Background of Bordeaux Wealth Advisors
Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC (“BWA”) registered as an investment adviser with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission in March of 2017 after Thomas C. Myers and David K.
Murdock (“BWA Managing Partners”) decided to spin-out of their prior firm and establish
BWA.
Focus Financial Partners
BWA is part of the Focus Financial Partners, LLC (“Focus LLC”) partnership. Specifically, BWA is
a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Focus LLC. Focus Financial Partners Inc. is the sole
managing member of Focus LLC. Ultimate governance of Focus LLC is conducted through the
board of directors at Ferdinand FFP Ultimate Holdings, LP. Focus LLC is majority-owned,
indirectly and collectively, by investment vehicles affiliated with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC
(“CD&R”). Investment vehicles affiliated with Stone Point Capital LLC (“Stone Point”) are
indirect owners of Focus LLC. Because BWA is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus
LLC, CD&R and Stone Point investment vehicles are indirect owners of BWA.
Focus LLC also owns other registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, pension consultants,
insurance firms, business managers, and other firms (the “Focus Partners”), most of which
provide wealth management, benefit consulting and investment consulting services to
individuals, families, employers, and institutions. Some Focus Partners also manage or advise
limited partnerships, private funds, or investment companies as disclosed on their respective
Form ADVs.
BWA is managed by Thomas C. Myers, David K. Murdock, Jon Ekoniak, James Hering, Jon Snare,
and Phil Platt (“BWA Principals”), pursuant to a management agreement between BWA
Management Company LLC and BWA. The BWA Principals serve as leaders and officers of BWA
and are responsible for the management, supervision and oversight of BWA. Jon Snare is
responsible for the supervision of the Kirkland, Washington BWA office. Philip Platt, Chief
Compliance Officer, is responsible for firm compliance.
BWA offers wealth advisory services and assets under management totaling $4,437,471,849 as
of December 31, 2023, which consisted of $757,352,573 on a non-discretionary basis and
$3,680,119,276 on a discretionary basis.
While this brochure generally describes the business of BWA, certain sections also discuss the
activities of its personnel, including its officers, partners, directors, employees, and others who
may provide investment advice on behalf of BWA and are subject to BWA’s supervision or
control.
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Types of Advisory Services Offered
BWA provides wealth management services that include personalized financial counseling and
discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services to high net worth individuals
(i.e., investment assets in excess of $5 million) on a fee-only basis. BWA may also provide these
services to trusts, estates, private foundations, endowments, businesses and qualified
retirement plans.
Comprehensive financial and investment advice is provided through consultation with each
client and may include: the determination of financial objectives, identification of financial
issues, analysis of cash flow and insurance needs, track and report on financial assets, and
counsel related to education funding, retirement planning, risk management, and tax and
estate planning. Investment advice is an integral part of the comprehensive financial
counseling services provided.
BWA provides each client with a written evaluation of their initial financial situation at the
outset of the relationship, often with an accompanying net worth statement. BWA personnel
also perform periodic reviews of client accounts and communicate the results to clients while
also recommending specific courses of action that need to be taken in connection with BWA’s
recommendations. More frequent reviews may occur but are not necessarily communicated to
the client unless changes are recommended. BWA may provide ad-hoc or project-based
consultation to clients on an hourly basis if it deems appropriate under the circumstances.
BWA may provide investment advice about unaffiliated private investment funds, and may
recommend, on a non-discretionary basis, that certain qualified clients consider and
investment in unaffiliated private investment funds. BWA’s role relative to the private
investment funds will be limited to its initial and ongoing due diligence and investment
monitoring services. BWA’s clients are under absolutely no obligation to consider or make an
investment in a private investment fund(s).
We implement investment advice on behalf of certain clients in held-away accounts that are
maintained at independent third-party custodians. These held-away accounts are often 401(k)
accounts, 529 plans and other assets that are not held at our primary custodian(s).
We offer clients the option of obtaining certain financial solutions from unaffiliated third-party
financial institutions through UPTIQ Treasury & Credit Solutions, LLC (together with UPTIQ, Inc.
and its affiliates, “UPTIQ”) and Flourish Financial LLC (“Flourish”). Please see Items 5 and 10 for
a fuller discussion of these services
and other important information.
In addition, we help our clients obtain certain insurance solutions from unaffiliated, third-party
insurance brokers by introducing clients to our affiliate, Focus Risk Solutions, LLC (“FRS”), a
wholly owned subsidiary of our parent company, Focus Financial Partners, LLC. Please see
Items 5 and 10 for a fuller discussion of this service and other important information.
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We also have a business arrangement with a Focus firm SCS Capital Management (“SCS”), who
is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus LLC and Focus Inc., under which certain clients
of BWA have the option of investing in certain private investment vehicles managed by this
Focus firm. BWA is an affiliate of this Focus firm by virtue of being under common control with
it. Please see Items 5 and 10 of this Brochure for further details.
BWA also offers sub-advisory services to other Registered Investment Advisory firms and their
clients. This may include discretionary and non-discretionary management. BWA provides sub-
advisory services to advisors of ERISA plans and acknowledges its fiduciary status under ERISA
in such cases.
Neither BWA nor any of its personnel receive commissions, finder’s fees, or other remuneration
from the purchase or sale of any products recommended by BWA, including but not limited to
annuities, insurance, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, limited partnerships, or other commissioned
products.
The initial meeting between a prospective client and BWA, which may be conducted by
telephone, is free of charge and considered an exploratory interview to determine the extent
to which financial counseling and investment advice may be beneficial to the client.
BWA is a fiduciary within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) with respect to investment management services and
investment advice provided to ERISA plan clients, including ERISA plan participants. BWA is also
a fiduciary under section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the “IRC”) with respect to
investment management services and investment advice provided to individual retirement
accounts (“IRAs”), ERISA plans, and ERISA plan participants (collectively, “Retirement Account
Clients”). As such, BWA is subject to specific duties and obligations under ERISA and the IRC
that include, among other things, prohibited transaction rules which are intended to prohibit
fiduciaries from acting on conflicts of interest. When a fiduciary gives advice in which it has a
conflict of interest, the fiduciary must either avoid or eliminate the conflict or rely upon a
prohibited transaction exemption (a “PTE”).
As a fiduciary, we have duties of care and of loyalty to you and are subject to obligations
imposed on us by the federal and state securities laws. As a result, you have certain rights that
you cannot waive or limit by contract. Nothing in our agreement with you should be interpreted
as a limitation of our obligations under the federal and state securities laws or as a waiver of
any unwaivable rights you possess.
A conflict of interest arises and the prohibited transaction rules are implicated when BWA
recommends that an ERISA plan participant take a distribution from an ERISA Plan and roll it
over to an IRA that BWA advises, or if BWA recommends that an IRA owner transfer his IRA to
an IRA that BWA advises because BWA will receive compensation that it would not have
received absent the recommendation – i.e., the IRA advisory fee. When BWA engages in this
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transaction, it relies on the PTE known as the Best Interest Contract Exemption or BICE, which
requires compliance with the “impartial conduct standards.” The way BWA makes money
creates some conflicts with client interests, so BWA operates under a special rule that requires
BWA to act in the client’s best interest and not put their interest ahead of yours. The impartial
conduct standards are designed to mitigate conflicts of interest by requiring that investment
advice be in the “best interest” of the Retirement Account Client, that advisers not make any
materially misleading statements and not charge a fee that exceeds a reasonable amount. The
best interest standard requires that advisers act with the care, skill, prudence and diligence
under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and
familiar with such matters would use, based on the investment objectives, risk tolerance,
financial circumstances and needs of the Retirement Account Client. This mirrors the prudent
man standard of conduct and duty of loyalty found in ERISA.
Tailored Services
BWA’s financial counsel and investment advice is customized and tailored to the unique goals,
objectives and needs of each client. The planning process begins with an in-depth discovery of
the client’s goals, objectives, and attitudes. The goals and objectives for each client are
documented in writing and approved by the client. The stated goals and objectives for each
client are reflected in the client’s overall recommended financial and investment program and
advice that we provide on an ongoing basis.