Description of Advisory Firm
Strategic Global Advisors, LLC (“SGA,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is an independent, majority employee and
women-owned and controlled Limited Liability Company headquartered in Newport Beach, California. In
December 2005, Cynthia Tusan, CFA founded Strategic Global Advisors, LLC. In March 2006, SGA started
operating as an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“SEC”). Investment professionals with ownership include Cynthia Tusan, CFA and Gary Baierl, PhD.
Advisory Services Offered
Investment Management Services
SGA currently manages client portfolios in International Large Cap, All Cap, Small Cap, Small-Mid Cap,
Emerging Markets, Domestic, and Global equity strategies, primarily using foreign ordinaries or domestic
common stocks. SGA also offers strategies that are comprised primarily of ADRs, such as the International
Equity ADR strategy. While similar to the foreign ordinaries strategies, a strategy that primarily consists of
ADRs can have significant differences in the number of securities and the exposure to alpha and risk
factors, as well as currency, industry and country weights.
SGA’s investment management team has developed investment strategies within a collaborative
environment, primarily utilizing a bottom-up decision-making process. Our
investment process integrates
quantitative and fundamental methods. We construct portfolios with a focus on stock selection, rather
than country and sector market timing, although the firm does, from time to time, employ country and
sector tilts depending on market conditions. Certain strategies of the firm may allow a greater degree of
sector and country timing than other strategies. Portfolio managers provide active oversight and exercise
significant discretion when managing portfolios while employing the firm’s quantitative models.
Therefore, portfolio construction decisions are not made solely by a model, but rather are overseen by a
portfolio manager. Please refer below to
Item 8 - Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of
Loss associated with our investment strategies.
Foreign exchange transactions for client accounts are generally limited to those necessary to settle trades
in securities which are not denominated in the base currency of an account. Foreign exchange is generally
not a discretionary part of SGA’s investment management process and foreign exchange transactions are
typically undertaken to minimize operational risk and maximize efficiency and best execution. SGA does
not typically hedge directly against currency fluctuations between the currencies of international markets
and uses a base currency specified by the client, generally US dollar. Please refer below to
Item 12 -
Trading Spot Foreign Exchange for additional information regarding foreign exchange transactions.
SGA provides continuous and regular investment management services on a discretionary and non-
discretionary basis, limited by the client’s individual needs and specific client restrictions. We offer clients
the ability to gain exposures to domestic, international, and global equity markets through our product
offerings, diversified portfolios, and custom solutions. SGA’s services are provided through separate
accounts and as further described below, wrap account advisory programs, model portfolio programs,
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collective investment trusts, and other investment vehicles in certain foreign jurisdictions.
We discuss our discretionary authority below under
Item 16 - Investment Discretion. For more
information about the restrictions clients can put on their accounts, see
Tailored Services and Client
Imposed Restrictions in this Item below.
We describe the fees charged for investment management services below under
Item 5 - Fees and
Compensation.
Limitations on Investments
In some circumstances, SGA’s advice can be limited to certain types of securities. To replace client
restricted securities, we may hold individual mutual funds, ETFs or fixed-income securities, depending on
the investment strategy of the account, transition requirements, and client restrictions and preferences.
The holding period may be temporary or based on the individual needs of the client and objective of the
strategy. SGA may also utilize mutual funds and ETFs when transitioning accounts and equitizing cash
positions, or as proxies for exposures to certain equities that are illiquid or not otherwise easily available
to SGA client accounts.
Limitation by Client
SGA may also limit advice based on certain client-imposed restrictions. Holdings and performance
may vary based on a client’s restrictions. For more information about the restrictions clients can
place on their accounts, see
Tailored Services and Client Imposed Restrictions in this Item below.
Limitation by Broker-Dealer/Custodian
The investment options and markets available to clients may be further limited by the broker-
dealer/custodian chosen by the client and/or SGA.
Wrap Fee Programs
SGA also provides investment recommendations to clients participating in wrap fee programs sponsored
by broker-dealers. SGA contracts directly with the wrap fee program sponsor and not with the underlying
clients of the wrap fee program. At this time, SGA does not act as a sponsor to a wrap fee program.
In addition, SGA has entered into agreements with wrap sponsors where the client maintains an
agreement with the wrap sponsor and the wrap sponsor has a separate master agreement with SGA.
Furthermore, SGA may enter into an agreement directly with client where SGA has duties and
responsibilities within that agreement. For wrap program accounts, SGA may effect transactions through
other broker-dealers, but it is expected that most of the transactions will be executed through the wrap
sponsor because part of the wrap sponsor’s negotiated fee with the client may include brokerage
commissions and trading costs. In the rare event SGA trades away from the wrap sponsor, clients may pay
an additional per trade fee. The schedule of wrap fees is set forth in each wrap program sponsor’s client
brochure related to the program. SGA manages the wrap program accounts on a discretionary basis. SGA
attempts to manage these accounts in the same manner as our non-wrap accounts.
Model Portfolio Services
SGA enters into arrangements to provide model portfolio recommendations to unaffiliated third parties.
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The third parties use the model portfolio recommendations/weights to provide investment management
services to their clients. SGA has no discretion over the implementation of such model portfolio
recommendations and does not have any knowledge of the clients’ identities or financial situations. As
such, the service is not tailored to a specific client’s needs. When we provide such model portfolio
recommendations, we use reasonable efforts to confirm that the third-party providing or publishing the
information has a policy to limit the distribution of changes to the model around the time of those
changes to those clients and their advisors who have selected the applicable model portfolio. Once
confirmed, SGA will include the model platform in its trade rotation process with other accounts managed
and executed exclusively by SGA. If we find distribution is not limited, we may delay the release of
applicable research reports or model portfolios to the third-party.
Services to Collective Investment Trusts
SGA provides investment advisory services to collective investment trusts (“CIT”) sponsored by an
unaffiliated institutional trustee. SGA has entered into a written agreement with the trustee which
outlines the services we perform for each CIT. For those interested and eligible to invest, SGA may help
facilitate their participation in the CIT.
Services to Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities
SGA provides sub-advisory services to Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities
(“UCITS”) sponsored by an unaffiliated third party. UCITS are investment funds regulated by the European
Union. SGA will enter into a written agreement with the third party which outlines the services we will
perform for the UCITS product. The UCITS fund manager is responsible for interaction with
clients/prospects and distribution of this product in relevant jurisdictions.
Tailored Services and Client Imposed Restrictions
SGA manages client accounts based on the investment strategy the client chooses, as discussed below
under Item 8 - Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies, and Risk of Loss. SGA applies the strategy for
each client and will take into account the client’s and client advisors’/consultants’ direction or restrictions
when tailoring investment decisions for clients based on this information. Our recommendations may be
limited if the client does not provide us with accurate and complete information. It is the client’s
responsibility to keep SGA informed of any changes to their investment objectives or restrictions.
Currently SGA does not have clients for whom we provide general financial planning or asset allocation
advice.
Clients may provide SGA with general investment guidelines, across a variety of parameters including, but
not limited to, country, industry, and sector limitations. Clients may also request other restrictions on the
account, such as when a client wants to keep a minimum level of cash in the account or does not want
SGA to buy or sell certain specific securities or security types in the account. SGA relies on the accuracy of
the restrictions and investment guidelines that the client provides to SGA or receives from a third-party
vendor. SGA is generally not expected to perform additional reviews of the list of restricted securities
provided by the client or third-party vendor to confirm accuracy or completeness. SGA will apply these
restrictions prior to trading, adjusting portfolios to reflect client restrictions, which may result in portfolio
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parameters that are significantly different from SGA’s default parameters and may cause performance
dispersion. SGA reserves the right to not accept and/or terminate management of a client’s account if we
feel that the client-imposed restrictions would limit or prevent us from meeting or maintaining the
client’s investment strategy.
Assets Under Management
SGA manages client assets in discretionary accounts on a continuous and regular basis. As of 12/31/2023,
SGA was actively managing $2,768,301,384 of client assets on a discretionary basis. Additionally, through
unified managed accounts (UMAs) we provided advice on $337,721,323 of client assets on a non-
discretionary basis (e.g., assets under advisement).