Services
Knox Wealth Partners Advisory (“Advisor”) offers asset management services based on the
individual needs of the client. This Brochure provides a description of the advisory services offered
under the Knox Wealth Partners Advisory Wrap program. For more information about Knox Wealth
Partners Advisory’s other investment advisory services, please contact Knox Wealth Partners
Advisory for a copy of a similar brochure that describes such services or go to
www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
In the Knox Wealth Partners Advisory Wrap program, investment advisor representatives (“IARs”)
provide ongoing investment advice and management on assets in the client’s account. Knox Wealth
Partners Advisory provides advice on the purchase and sale of various types of investments, such as
mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), variable annuity subaccounts, equities, fixed income
securities. Knox Wealth Partners Advisory provides advice that is tailored to the individual needs of
the client based on the investment objective chosen by the client.
Retirement Plan Rollover Recommendations
When Knox Wealth Partners Advisory provides investment advice about your retirement plan account or
individual retirement account (“IRA”) including whether to maintain investments and/or proceeds in the
retirement plan account, roll over such investment/proceeds from the retirement plan account to a IRA or
make a distribution from the retirement plan account, we acknowledge that Knox Wealth Partners Advisory
is a “fiduciary” within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”)
and/or the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) as applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts. The
way Knox Wealth Partners Advisory makes money creates conflicts with your interests so Knox Wealth
Partners Advisory operates under a special rule that requires Knox Wealth Partners Advisory to act in your
best interest and not put our interest ahead of you.
Under this special rule’s provisions, Knox Wealth Partners Advisory must act as a fiduciary to a retirement
plan account or IRA under ERISA/IRC:
• Meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (e.g., give
prudent advice);
• Never put the financial interests of Knox Wealth Partners Advisory ahead of you when
making recommendations (e.g., give loyal advice);
• Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that Knox Wealth Partners Advisory gives
advice that is in your best interest;
• Charge no more than is reasonable for the services of Knox Wealth Partners Advisory; and
• Give Client basic information about conflicts of interest.
To the extent we recommend you roll over your account from a current retirement plan account to an
individual retirement account managed by Knox Wealth Partners Advisory, please know that Knox Wealth
Partners Advisory and our investment adviser representatives have a conflict of interest.
We can earn increased investment advisory fees by recommending that you roll over your account at the
retirement plan to an IRA managed by Knox Wealth Partners Advisory. We will earn fewer investment
advisory fees if you do not roll over the funds in the retirement plan to an IRA managed by Knox Wealth
Partners Advisory.
Thus, our investment adviser representatives have an economic incentive to recommend a rollover of funds
from a retirement plan to an IRA which is a conflict of interest because our recommendation that you open
an IRA account to be managed by our firm can be based on our economic incentive and not based
exclusively on whether or not moving the IRA to our management program is in your overall best interest.
Our investment adviser representatives have the ability to negotiate fees per individual account. Advisors
may offer multiple strategies with different fee structures to their clients. As such Advisors have an
economic incentive to direct a greater portion of the client assets to the accounts with higher fee structures.
We have taken steps to manage these conflicts of interest. We have adopted an impartial conduct standard
whereby our investment adviser representatives will (i) provide investment advice to a retirement plan
participant regarding a rollover of funds from the retirement plan in accordance with the fiduciary status
described below, (ii) not recommend investments which result in Knox Wealth Partners Advisory receiving
unreasonable compensation related to the rollover of funds from the retirement plan to an IRA, and (iii) fully
disclose compensation received by Knox Wealth Partners Advisory and our supervised persons and any
material conflicts of interest related to recommending the rollover of funds from the retirement plan to an
IRA and refrain from making any materially misleading statements regarding such rollover.
When providing advice to your regarding a retirement plan account or IRA, our investment advisor
representatives will 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 in the conduct of an
enterprise of a like character and with like aims, based on the investment objectives, risk, tolerance, financial
circumstances, and a client’s needs, without regard to the financial or other interests of Knox Wealth Partners
Advisory or our affiliated personnel.
Firm Management
W. Porter Alexander, Managing Partner & Chief Compliance Officer (CRD No. 4151849) -
Porter Alexander has over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services industry, Porter's
hallmark has been to understand each client specifically and to assess the often-unintended benefit
or consequence of the solutions being implemented. He draws from his wide knowledge of business,
investment, and accounting concepts to get to the root of the issues in order to design a strategy with
the goal of assisting owners with growing their business, saving on taxes, keeping their employees,
and positioning for a seamless retirement. Before entering the financial strategy field, Porter grew
up in his family's construction business. This experience gives him the understanding of the
opportunities and challenges of being the next generation within a family-owned business. Mr.
Alexander was awarded the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM designation, after having
completed the rigorous academic requirements, ethics requirements, and industry experience
mandates. He also holds the securities license series 6, 7, 24, 63.
Charles F. Farmer, Managing Partner (CRD No. 2245087) - Chuck Farmer is a veteran of the
financial services industry with over 20 years of experience. A graduate of the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Princeton Theological Seminary, Chuck specializes in delivering option-
driven products and services for his business, estate, and retirement planning clients. He enhances the
company's expertise in the areas of business continuation planning, income and estate planning, and
business employee relations and development. Chuck holds the designation of Chartered Financial
Consultant and Chartered Life Underwriter from the American College, Bryn Mawr, PA. and holds the
securities license series 6 and 63.
Kristen T. Tucker, Managing Partner (CRD No. 4266988) - Kristen has worked in the financial
services industry since 1999, having started her career at First Tennessee Bank in downtown
Knoxville, TN. She has since worked as a Financial Advisor for two of the major wirehouse firms,
before making the decision to move her practice to the independent channel. This move was based
on her desire to provide truly unbiased and objective advice in an environment where her clients'
best interests would always be first. In 2006, Kristen was awarded the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
PLANNERTM designation, after having completed the rigorous academic requirements, ethics
requirements, and industry experience mandates. She applies this knowledge in her practice as she
works closely with each client to develop, implement and monitor an investment strategy designed
to best help them reach their goals, their personal financial plan, which serves as the foundation for
every relationship. Kristen holds a B.S. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and holds the
securities license series 7 and 66.
The Firm
Knox Wealth Partners Advisory is a comprehensive financial services firm dedicated to providing
our clients with an individually tailored approach to investing and risk management. The firm has
been an independent SEC investment adviser since 2017 but has over 75 years of experience. Knox
Wealth Partners Advisory is anchored by in-depth knowledge, transparent guidance, and
compassionate service to select families and business owners.
The firm offers discretionary and non-discretionary asset management services primarily to
individual and business owners. Financial planning and consulting services are offered as separate
services. and are not included as part of our asset management services. The firm does not directly
hold cash or securities or have direct access to client funds. The firm has a custodial relationship
with LPL Financial as the qualified custodian.
• Investment adviser representatives of Knox Wealth Partners Advisory are also investment
adviser representatives of LPL Financial, an SEC registered investment adviser (CRD No.
6413)
in order to provide advisory services to retirement plans through LPL Financial
sponsored platforms.
• Investment adviser representatives of Knox Wealth Partners Advisory are registered
representatives of LPL Financial, a FINRA/SIPC member broker/dealer, to offer brokerage
services.
• Certain investment advisor representatives are insurance agents appointed with various
insurance carriers to offer insurance products.
While Knox Wealth Partners Advisory has engaged LPL Financial, LLC to act in a custodial
capacity and investment adviser representatives of Knox Wealth Partners Advisory are individually
registered with LPL Financial as a broker/dealer and also investment adviser representatives of LPL
Financial as an SEC registered investment adviser. LPL Financial LLC is a separate and legally
unaffiliated entity.
Fees
In the Knox Wealth Partners Advisory Wrap program, clients pay Knox Wealth Partners Advisory a
single annual advisory fee for advisory services and execution of transactions. Clients do not pay
brokerage commissions, markups or transaction charges for execution of transactions in addition to
the advisory fee. The advisory fee is negotiable between the client and Knox Wealth Partners
Advisory and is set out in the advisory agreement.
The advisory fee is a percentage based on the value of all assets in the account, including cash
holdings. The maximum advisory fee will not exceed 2.5 %.
□ The advisory fee is paid to Knox Wealth Partners Advisory and is shared between Knox
Wealth Partners Advisory and its associated persons.
□ The advisory fee may be higher than the fee charged by other investment advisors for
similar services.
□ Knox Wealth Partners Advisory does not accept performance-based fees for program
accounts.
The advisory fees will be calculated and deducted on a quarterly basis in advance. Fees are prorated (based
on the number of days service is provided during the initial billing period) for client’s account opened
at any time other than the beginning of the billing period. If asset management services are
commenced in the middle of a billing period, the prorated fee for the initial billing period is billed in
arrears at the same time as the next full billing period’s fee is billed in advance.
If the advisory agreement is terminated before the end of the quarterly period, the client is entitled
to a pro-rated refund of any pre-paid quarterly advisory fee based on the number of days remaining
in the quarter after the termination date, which will be processed by the custodian.
Although clients do not pay a transaction charge for transactions in a program account, clients
should be aware that Knox Wealth Partners Advisory pays the custodian transaction charges for the
transactions. The transaction charges paid by Knox Wealth Partners Advisory vary based on the
type of transaction (e.g., mutual fund, equity or fixed income security) and range from $0 to $50.
Because Knox Wealth Partners Advisory pays the transaction charges in program accounts, there is a
conflict of interest. Clients should understand that the cost to Knox Wealth Partners Advisory of
transaction charges may be a factor that Knox Wealth Partners Advisory considers when deciding
which securities to select and how frequently to place transactions in a program account. Knox
Wealth Partners Advisory has also taken further steps with their primary advisory platform “SWMII”
to mitigate this conflict, by negotiating a flat asset based charge in lieu of transactional charges for all
SWM II advisory account trading.
Other Types of Fees and Charges
Program accounts will incur additional fees and charges from parties other than Knox Wealth
Partners Advisory as noted below. These fees and charges are in addition to the advisory fee paid
to Knox Wealth Partners Advisory. Knox Wealth Partners Advisory does not share in any portion
of these third-party fees.
The custodian and executing broker-dealer will impose certain fees and charges. Clients are
notified of these charges at account opening. The custodian will deduct these fees and charges
directly from the client’s program account.
There are other fees and charges that are imposed by other third parties that apply to investments in
program accounts. Some of these fees and charges are described below.
□ If a client’s assets are invested in mutual funds or other pooled investment products, clients
should be aware that there will be two layers of advisory fees and expenses for those assets.
Clients pay an advisory fee to the fund manager and other expenses as a shareholder of the
fund. Clients will also pay Knox Wealth Partners Advisory the advisory fee with respect to
those assets. Most of the mutual funds available in the program may be purchased directly.
Therefore, clients could generally avoid the second layer of fees by not using the
management services of Knox Wealth Partners Advisory and by making their own
investment decisions.
□ Certain mutual funds impose fees and charges such as contingent deferred sales charges,
early redemption fees and charges for frequent trading. These charges may apply if client
transfers into or purchases such a fund with the applicable charges in a program account.
□ Although only no-load and load-waived mutual funds can be purchased in a program
account, clients should understand that some mutual funds pay asset based sales charges or
service fees (e.g., 12b-1 fees) to the custodian with respect to account holdings.
□ If a client holds a variable annuity as part of an account, there are mortality, expense and
administrative charges, fees for additional riders on the contract and charges for
excessive transfers within a calendar year imposed by the variable annuity sponsor.
Further information regarding fees assessed by a mutual fund, or variable annuity is available in
the appropriate prospectus, which is available upon request from Knox Wealth Partners Advisory
or from the product sponsor directly.
Other Important Considerations
□ The advisory fee is an ongoing wrap fee for investment advisory services, the execution of
transactions and other administrative and custodial services. The advisory fee may cost the
client more than purchasing the program services separately, for example, paying an
advisory fee plus commissions for each transaction in the account. Factors that bear upon
the cost of the account in relation to the cost of the same services purchased separately
include the type and size of the account, historical and or expected size or number of trades
for the account, and number and range of supplementary advisory and client-related
services provided to the client.
□ The advisory fee also may cost the client more than if assets were held in a traditional
brokerage account. In a brokerage account, a client is charged a commission for each
transaction, and the representative has no duty to provide ongoing advice with respect to
the account. If the client plans to follow a buy and hold strategy for the account or does not
wish to purchase ongoing investment advice or management services, the client should
consider opening a brokerage account rather than a program account.
□ Knox Wealth Partners Advisory receives compensation when a client participates in the
program. This compensation includes the advisory fee and other compensation, such as
financial assistance or the sponsorship of conferences and educational sessions, marketing
support, incentive awards, payment of travel expenses, and tools to assist with providing
various services to clients. The amount of this compensation may be more or less than what
Knox Wealth Partners Advisory would receive if the client participated in other LPL
programs, programs of other investment advisors or paid separately for investment advice,
brokerage and other client services. Therefore, Knox Wealth Partners Advisory may have a
financial incentive to recommend a program account over other programs and services.
□ The investment products available to be purchased in the program can be purchased by
clients outside of a program account, through broker-dealers or other investment firms not
affiliated with Knox Wealth Partners Advisory.
□ Investment advisor representatives may also be licensed insurance agents. In the capacity of
an insurance agent, they may recommend the purchase of certain insurance-related products
on a commission basis in addition to advisory fees.
□ The purchase of securities and/or insurance products that pay a commission represent a
conflict of interest, as the receipt of commissions provides an incentive to recommend
investment products based on commissions received, rather than on a particular client’s
need. No client is under any obligation to purchase any commission products from
Investment advisor representatives of the firm. Clients may purchase investment products
recommended by investment advisor representatives through other, non-affiliated
broker/dealers or insurance agents. Such conflicts are subject to review by the Chief
Compliance Officer for consistency with the firm’s Code of Ethics.
□ Knox Wealth Partners Advisory may establish agreements with a third-party adviser
where that third-party adviser offers various types of directly sponsored programs. Knox
Wealth Partners Advisory will ensure that any third-party adviser is properly registered
and/or notice-filed with the Department.
□ Knox Wealth Partners Advisory has a conflict of interest and an incentive to recommend one
third-party advisers over another; however, the firm has a fiduciary duty to act in the best
interests of the client.