Overview
Assets Under Management: $200 million
Headquarters: COCONUT CREEK, FL
High-Net-Worth Clients: 27
Average Client Assets: $6 million
Services Offered
Services: Financial Planning, Portfolio Management for Individuals
Fee Structure
Primary Fee Schedule (UTOPIA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC ADV DISCLOSURE BROCHURE)
| Min | Max | Marginal Fee Rate |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $2,000,000 | 1.00% |
| $2,000,001 | $7,000,000 | 0.85% |
| $7,000,001 | and above | 0.65% |
Illustrative Fee Rates
| Total Assets | Annual Fees | Average Fee Rate |
|---|---|---|
| $1 million | $10,000 | 1.00% |
| $5 million | $45,500 | 0.91% |
| $10 million | $82,000 | 0.82% |
| $50 million | $342,000 | 0.68% |
| $100 million | $667,000 | 0.67% |
Clients
Number of High-Net-Worth Clients: 27
Percentage of Firm Assets Belonging to High-Net-Worth Clients: 81.84
Average High-Net-Worth Client Assets: $6 million
Total Client Accounts: 188
Discretionary Accounts: 188
Regulatory Filings
CRD Number: 300266
Last Filing Date: 2025-01-28 00:00:00
Website: https://utopiawealth.com
Form ADV Documents
Additional Brochure: UTOPIA WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC ADV DISCLOSURE BROCHURE (2025-09-29)
View Document Text
INSERT LOGO
Utopia Wealth Management, LLC
6810 N. State Rd. 7
Coconut Creek, FL 33073
Telephone: (754) 264-4778
www.utopiawealth.com
September 29, 2025
FORM ADV PART 2A
BROCHURE
This brochure provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Utopia Wealth
Management, LLC. If you have any questions about the contents of this brochure, contact us at
(754) 264-4778. 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 Utopia Wealth Management, LLC is available on the SEC's website at
www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. The searchable CRD number for Utopia Wealth Management, LLC is:
300266.
Utopia 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.
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Item 2 Summary of Material Changes
Form ADV Part 2 requires registered investment advisers to amend their brochure when information
becomes materially inaccurate. If there are any material changes to an adviser's disclosure brochure,
the adviser is required to notify you and provide you with a description of the material changes.
Since our last annual updating amendment, dated January 29, 2024, we have no material changes to
report.
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Item 3 Table of Contents
Item 1 Cover Page
Item 2 Summary of Material Changes
Item 3 Table of Contents
Item 4 Advisory Business
Item 5 Fees and Compensation
Item 6 Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management
Item 7 Types of Clients
Item 8 Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss
Item 9 Disciplinary Information
Item 10 Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations
Item 11 Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading
Item 12 Brokerage Practices
Item 13 Review of Accounts
Item 14 Client Referrals and Other Compensation
Item 15 Custody
Item 16 Investment Discretion
Item 17 Voting Client Securities
Item 18 Financial Information
Item 19 Requirements for State-Registered Advisers
Item 20 Additional Information
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Item 4 Advisory Business
Description of Firm
Utopia Wealth Management, LLC is a registered investment adviser primarily based in South Florida.
We are organized as a limited liability company ("LLC") under the laws of the State of Florida. We have
been providing investment advisory services since 2019. Nicholas Chiricosta is the Managing Member
and Sole Owner of our firm.
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 Utopia Wealth Management,
LLC and the words "you," "your," and "client" refer to you as either a client or prospective client of our
firm.
Types of Advisory Services
Utopia Wealth Management provides personalized holistic financial planning and portfolio
management services to individuals, retirement plans, trusts, estates and charitable organizations, with
a particular focus on business owners and executives. Advice is provided through consultation with the
client and may include: assessing existing financial assets, cash flow and liabilities, budgeting,
determination of financial goals and objectives, investment management, equity compensation (stock
options and restricted stock units), hedging strategies, tax planning, insurance review, education
funding, retirement planning, estate planning, charitable giving, and working with client's other
professional advisors.
Utopia Wealth Management acts in a fiduciary capacity with its clients, which means that at all times
we owe to our clients the highest legal duty of good faith and trust. As a fiduciary we are bound
ethically to act in our client's best interests and our objective must be fully aligned with our clients'
financial best interests. Any conflicts of interest will be disclosed to the client in the unlikely event they
should occur.
Utopia Wealth Management does not act as a custodian of client assets. Client assets are always held
at an independent third-party custodian, which in most cases is at Charles Schwab & Co.
Utopia Wealth Management takes the time necessary to understand each client and their family
dynamics and endeavors in efforts to provide each client with the highest level of personal care.
Importantly, within this context we monitor the changing needs of each client and strive to proactively
address all relevant financial and investment matters. In an effort to build client relationships that are
multi-generational, our clients' needs and interests are of paramount importance.
Advisory services are provided under the terms of a written advisory agreement executed by Utopia
Wealth Management and the client.
Portfolio Management Services
Utopia Wealth Management offers portfolio management services for clients within the larger context
of an overall disciplined financial planning and wealth management process. Portfolio management
services consist of ongoing financial advice and discretionary portfolio management services where
investment advice is tailored to meet your individual circumstances and investment objectives. These
services include an initial discovery consultation, ongoing review consultations and specialized follow-
up consultations, as may be agreed, to discuss your unique financial situation and changing needs
over time.
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Once we construct an investment portfolio for you, we will monitor your portfolio's performance on an
ongoing basis and will rebalance the portfolio as appropriate. Clients are required to notify our firm
immediately if their financial circumstances and/or investment objectives change from what has
already been disclosed to our firm.
In order to provide discretionary portfolio management services, we require you to grant our firm
discretionary authority to manage your account. Discretionary authorization allows us to determine the
specific type and quantity of securities to be purchased or sold for your account without your approval
prior to each transaction. In limited circumstances, and only upon our approval, we may accept client
imposed restrictions on investing in certain specific securities or types of securities.
As part of our portfolio management services, in addition to other types of investments (see
disclosures below in this section), we may invest your assets according to one or more
model portfolios developed by an unaffiliated investment manager. These models are designed for
investors with varying degrees of risk tolerance ranging from a more aggressive investment strategy to
a more conservative investment approach. Clients whose assets are invested in model portfolios may
not set restrictions on the specific holdings or allocations within the model, nor the types of securities
that can be purchased in the model. Nonetheless, clients may impose restrictions on investing in
certain securities or types of securities in their account. In such cases, this may prevent a client from
investing in certain models that are managed by our firm.
Financial Planning Services
Utopia Wealth Management offers holistic financial planning and consulting services that typically
involve a variety of advisory services regarding the management of the client's 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. In general, financial planning and consulting will
address any or all of the following areas of concern: Business Planning, Cash Flow and Debt
Management, College Savings, Employee Benefits Optimization, Stock Options and Equity
Compensation, Estate Planning, Financial Goals, Insurance, Investment Analysis, Retirement
Planning, Risk Management, Tax Planning Strategies. If you retain our firm for financial planning
services, we will meet with you to gather information about your financial circumstances and
objectives. As required, we will conduct follow-up interviews for the purpose of reviewing and/or
collecting additional financial data. Once such information has been reviewed and analyzed, we will
provide you with our financial planning recommendations designed to help you achieve your stated
financial goals 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 planning recommendations are based on your financial situation at the time we provide our
recommendations, and on the financial information you provide to our firm. You have the right to
accept or reject our financial planning recommendations, and you may choose any firm to assist you
with implementing our recommendations.
Clients will be taken through establishing their financial goals and values around money. As part of our
services, clients may engage Utopia Wealth Management to prepare a written financial plan, which
may include: a net worth statement; a cash flow statement; an investment policy statement; a review of
investment objectives, investment experience/knowledge, a review of investment accounts, including
reviewing asset allocation and providing recommendations; strategic tax planning; a review of
retirement accounts and recommendations for changes, if necessary; a review of insurance policies
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and recommendations for changes, if necessary; a review of equity compensation; one or more
retirement scenarios; estate planning review and recommendations; and education planning with
funding recommendations.
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.
Estate Planning Services
Through our partnership with an independent third-party technology company, Wealth, Inc.
("Wealth.com"), we can facilitate the preparation of various estate planning documents for clients. Such
services are generally separate from any investment management and/or financial planning services
that we may render to a client, and the exact scope of such estate planning services will depend on the
nature of a client's specific estate planning needs. As a condition of utilizing Wealth, you must agree to
the terms and conditions, available at www.wealth.com.
We may pay for your access to Wealth. For the avoidance of doubt, neither Utopia nor Wealth.com
renders legal advice or services. Wealth.com offers the ability to consult with licensed attorneys in
various jurisdictions at an additional charge, and subject to additional terms and conditions.
Ongoing Wealth Consulting Services
We offer ongoing wealth consulting services that primarily involve advising clients on specific financial-
related topics. The topics we address may include, but are not limited to, risk
assessment/management, investment planning, financial organization, or financial decision
making/negotiation.
Wrap Fee Programs
We do not participate in, sponsor or manage any wrap fee program.
Types of Investments
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. Some of the
security types we offer advice on include equity securities, corporate debt securities (other than
commercial paper), certificates of deposit, municipal securities, mutual fund shares, United States
government securities, money market funds, real estate investment trusts ("REITs") and exchange
traded funds ("ETFs"). Refer to the Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of
Loss below for additional disclosures on this topic.
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.
IRA Rollover Recommendations
Effective December 20, 2021 (or such later date as the US Department of Labor ("DOL") Field
Assistance Bulletin 2018-02 ceases to be in effect), for purposes of complying with the DOL's
Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 ("PTE 2020-02") where applicable, we are providing the
following acknowledgment to you. When we provide investment advice to you regarding your
retirement plan account or individual retirement account, we are fiduciaries within the meaning of Title I
of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable,
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which are laws governing retirement accounts. The way we make money creates some conflicts with
your interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best interest and not
put our interest ahead of yours. Under this special rule's provisions, we must:
• Meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (give prudent
advice);
• Never put our financial interests ahead of yours when making recommendations (give loyal
advice);
• Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in your best
interest;
• Charge no more than is reasonable for our services; and
• Give you basic information about conflicts of interest.
We benefit financially from the rollover of your assets from a retirement account to an account that we
manage or provide investment advice, because the assets increase our assets under management
and, in turn, our advisory fees. As a fiduciary, we only recommend a rollover when we believe it is in
your best interest.
Assets Under Management
As of January 21, 2025, we provide continuous management services for $199,644,364 in client assets
on a discretionary basis.
Item 5 Fees and Compensation
Portfolio Management Services
We offer our portfolio management services based on the fee arrangement that is in your best
interests. The following are the two levels of fees offered by our firm.
Annual Fee Schedule
Blended Equities & Bonds
Assets Under Management
First $2,000,000
Annual Fee
1.00%
Next $5,000,000
0.85%
Over $7,000,000
0.65%
Annual Fee Schedule
Fixed Income
Assets Under Management
First $10,000,000
Annual Fee
0.40%
Next $15,000,000
0.30%
Over $25,000,000
0.20%
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Legacy fee arrangements may differ from the current fee schedule in terms of asset breakpoints, fee
percentages, or billing frequency. These legacy rates will remain in effect unless and until the client
and our firm mutually agree to transition to the current fee schedule. We believe maintaining legacy
rates for existing clients is in their best interests and reflects our commitment to honoring previously
agreed-upon terms.
Our annual portfolio management fee is billed and payable either monthly or quarterly or semi-annually
in arrears, based on the balance at end of billing period.
For new clients, if the portfolio management agreement is initially executed at any time other than the
first day of a calendar month or 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 month or the quarter
for which you are a client. Our advisory fee is negotiable, depending on individual client
circumstances. For existing clients, adjustments will be made for all deposits and withdrawals made
during each billing period. When calculating fees, we take the exact number of days in the billing
period divided by 365 and multiply the amount by the Annual Rate and we will exclude accrued interest
from the calculation. Additionally, when calculating prorated fees, we calculate the effective rate based
on the billable balance as of the billing date.
E.g., 1% Annual Rate, Billing Frequency Quarterly 90 (number of days in current quarter) / 365 * 1% =
0.246% Effective Rate
With client authorization and unless other arrangements are made, fees are normally debited directly
from client account(s). 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 deduct our fee directly from your account through the qualified custodian holding your funds
and securities. We will deduct our advisory fee only when the following requirements are met:
• You provide our firm with written authorization permitting the fees to be paid directly from your
account held by the qualified custodian.
• The qualified custodian agrees to send you a statement, at least quarterly, indicating all
amounts disbursed from your account including the amount of the advisory fee paid directly to
our firm.
We encourage you to reconcile our invoices with the statement(s) you receive from the qualified
custodian. If you find any inconsistent information between our invoice and the statement(s) you
receive from the qualified custodian, call our main office number located on the cover page of this
brochure.
You may terminate the portfolio management agreement upon 30 days written notice. 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.
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Financial Planning Services
We charge an hourly fee of $250 for financial planning services, (minimum 10 hour retainer) 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.
We also offer advice on single subject financial planning/general consulting services at the same
hourly rate.
Our financial planning services fee is negotiable, depending on individual client circumstances.
We will not require prepayment of a fee more than six months in advance and in excess of $1,200.
Where clients have engaged Utopia Wealth Management for financial planning services and
subsequently engage Utopia Wealth Management to provide ongoing portfolio management services,
the Financial Planning fee will be credited towards the client's portfolio management fees incurred
during the first year of engagement.
You may terminate the financial planning agreement upon 30 days written notice to our firm. If you
have pre-paid financial planning fees that we have not yet earned, you will receive a prorated refund of
those fees. If financial planning fees are payable in arrears, you will be responsible for a prorated fee
based on services performed prior to termination of the financial planning agreement.
Estate Planning Services
We provide clients with complimentary access to estate planning tools through a third-party technology
provider, Wealth, Inc. ("Wealth.com"). Clients are not charged any additional fees for access to this
platform through our arrangement. Utopia Wealth Management covers the cost of access as part of
our overall client service offering.
Pleaes note that Wealth.com may offer optional services, including consultations with licensed
attorneys, which may incur separate fees payable directly by the client to Wealth.com. Utopia Wealth
does not receive any compensation, referral fees, or other financial benefit in connection with clients'
use of the Wealth.com platform or any of its optional paid services.
Ongoing Wealth Consulting Services
Adviser's fees for financial consulting services and wealth planning consulting engagement range from
$5,000 to $20,000. The fees are due and payable as invoiced.
Our financial consulting services fee is negotiable, depending on individual client circumstances.
You may terminate the financial consulting agreement upon 30 days written notice to our firm. If you
have pre-paid financial consulting fees that we have not yet earned, you will receive a prorated refund
of those fees. If financial consulting fees are payable in arrears, you will be responsible for a prorated
fee based on services performed prior to termination of the financial consulting agreement.
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
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brokerage fees when purchasing or selling securities. 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 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,
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 licensed as independent insurance
agents. These persons will earn commission-based compensation for selling insurance products,
including insurance products they sell to you. Insurance commissions earned by these persons are
separate and in addition to our advisory fees. This practice presents a conflict of interest because
persons providing investment advice on behalf of our firm who are insurance agents have an incentive
to recommend insurance products to you for the purpose of generating commissions rather than solely
based on your needs. You are under no obligation, contractually or otherwise, to purchase insurance
products through any person affiliated with our firm. Persons licensed as independent insurance
agents will only offer insurance in those states where they are properly registered to do so.
Persons providing investment advice on behalf of our firm are also licensed as real estate agents.
These persons will earn commission-based compensation for providing real estate services to you.
Real estate commissions earned by these persons are separate and in addition to our advisory
fees. This practice presents a conflict of interest because Investment Advisory Representatives who
are real estate agents have a financial incentive to recommend real estate services to you. You are
under no obligation, contractually or otherwise, to purchase real estate services through any person
affiliated with our firm.
Trade Away Transactions
We may execute trades with a broker-dealer other than the client's primary custodian that nonetheless
settle at and are held at the client's primary custodian ("trade away transactions"). Because clients are
not required to execute a separate agreement with the other broker-dealer to enter into trade away
transactions, the Firm and its Supervised Persons have discretion in selecting the broker-dealer to use
to effect client transactions.
Item 6 Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management
We do not accept performance-based fees or participate in side-by-side management. Performance-
based fees are fees that are based on a share of a capital gains or capital appreciation of a client's
account. Side-by-side management refers to the practice of managing accounts that are charged
performance-based fees while at the same time managing accounts that are not charged performance-
based fees. Our fees are calculated as described in the Fees and Compensation section above, and
are not charged on the basis of a share of capital gains upon, or capital appreciation of, the funds in
your advisory account.
Item 7 Types of Clients
We offer investment advisory services to the following types of clients:
Individuals (includes Trusts and Private Foundations)
•
• High net worth individuals (includes Trusts and Private Foundations)
• Corporations or other businesses not listed above.
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In general, we require a minimum of $2,000,000 to open and maintain an advisory account. At our
discretion, we may waive this minimum account size. For example, we may waive the minimum if you
appear to have significant potential for increasing your assets under our management. 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. Other exceptions will apply to employees
of Utopia Wealth Management and their relatives, or relatives of existing clients.
We charge a minimum annual fee in the amount of $10,000 to maintain an advisory account. At our
discretion we may waive the minimum fee.
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:
Technical Analysis - involves studying past price patterns, trends and interrelationships in the
financial markets to assess risk-adjusted performance and predict the direction of both the overall
market and specific securities.
Risk: The risk of market timing based on technical analysis is that our analysis may not accurately
detect anomalies or predict future price movements. Current prices of securities may reflect all
information known about the security and day-to-day changes in market prices of securities may
follow random patterns and may not be predictable with any reliable degree of accuracy.
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.
Modern Portfolio Theory - 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.
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Short-Term Purchases - securities purchased with the expectation that they will be sold within a
relatively short period of time, generally less than one year, to take advantage of the securities' short-
term price fluctuations.
Risk: Using a short-term purchase strategy generally assumes that we can predict how financial
markets will perform in the short-term which may be very difficult and will incur a disproportionately
higher amount of transaction costs compared to long-term trading. There are many factors that
can affect financial market performance in the short-term (such as short-term interest rate
changes, cyclical earnings announcements, etc.) but may have a smaller impact over longer
periods of times.
Our investment strategies and advice may vary depending upon each client's specific financial
situation. As such, we determine investments and allocations based upon your predefined objectives,
risk tolerance, time horizon, financial information, liquidity needs and other various suitability factors.
Your restrictions and guidelines may affect the composition of your portfolio. It is important that you
notify us immediately with respect to any material changes to your financial circumstances,
including for example, a change in your current or expected income level, tax circumstances, or
employment status.
Tax Considerations
Our strategies and investments may have unique and significant tax implications. However, unless we
specifically agree otherwise, and in writing, tax efficiency is not our primary consideration in the
management of your assets. Regardless of your account size or any other factors, we strongly
recommend that you consult with a tax professional regarding the investing of your assets.
Custodians and broker-dealers must report the cost basis of equities acquired in client accounts. Your
custodian will default to the First-In First-Out ("FIFO") accounting method for calculating the cost basis
of your investments. You are responsible for contacting your tax advisor to determine if this accounting
method is the right choice for you. If your tax advisor believes another accounting method is more
advantageous, provide written notice to our firm immediately and we will alert your account custodian
of your individually selected accounting method. Decisions about cost basis accounting methods will
need to be made before trades settle, as the cost basis method cannot be changed after settlement.
Risk of Loss
Investing in securities involves risk of loss that you should be prepared to bear. We do not represent or
guarantee that our services or methods of analysis can or will predict future results, successfully
identify market tops or bottoms, or insulate clients from losses due to market corrections or declines.
We cannot offer any guarantees or promises that your financial goals and objectives will be met. Past
performance is in no way an indication of future performance.
Other Risk Considerations
When evaluating risk, financial loss may be viewed differently by each client and may depend on many
different risks, each of which may affect the probability and magnitude of any potential losses. The
following risks may not be all-inclusive, but should be considered carefully by a prospective client
before retaining our services.
Liquidity Risk: The risk of being unable to sell your investment at a fair price at a given time due to high
volatility or lack of active liquid markets. You may receive a lower price or it may not be possible to sell
the investment at all.
Credit Risk: Credit risk typically applies to debt investments such as corporate, municipal, and
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sovereign fixed income or bonds. A bond issuing entity can experience a credit event that could impair
or erase the value of an issuer's securities held by a client.
Inflation and Interest Rate Risk: Security prices and portfolio returns will likely vary in response to
changes in inflation and interest rates. Inflation causes the value of future dollars to be worth less and
may reduce the purchasing power of a client's future interest payments and principal. Inflation also
generally leads to higher interest rates which may cause the value of many types of fixed income
investments to decline.
Horizon and Longevity Risk: The risk that your investment horizon is shortened because of an
unforeseen event, for example, the loss of your job. This may force you to sell investments that you
were expecting to hold for the long term. If you must sell at a time that the markets are down, you may
lose money. Longevity Risk is the risk of outliving your savings. This risk is particularly relevant for
people who are retired, or are nearing retirement.
Recommendation of Particular Types of Securities
We primarily recommend ETF, Mutual Funds, stocks and bonds. 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.
Money Market Funds: A money market fund is technically a security. The fund managers attempt to
keep the share price constant at $1/share. However, there is no guarantee that the share price will stay
at $1/share. If the share price goes down, you can lose some or all of your principal. The U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") notes that "While investor losses in money market
funds have been rare, they are possible." In return for this risk, you should earn a greater return on
your cash than you would expect from a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") insured
savings account (money market funds are not FDIC insured). Next, money market fund rates are
variable. In other words, you do not know how much you will earn on your investment next month. The
rate could go up or go down. If it goes up, that may result in a positive outcome. However, if it goes
down and you earn less than you expected to earn, you may end up needing more cash. A final risk
you are taking with money market funds has to do with inflation. Because money market funds are
considered to be safer than other investments like stocks, long-term average returns on money market
funds tends to be less than long term average returns on riskier investments. Over long periods of
time, inflation can eat away at your returns.
Certificates of Deposit: Certificates of deposit ("CD") are generally a safe type of investment since
they are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company ("FDIC") up to a certain amount.
However, because the returns are generally low, there is risk that inflation outpaces the return of the
CD. Certain CDs are traded in the marketplace and not purchased directly from a banking institution. In
addition to trading risk, when CDs are purchased at a premium, the premium is not covered by the
FDIC.
Municipal Securities: Municipal securities, while generally thought of as safe, can have significant
risks associated with them including, but not limited to: the credit worthiness of the governmental entity
that issues the bond; the stability of the revenue stream that is used to pay the interest to the
bondholders; when the bond is due to mature; and, whether or not the bond can be "called" prior to
maturity. When a bond is called, it may not be possible to replace it with a bond of equal character
paying the same amount of interest or yield to maturity.
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Bonds: Corporate debt securities (or "bonds") are typically safer investments than equity securities,
but their risk can also vary widely based on: the financial health of the issuer; the risk that the issuer
might default; when the bond is set to mature; and, whether or not the bond can be "called" prior to
maturity. When a bond is called, it may not be possible to replace it with a bond of equal character
paying the same rate of return.
Stocks: There are numerous ways of measuring the risk of equity securities (also known simply as
"equities" or "stock"). In very broad terms, the value of a stock depends on the financial health of the
company issuing it. However, stock prices can be affected by many other factors including, but not
limited to the class of stock (for example, preferred or common); the health of the market sector of the
issuing company; and, the overall health of the economy. In general, larger, better established
companies ("large cap") tend to be safer than smaller start-up companies ("small cap") are but the
mere size of an issuer is not, by itself, an indicator of the safety of the investment.
Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds: Mutual funds and exchange traded funds ("ETF") are
professionally managed collective investment systems that pool money from many investors and invest
in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, other mutual funds, other securities, or any
combination thereof. The fund will have a manager that trades the fund's investments in accordance
with the fund's investment objective. While mutual funds and ETFs generally provide diversification,
risks can be significantly increased if the fund is concentrated in a particular sector of the market,
primarily invests in small cap or speculative companies, uses leverage (i.e., borrows money) to a
significant degree, or concentrates in a particular type of security (i.e., equities) rather than balancing
the fund with different types of securities. ETFs differ from mutual funds since they can be bought and
sold throughout the day like stock and their price can fluctuate throughout the day. The returns on
mutual funds and ETFs can be reduced by the costs to manage the funds. Also, while some mutual
funds are "no load" and charge no fee to buy into, or sell out of, the fund, other types of mutual funds
do charge such fees which can also reduce returns. Mutual funds can also be "closed end" or "open
end". So-called "open end" mutual funds continue to allow in new investors indefinitely whereas
"closed end" funds have a fixed number of shares to sell which can limit their availability to new
investors.
ETFs may have tracking error risks. For example, the ETF investment adviser may not be able to
cause the ETF's performance to match that of its Underlying Index or other benchmark, which may
negatively affect the ETF's performance. In addition, for leveraged and inverse ETFs that seek to track
the performance of their Underlying Indices or benchmarks on a daily basis, mathematical
compounding may prevent the ETF from correlating with performance of its benchmark. In addition, an
ETF may not have investment exposure to all of the securities included in its Underlying Index, or its
weighting of investment exposure to such securities may vary from that of the Underlying Index. Some
ETFs may invest in securities or financial instruments that are not included in the Underlying Index, but
which are expected to yield similar performance.
Real Estate Investment Trust: A real estate investment trust ("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 stopped permitting stock dividends. Most REITs must refinance or erase large balloon debts
periodically. 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.
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Private Placements: A private placement (non-public offering) is an illiquid security sold to qualified
investors and are not publicly traded nor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Risk: Private placements generally carry a higher degree of risk due to illiquidity. Most securities that
are acquired in a private placement will be restricted securities and must be held for an extended
amount of time and therefore cannot be sold easily. The range of risks are dependent on the nature of
the partnership and are disclosed in the offering documents.
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.
Licensed Insurance Agent
Mr. Chiricosta is licensed as an independent insurance agent. Mr. Chiricosta will earn commission-
based compensation for selling insurance products. This is separate and in addition to our advisory
fees. This practice presents a conflict of interest because Investment Advisory Representatives who
are insurance agents have a financial incentive to recommend insurance products to you. In efforts to
mitigate this conflict of interest, it is our firm's strict policy to act in our client's best interest at all times.
Clients are under no obligation, contractually or otherwise, to purchase insurance products through any
person affiliated with our firm. Persons licensed as independent insurance agents will only offer
insurance in those states where they are properly registered to do so.
Licensed Real Estate Agent
Mr. Chiricosta is licensed as a real estate agent. Mr. Chiricosta will earn commission-based
compensation for selling real estate services. This is separate and in addition to our advisory
services. This practice presents a conflict of interest because Investment Advisory Representatives
who are real estate agents have a financial incentive to recommend real estate services to you. In an
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effort to mitigate this conflict of interest, it is our firm's strict policy to act in our client's best interest at
all times. You are under no obligation, contractually or otherwise, to purchase real estate services
through any person affiliated with our firm.
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.
Aggregated Trading
Our firm or persons associated with our firm may buy or sell securities for you at the same time we or
persons associated with our firm buy or sell such securities for our own account. We may also combine
our orders to purchase securities with your orders to purchase securities ("aggregated trading"). Refer
to the Brokerage Practices section in this brochure for information on our aggregated trading practices.
A conflict of interest exists in such cases because we have the ability to trade ahead of you and
potentially receive more favorable prices than you will receive. To eliminate 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.
Item 12 Brokerage Practices
We recommend the brokerage and custodial services of Charles Schwab & Co (whether one or more
"Custodian"). Your assets must be maintained in an account at a "qualified custodian," generally a
broker-dealer or bank. In recognition of the value of the services the Custodian provides, you may pay
higher commissions and/or trading costs than those that may be available elsewhere. Our selection of
custodian is based on many factors, including the level of services provided, the custodian's financial
stability, and the cost of services provided by the custodian to our clients, which includes the yield on
cash sweep choices, commissions, custody fees and other fees or expenses.
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We seek to recommend a custodian/broker that will hold your assets and execute transactions on
terms that are, overall, the most favorable compared to other available providers and their services.
We consider various factors, including:
• Capability to buy and sell securities for your account itself or to facilitate such services.
• The likelihood that your trades will be executed.
• Availability of investment research and tools.
• Overall quality of services.
• Competitiveness of price.
• Reputation, financial strength, and stability.
• Existing relationship with our firm and our other clients.
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.
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
We do not maintain custody of your assets that we manage, although we may be deemed to have
custody of your assets if you give us authority to withdraw assets from your account (see Item 15—
Custody, below). Your assets must be maintained in an account at a "qualified custodian," generally a
broker-dealer or bank. We recommend that our clients use Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab), a
registered broker-dealer, member SIPC, as the qualified custodian.
We are independently owned and operated and are not affiliated with Schwab. Schwab will hold your
assets in a brokerage account and buy and sell securities when we/you instruct them to. While we
recommend that you use Schwab as custodian/broker, you will decide whether to do so and will open
your account with Schwab by entering into an account agreement directly with them. Conflicts of
interest associated with this arrangement are described below as well as in Item 14 (Client referrals
and other compensation). You should consider these conflicts of interest when selecting your
custodian.
We do not open the account for you, although we may assist you in doing so. Even though your
account is maintained at Schwab, and we anticipate that most trades will be executed through
Schwab, we can still use other brokers to execute trades for your account as described below (see
"Your brokerage and custody costs").
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How we select brokers/custodians
We seek to recommend Schwab, a custodian/broker that will hold your assets and execute
transactions. When considering whether the terms that Schwab provides are, overall, most
advantageous to you when compared with other available providers and their services, we take into
account a wide range of factors, including:
• Combination of transaction execution services and asset custody services (generally
without a separate fee for custody)
• Capability to execute, clear, and settle trades (buy and sell securities for your account)
• Capability to facilitate transfers and payments to and from accounts (wire transfers,
check requests, bill payment, etc.)
• Breadth of available investment products (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded
funds [ETFs], etc.)
• Availability of investment research and tools that assist us in making investment
decisions
• Quality of services
• Competitiveness of the price of those services (commission rates, margin interest rates,
other fees, etc.) and willingness to negotiate the prices
• Reputation, financial strength, security and stability
• Prior service to us and our clients
• Services delivered or paid for by Schwab
• Availability of other products and services that benefit us, as discussed below (see
"Products and services available to us from Schwab")
Your brokerage and custody costs
For our clients' accounts that Schwab maintains, Schwab generally does not charge you separately for
custody services but is compensated by charging you commissions or other fees on trades that it
executes or that settle into your Schwab account. Certain trades (for example, many mutual funds and
ETFs) may not incur Schwab commissions or transaction fees. Schwab is also compensated by
earning interest on the uninvested cash in your account in Schwab's Cash Features Program.
We are not required to select the broker or dealer that charges the lowest transaction cost, even if that
broker provides execution quality comparable to other brokers or dealers.
Although we are not required to execute all trades through Schwab, we have determined that having
Schwab execute most trades is consistent with our duty to seek "best execution" of your trades. Best
execution means the most favorable terms for a transaction based on all relevant factors, including
those listed above (see "How we select brokers/custodians"). By using another broker or dealer you
may pay lower transaction costs.
Products and services available to us from Schwab
Schwab Advisor Services™ is Schwab's business serving independent investment advisory firms like
us. They provide us and our clients with access to their institutional brokerage services (trading,
custody, reporting, and related services), many of which are not typically available to Schwab retail
customers. However, certain retail investors may be able to get institutional brokerage services from
Schwab without going through us.
Schwab also makes available various support services. Some of those services help us manage or
administer our clients' accounts, while others help us manage and grow our business. Schwab's
support services are generally available on an unsolicited basis (we don't have to request them) and at
no charge to us. Following is a more detailed description of Schwab's support services:
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Services that benefit you. Schwab's institutional brokerage services include access to a broad range
of investment products, execution of securities transactions, and custody of client assets.
The investment products available through Schwab include some to which we might not otherwise
have access or that would require a significantly higher minimum initial investment by our
clients. Schwab's services described in this paragraph generally benefit you and your account.
Services that do not directly benefit you. Schwab also makes available to us other products and
services that benefit us but do not directly benefit you or your account. These products and services
assist us in managing and administering our clients' accounts and operating our firm. They include
investment research, both Schwab's own and that of third parties. We use this research to service all
or a substantial number of our clients' accounts, including accounts not maintained at Schwab. In
addition to investment research, Schwab also makes available software and other technology that:
• Provide access to client account data (such as duplicate trade confirmations and
account statements)
• Facilitate trade execution and allocate aggregated trade orders for multiple client
accounts
• Provide pricing and other market data
• Facilitate payment of our fees from our clients' accounts
• Assist with back-office functions, recordkeeping, and client reporting
Services that generally benefit only us. Schwab also offers other services intended to help us
manage and further develop our business enterprise. These services include:
• Educational conferences and events
• Consulting on technology and business needs
• Consulting on legal and related compliance needs
• Publications and conferences on practice management and business succession
• Access to employee benefits providers, human capital consultants, and insurance
providers
• Marketing consulting and support
Schwab provides some of these services itself. In other cases, it will arrange for third-party vendors to
provide the services to us. Schwab also discounts or waives its fees for some of these services or
pays all or a part of a third party\'s fees. Schwab also provides us with other benefits, such as
occasional business entertainment of personnel. If you did not maintain your account with Schwab, we
would be required to pay for these services from our own resources.
Our Interest in Schwab's Services
The availability of these services from Schwab benefits us because we do not have to produce or
purchase them. We don't have to pay for Schwab's services. The fact that we receive these benefits
from Schwab is an incentive for us to recommend the use of Schwab rather than making such a
decision based exclusively on your interest in receiving the best value in custody services and the
most favorable execution of your transactions. This is a conflict of interest. We believe, however, that
taken in the aggregate, our recommendation of Schwab as custodian and broker is in the best interests
of our clients. Our selection is primarily supported by the scope, quality, and price of Schwab's services
(see "How we select brokers/ custodians") and not Schwab's services that benefit only us.
Brokerage for Client Referrals
We do not receive client referrals from broker-dealers in exchange for cash or other compensation,
such as brokerage services or research.
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Directed Brokerage
We routinely recommend that you direct our firm to execute transactions through Charles Schwab &
Co. 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.
Aggregated Trades
We combine multiple orders for shares of the same securities purchased for discretionary advisory
accounts we manage (this practice is commonly referred to as "aggregated trading"). We will then
distribute a portion of the shares to participating accounts in a fair and equitable manner. Generally,
participating accounts will pay a fixed transaction cost regardless of the number of shares transacted.
In certain cases, each participating account pays an average price per share for all transactions and
pays a proportionate share of all transaction costs on any given day. In the event an order is only
partially filled, the shares will be allocated to participating accounts in a fair and equitable manner,
typically in proportion to the size of each client's order. Accounts owned by our firm or persons
associated with our firm may participate in aggregated trading with your accounts; however, they will
not be given preferential treatment.
We do not aggregate trades 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.
Mutual Fund Share Classes
Mutual funds are sold with different share classes, which carry different cost structures. Each available
share class is described in the mutual fund's prospectus. When we purchase, or recommend the
purchase of, mutual funds for a client, we select the share class that is deemed to be in the client's
best interest, taking into consideration the availability of advisory, institutional or retirement plan share
classes, initial and ongoing share class costs, transaction costs (if any), tax implications, cost
basis, and other factors. We also review the mutual funds held in accounts that come under our
management to determine whether a more beneficial share class is available, considering cost, tax
implications, and the impact of contingent or deferred sales charges.
Item 13 Review of Accounts
Nicholas Chiricosta, Wealth Advisor 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.
The individuals conducting reviews may vary from time to time, as personnel join or leave our firm.
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Generally, we will not provide you with regular written reports; however they can be provided upon
written request from clients. You will receive trade confirmations and monthly or quarterly statements
from your account custodian(s).
Nicholas Chiricosta, Wealth Advisor will review financial plans as needed, depending on the
arrangements made with you at the inception of your advisory relationship 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
rate. If you have not engaged us for ongoing portfolio management services or ongoing wealth
consulting services, we will not provide regular written reports for financial planning and consulting
services. The client will share responsibility with the adviser to cooperate and provide pertinent
documents necessary for the update/review. Should the client fail to cooperate, Utopia Wealth
Management is under no obligation to deliver an updated financial plan. 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
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc - Institutional
We receive an economic benefit from Schwab in the form of the support products and services it
makes available to us and other independent investment advisors whose clients maintain their
accounts at Schwab. You do not pay more for assets maintained at Schwab as a result of these
arrangements. However, we benefit from the referral arrangement because the cost of these services
would otherwise be borne directly by us. You should consider these conflicts of interest when selecting
a custodian. The products and services provided by Schwab, how they benefit us, and the related
conflicts of interest are described above (see Item 12—Brokerage Practices).
As disclosed under the Fees and Compensation section in this brochure, persons providing investment
advice on behalf of our firm are licensed insurance agents. For information on the conflicts of interest
this presents, and how we address these conflicts, refer to the Fees and Compensation section.
We directly compensate non-employee (outside) consultants, individuals, and/or entities (solicitors) for
client referrals. In order to receive a cash referral fee from us, solicitors must comply with the
requirements of the jurisdictions in which they operate. If you were referred to us by a solicitor, you
should have received a copy of this brochure along with the solicitor's disclosure statement at the time
of the referral. If you become a client, the solicitor that referred you to us will receive a percentage of
the investment management fee or ongoing wealth consulting fee or the hourly financial planning
fees you pay us for as long as you are our client, or until such time as our agreement with the solicitor
expires. You will not pay additional fees because of this referral arrangement. Referral fees paid to a
solicitor are contingent upon your entering into an advisory agreement with us. Therefore, a solicitor
has a financial incentive to recommend us to you for advisory services. This creates a conflict of
interest; however, you are not obligated to retain us for advisory services. Comparable services and/or
lower fees may be available through other firms.
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Solicitors that refer business to more than one investment adviser may have a financial incentive to
recommend advisers with more favorable compensation arrangements. We request that our solicitors
disclose to you whether multiple referral relationships exist and that comparable services may be
available from other advisers for lower fees and/or where the Solicitor's compensation is less
favorable.
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.
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.
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.
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 solicitations 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. Therefore, we are not required to include a financial statement
with this brochure.
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We have not filed a bankruptcy petition at any time in the past ten years.
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 non-public 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 non-public 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 non-public 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.
If you decide to close your account(s) we will adhere to our privacy policies, which may be amended
from time to time.
If we make any substantive changes in our privacy policy that would further permit or require
disclosures of your private information, we will provide written notice to you. Where the change is
based on permitted disclosures, you will be given an opportunity to direct us as to whether such
disclosure is acceptable. Where the change is based on required disclosures, you will only receive
written notice of the change. You may not opt out of the required disclosures.
If you have questions about our privacy policies contact our main office at the telephone number on the
cover page of this brochure and ask to speak to the Chief Compliance Officer.
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.
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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.
IRA Rollover Considerations
As part of our investment advisory services to you, we may recommend that you withdraw the assets
from your employer's retirement plan and roll the assets over to an individual retirement account
("IRA") that we will manage on your behalf. If you elect to roll the assets to an IRA that is subject to our
management, we will charge you an asset based fee as set forth in the agreement you executed with
our firm. This practice presents a conflict of interest because persons providing investment advice on
our behalf have an incentive to recommend a rollover to you for the purpose of generating fee based
compensation rather than solely based on your needs. You are under no obligation, contractually or
otherwise, to complete the rollover. Moreover, if you do complete the rollover, you are under no
obligation to have the assets in an IRA managed by our firm.
Many employers permit former employees to keep their retirement assets in their company plan. Also,
current employees can sometimes move assets out of their company plan before they retire or change
jobs. In determining whether to complete the rollover to an IRA, and to the extent the following options
are available, you should consider the costs and benefits of:
1. Leaving the funds in your employer's (former employer's) plan.
2. Moving the funds to a new employer's retirement plan.
3. Cashing out and taking a taxable distribution from the plan.
4. Rolling the funds into an IRA rollover account.
Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages and before making a change we encourage
you to speak with your CPA and/or tax attorney.
If you are considering rolling over your retirement funds to an IRA for us to manage here are a few
points to consider before you do so:
1. Determine whether the investment options in your employer's retirement plan address your
needs or whether you might want to consider other types of investments.
a. Employer retirement plans generally have a more limited investment menu than IRAs.
b. Employer retirement plans may have unique investment options not available to the
public such as employer securities, or previously closed funds.
2. Your current plan may have lower fees than our fees.
a. If you are interested in investing only in mutual funds, you should understand the cost
structure of the share classes available in your employer's retirement plan and how the
costs of those share classes compare with those available in an IRA.
b. You should understand the various products and services you might take advantage of
at an IRA provider and the potential costs of those products and services.
3. Our strategy may have higher risk than the option(s) provided to you in your plan.
4. Your current plan may also offer financial advice.
5. If you keep your assets titled in a 401k or retirement account, you could potentially delay your
required minimum distribution beyond age 72.
6. Your 401k may offer more liability protection than a rollover IRA; each state may vary.
a. Generally, federal law protects assets in qualified plans from creditors. Since 2005, IRA
assets have been generally protected from creditors in bankruptcies. However, there
can be some exceptions to the general rules so you should consult with an attorney if
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you are concerned about protecting your retirement plan assets from creditors.
7. You may be able to take out a loan on your 401k, but not from an IRA.
8. IRA assets can be accessed any time; however, distributions are subject to ordinary income tax
and may also be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty unless they qualify for an exception
such as disability, higher education expenses or the purchase of a home.
9. If you own company stock in your plan, you may be able to liquidate those shares at a lower
capital gains tax rate.
10.Your plan may allow you to hire us as the manager and keep the assets titled in the plan name.
It is important that you understand the differences between these types of accounts and to decide
whether a rollover is best for you. Prior to proceeding, if you have questions contact your investment
adviser representative, or call our main number as listed on the cover page of this brochure.
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