LOPW offers a variety of advisory services, which include financial planning, consulting, and investment
management services. Prior to LOPW rendering any of the foregoing advisory services, clients are required
to enter into one or more written agreements with LOPW setting forth the relevant terms and conditions of
the advisory relationship (the “Advisory Agreement”).
LOPW filed for registration as an investment adviser in July 2018 and is owned by Live Oak Banking
Company, which is owned by Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. As of December 31, 2023, LOPW had
$951,618,167 in assets under management, all of which was managed on a discretionary basis.
While this brochure generally describes the business of LOPW, certain sections also discuss the activities
of its Supervised Persons, which refer to the Firm’s officers, partners, directors (or other persons occupying
a similar status or performing similar functions), employees or other persons who provide investment advice
on LOPW’s behalf and are subject to the Firm’s supervision or control.
As of April 1, 2020, LOPW purchased a 100% ownership stake in Jolley Asset Management, Inc. (“Jolley”),
formerly an independent, registered investment adviser based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. As part of
this purchase, LOPW acquired clients originally under contract with Jolley through assignment of advisory
contracts from Jolley to LOPW. As of May 1, 2020, all client agreements had been assigned to LOPW.
Financial Planning and Consulting Services
LOPW offers clients a broad range of financial planning and consulting services, which include any or all
of the following functions:
• Business Planning
• Cash Flow Forecasting
• Trust and Estate Planning
• Financial Reporting
• Investment Consulting
• Insurance Planning
• Retirement Planning
• Risk Management
• Charitable Giving
• Distribution Planning
• Tax Planning
• Manager Due Diligence
While each of these services is available on a stand-alone basis, certain of them can also be rendered in
conjunction with investment portfolio management as part of a comprehensive wealth management
engagement (described in more detail below).
In performing these services, LOPW is not required to verify any information received from the client or
from the client’s other professionals (e.g., attorneys, accountants, etc.) and is expressly authorized to rely
on such information. LOPW recommends certain clients engage the Firm for additional related services
and/or other professionals to implement its recommendations. Clients are advised that a conflict of interest
exists for the Firm to recommend that clients engage LOPW or its affiliates to provide (or continue to
provide) additional services for compensation, including investment management services. Clients retain
absolute discretion over all decisions regarding implementation and are under no obligation to act upon any
of the recommendations made by LOPW under a financial planning or consulting engagement. Clients are
advised that it remains their responsibility to promptly notify the Firm of any change in their financial
situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating or revising LOPW’s
recommendations and/or services.
Wealth Management Services
LOPW provides clients with wealth management services which include a broad range of financial planning
and consulting services as well as discretionary management of investment portfolios. LOPW primarily
allocates client assets among various mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), private and alternative
investment offerings, including pooled investment funds, individual debt and equity securities, options and
independent investment managers (“Independent Managers”) in accordance with their stated investment
objectives.
Where appropriate, the Firm also provides advice about any type of legacy position or other investment
held in client portfolios. Clients can engage LOPW to manage and/or advise on certain investment products
that are not maintained at their primary custodian, such as variable life insurance and annuity contracts and
assets held in employer sponsored retirement plans and qualified tuition plans (i.e., 529 plans). In these
situations, LOPW directs or recommends the allocation of client assets among the various investment
options available with the product. These assets are generally maintained at the underwriting insurance
company or the custodian designated by the product’s provider.
LOPW tailors its advisory services to meet the needs of its individual clients and seeks to ensure, on a
continuous basis, that client portfolios are managed in a manner consistent with those needs and objectives.
LOPW consults with clients on an initial and ongoing basis to assess their specific risk tolerance, time
horizon, liquidity constraints and other related factors relevant to the management of their portfolios. Clients
are advised to promptly notify LOPW if there are changes in their financial situation or if they wish to place
any limitations on the management of their portfolios. Clients can impose reasonable restrictions or
mandates on the management of their accounts if LOPW determines, in its sole discretion, the conditions
would not materially impact the performance of a management strategy or prove overly burdensome to the
Firm’s management efforts.
Sponsor and Manager of Wrap Program
LOPW provides substantially all investment management services as the sponsor and manager of the Live
Oak Private Wealth Wrap Program (the “Wrap Program”), a wrap fee program (i.e., an arrangement where
certain brokerage commissions and transaction costs are absorbed by the Firm). Accounts managed through
the Wrap Program are done so in substantially the same manner as those managed under a non-wrap
arrangement. Participants in the Wrap Program may pay a higher or lower aggregate fee than if investment
management and brokerage services are purchased separately.
Additional information about the Wrap
Program is available in LOPW’s Wrap Brochure, which appears as Part 2A Appendix 1 of the Firm’s Form
ADV (the “Wrap Brochure”).
Retirement Plan Consulting Services
LOPW provides various consulting services to qualified employee benefit plans and their fiduciaries. This
suite of institutional services is designed to assist plan sponsors in structuring, managing and optimizing
their corporate retirement plans. Each engagement is individually negotiated and customized, and includes
any or all of the following services:
• Plan Design and Strategy
• Plan Review and Evaluation
• Executive Planning & Benefits
• Investment Selection
• Plan Fee and Cost Analysis
• Plan Committee Consultation
• Fiduciary and Compliance
• Participant Education
As disclosed in the Advisory Agreement, certain of the foregoing services are provided by LOPW as a
fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). In
accordance with ERISA Section 408(b)(2), each plan sponsor is provided with a written description of
LOPW’s fiduciary status, the specific services to be rendered and all direct and indirect compensation the
Firm reasonably expects under the engagement.
Schwab’s Institutional Intelligent Portfolio
LOPW also offers an automated investment program (the “Program”) through which clients are invested in
a range of investment strategies we have constructed and manage, each consisting of a portfolio of
exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and a cash allocation. The client may instruct LOPW to exclude up to
three ETFs from their portfolio. The client’s portfolio is held in a brokerage account opened by the client
at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”). LOPW uses the Institutional Intelligent Portfolios® platform
(“Platform”), offered by Schwab Performance Technologies (“SPT”), a software provider to independent
investment advisors and an affiliate of Schwab, to operate the Program. LOPW is independent of and not
owned by, affiliated with, or sponsored or supervised by SPT, Schwab., or their affiliates.
LOPW is the client’s investment advisor and primary point of contact with respect to the Program; and is
solely responsible for determining the appropriateness of the Program for the client, choosing a suitable
investment strategy and portfolio for the client’s investment needs and goals, and managing that portfolio
on an ongoing basis.
LOPW has contracted with SPT to provide the Platform, which consists of technology and related trading
and account management services for the Program. The Platform enables the Program to be made available
to clients online and includes a system that automates certain key parts of LOPW’s investment process.
This process includes an online questionnaire that helps LOPW determine the client’s investment objectives
and risk tolerance and select an appropriate investment strategy and portfolio.
Clients should note that LOPW will recommend a portfolio via the System in response to the client’s
answers to the online questionnaire. The client may then indicate an interest in a portfolio that is one level
less or more conservative or aggressive than the recommended portfolio, but LOPW then makes the final
decision and selects a portfolio based on all the information the client has provided. The System also
includes an automated investment engine through which LOPW manages the client’s portfolio on an
ongoing basis through automatic rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting (if the client is eligible and elects).
LOPW charges clients a fee for services as described below under Item 5. Fees and Compensation. LOPW
fees are not set or supervised by Schwab. Clients do not pay brokerage commissions or any other fees to
Schwab as part of the Program. Schwab does receive other revenues in connection with the Program.
LOPW does not pay SPT fees for the Platform so long as $100 million in client assets in accounts that are
not enrolled in the Program is maintained at Schwab. If this condition is not met, then LOPW pays SPT an
annual licensing fee of 0.10% (10 basis points) on the value of clients’ assets in the Program. This fee
arrangement gives LOPW an incentive to recommend or require that clients with accounts not enrolled in
the Program be maintained with Schwab.
Communication is primarily conducted through electronic channels, however, LOPW portfolio managers
are available to consult with clients in person.
Use of Independent Managers
As mentioned above, LOPW selects certain Independent Managers to actively manage a portion of its
clients’ assets. The specific terms and conditions under which a client engages an Independent Manager
may be set forth in a separate written agreement with the designated Independent Manager. In addition to
this brochure, clients may also receive the written disclosure documents of the respective Independent
Managers engaged to manage their assets.
LOPW evaluates a variety of information about Independent Managers, which includes the Independent
Managers’ public disclosure documents, materials supplied by the Independent Managers themselves and
other third-party analyses it believes are reputable. To the extent possible, the Firm seeks to assess the
Independent Managers’ investment strategies, past performance and risk results in relation to its clients’
individual portfolio allocations and risk exposure. LOPW also takes into consideration each Independent
Manager’s management style, returns, reputation, financial strength, reporting, pricing and research
capabilities, among other factors.
LOPW continues to provide services relative to the discretionary or non-discretionary selection of the
Independent Managers. On an ongoing basis, the Firm monitors the performance of those accounts being
managed by Independent Managers. LOPW seeks to ensure the Independent Managers’ strategies and target
allocations remain aligned with its clients’ investment objectives and overall best interests.