Hilltop Wealth Advisors offers a variety of advisory services, which include financial planning, consulting,
and investment management services. Prior to Hilltop Wealth Advisors rendering any of the foregoing
advisory services, clients are required to enter into one or more written agreements with Hilltop Wealth
Advisors setting forth the relevant terms and conditions of the advisory relationship (the “Advisory
Agreement”).
Hilltop Wealth Advisors was formed in 2016 and is owned by Managing Members Benjamin R. Yeager and
Russell S. Eriksen. Christopher Hostetler is also a shareholder in the firm. Hilltop Wealth Advisors is
registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
While this brochure generally describes the business of Hilltop Wealth Advisors, certain sections also
discuss the activities of its Supervised Persons, which refer to the Firm’s officers, partners, directors (or
other persons occupying a similar status or performing similar functions), employees or any other person
who provides investment advice on Hilltop Wealth Advisors’ behalf and is subject to the Firm’s supervision
or control.
Financial Planning and Consulting Services
Hilltop Wealth Advisors offers clients a broad range of financial planning and consulting services, which,
by way of example could include any or all of the following functions:
● Retirement Planning ● Employee Benefits Analysis
● Cash Flow Forecasting ● Business Planning
● Investment Allocations ● Education Planning
● Trust & Estate Planning
● Debt Management
● Student Loan Analysis
● Charitable Gifting Strategies
● Insurance Planning
● Tax Planning
● Executive Compensation Optimization
While each of these services is available on a stand-alone basis, certain of them can also be rendered in
conjunction with investment portfolio management as part of a comprehensive wealth management
engagement (described in more detail below, and referred to as the “Ascend Services” or the “Wealth
Management Services”).
In performing these services, Hilltop Wealth Advisors is not required to verify any information received
from the client or from the client’s other professionals (e.g., attorneys, accountants, etc.,) and is expressly
authorized to rely on such information. Clients are advised that a conflict of interest exists if clients engage
Hilltop Wealth Advisors or its affiliates to provide additional services for compensation. Clients retain
absolute discretion over all decisions regarding implementation and are under no obligation to act upon
any of the recommendations made by Hilltop Wealth Advisors under a financial planning or consulting
engagement. Clients are advised that it remains their responsibility to promptly notify the Firm of any
change in their financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating or
revising Hilltop Wealth Advisors’ recommendations and/or services.
Educational Seminars
Advisory representatives of the firm conduct client seminars for businesses where the advisor will address
a range of topics which include discussions of economic conditions, retirement planning or other
investment-related topics specific to the particular plan.
Investment and Wealth Management Services
Hilltop Wealth Advisors provides clients with wealth management services which includes a broad range
of comprehensive financial planning and consulting services as well as discretionary management of
investment portfolios.
Hilltop Wealth Advisors primarily allocates client assets among various mutual funds and exchange-traded
funds (“ETFs”). In addition, the Firm will sometimes also allocate client assets to individual debt and equity
securities, options and independent investment managers (“Independent Managers”).
Where appropriate, the Firm will also provide advice about any type of legacy position or other investment
held in client portfolios. Clients may engage Hilltop Wealth Advisors to manage and/or advise on certain
investment products that are not maintained at their primary custodian, such as variable life insurance
and annuity contracts and assets held in employer sponsored retirement plans and qualified tuition plans
(i.e., 529 plans). In these situations, Hilltop Wealth Advisors either (i) directs or recommends the allocation
of client assets among the various investment options available with the product, or (ii) directly manages
such assets with discretion pursuant to an order management system that facilitates trading in such held-
away accounts, but does not convert such assets to the custody of Hilltop Wealth Advisors. These assets
are generally maintained at the underwriting insurance company or the custodian designated by the
product’s provider.
Hilltop Wealth Advisors tailors its advisory services to meet the needs of its individual clients and seeks to
ensure, on a continuous basis, that client portfolios are managed in a manner consistent with those needs
and objectives. Hilltop Wealth Advisors consults with clients on an initial and ongoing basis to assess their
specific risk tolerance, time horizon, liquidity constraints and other related factors relevant to the
management of their portfolios. Clients are advised to promptly notify Hilltop Wealth Advisors if there are
changes in their financial situation or if they wish to place any limitations on the management of their
portfolios. Clients may impose reasonable
restrictions or mandates on the management of their accounts
if Hilltop Wealth Advisors determines, in its sole discretion, the conditions would not materially impact
the performance of a management strategy or prove overly burdensome to the Firm’s management
efforts.
Retirement Account Rollovers
A client may have several options regarding current and former employer retirement plans:
● leave the assets in the current plan
● roll over the assets to another employer retirement plan
● roll over the assets to an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”)
● cash out the account value
The client should review their employer’s retirement plan documents and the applicable tax guidance to
understand their options and potential tax consequences.
If Hilltop Wealth Advisors recommends that a client roll over their retirement plan assets into an account
to be managed by the Firm, such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if the Firm will earn an
advisory fee on the rolled over assets. No client is under any obligation to rollover retirement plan assets
to an account managed by Hilltop Wealth Advisors.
When Hilltop Wealth Advisors provides investment advice to a client regarding such client’s retirement
plan account or individual retirement account, Hilltop Wealth Advisors is a fiduciary within the meaning
of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code
(the “Code”), as applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts. The way Hilltop Wealth
Advisors makes money creates some conflicts with the interests of clients, so Hilltop Wealth Advisors
operates under a special rule that requires us to act in such client’s best interest and not put our interest
ahead of such client’s. Under this special rule’s provisions, Hilltop Wealth Advisors 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.
ERISA Retirement Plan Services
Hilltop Wealth Advisors acts as a service provider to 401(k) plans as a so-called 3(21) fiduciary. This means
that we assist with the selection of investment options, help plans develop an Investment Policy
Statement, and provide non-discretionary investment advice. We also assist in monitoring investment
options but do not have discretionary investment authority.
Use of Independent Managers
As mentioned above, Hilltop Wealth Advisors has the ability to select certain Independent Managers to
actively manage a portion of its clients’ assets. The specific terms and conditions under which a client
engages an Independent Manager will be set forth in a separate written agreement with the designated
Independent Manager. In addition to this brochure, clients must also receive the written disclosure
documents of the respective Independent Managers engaged to manage their assets.
Hilltop Wealth Advisors evaluates a variety of information about Independent Managers, which include
the Independent Managers’ public disclosure documents, materials supplied by the Independent
Managers themselves and other third-party analyses it believes are reputable. To the extent possible, the
Firm seeks to assess the Independent Managers’ investment strategies, past performance and risk results
in relation to its clients’ individual portfolio allocations and risk exposure. Hilltop Wealth Advisors also
takes into consideration each Independent Manager’s management style, returns, reputation, financial
strength, reporting, pricing and research capabilities, among other factors.
Hilltop Wealth Advisors continues to provide services relative to the discretionary or non-discretionary
selection of the Independent Managers. On an ongoing basis, the Firm monitors the performance of those
accounts being managed by Independent Managers. Hilltop Wealth Advisors seeks to ensure the
Independent Managers’ strategies and target allocations remain aligned with its clients’ investment
objectives and overall best interests.
Hilltop Wealth Advisors frequently hosts social and educational events for clients and potential clients.
These range from topical seminars to purely social outings. Some of the cost of these events is borne by
the Independent Managers and fund companies which Hilltop Wealth Advisors selects to manage client
assets. This creates a conflict of interest in that this financial support is an incentive for Hilltop Wealth
Advisors to select these managers over other managers. Hilltop Wealth Advisors mitigates this conflict by
(1) only participating in events which we believe are usual and customary business practices, and (2)
following the manager selection process described above to ensure that we are acting objectively and in
our clients’ best interests. Hilltop Wealth does not receive other compensation from these managers.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, we managed approximately $432,698,869 in client assets. These assets were
managed on a discretionary basis; where we made the investment decisions for our clients.