommend one MM over another MM with whom we have more favorable compensation arrangements or other advisory programs offered by MMs with whom we have less or no compensation arrangements. You should review the recommended MM's brochure and take into consideration the MM's fees along with our fees to determine the total amount of fees associated with this program. You may be required to sign an agreement directly with the recommended MM(s). You may terminate your advisory relationship with the MM according to the terms of your agreement with the MM. You should review each MM's brochure for specific information on how you may terminate your advisory relationship with the MM and how you may receive a refund, if applicable. You should contact the MM directly for questions regarding your advisory agreement with the MM. 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 ETFs. 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 ETFs (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, mark-ups, and/or brokerage fees when purchasing or selling securities or other types of investments such as certificates of deposit ("CDs"). These charges and fees are typically imposed by the broker-dealer or custodian through whom your account transactions are executed. We do not share in any portion of the brokerage fees, transaction 7  charges, or mark-ups 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, ETFs, our firm and others. For information on our brokerage practices, refer to the Brokerage Practices section of this brochure. Compensation for the Sale of Securities or Other Investment Products Persons providing investment advice on behalf of our firm are not compensated for the sale of securities or other investment products. We do not presently allow persons associated with our firm to engage in such outside business activities. Item 6 Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management We do not accept performance-based fees or participate in side-by-side management. Performance- based fees are fees that are based on a share of a capital gains or capital appreciation of a client's account. Side-by-side management refers to the practice of managing accounts that are charged performance-based fees while at the same time managing accounts that are not charged performance- based fees. Our fees are calculated as described in the Fee and Compensation section above, and are not charged on the basis of a share of capital gains upon, or capital appreciation of, the funds in your advisory account. Item 7 Types of Clients We offer investment advisory services to individuals, including high net worth individuals, and charitable organizations. In general, we do not require a minimum dollar amount to open and maintain an advisory account; however, we have the right to terminate your Account if it falls below a minimum size which, in our sole opinion, is too small to manage effectively. We may also combine account values for you and your minor children, joint accounts with your spouse, and other types of related accounts to meet the stated minimum. Item 8 Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss We will use one or more of the following methods of analysis or investment strategies when providing investment advice to you: Charting Analysis - involves the gathering and processing of price and volume pattern information for a particular security, sector, broad index or commodity. This price and volume pattern information is analyzed. The resulting pattern and correlation data is used to detect departures from expected performance and diversification and predict future price movements and trends. • Risk: Our charting analysis may not accurately detect anomalies or predict future price movements. Current prices of securities may reflect all information known about the security and day-to-day changes in market prices of securities may follow random patterns and may not be predictable with any reliable degree of accuracy. Technical Analysis - involves studying past price patterns, trends and interrelationships in the financial markets to assess risk-adjusted performance and predict the direction of both the overall market and specific securities. • Risk: The risk of market timing based on technical analysis is that our analysis may not 8  accurately detect anomalies or predict future price movements. Current prices of securities may reflect all information known about the security and day-to-day changes in market prices of securities may follow random patterns and may not be predictable with any reliable degree of accuracy. Fundamental Analysis - involves analyzing individual companies and their industry groups, such as a company's financial statements, details regarding the company's product line; the experience and expertise of the company's management; and the outlook for the company and its industry. The resulting data is used to measure the true value of the company's stock compared to the current market value. • Risk: The risk of fundamental analysis is that information obtained may be incorrect and the analysis may not provide an accurate estimate of earnings, which may be the basis for a stock's value. If securities prices adjust rapidly to new information, utilizing fundamental analysis may not result in favorable performance. Cyclical Analysis - a type of technical analysis that involves evaluating recurring price patterns and trends. Economic/business cycles may not be predictable and may have many fluctuations between long-term expansions and contractions. • Risk: The lengths of economic cycles may be difficult to predict with accuracy, and therefore, the risk of cyclical analysis is the difficulty in predicting economic trends and consequently the changing value of securities that would be affected by these changing trends. Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) - a theory of investment which attempts to maximize portfolio expected return for a given amount of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected return, by carefully diversifying the proportions of various assets. • Risk: Market risk is that part of a security's risk that is common to all securities of the same general class (stocks and bonds) and thus cannot be eliminated by diversification. Long-Term Purchases - securities purchased with the expectation that the value of those securities will grow over a relatively long period of time, generally greater than one year. • Risk: Using a long-term purchase strategy generally assumes the financial markets will go up in the long-term which may not be the case. There is also the risk that the segment of the market that you are invested in or perhaps just your particular investment will go down over time even if the overall financial markets advance. Purchasing investments long-term may create an opportunity cost - "locking-up" assets that may be better utilized in the short-term in other investments. 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. • Risk: If the value of the shares drops sufficiently, the investor will be required to either deposit more cash into the account or sell a portion of the stock in order to maintain the margin requirements of the account. This is known as a "margin call." An investor's overall risk includes the amount of money invested plus the amount that was loaned to them. 9  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. • Risk: 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. 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. We will not perform quantitative or qualitative analysis of individual securities. Instead, we will advise you on how to allocate your assets among various classes of securities or third party MMs. We primarily rely on investment model portfolios and strategies developed by the third party MMs and their portfolio managers. We may replace/recommend replacing a third party MM if there is a significant deviation in characteristics or performance from the stated strategy and/or benchmark. Tax Considerations Our strategies and investments may have unique and significant tax implications. However, unless we specifically agree otherwise, and in writing, tax efficiency is not our primary consideration in the management of your assets. Regardless of your account size or any other factors, we strongly recommend that you consult with a tax professional regarding the investing of your assets. Moreover, custodians and broker-dealers must report the cost basis of equities acquired in client accounts on or after January 1, 2011. Your custodian will default to the FIFO (First-In First-Out) accounting method for calculating the cost basis of your investments. You are responsible for contacting your tax advisor to determine if this accounting method is the right choice for you. If your tax advisor believes another accounting method is more advantageous, provide written notice to our firm immediately and we will alert your account custodian of your individually selected accounting method. Decisions about cost basis accounting methods will need to be made before trades settle, as the cost basis method cannot be changed after settlement. Risk of Loss Investing in securities involves risk of loss that you should be prepared to bear. We do not represent or guarantee that our services or methods of analysis can or will predict future results, successfully identify market tops or bottoms, or insulate clients from losses due to market corrections or declines. We cannot offer any guarantees or promises that your financial goals and objectives will be met. Past performance is in no way an indication of future performance. Recommendation of Particular Types of Securities We primarily recommend certificates of deposit, municipal securities, equities, mutual fund shares, ETFs, REITs and options contracts on both securities and commodities. However, we may advise on other types of investments as appropriate for you since each client has different needs and different tolerance for risk. Each type of security has its own unique set of risks associated with it and it would not be possible to list here all of the specific risks of every type of investment. Even within the same type of investment, risks can vary widely. However, in very general terms, the higher the anticipated return of an investment, the higher the risk of loss associated with the investment. 10  Certificates of Deposit: Certificates of deposit are generally the safest type of investment since they are insured by the federal government up to a certain amount. However, because the returns are generally very low, it is possible for inflation to outpace the return. Like US Government securities, certificates of deposits are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, but it is also possible for the rate of inflation to exceed the returns. Municipal Securities: Municipal securities, while generally thought of as safe, can have significant risks associated with them including, but not limited to: the credit worthiness of the governmental entity that issues the bond; the stability of the revenue stream that is used to pay the interest to the bondholders; when the bond is due to mature; and, whether or not the bond can be "called" prior to maturity. When a bond is called, it may not be possible to replace it with a bond of equal character paying the same amount of interest or yield to maturity. Stocks: There are numerous ways of measuring the risk of equity securities (also known simply as "equities" or "stock"). In very broad terms, the value of a stock depends on the financial health of the company issuing it. However, stock prices can be affected by many other factors including, but not limited to the class of stock (e.g., preferred or common); the health of the market sector of the issuing company; and, the overall health of the economy. In general, larger, better established companies ("large cap") tend to be safer than smaller start-up companies ("small cap") are but the mere size of an issuer is not, by itself, an indicator of the safety of the investment. Mutual Funds and ETFs: Mutual funds and ETFs are professionally managed collective investment systems that pool money from many investors and invest in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, other mutual funds, other securities or any combination thereof. The fund will have a manager that trades the fund's investments in accordance with the fund's investment objective. While mutual funds and ETFs generally provide diversification, risks can be significantly increased if the fund is concentrated in a particular sector of the market, primarily invests in small cap or speculative companies, uses leverage (i.e., borrows money) to a significant degree, or concentrates in a particular type of security (i.e., equities) rather than balancing the fund with different types of securities. ETFs differ from mutual funds since they can be bought and sold throughout the day like stock and their price can fluctuate throughout the day. The returns on mutual funds and ETFs can be reduced by the costs to manage the funds. Also, while some mutual funds are "no load" and charge no fee to buy into, or sell out of, the fund, other types of mutual funds do charge such fees which can also reduce returns. Mutual funds can also be "closed end" or "open end". So-called "open end" mutual funds continue to allow in new investors indefinitely whereas "closed end" funds have a fixed number of shares to sell which can limit their availability to new investors. REITs: A real estate investment trust or REIT is a corporate entity which invests in real estate and/or engages in real estate financing. A REIT reduces or eliminates corporate income taxes. REITs can be publicly or privately held. Public REITs may be listed on public stock exchanges. REITs are required to declare 90% of their taxable income as dividends, but they actually pay dividends out of funds from operations, so cash flow has to be strong or the REIT must either dip into reserves, borrow to pay dividends, or distribute them in stock (which causes dilution). After 2012, the IRS will stop permitting stock dividends. Most REITs must refinance or erase large balloon debts this year and next. The credit markets are no longer frozen, but banks are demanding, and getting, harsher terms to re-extend REIT debt. Some REITs may be forced to make secondary stock offerings to repay debt, which will lead to additional dilution of the stockholders. Fluctuations in the real estate market can affect the REIT's value and dividends. 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. It is generally recommended that you only invest in options with risk capital. An option is a contract that gives the buyer the right, but not 11  the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price on or before a certain date (the "expiration date"). Options are traded on an exchange and are not issued by any company. Also, the lifetime of a typical option is measured in months. The two types of options are calls and puts: 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. A put gives the holder the right to sell an asset at a certain price within a specific period of time. Puts are very similar to having a short position on a 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: • Risk of losing your entire investment in a relatively short period of time. • 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). • European style options which do not have secondary markets on which to sell the options prior to expiration can only realize its value upon expiration. • Specific exercise provisions of a specific option contract may create risks. • Regulatory agencies may impose exercise restrictions, which stops you from realizing value. The option trading risks pertaining to options sellers are: • Options sold may be exercised at any time before expiration. • Covered call traders forgo the right to profit when the underlying stock rises above the strike price of the call options sold and continues to risk a loss due to a decline in the underlying stock. • Writers of naked calls risk unlimited losses if the underlying stock rises. • Writers of naked puts risk unlimited losses if the underlying stock drops. • Writers of naked positions run margin risks if the position goes into significant losses. Such risks may include liquidation by the broker. • Writers of call options could lose more money than a short seller of that stock could on the same rise on that underlying stock. This is an example of how the leverage in options can work against the option trader. • Writers of naked calls are obligated to deliver shares of the underlying stock if those call options are exercised. • Call options can be exercised outside of market hours such that effective remedy actions cannot be performed by the writer of those options. • 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. • The value of the underlying stock may surge or ditch unexpectedly, leading to automatic exercises. Other option trading risks are: • The complexity of some option strategies is a significant risk on its own. • Option trading exchanges or markets and option. contracts themselves are open to changes at all times. • Options markets have the right to halt the trading of any options, thus preventing investors from realizing value. • Risk of erroneous reporting of exercise value. 12  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. • • Risks that are not specific to options trading include market risk, sector risk and individual stock risk. Option trading risks are closely related to stock risks, as stock options are a derivative of stocks. Margin: Buying on margin means borrowing money from a broker to purchase stock. Margin trading allows you to buy more stock than you would be able to normally. An initial investment of at least $2,000 is required for a margin account, though some brokerages require more. This deposit is known as the minimum margin. Once the account is opened and operational, you can borrow up to 50% of the purchase price of a stock. This portion of the purchase price that you deposit is known as the initial margin. Some brokerages require you to deposit more than 50% of the purchase price. Not all stocks qualify to be bought on margin. When you sell the stock in a margin account, the proceeds go to your broker against the repayment of the loan until it is fully paid. There is also a restriction called the maintenance margin, which is the minimum account balance you must maintain before your broker will force you to deposit more funds or sell stock to pay down your loan. When this happens, it is known as a margin call. If for any reason you do not meet a margin call, the brokerage has the right to sell your securities to increase your account equity until you are above the maintenance margin. Additionally, your broker may not be required to consult you before selling. Under most margin agreements, a firm can sell your securities without waiting for you to meet the margin call and you cannot control which stock is sold to cover the margin call. You also have to pay the interest on your loan. The interest charges are applied to your account unless you decide to make payments. Over time, your debt level increases as interest charges accrue against you. As debt increases, the interest charges increase, and so on. Therefore, buying on margin is mainly used for short-term investments. The longer you hold an investment, the greater the return that is needed to break even. In volatile markets, prices can fall very quickly and you can lose more money than you have invested. Item 9 Disciplinary Information We are required to disclose the facts of any legal or disciplinary events that are material to a client's evaluation of our advisory business or the integrity of our management. We do not have any required disclosures under this item. Item 10 Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations We have not provided information on other financial industry activities and affiliations because we do not have any relationship or arrangement that is material to our advisory business or to our clients with 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. 11.sponsor or syndicator of limited partnerships. 13  Neither our firm nor any management persons are registered, or have an application pending to register, as a securities broker-dealer, futures commission merchant, commodity pool operator, a commodity trading advisor or an associated person of the foregoing entities. Recommendation of Other Advisers We may recommend that you use a third party MM based on your needs and suitability. We will receive compensation from the MM 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 MM we recommend. 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 persons associated with our firm. 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 persons associated with our firm are expected to adhere strictly to these guidelines. 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. Clients or prospective clients may obtain a copy of our Code of Ethics by contacting us at the telephone number on the cover page of this brochure. Participation or Interest in Client Transactions Neither our firm nor any persons associated with our firm has any material financial interest in client transactions beyond the provision of investment advisory services as disclosed in this brochure. Personal Trading Practices Our firm or persons associated with our firm may buy or sell the same securities that we recommend to you or securities in which you are already invested. A conflict of interest exists in such cases because we have the ability to trade ahead of you and potentially receive more favorable prices than you will receive. To mitigate this conflict of interest, it is our policy that neither our firm nor persons associated with our firm shall have priority over your account in the purchase or sale of securities. Block Trading Our firm or persons associated with our firm may not buy or sell securities for you at the same time we or persons associated with our firm buy or sell such securities for our own account. Refer to the Brokerage Practices section in this brochure for information on our block trading practices. Item 12 Brokerage Practices The Custodians and Brokers we use We recommend the brokerage and custodial services of Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Custodian"). In all cases, the recommended Custodian is a securities broker- dealer and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. We believe that the recommended Custodian provides quality execution 14  services for you at competitive prices. Price is not the sole factor we consider in evaluating best execution. We also consider the quality of the brokerage services provided by the Custodian, including the value of the Custodian's reputation, execution capabilities, commission rates and responsiveness to our clients and our firm. In recognition of the value of the services the Custodian provides, you may pay higher commissions and/or trading costs than those that may be available elsewhere. We are independently owned and operated and are not affiliated with Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC or Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab"). The Custodian will hold your assets in a brokerage account and buy and sell securities when we instruct them to. While we recommend that you use Fidelity Brokerage Services or Schwab as custodian/broker, you will decide whether to do so and will open your account directly with the Custodian by entering into an account agreement directly with them. Research and Other Soft Dollar Benefits We do not have any soft dollar arrangements. Economic Benefits As a registered investment adviser, we have access to the institutional platform of your account custodian. As such, we will also have access to research products and services from your account custodian and/or other brokerage firm. These products may include financial publications, information about particular companies and industries, research software and other products or services that provide lawful and appropriate assistance to our firm in the performance of our investment decision- making responsibilities. Such research products and services are provided to all investment advisers that utilize the institutional services platforms of these firms, and are not considered to be paid for with soft dollars. However, you should be aware that the commissions charged by a particular broker for a particular transaction or set of transactions may be greater than the amounts another broker who did not provide research services or products might charge. 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 Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC or Schwab. 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 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 not participate in block trading with your accounts. 15  We combine multiple orders for shares of the same securities purchased for discretionary accounts; however, we do not combine orders for non-discretionary accounts. Accordingly, non-discretionary accounts may pay different costs than discretionary accounts pay. If you enter into non-discretionary arrangements with our firm, we may not be able to buy and sell the same quantities of securities for you and you may pay higher commissions, fees and/or transaction costs than clients who enter into discretionary arrangements with our firm. Item 13 Review of Accounts Douglas Kuhlman, Managing Partner, will monitor your accounts on an ongoing basis and will conduct account reviews at least quarterly, to ensure the advisory services provided to you are consistent with your investment needs and objectives. Additional reviews may be conducted based on various circumstances, including, but not limited to: • contributions and withdrawals, • year-end tax planning, • market moving events, • security specific events, and/or, • changes in your risk/return objectives. We will provide you with additional or regular written reports in conjunction with account reviews. Reports we provide to you will contain relevant account and/or market-related information such as an inventory of account holdings and account performance, etc. You will receive trade confirmations and monthly or quarterly statements from your account custodian(s). Douglas Kuhlman, Managing Partner, will review financial plans as needed, depending on the arrangements made with you at the inception of your advisory relationship. These reviews are designed to ensure that the advice provided is consistent with your investment needs and objectives. Generally, we will contact you periodically to determine whether any updates may be needed based on changes in your circumstances. Changed circumstances may include, but are not limited to marriage, divorce, birth, death, inheritance, lawsuit, retirement, job loss and/or disability, among others. We recommend meeting with you at least annually to review and update your plan if needed. Additional reviews will be conducted upon your request. Such reviews and updates may be subject to our then current hourly or fixed rate. Written updates to the financial plan will be provided in conjunction with the review. If you implement financial planning advice, you will receive trade confirmations and monthly or quarterly statements from relevant custodians. Item 14 Client Referrals and Other Compensation We do not receive any compensation from any third party in connection with providing investment advice to you nor do we compensate any individual or firm for client referrals. Refer to the Brokerage Practices section above for disclosures on research and other benefits we may receive resulting from our relationship with your account custodian and from discount brokers in connection with utilizing their brokerage services. 16  Item 15 Custody As paying agent for our firm, your independent custodian will 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 qualified custodian. You will receive account statements from the qualified custodian(s) holding your funds and securities at least quarterly. The account statements from your custodian(s) will indicate the amount of our advisory fees deducted from your account(s) each billing period. You should carefully review account statements for accuracy. If you have a question regarding your account statement, or if you did not receive a statement from your custodian, contact us immediately at the telephone number on the cover page of this brochure. Item 16 Investment Discretion Before we can buy or sell securities on your behalf, you must first sign our discretionary management agreement and the appropriate trading authorization forms. You may grant our firm discretion over the selection and amount of securities to be purchased or sold for your account(s) 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. Refer to the Advisory Business section in this brochure for more information on our discretionary management services. If you enter into non-discretionary arrangements with our firm, we will obtain your approval prior to the execution of any transactions for your account(s). You have an unrestricted right to decline to implement any advice provided by our firm on a non-discretionary basis. Item 17 Voting Client Securities We will not vote proxies on behalf of your advisory accounts. At your request, we may offer you advice regarding corporate actions and the exercise of your proxy voting rights. If you own shares of applicable securities, you are responsible for exercising your right to vote as a shareholder. In most cases, you will receive proxy materials directly from the account custodian. However, in the event we were to receive any written or electronic proxy materials, we would forward them directly to you by mail, unless you have authorized our firm to contact you by electronic mail, in which case, we would forward any electronic solicitation to vote proxies. Item 18 Financial Information Our firm does not have any financial condition or impairment that would prevent us from meeting our contractual commitments to you. We do not take physical custody of client funds or securities, or serve as trustee or signatory for client accounts, and, we do not require the prepayment of more than $1,200 in fees six or more months in advance nor have we filed a bankruptcy petition at any time in the past ten years. Therefore, we are not required to include a financial statement with this brochure. 17  Item 19 Requirements for State-Registered Advisers We are a federally registered investment adviser; therefore, we are not required to respond to this item. Item 20 Additional Information Your Privacy We view protecting your private information as a top priority. Pursuant to applicable privacy requirements, we have instituted policies and procedures to ensure that we keep your personal information private and secure. We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about you to any non-affiliated 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. We restrict internal access to nonpublic personal information about you to employees, who need that information in order to provide products or services to you. We maintain physical and procedural safeguards that comply with regulatory standards to guard your nonpublic personal information and to ensure our integrity and confidentiality. We will not sell information about you or your accounts to anyone. We do not share your information unless it is required to process a transaction, at your request, or required by law. You will receive a copy of our privacy notice prior to or at the time you sign an advisory agreement with our firm. Thereafter, we will deliver a copy of the current privacy policy notice to you on an annual basis. Contact our main office at the telephone number on the cover page of this brochure 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. Class Action Lawsuits We do not determine if securities held by you are the subject of a class action lawsuit or whether you are eligible to participate in class action settlements or litigation nor do we initiate or participate in litigation to recover damages on your behalf for injuries as a result of actions, misconduct or negligence by issuers of securities held by you. 18