Description of Firm
Smith Bruer Advisors, LLC d/b/a Smith Bruer Advisors is a registered investment adviser based in
Tallahassee, FL. We are organized as a limited liability company ("LLC") under the laws of the State of
Florida, and we have been providing investment advisory services since 2016. Our firm is owned by
George M. Smith and Rene L. Bruer.
The following paragraphs describe our services and fees. Refer to the description of each investment
advisory service listed below for information on how we tailor our advisory services to your individual
needs. As used in this brochure, the words "we," "our," and "us" refer to Smith Bruer Advisors and the
words "you," "your," and "client" refer to you as either a client or prospective client of our firm.
Portfolio Management Services
Smith Bruer Advisors offers discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management services. Our
investment advice is tailored to meet our clients' needs and investment objectives. If you retain our firm
for portfolio management services, we will meet with you to determine your investment objectives, risk
tolerance, and other relevant information at the beginning of our advisory relationship. The information
we gather will be used to develop a strategy that enables our firm to give you continuous and focused
investment advice and/or to make investments on your behalf. As part of our portfolio management
services, we may customize an investment portfolio for you according to your risk tolerance and
investing objectives.
We may also invest your assets according to one or more model portfolios developed by our firm.
These models are designed for investors with varying degrees of risk tolerance ranging from a more
aggressive investment strategy to a more conservative investment approach. Once we construct an
investment portfolio for you, or select a model portfolio, we will monitor your portfolio's performance on
an ongoing basis, and will re-balance the portfolio as required by changes in market conditions and in
your financial circumstances.
To participate in our discretionary portfolio management services, we require you to grant our firm
discretionary authority to manage your account. Discretionary authorization will allow us to determine
the specific securities, and the amount of securities, to be purchased or sold for your account without
your approval prior to each transaction. Discretionary authority is typically granted by the investment
advisory agreement you sign with our firm and the appropriate trading authorization forms. You may
limit our discretionary authority (for example, limiting the types of securities that can be purchased or
sold for your account) by providing our firm with your restrictions and guidelines in writing.
In limited cases, if you own securities prior to becoming a client that would be unproductive or
misguided to sell, we will manage those investments on a non-discretionary investment management
basis whereby we will provide advice, but you will ultimately decide how those investments are
managed. You have an unrestricted right to decline to implement any advice provided by our firm
regarding previously owned securities on a non-discretionary basis.
We offer complimentary financial planning to clients that participate in our portfolio management
services.
Pension Consulting Services
As part of our portfolio management services, we may also service employee benefit plans and their
fiduciaries based upon the needs of the plan and the services requested by the plan sponsor or named
fiduciary. In general, these services may include an existing plan review and analysis, plan-level advice
regarding fund selection and investment options, education services to plan participants, investment
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performance monitoring, and/or ongoing consulting. These engagements are typically regulated under
the Employee Retirement Income Securities Act ("ERISA"). All services, whether discussed above or
customized for the plan based upon requirements from
the plan fiduciaries (which may include
additional plan-level or participant-level services) shall be detailed in a written agreement and be
consistent with the parameters set forth in the plan documents.
We may also assist with participant enrollment meetings and provide investment-related educational
seminars to plan participants on such topics as:
•Diversification;
•Asset allocation;
•Risk tolerance; and
•Time horizon
Our educational seminars may include other investment-related topics specific to the particular plan.
We may also provide additional types of pension consulting services to plans on an individually
negotiated basis. Either party to the pension consulting agreement may terminate the agreement upon
written notice to the other party in accordance with the terms of the agreement for services. The
pension consulting fees will be prorated for the quarter in which the termination notice is given and any
unearned fees will be refunded to the client.
Wrap Fee Programs
We do not participate in any wrap fee program.
Types of Investments
While you may ask us for investment advice on any type of security and/or investment product, we
primarily recommend mutual funds and exchange traded funds. Refer to the Methods of Analysis,
Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss below for additional disclosures on this topic.
Additionally, we may advise you on various types of investments based on your stated goals and
objectives. We may also provide advice on any type of investment held in your portfolio at the inception
of our advisory relationship.
In some instances, the firm utilizes mutual funds issued by Dimensional Fund Advisors ("DFA"). DFA
funds are generally only available through registered investment advisors approved by DFA. If you
terminate our services and self manage your account(s) or transition to another advisor who has not
been approved by DFA to utilize DFA funds, restrictions regarding additional purchases of, or
reallocation among other DFA funds will generally apply.
IRA Rollover Recommendations
Effective December 20, 2021 (or such later date as the US Department of Labor ("DOL") Field
Assistance Bulletin 2018-02 ceases to be in effect), for purposes of complying with the DOL's
Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 ("PTE 2020-02") where applicable, we are providing the
following acknowledgment to you. 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
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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.
We benefit financially from the rollover of your assets from a retirement account to an account that we
manage or provide investment advice, because the assets increase our assets under management
and, in turn, our advisory fees. As a fiduciary, we only recommend a rollover when we believe it is in
your best interest.
Assets Under Management
As of January 19, 2024, we provide continuous management services for $107,759,143 in client assets
on a discretionary basis, and $51,843,051 in client assets on a non-discretionary basis.