About Our Firm
Capital Investment Advisors, Inc. (CIA) was organized
as a District of Columbia corporation on March 12,
1998. The firm is presently registered with the SEC.
2023 will mark CIA’s 25th year in business. The firm is
solely owned by its parent company Capital Asset
Management Group.
CIA is a Registered Investment Advisor. Registration of
an Investment Advisor does not imply any level of skill
or training. The oral and written communications of an
Advisor provide you with information about which you
determine to hire or retain an Advisor.
Advisory Services Offered
CIA provides Financial Consultation Services and
Asset Management Services to our clients. Our
Financial Consultation Services are tailored to meet the
unique needs of each client. These Consultation
Services usually commence with the preparation of a
financial plan.
The scope of our initial financial plan depends upon
our Client’s needs and circumstances, and may be
offered according to different formats and levels of
complexity. In subsequent years, clients may choose to
engage us to review and revise these plans and consult
on other financial matters that the client may present.
We also provide Consultation Services that address a
single need our clients may present.
Our Asset Management Services may utilize third-
party asset managers and solicitation programs or
provide discretionary and non-discretionary asset
management. We help clients select from among these
third-party asset manager and solicitation programs or
provide for the continuous supervision of the client’s
investment portfolio. Certain third-party asset
managers will consent to clients imposing restrictions
on particular types of securities.
Financial Consultation Services
CIA provides financial consultation services which
generally take the form of individualized financial
planning, and proprietary educational programs
through our learning center, the Institute for Financial
Independence. When a client’s needs and
circumstances warrant, CIA can also provide
consultation and analysis services that are designed to
resolve a single, unique situation. Clients may also
engage CIA to provide plan review, modification, and
general financial consultation on an annual basis.
Our financial consultation services are collectively
known as our Integrated Wealth Management Process
(IWMP), which is a three-stage program we have
designed to:
1. Educate clients about the financial environment
and help them articulate their personal and
professional goals to gain an understanding of the
purpose of money in their lives.
2. Organize and assess the client’s current financial
situation to help integrate and optimize plans and
strategies that can be implemented to help
achieve their objectives.
3. Validate the ongoing effectiveness of the
program’s attainment of its stated objectives, and
revise, renew, and recharge the client’s strategic
financial planning on a recurring basis.
Educational Emphasis: The Introductory Workshop
A client’s first exposure to CIA consultation services
will focus on familiarization with the financial
environment. We will discuss at length how financial
strategies and products work, and how they can fail.
We will talk about what we believe to be common
misconceptions that many people hold about strategies
and products, and will attempt to illustrate how an
understanding of these misconceptions can have a
bearing on whether a client might stand to increase or
lose potential wealth. Our goal in this process is to help
make the client’s financial environment
understandable and transparent so that we might help
our client more confidently make informed planning
decisions.
Our representatives will lead the client through several
exercises that have been designed to help the client
identify and articulate their view of their personal
financial situation. We will help the client to identify
what dangers, opportunities, and strengths they see in
their current situation, ascertain their personal and
financial goals and objectives, and identify the
obstacles that prevent the client from realizing their
goals.
The Goals Driver Conversation
The CIA Investment Advisor Representative will next
lead the client through conversations about those
personal and professional goals and objectives. We will
help the client to explore how they might integrate
their financial priorities with their personal and
professional lives, while creating and implementing
financial strategies to help achieve their goals and
objectives.
We find this clarification process helps define the
purpose of wealth in the client’s life and unmask any
fears or apprehensions they might have about their
financial position. We believe helping a client identify
their own factors for success helps them to visualize
their ability to achieve that success. Our initial
consultation concludes with a discussion about CIA’s
financial planning programs. Our representative will
help the client to determine which, if any, of the
planning programs they may wish to pursue. No
personal financial information is disclosed during the
initial consultation session, and there is no charge for
the client to attend the session.
Our Planning Process
After completing the initial consultation session, a
client may choose to have CIA develop an
individualized, Integrated Independence Method
(I2M) financial plan tailored to address the client’s
unique concerns. We offer three levels of financial
planning services, which differ only by the scope,
complexity, and cost of each. Our basic level of
planning, the Independence Accelerator, has been
designed for individuals who are in the stage of life
where they are accumulating wealth, and our planning
process seeks to provide these clients with strategies
and ideas that focus more on the growth of wealth. Our
intermediate level of planning, the Independence
Planning Pro Program (IPPro), has been designed for
those individuals who face the need for distribution
strategies for the wealth they have accumulated, or are
in between the other service levels offered. For these
individuals, our planning process generally seeks to
provide tax effective and risk-averse strategies for
sustaining the client’s income needs. Our premium
level of planning, the Integrated Independence Wealth
Management Program, has been designed for those
clients who face the need for preserving and
transferring their wealth, often situated across a
complex financial landscape. For these individuals,
our planning process focuses on an in-depth analysis of
asset ownership, projected estate taxation, and
strategies to help the client preserve the greatest
amount of their estate for transfer to their heirs and
legacies.
Fact Finder Session: Blueprint to Financial Freedom
Worksheet
Our planning process begins by gathering and
documenting information about the client’s
investments, assets, and liabilities in order to assess
the client’s balance sheet, estate capital, and liquidity
needs. This generally leads to a discussion about asset
ownership and succession expectations. We document
the household’s income, payroll deductions, taxes, and
expenses to gain an understanding of cash flow and
assess tax exposure. The initial phase of our analysis
will also include discussions about the client’s short-
term and long-term concerns, an assessment of risk
tolerance, and a cataloging and review of the family’s
legal and financial documents.
Analysis: Identifying Your Inefficiencies
Following the initial planning session, our
representatives will analyze the information and notes
they have obtained from the client meeting to identify
efficiencies, inefficiencies, fragmentation, and
coordination that may be a part of the client’s current
plan. Our representative will seek to identify and
evaluate alternative strategies. They will seek
realignment of the financial plan’s overall efficacy with
the goal of improving the client’s confidence level in
being able to achieve their goals and objectives. Our
representative will also review the client’s financial
products and services to determine if they work
collectively and in an integrated manner, and to
identify any potential lost opportunity costs or tax
inefficiencies.
Presentation: The I2M Unique Conversations – Your
Personal Financial Plan
All our financial planning programs result in a
presentation of our representative’s findings to the
client. The scope, complexity, and comprehensive
nature of the plan will be determined by the financial
planning level elected by the client. If our
representative discovers unanticipated issues or
concerns during the process of preparing the plan, the
representative will contact the client to discuss the
nature of the finding, discuss options which may or
may not result in a higher fee than initially projected,
and seek direction from the client before continuing
with the plan preparation.
During the presentation, our representative will review
where components of the client’s existing plan appear
to be on target. The representative will also discuss
where the existing
plan appears it might fall short of
meeting the client’s stated goals and expectations. Our
representative will also point out where tax
inefficiencies may have been found and where
opportunity cost was identified. In presenting these
discussions, our representative may rely upon one or
more I2M Conversations to help illustrate a topic of
consideration. These I2M Conversations are included
as a part of the planning process.
I2M Four-Step Meeting
If inefficiencies or opportunities are identified, our
representative will recommend an action plan for
moving forward that may suggest restructuring or
repurposing parts of the existing plan. Our
representative might also identify a need for strategies
or products that the client does not have in their
current plan. These strategies or products could
include savings programs, investment products or
professional management, asset allocation, insurance,
debt restructuring, and other approaches unique to the
client’s situation.
Your Personal Road Map
In completing the presentation of the comprehensive
financial plan, our representative will also discuss a
suggested plan of action. Our implementation plan will
catalog actionable items, recommend, and seek
agreement on the action, assign responsibility for
addressing the item, set an estimated completion date,
and provide for tracking results.
Implementation
After the plan has been presented, the client may
choose to implement our representative’s
recommendation. If a client chooses to implement any
recommendations contained in the financial plan, we
suggest the client work closely with his or her attorney,
accountant, insurance agent, and/or securities broker.
The client is under no obligation to implement any or
all our recommendations, nor are they under any
obligation to implement our recommendations
through us.
Execution: 90-Day Follow-Up Meeting
The client may choose to execute recommended
investment advisory activities through our
representative. The client may also choose to execute
securities or insurance recommendations through our
representative in his or her separate capacities as
Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment
Research, Inc. (CIR) or agent with one or more
insurance companies, which is in addition to our
Investment Advisor’s role as an IAR with CIA. The
nature of these relationships is fully described in “Item
10: Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliation,”
found later in this brochure.
Clients should be aware that if they execute
recommended securities, or insurance
recommendations through CIR, our representative
may earn commissions that are separate and distinct
from fees charged for financial consultation services or
advisory fees. In some instances, depending on the
size of the transaction (commissions generated in
excess of $10,000), we may offer to offset our fees by
up to 50% of the first-time financial planning fee in lieu
of the earned brokerage or insurance commissions.
This offset would apply to all initial plan clients,
regardless of which financial consultation level of
service they are receiving.
On occasion, we will prepare financial consultation
plans limited to a specific concern. Our representative
will follow a program similar to the one used for our
Independence Accelerator, IPPro, or Integrated
Independence Wealth Management programs.
However, the scope of the discovery, analysis, and
recommendations will be limited to the identified
concern. The plans will typically be priced as a fixed
rate or hourly fees structure, as addressed later in this
brochure.
Annual Review Services Program
After clients have implemented their Independence
Accelerator, IPPro, or Integrated Independence
Wealth Management plans, they may elect to retain
CIA on an annual basis to revisit their plan, validate
their assumptions and decisions, and revise elements
of the plan as may be warranted. The Annual Review
programs are known as the Independence Energizer,
Optimizer, and Maximizer programs, respectively.
Independence Energizer
Clients Age 20-40, (No net-worth minimum required.)
Our Independence Energizer financial consultation
review services continue to focus on individuals who
are in the wealth accumulation stage of life. On an
annual basis, our representative will meet with the
client to review their Independence Accelerator plan.
During this session, our representative will provide
tools and processes to help the client identify goals and
objectives and measure results.
We will determine if the plan is still on target to address
the client’s goals and objectives. When warranted, our
representative may make recommendations to revise
the program. We continue our focus on education
through a series of seminars, webinars, and
presentations that occur throughout the year.
Independence Energizer review clients are invited to
attend these sessions which continue our focus on how
financial strategies and products work, and how they
can fail.
Independence Optimizer
Clients Age 40-70 (Net-worth required is $500,000+.)
Our Independence Optimizer review services continue
to focus on the needs of individuals who are in or
approaching the wealth distribution stage of life or are
in between the other service levels after the IPPro plan
is in place. Our representative will meet with the client
at least annually to validate the plan and its
assumptions, while monitoring its progress. For these
individuals, our planning process seeks to provide tax-
effective and risk-averse strategies for sustaining the
client’s income needs.
Independence Maximizer
Clients Age 60 & Up (Net-worth minimum requirements is
$1,000,000.)
Our Integrated Independence Wealth Management
plans will be reviewed annually via our Independence
Maximizer review service. This program has been
designed for those clients who face the need for
preserving and transferring their wealth, often situated
across a complex financial landscape. For these
individuals, our planning process focuses on an in-
depth analysis of asset ownership, projected estate
taxation, and strategies to help the client preserve the
greatest amount of their estate for transfer to their
heirs and legacies.
Note in some cases, Integrated Independence Wealth
management plans will be reviewed annually under the
Optimizer review program depending on
circumstances. Likewise, in some cases Accelerator
plans will be reviewed annually under the Optimizer
review program. All review programs are revisited and
assessed annually to ensure clients are serviced under
the appropriate model.
CIA Money Management Program & Investment
Advisory Services
Summary
CIA provides asset management services. Our
Investment Advisor Representatives make
recommendations for a third-party to provide
investment management or will personally provide
continuous supervision of underlying securities in a
client’s portfolio. Our representative may recommend
portfolios that may include many types of investments
including, but not limited to, common and preferred
stocks, bonds, municipal securities, government
securities, limited partnerships, mutual funds, unit
investment trusts. These services are provided on a
discretionary or non-discretionary basis, where
portfolio recommendations are made to meet the
client’s objectives.
Capital Investment Advisor Representatives may
provide investment management services, defined as
giving continuous investment advice to you and
making investments based on your individual needs
through brokerage accounts established at CIR.
Through this program, your Capital Investment
Advisor Representative will be responsible for
determining investment recommendations and
responsible for implementing transactions. The
Capital Investment Advisor Representative shall
actively manage your accounts in accordance with your
individual needs, objectives, and risk tolerance. These
accounts will be managed on a discretionary trading
basis. In order to have trading authorization on your
account, your CIA Investment Advisor Representative
must be granted limited power of attorney over that
account.
Third-Party Multi-Manager Programs
Our representatives may provide asset allocation
advice through various outside third-party money
management programs, including:
Cambridge Asset Allocation Platform (CAAP)
AssetMark, Inc.
Orion Portfolio Solutions (formerly FTJ Fund
Choice, LLC)
Brinker Capital
The specifics of each Third-Party Money Managers
(TPMMs), investment philosophy, strategies, and
holdings are contained in each firm’s ADV2A or Wrap
Fee Program Brochure disclosure documents.
Assets Advised by CIA
When CIA provides asset management services, our
Investment Adviser Representatives make
recommendations for a third-party to provide
investment management or will personally provide
continuous supervision of underlying securities in a
client’s portfolio. Any client we may advise is done so
on a discretionary or a non-discretionary basis.
As of June 2023, CIA provided asset management
services to 627 clients, with a combined asset value of
$311.979,712.00.