Meridian Financial Partners LLC (“Meridian Financial”) has been in business since July, 2015. The firm’s
principal owners are Nathan Gilbert and The Sarah J. Yakel Revocable Living Trust u/a dated February
16, 2024, of which, Sarah Yakel is a trustee. Jointly, they have more than 50 years of financial experience.
Meridian Financial provides personalized asset management and financial planning services. We strive
to build lasting relationships and create an exceptional experience that provides clients with
individualized attention and a wealth plan tailored to their needs. Our belief is that making clients feel
like they are part of the Meridian Financial family fosters a strong working relationship, with an added
personal touch. We attempt to help build, maintain, and preserve the assets that clients have worked
so hard to accumulate.
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Our predominant service is asset management. When a client has at least $250,000 (subject to our
discretion to waive this minimum) we will invest their assets in a manner consistent with their
investment objectives. To ascertain these objectives, the client experience begins with a thorough
orientation process and continues as we attempt to learn about you and your family over the years.
Meridian Financial’s approach to asset management is based on developing and maintaining a strong
relationship with each client through regular communication. We want these exchanges to be initiated
by both the firm and the client, as needs arise, or even just as communication for the sake of keeping in
touch. This is important as Meridian Financial believes successful asset management services can best
be provided when there exists a relationship between client and advisor based on mutual trust. That
trust is developed over time and maintained through honest and open communication, which is an
aspect of our industry Meridian Financial believes, is frequently absent. When advisors and clients only
communicate on a superficial level, rather than striving to get to the fundamental drivers of a client’s
goals or advisor’s concerns and strategies, clients come away with cluttered, confused ideas as to where
they are going and how to get there. Meridian Financial does not expect, nor want clients to simply
trust the firm to take care of the investments without significant input from the client. Rather, it is
Meridian Financial’s goal to keep clients educated and organized, which we believe puts them in the
best position to exercise the ongoing financial discipline required to acquire and maintain wealth. This
is why we do not force clients into a specific strategy or product. Instead, we welcome clients to discuss
investment preferences or place reasonable restrictions on how we manage their assets. We review
each account on its own merits, using the information we have from the client to guide our
recommendations.
While Meridian Financial leans toward longer period investments, sometimes asset allocation or
underlying security selection needs to change somewhat rapidly in order to protect principal from an
unforeseeable market event, or to allow for various changes in asset class performance to be rebalanced
in the client’s portfolio. Accordingly, we believe we work best when managing assets on a discretionary
basis, which means that within the guidelines of a given client’s objectives and restrictions, we will make
changes in client portfolios without specific consultation with the client prior to the change. We will in
limited circumstances work with clients on a non-discretionary basis, in which case we will contact the
client prior to making changes in a portfolio. However, if we are unable to reach a non-discretionary
client, the recommended trade will not be made which can compromise the portfolio.
All clients will be required to sign an agreement between the client and Meridian Financial, which
outlines the firm’s, and the client’s responsibilities during the engagement. The agreement will also
include a limited power of attorney (which
grants Meridian Financial the ability to place trades in a client
account, not the ability to execute documents of any kind on your behalf). Client assets will always be
maintained with a third party custodian, who will send each client a statement at least quarterly showing
the holdings in their portfolio, any transactions made, the costs for those transactions, and any fees
debited from their accounts. We encourage clients to thoroughly review those statements and contact
Meridian Financial with any questions, concerns, or thoughts.
All clients, but especially those with smaller accounts, should be advised they may receive similar
services from other professionals for higher or lower overall costs.
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Meridian Financial believes some degree of financial planning is always required in order to manage a
client’s assets well. The firm will not be able to help a client meet goals if those goals are not well
defined, and the rationale behind those goals explained. The financial planning process at Meridian
Financial is not necessarily readily distinguishable from the asset management process, in that it
continues through the engagement just as asset management does. But at the inception of a
relationship, a significant portion of time will be allocated towards information gathering and organizing
the client’s current circumstances, likely future needs, and aspirations. Separating the client’s
aspirations from potential realities is done at this stage. Clients will be asked to provide information in
the form of documents, such as statements for existing accounts, insurance policies, and tax status.
Other background on both income and necessary and desired expenditures is reviewed during
discussions with each client. Meridian Financial believes that these discussions are crucial to setting up
and maintaining the proper asset allocations for client portfolios, because too often clients focus on a
number such as a number they believe they need for retirement, as opposed to a state of affairs, such
as maintaining a lifestyle during retirement or other goals. These are not always one and the same,
because the number a client believes is the goal is not always the right number to reach their actual
goals. Separating the two is most important, and helps clients avoid the ever present noise and focus
on what they really want. The planning process must be ongoing, because needs and resources can and
do change.
Meridian shall generally provide financial planning and related consulting services regarding non-
investment related matters, such as estate planning, tax planning, insurance, etc. inclusive of its advisory
fee in Item 5, below. Meridian does not serve as an attorney, accountant or insurance agent, and no
portion of our services should be construed as legal, accounting or insurance services. Accordingly,
Meridian does not prepare estate planning documents or tax returns, not does it sell insurance products.
If you request, Meridian Financial may recommend the services of other professionals for
implementation purposes. You are under no obligation to engage the services of any such
recommended professional. You retain absolute discretion over all such implementation decisions and
are free to accept or reject any recommendation from Meridian Financial. If you engage any professional
recommended by Meridian Financial, you agree to seek recourse exclusively from and against the
engaged professional.
In performing our services, Meridian counts on the accuracy of information received by you or from
other professionals. Moreover, it is your responsibility to promptly let us know if there are ever any
changes in your financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of
reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services.
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT
As of December 31, 2023, Meridian Financial had a total of $400,472,593 assets under management
across 1,227 accounts. Of that total, there was $348,627 held in 5 non-discretionary accounts.