About J. Safra Sarasin Asset Management (North America)
Ltd (“JSSAMNA”, “us” or “we”)
JSSAMNA is a corporation organized under the laws of
Switzerland with its head office and place of business in
Geneva, Switzerland. We provide investment advisory
services mainly to individuals, trusts, estates, charitable
organizations and small corporations or similar small
business entities residing in, or organized under the laws
of, the United States of America (the “US”). JSSAMNA may,
in certain limited cases, also advise other clients, such as
US citizens residing outside the US.
We are a wholly owned subsidiary of J. Safra Sarasin
Holding Ltd, Basel, Switzerland (“JSSH”). JSSH is ultimately
owned and controlled by members of the Joseph Y. Safra
family.
Please refer to the supplement of this Wrap Fee Program
Brochure (ADV Form Part 2B) to learn more about
JSSAMNA’s key personnel.
About our investment advisory services
We specialize in tailored investment advisory services to
high net worth clients and offer both discretionary asset
management services as well as non-discretionary
investment advisory services. In doing so, we will make
recommendations based on your investment profile and
objectives.
Our investment advisory services may cover a variety of
asset classes in US and international markets, including
cash in various currencies, equity and debt securities,
mutual funds, fiduciary deposits, certain derivatives and
(physical) precious metals. Depending on your investment
profile and objectives, we may also consider other types of
investments.
We are not registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC or
any other US or non-US regulatory authority. Accordingly,
we do not provide any brokerage services.
Discretionary mandate
If you wish to have your assets managed on a discretionary
basis, you must enter into a Discretionary Asset
Management Agreement (the “Discretionary Mandate”)
with JSSAMNA. Under a Discretionary Mandate, we will
manage your assets on a fully discretionary basis in line
with the agreed investment strategy, taking into account
your investment profile and objectives. We will be solely
responsible for defining the asset allocation, making the
underlying investments in your discretionary portfolio
covered by the Discretionary Mandate and periodically
review and adjust the discretionary portfolio in response to
economic, political or market conditions.
We allow investment restrictions such as those related to
specific securities, certain types of securities or industries.
Any such restrictions imposed by you on our Discretionary
Mandate may cause the selected investment strategy to
differ in performance and risk profile from the unmodified
mandate developed by our investment team, which may be
used by other clients of JSSAMNA.
Advisory mandate
If you wish to have your assets managed on a non-
discretionary basis, you must enter into a Non-
Discretionary Investment Advisory Agreement (the
“Advisory Mandate”) with JSSAMNA. Under the Advisory
Mandate, we will provide you with our investment views and
recommendations upon request and in accordance with
your investment profile and objectives. We may also
periodically contact you and offer recommendations that
we consider suitable and appropriate for you.
In contrast to the Discretionary Mandate, you will be solely
responsible for making all investment decisions and we will
not have any discretionary authority over your assets. We
will furthermore not provide continuous and regular
supervision of your non-discretionary portfolio covered by
the Advisory Mandate and will not be responsible for pro-
actively updating any previous investment views and
recommendations in response to economic, political or
market conditions.
For Advisory Mandates, we generally do not permit any
investment restrictions as any restrictions in your non-
discretionary portfolio would be self-imposed and
controlled by you.
Assets under management
As of end of December 2023, we provided investment
advisory services for USD 651.032 million in assets under
management, of which USD 280.771 million are in
Wrap Fee Program Brochure | Form ADV Part 2A | March 26, 2024 4
Discretionary Mandates and USD 370.260 million are in
Advisory Mandates.
Wrap Fee
For our investment advisory services as well as further
services as described in more detail below,
we are
compensated on the basis of a wrap fee (the “Wrap Fee”)
calculated at the end of each calendar quarter (31 March,
30 June, 30 September, 31 December) as a percentage of
the entire assets (including cash) held in the client
account(s) of the custodian bank that are covered by either
the Discretionary Mandate or Advisory Mandate.
For our Discretionary Mandate and Advisory Mandate, the
Wrap Fee is an annual rate of 1.60% of your entire assets
(including cash) in the mandate, subject to a minimum
quarterly Wrap Fee of CHF 8,000.
We reserve the right to waive, discount, increase or
otherwise negotiate our Wrap Fees.
Services included in the Wrap Fee
Our Wrap Fee includes the following services:
- our investment advisory services in regard to your
Discretionary Mandate and/or Advisory Mandate;
- the custody, trade settlement and withholding tax
reclaim fees of the custodian bank;
- periodic account and portfolio statements provided to
you by the custodian bank;
- an annual country-specific US tax report and generic
income statement (incl. realized and unrealized capital
gain and loss) provided to you by the custodian bank;
and
- the brokerage commissions on US and certain non-US
securities.
For purchases of non-US securities on which a third party
broker charges a brokerage commission, that commission
will be included in the purchase price, i.e. the commission
will not be paid from the Wrap Fee.
Our Wrap Fee will not be adjusted for (1) low or no trading
activity, or (2) for an Advisory Mandate, if you decide not to
implement or follow the investment advice we provide to
you. As a consequence, our Wrap Fee may, depending on
your investment activity, cost you more than if you are
charged for our investment advisory services as well as the
above described included custodian and brokerage
services separately.
Calculation and charging of the Wrap Fee
Although additional custodian banks may be permitted in
the future, Bank J. Safra Sarasin Ltd in Basel, Switzerland
(“BJSS”), must act as custodian bank for Wrap Fee
accounts. The Wrap Fee will be calculated in Swiss francs
based on BJSS’s market valuation of all of the assets
(including cash) held in the client account(s) with BJSS that
are covered by either the Discretionary Mandate or Advisory
Mandate at the end of each calendar month during the
quarter for which the Wrap Fee is charged. The Wrap Fee
will be charged in arrears at the end of the quarter in Swiss
francs to your client account(s) with BJSS. In case the
Discretionary Mandate or Advisory Mandate is terminated,
the Wrap Fee for the entire last calendar month is charged
in full. If your client account(s) with BJSS does not hold
enough Swiss francs, then the debiting of the Wrap Fee will
result in a foreign exchange transaction. BJSS will be
compensated for effecting such a foreign exchange
transaction.
Other expenses
Our Wrap Fee do not include any BJSS fees that are not
listed above such as foreign currency exchange
transactions, wire transfer or any other fees or taxes (e.g.
value added tax, Swiss stamp tax duty) imposed by BJSS or
other service providers. Our Wrap Fee also does not include
any management or other fees charged by funds or issuers
of other financial instruments you may be invested in.
Depending on the services you request from BJSS or other
service providers, you may additionally be charged for
special services such as safe deposit boxes. All these fees
will reduce the overall return of the investment advisory
portfolio(s) covered by either the Discretionary Mandate or
Advisory Mandate. All these fees as well as the Wrap Fee
will reduce the overall return of the investment advisory
portfolio(s) covered by either the Discretionary Mandate or
Advisory Mandate
Management fees to affiliates
If we or you invest in collective investment vehicles and
similar products managed by an affiliate of JSSAMNA, that
affiliate may be economically benefited through the receipt
of a management fee for such products. We will not share
such fees.
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No other compensation
We do not accept any compensation for any sale of any
financial instruments, referral of prospective clients or have
any other type of revenue-sharing arrangement with
another party unless disclosed otherwise. In addition, we
do also not charge any transaction-based fees or fees for
transmitting orders to broker-dealers for execution.