Widmann Financial Services, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Widmann Financial Services") is an
independent investment advisory firm offering asset management and financial planning and consulting
services customized to the needs of individuals and their families, charitable organizations, and businesses.
The services are more fully described below.
A. Widmann Financial Services began operations in 1988 and filed for registration with the Securities and
Exchange Commission in September 2017. Arden "Art" Widmann, CRD number 1891122, is the majority
owner and President. Art has been in the financial services industry since 1988. Additional business
information about Art and the other Advisory Representatives who work with clients is disclosed in the
accompanying supplemental brochure(s).
B. Widmann Financial Services offers the following advisory services, with each service more fully
described below:
• Asset Management Services
• Financial Planning/Consultation Services
• Financial Education Seminars
Description of Services Available
Widmann Financial Services offers a suite of investment advisory services and programs to its advisors for
use with their clients. Our investment advisory services and programs are designed to accommodate a
wide range of client investment philosophies, goals, needs, and investment objectives. Through these
various advisory programs and services, clients have access to a wide range of securities products,
including, but not limited to, common and preferred stocks; municipal, corporate, and government fixed
income securities; mutual funds; exchange-traded products (“ETPs”); options and derivatives; unit
investment trusts (“UITs”); and variable and fixed-indexed insurance products, as well as other products
and services, including a variety of asset allocation services, financial planning, and consulting services.
Our advisors may also offer advice related to direct participation programs, private placements, and other
alternative investments, such as alternative energy programs, research and development programs,
leasing programs, real estate programs, and pooled commodities futures programs.
Asset Management Services
We will gather financial information from you and complete an analysis of your situation. Our Advisory
Representative will then determine an asset allocation customized to your financial goals, objectives, and
risk tolerance. We customize your portfolio allocation taking into consideration your limitations or
restrictions, the market and economy at the time, and your financial situation, goals, and objectives.
Our Advisory Representative will schedule a meeting with you and discuss the recommended portfolio
allocation and how your account will be managed. Upon your approval, we will implement the initial portfolio
allocation. After we implement the initial portfolio allocation, with your written approval as indicated in the
Advisory Agreement, Widmann Financial Services will provide continuous and ongoing management of
your account on a discretionary basis. We will use our own discretion to determine any changes to the
account. We will manage the account and will make changes to the allocation as deemed appropriate by
the firm and your Advisory Representative. We will determine the securities to be purchased and sold in
the account and will alter the securities holdings from time to time, without prior consultation with you. We
will generally hold positions in your account for the long term. However, depending on your specific goals
and objectives, we may actively trade some securities, holding such positions for less than a year, even
periods of 30 days or less. Your portfolio may be similarly managed and contain similar holdings as
compared to other clients' managed accounts. However, since our investment strategies and advice are
based on each client's specific financial situation, the investment advice we provide to you may be different
or conflicting with the advice we give to other clients regarding the same security or investment.
Our Advisory Representatives primarily use open-ended mutual funds, close-end funds, exchange traded
funds (ETFs), individual stocks and bonds. However, managed accounts are not exclusively limited to those
products and include certificates of deposits, government securities, money markets, options or other
products, as are suitable based on your goals and objectives.
Registered investment company securities such as mutual funds are offered in various share classes.
Share classes are priced differently and have varying levels of internal costs. Share classes, other than
institutional share classes, involve higher internal costs that over time will cost you more. Institutional share
classes, which tend to have low annual expenses, often have higher trading costs. The Advisory
Representative and the client need to consider the amount being invested and the length of anticipated
holding to make a decision as to the share class most suitable to the client. Please read the disclosures
under Item 10 for important information about the advice and recommendations offered by our Advisory
Representatives. Advisory Representatives of Widmann Financial Services are dually registered as
Registered Representatives and IARs of Commonwealth Financial Network® ("Commonwealth"), a FINRA-
registered broker-dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser. As further described below, Widmann
Financial Services has entered into a relationship to offer you brokerage services through Commonwealth.
There is no affiliation between Widmann Financial Services and Commonwealth. Investment Adviser
Representatives (IARs) will select the lowest cost share class funds available that are appropriate to the
specific client situation. By selecting the lowest cost share class, trading costs are, at times, higher.
Additionally, selecting the lowest cost share class appropriate to the situation does not mean the least
expensive share class; however, it is what your Advisory Representative deems to be the lowest cost for
your specific situation. Advisory Representatives consider the anticipated holding period, cost structure,
and administrative and transaction costs associated with the product when selecting a share class.
However, there is no way to predict the future and there are occasions where a holding is liquidated sooner
or held longer than initially anticipated resulting in higher costs to the client.
In some situations, managed accounts will contain other securities such as limited partnerships, non-
publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), and alternative investments. These other investments
are also excluded from fee billing if our Advisory Representative, in the capacity as a Registered
Representative of Commonwealth, has or is receiving commissions and/or trail compensation. In some
situations, this compensation is higher than the ongoing advisory fee that would be charged. Certain limited
partnerships, real estate investment trusts, and alternative investments offer units in an advisory share
class where no commissions or trail compensation is paid. In such cases, a value is obtained at least
annually and an advisory fee, as disclosed under Item 5, is charged to the client. Please refer to Item 8 for
information about alternative investments.
Transactions in the account, account reallocations, and rebalancing may trigger a taxable event, with the
exception of IRA accounts, 403(b) accounts, and other qualified retirement accounts.
If you select another brokerage firm for custodial and/or brokerage services, you will not be able to receive
asset management services from Widmann Financial Services. Our Advisory Representatives must adhere
to FINRA rules and regulations and the policies and procedures of Commonwealth. Commonwealth's
policies and procedures and FINRA rules prohibit them from conducting transactions at a broker-dealer for
which approval has not been obtained from Commonwealth.
Assets can be deposited on which a commission was previously paid, including mutual funds on which a
sales charge was paid, to a fee-based account. You may not want to open fee-based brokerage accounts
with the proceeds from the sale of commission trades because you will then bear the transaction fees on
purchases and sales of the commission trades and the fees and charges associated with the fee-based
brokerage account.
Please be aware that you are under no obligation to purchase products or services recommended by
Widmann Financial Services in connection with providing you with any advisory service that we offer. You
have the right to decide whether or not to implement our advice and the right to consult with other financial
professionals for implementation.
Fees for our asset management services are described in Item 5 of this brochure and are based on the
level of assets in your managed account.
Financial Planning/Consulting Services
Widmann Financial Services provides financial planning/consulting services based on your financial and
tax status, age, risk tolerance, and investment objectives. Depending on your needs, our advice includes
topics such as:
• Tax planning analysis
• Estate planning analysis
• Business planning
• Retirement planning
• Education planning
• Budgeting and cash flow
• Fringe benefit analysis
• Investment analysis
• Charitable planning
Our services are broad or focused on one or more topics to address your unique situation. Generally,
recommendations are made orally and discussed during meetings; however, if financial planning software
is used to evaluate scenarios and presented to the client, recommendations are usually provided by hard
or soft copy.
The financial planning/consulting process
will begin with an initial consultation to assess if we can help you
with your specific needs. If you decide to engage us for services, you will be required to sign our advisory
agreement outlining the relationship and specifying our fee.
We also provide investment advice on a more limited basis in the form of a "financial checkup" consultation
service, which is comprised of a consultation and discussion of our recommendations.
Planning services are based on your financial situation at the time and on financial information disclosed
by you to Widmann Financial Services. You need to be aware 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 no indication of future performance. We cannot offer any guarantees or
promises that your financial goals and objectives will be met. Further, together, we must continue to review
the plan and update it based on changes in your financial situation, goals, or objectives or changes in the
economy. If your financial situation or investment goals or objectives change, you must notify us promptly
of the changes. The advice offered by Widmann Financial Services is limited and you may need to seek
the services of other professionals such as an insurance adviser, attorney, and/or accountant.
You are not obligated to implement advice through Widmann Financial Services or its Advisory
Representatives. If you do choose to implement the plan with our Advisory Representatives, they will
receive commissions or other compensation in addition to the advisory fee you paid for financial planning
services. You may purchase the securities recommended by Widmann Financial Services directly or
through other brokers or agents not affiliated with Widmann Financial Services. You have the right to decide
whether or not to implement our advice and the right to consult with other financial professionals for
implementation.
Financial Education Seminars
Our Advisory Representatives conduct financial education seminars on topics such as estate planning,
investment strategies, and retirement needs. We partner with attorneys and other professionals to offer
these seminars. Seminar participants may subsequently choose to participate in an initial consultation with
us. The consultation will consist of a general review of the seminar participant's financial situation, issues,
and concerns and an explanation of the services we offer.
We tailor the advisory services we offer to your individual needs. You may impose restrictions and/or
limitations on investing in certain securities or types of securities. Our Advisory Representative will meet
with you and conduct an interview and data gathering session to continue the due diligence process. The
information we gather will assist us in providing you with the requested services and customizing the
services to your financial situation. Depending on the services you have requested, we will gather various
financial information and history from you including, but not limited to:
• Retirement and financial goals
• Investment objectives
• Investment horizon
• Existing portfolio statements, including retirement account information
• Financial needs
• Tax bracket information
• Cash-flow analysis
• Cost-of-living needs
• Savings tendencies
• Other applicable financial information required by our Advisory Representative to provide the
investment advisory services you have requested.
Widmann Financial Services does not offer a wrap fee program.
As of December 31, 2023, we provide continuous management services for $340,489,210 in client assets
on a discretionary basis and $979,512 on a non-discretionary basis.
Program Choice Conflicts of Interest
Clients should be aware that the compensation to Widmann Financial Services and your advisor will differ
according to the specific advisory programs or services provided. This compensation to Widmann Financial
Services and your advisor may be more than the amounts we would otherwise receive if you participated
in another program or paid for investment advice, brokerage, or other relevant services separately. Lower
fees for comparable services may be available through our firm or from other sources. Widmann Financial
Services and your advisor have a financial incentive to recommend advisory programs or services that
provide us higher compensation over other comparable programs or services available from our firm or
elsewhere that may cost you less. For example, the costs you will incur to have your account managed by
our firm may be more than what other similar firms may charge. It’s important to understand all the
associated costs and benefits the program and services you select so you can decide which programs and
services are best suited for your unique financial goals, investment objective, and time horizon. We
encourage you to review our Form CRS and to discuss your options with your advisor.
In addition, Commonwealth offers our firm and our advisors one or more forms of financial benefits based
on our total assets under management held at Commonwealth or in Commonwealth’s PPS Program
accounts, as well as financial assistance for transitioning from another firm to Commonwealth. The types
of financial benefits that your advisor may receive from Commonwealth include, but are not limited to,
forgivable or unforgivable loans, enhanced payouts, and discounts or waivers on transaction, platform, and
account fees; technology fees; research package fees; financial planning software fees; administrative
fees; brokerage account fees; account transfer fees; licensing and insurance costs; and the cost of
attending conferences and events. The enhanced payouts, discounts, and other forms of financial benefits
that your advisor may have the opportunity to receive from Commonwealth provide a financial incentive for
our firm and your advisor to select Commonwealth as broker/dealer for your accounts over other
broker/dealers from which they may not receive similar financial benefits. Please see items 12 and 14 of
this Brochure for more detailed information about these types of conflicts and our relationship with
Commonwealth.
In the same manner as many advisors offer asset management fee discounts to their larger clients,
Commonwealth offers those advisors to whom it charges administrative fees discounts based on their total
assets under management. As these advisors grow their business, Commonwealth’s economies of scale
are shared with those advisors by reducing the percentage amount of administrative fees that would
otherwise be charged to the advisors. These discounts in administrative fees and higher payouts for
reaching various AUM levels present a conflict of interest because they provide a financial incentive for
advisors who receive the discounts to recommend PPS programs or other managed or wrap account
programs over other available programs that do not offer such discounts or higher payouts to the advisors.
On the other hand, because Commonwealth does not assess administrative fees to advisors when they
use certain other third party managed account programs depending upon the costs and fees of a particular
third-party program, advisors may have a financial incentive to use one or more third party programs, which
also creates a conflict of interest.
General Information
The investment recommendations and advice offered by Widmann Financial Services and your Advisory
Representative are not legal advice or accounting advice. You should coordinate and discuss the impact of
financial advice with your attorney and/or accountant. Our primary goal is to help our clients identify and
pursue their financial goals, thereby enhancing the overall quality of their lives.
Retirement Account Rollovers
Depending on a client’s given circumstances, Widmann Financial Services may recommend that a client
rollover retirement plan assets to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) managed by us. As a result of a
rollover, Widmann Financial Services may earn fees on those accounts. This presents a conflict of interest,
as Widmann Financial Services has a financial incentive to recommend that a client roll over retirement
assets into an IRA we will manage. This conflict is disclosed to clients verbally and in this brochure. Clients
are also advised that they are under no obligation to implement the recommendation to roll over retirement
plan assets. Widmann Financial Services attempts to mitigate this conflict by requiring that all investment
recommendations have a sound basis for the recommendation, and by requiring employees to
acknowledge their fiduciary responsibility toward each client. When we provide investment advice to you
regarding your retirement plan account or individual retirement account, we are fiduciaries 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. The way we make money creates some conflicts
with your interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best interest and not
put our interest ahead of yours. Under this special rule’s provisions, we must:
• Meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (give prudent advice);
• Never put our financial interests ahead of yours when making recommendations (give loyal advice);
• Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in your best interest;
• Charge no more than is reasonable for our services; and
• Give you basic information about conflicts of interest.