All Terrain Financial Advisors, LLC (hereinafter referred to as "ATFA") is an investment advisory firm
offering a variety of advisory and financial planning services to individuals, pension and profit-sharing
plans, trusts, estates, foundations, endowments, and business entities. Services are customized to
clients’ individual needs. ATFA was established in January of 2017. Brian Skolte and Joseph VanDam
are founding members and principals of ATFA. As of December 31, 2023, ATFA had $277,355,721
discretionary and $11,797,423 non-discretionary Regulatory Assets Under Management.
ATFA offers investment advisory services in the form of Discretionary Asset Management, Non-
Discretionary Asset Management, Investment Consultation, and Financial Planning. Clients can also
impose written restrictions and/or limitations on investing in certain securities, types of securities,
investment strategies or styles.
ATFA advisors will meet with clients to collect data about their situation as part of our due diligence
process. ATFA will use this information to determine the appropriate investments and recommendations
for each client. ATFA will identify client investment objectives and risk tolerance to determine a road
map to the management of client accounts. The information gathered by ATFA will assist in providing
clients with requested services and to customize services to their financial situation. Depending on the
services utilized, ATFA will gather financial information and history from clients, which can include, but
is not limited to:
Retirement Goals
Financial Goals
Insurance Needs
Investment Objectives
Investment Horizon
Financial Needs
Cash Flow Analysis
Cost of Living Needs
Household Expenses
Education Needs
Savings Tendencies
Net Worth Statement
Asset List
Investment Account Holdings
Investment Experience
Income Level
Charitable Goals
Estate Goals
Risk Tolerance Factors
Planned Expenses
Debt Information
Investment Advisory Services
ATFA engages in asset management services with clients on a discretionary and/or non-discretionary
basis. For managed asset services, clients must choose discretionary or non-discretionary trading
authorization, or a combination thereof, on an account-by-account basis. Additionally, clients can place
written restrictions on specific holdings. However, ATFA prefers to provide services on accounts with
discretionary authorization, due to risks involved with non-discretionary management.
1. Discretionary Asset Management Services:
Clients typically engage with ATFA for Discretionary Asset Management Services. Discretion means
ATFA will have authorization to place trades and make allocation changes to client accounts at-will
and without prior consultation with, or approval from, the client. ATFA will manage and supervise
these accounts on a continuous and ongoing basis and make changes to holdings as deemed
necessary or prudent by ATFA. ATFA will manage assets in good faith and in furtherance of clients’
disclosed investment objectives, risk tolerance, investment horizon, age, wealth, income, and other
factors relevant to suitability of investments. ATFA will offer to meet with clients periodically to review
objectives, goals, risk tolerances, and their financial situation, and other items. ATFA will make other
financial related recommendations and provide financial planning services to clients who pay a fee
for Discretionary Asset Management Services as needs arise. ATFA will make recommendations in
accordance with one or more of the methods of analysis and investment strategies described in Item
8.
2. Non-Discretionary Asset Management Services:
Clients can choose to engage with ATFA on a non-discretionary basis. Non-Discretionary means
ATFA will not have authorization to place trades in the client’s account without first consulting with
the client and receiving explicit authorization for the purchase or sale of securities or other
investments, with the exception of the management fee provision related to insufficient funds to collect
fees (see Item 5). ATFA must receive a communication which we deem sufficient to constitute
authorization to execute transactions. Sufficient authorization can include verbal authorization if the
terms are clear and consistent with objectives and risk tolerance, however ATFA can ask for written
confirmation if terms are unclear or if the client is overriding previously determined risk tolerance,
objectives, or if terms are complex. Instructions must always be confirmed verbally, e-mailed
instructions will not be acted upon without verbal confirmation. ATFA will manage and supervise these
accounts on a continuous and ongoing basis, and alert clients when ATFA believes changes need to
be made. ATFA will provide advice in good faith and in furtherance of clients’ disclosed investment
objectives, risk tolerance, investment horizon, age, wealth, income, and other factors relevant to
suitability of investments. Additionally, ATFA will periodically offer to meet with clients to review
allocations, goals, objectives, risk tolerance and the client’s financial situation, and other items. ATFA
will make recommendations and provide financial planning services to clients who pay a fee for Non-
Discretionary Asset Management Services as needs arise. ATFA will make recommendations in
accordance with one or more of the methods of analysis and investment strategies described in Item
8.
Clients who choose to have accounts managed on a non-discretionary basis are advised that such
accounts are subject to risks. Risks can include, but are not limited to, the risk of missed market
opportunities. In these non-discretionary accounts, the client bears risk associated with ATFA not
being able to contact them. Because of the non-discretionary nature of these accounts, performance
will likely deviate from those accounts managed on a discretionary basis with similar holdings or
objectives. Additionally, ATFA may not be able to obtain execution similar to discretionary clients and
will not be able to include non-discretionary clients in aggregated/bunched transactions or allocations
if the timing or purpose of instructions does not coincide with discretionary transactions.
3. Investment Consultation Services (agreements entered on or after March 31, 2019)
Consultation Services are more suitable for investors who do not want active asset management
but find value in educational and professional advice offered through this service. ATFA offers
Consultation Services to clients who actively manage their own account, or who identify potential
holdings on their own, but want to partner with a professional financial advisor to help them analyze
positions, allocations, and/or strategies for their portfolio.
ATFA will not provide ongoing supervision or management of accounts using this service. Clients
using this service are responsible for monitoring their accounts on an ongoing basis,
communicating areas where assistance is needed, and consulting ATFA when considering position
changes or trades. Additionally, clients using this service are responsible for accepting or rejecting
advisors’ recommendations and executing transactions clients deem advisable. Clients using this
service will generally be expected to place their own trades, however ATFA can elect to place
trades for the client upon client instruction as long as the trade instructions are explicit, orally
confirmed by client, and ATFA expressly accepts the instructions. Trades placed by ATFA under
this service will be non-discretionary unless otherwise agreed upon in writing prior to trade
execution.
Consultative services provide for the analysis of positions, allocations, and/or strategies, or
education on the same, for use in the client’s portfolio. Analysis can include, but is not limited to,
portfolio construction, hedging techniques, use of leverage, position entry/exit, dollar cost
averaging, tax lot harvesting, or other strategic trading issues. In addition to analyzing positions
and allocations, this service can help clients who are using option strategies, or who are learning
to use option strategies, by working with an ATFA advisor to learn the potential benefits and
drawbacks of those strategies and trades.
Clients are contacted by ATFA on a predetermined schedule, or clients can contact ATFA at-will
to consult about changes to their portfolio. Clients using this service must monitor their own
account and holdings. These Consultation Services are offered only at the availability of a qualified
financial advisor who has scheduling availability to take on a new client. ATFA, in its sole
discretion, can accept or reject these relationships.
Consultation Services are typically best suited for several types of clients:
A. Clients who want to take a hands-on approach to managing their own investments but seek
professional advice regarding asset allocation, hedging strategies, market timing, portfolio
holdings, or other aspects of their investments.
B. Clients who have a concentrated position in one or more stocks and want advice on how to
hedge or exit positions.
C. Clients who do not want to give ATFA discretionary authority, but who wish to speak with an
adviser about changes to allocations or to create an allocation for a financial account.
4. Financial Planning Services
ATFA can provide its clients with a broad range of comprehensive financial planning services.
These services are typically included when a client uses other services on an ongoing fee basis.
However, Financial Planning can also be obtained a la carte, or when one-time complex situations
need
to be analyzed. The precise level of service must be agreed upon between ATFA and the
client on a case-by-case basis. Financial Planning Services will address specific issues during a
specific timeframe and ATFA has no obligation to provide updates or ongoing recommendations.
These services can include:
Income/ Distribution Planning
Retirement Planning
Allocation Analysis
Risk Management
Estate Planning
Insurance Planning
Education Planning
Business Planning
Investment Consultation
Tax Planning
Budgeting
Debt Analysis
Charitable Planning
5. Non-Managed Accounts
Some clients want to allow ATFA to view accounts or hold accounts with the same custodian
for convenience purposes, but do not want ATFA to provide management or advisory
services for those accounts. These accounts will be designated as Non-Managed accounts.
ATFA will not provide any services for Non-Managed accounts. These accounts will not be
billed a fee or monitored. ATFA will not regularly trade these accounts, however, clients
occasionally request that ATFA place a non-discretionary trade for convenience purposes.
ATFA will only execute trades in these accounts if explicit instructions are given by the client
and the client confirms the instructions in writing and the advisor expressly accepts the
instructions.
General Information About Our Services
Services and recommendations are based on financial information disclosed by clients to
ATFA. In performing these services ATFA is not required to verify any information received
from clients or from client’s other professionals and is expressly authorized to rely on such
information. Clients are advised that certain assumptions will be made with respect to interest
and inflation rates and use of past trends and performance of the market and economy.
However, past performance is in no way an indication of future performance. ATFA cannot
offer any guarantees or promises that their financial goals and objectives will be met. Further,
clients must continue to review plans and recommendations, as updates will likely be
necessary based upon changes in their financial situation, goals, objectives, or the economy.
Should a client’s financial situation or investment goals or objectives change, clients must
notify ATFA promptly of the changes.
Clients are advised that the advice offered by ATFA is limited and is not meant to be
comprehensive. Therefore, clients should seek the services of other professionals such as
an insurance adviser, attorney and/or accountant. ATFA will, when prudent, recommend
clients engage the firm for additional related services, its Supervised Persons in their
individual capacities as insurance agents, and/ or other professionals to implement its
recommendations. Clients are advised that a conflict of interest exists if clients engage ATFA
or its affiliates to provide additional services for compensation. Clients retain absolute
discretion over implementation decisions and are under no obligation to act upon any
recommendations.
Clients are further advised that recommendations and account allocations are holistic in
nature. This means that we will take all disclosed assets and allocations into consideration
when giving advice or formulating allocations. Therefore, a single account could be allocated
more aggressively or conservatively than the overall allocation of client assets. Clients should
keep this in mind when providing risk and objective information to ATFA. We will base risk
and objective factors on clients’ overall portfolio and not just the portion we manage or a
single financial account. For this reason, clients should update ATFA if there are significant
changes in assets that are not managed by ATFA. Additionally, some clients want us to
perform a specific service or create a specific type of allocation for them. In these instances,
the agreement between the client and ATFA will be narrow in scope.
In limited circumstances ATFA offers services on an a la carte basis to clients who do not meet
the minimum portfolio size described in Item 7.
Clients are advised the investment recommendations and advice offered by ATFA are not legal
advice or accounting advice. Clients should coordinate and discuss the impact of financial
advice with their attorney and/or accountant. Clients are further advised that it is necessary to
inform ATFA promptly with respect to any changes in their financial situation and/ or investment
goals and objectives. Failure to notify ATFA of any such changes could result in investment
recommendations not meeting client needs.
IRA Rollover Considerations
As part of our consulting and advisory services, we provide you with recommendations and
advice concerning your employer retirement plan or other qualified retirement account. When
ATFA provides rollover advice to a client ATFA is acting as a fiduciary within the meaning of Title
I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as
applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts.
Our recommendations can include you consider withdrawing the assets from your employer's
retirement plan or other qualified retirement account and roll the assets over to an individual
retirement account ("IRA"). Further, we offer our management services to those funds and
securities rolled into an IRA or other account for which we will receive compensation. If you elect
to roll the assets to an IRA that is subject to our management, we will charge you a fee as
described above under Item 5.
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. Accordingly, ATFA operates under a
special rule that requires ATFA to act in the client or prospect’s best interest and not put ATFA’s
interest ahead of the client’s or prospects. You are under no obligation, contractually or
otherwise, to complete the rollover. Furthermore, if you do complete the rollover, you are under
no obligation to have the assets in an IRA managed by us.
It is important for you to understand that 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 each.
An employee will typically have four options:
1. Leave the funds in your employer's (former employer's) plan.
2. Move the funds to a new employer's retirement plan.
3. Cash out and take a taxable distribution from the plan.
4. Roll 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 it is important
you understand the following:
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 can have unique investment options not available to the
public such as employer securities, or previously closed funds.
2. Your current plan could 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 costs of those products and services.
c. It is likely you will not be charged a management fee and will not receive ongoing asset
management services unless you elect to have such services. In the event your plan
offers asset management or model management, there could be a fee associated with
the services that is more or less than our asset management fee.
3. Our strategy may have a higher risk than option(s) provided to you in your plan.
4. Your current plan may offer financial advice, guidance, and/or model management or
portfolio options at no additional cost.
5. If you keep your assets titled in a 401k or retirement account, you could potentially delay
our required minimum distribution beyond age 70.5 (70 ½).
6. Your 401k may offer more liability protection than a rollover IRA; each state can vary.
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 an attorney if 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 are also 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.