Description of Firm
Kuhn & Company Investment Counsel, LLC is a registered investment adviser based in Chicago,
Illinois. We are organized as a limited liability company ("LLC") under the laws of the State of Illinois.
We have been providing investment advisory services since November 2019. We are owned by Kevin
Kuhn and Michael Marshall.
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 Kuhn & Company Investment
Counsel, LLC and the words "you," "your," and "client" refer to you as either a client or prospective
client of our firm.
Portfolio Management Services
We offer 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. We will use the information
we gather 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. Once we construct an investment portfolio for you, we will monitor your portfolio's
performance on an ongoing basis, and will rebalance the portfolio as required by changes in market
conditions and in your financial circumstances.
If you 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 in 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.
We may also offer non-discretionary portfolio management services. If you enter into non-discretionary
arrangements with our firm, we must obtain your approval prior to executing any transactions on behalf
of your account. You have an unrestricted right to decline to implement any advice provided by our firm
on a non-discretionary basis.
Financial Planning Services and Consulting Services
Our financial planning and consulting services will typically involve providing a variety of services, both
investment and non-investment related, regarding the management of your financial resources based
upon an analysis of your individual needs, stated goals, objectives, time horizon, and financial
information. We will first conduct an initial consultation of up to two (2) hours. After the initial
consultation, should you decide to engage us for our financial planning services, we may conduct
additional meetings and documentation depending on the scope and complexity of the engagement,
anywhere from four (4) to thirty (30) hours.
Clients who engage us for financial planning services have the option to have a comprehensive
financial plan or limited scope financial plan as described below:
•Comprehensive : A comprehensive financial plan typically consists of a one-time financial plan,
portfolio analysis and/or investment policy statement
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•Modular: A modular written financial plan is limited or segmented and does not involve the
creation of a "comprehensive" written financial plan. Modular financial plans relate to specific
areas of concern mutually agreed upon by the client and Kuhn Investments.
Financial planning and consulting services may include, but are not limited to, a combination of the
following areas:
•Income Analysis/Cash Flow/Budget Analysis We assist you with understanding your cash flow
and income in relation to your current financial situation and assist in creating a budget based
on your financial goals and objectives.
•Investment Analysis/Asset Allocation We provide advice with respect to asset allocation and
investment income accumulation techniques. Evaluations are made of existing investments in
terms of their economic and tax characteristics as well as their suitability for meeting client's
objectives.
•Education Needs Analysis/Planning This includes alternatives and strategies with respect to the
complete or partial funding of private schools, college or other post-secondary education
experience.
•Retirement Needs Analysis/Planning and Existing Retirement Plan Review This involves advice
with respect to alternatives and techniques for accumulating wealth for retirement
income or
advice relative to appropriate distribution of assets following retirement.
•Life and Disability Insurance Review We provide advice with respect to disability and life
insurance plans by evaluating your current policies and evaluate if you are adequately insured.
•Estate Analysis/Estate Planning Review This involves advice with respect to property
ownership, distribution strategies, estate tax reduction, and tax payment techniques. It involves
a discussion of gifts, trusts, etc., and the disposition of business or other interests.
•Charitable Giving We provide advice and guidance on charitable giving and philanthropic goals
as it relates to potential impacts on finances, and/or taxes.
•Employee Benefit Analysis We assist you in understanding the benefits being offered by your
employer and make the appropriate elections to maximize the total benefit you receive.
•Investment Counseling We provide advice and guidance on your investments including real
estate as it relates to your lifestyle and risk tolerance.
Written financial plans prepared by Kuhn Investments, regardless of whether they are "comprehensive"
or "modular", do not include specific recommendations of individual securities and are based on our
discussions, your stated goals, objectives, time horizon, and financial information you have provided to
our firm. At the conclusion of the service, a financial plan, portfolio analysis or an investment policy
statement will be provided to the client if the parties agreed, at the commencement of the services, that
such document is to be provided.
You have the right to accept or reject our recommendations, and you may choose any firm to assist
you with implementing our recommendations. While we endeavor at all times to offer our clients
specialized services at reasonable costs, the fees charged by other advisers for comparable services
may be lower than the fees charged by our firm.
Wrap Fee Programs
We do not participate in any wrap fee program.
Types of Investments
We offer advice on equity securities, warrants, corporate debt securities (other than commercial
paper), commercial paper, certificates of deposit, municipal securities, mutual fund shares, United
States government securities, options contracts on securities, money market funds, real estate
investment trusts ("REITs"), structured notes, exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), interests in
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partnerships investing in real estate and interests in partnerships investing in oil and gas interests.
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.
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.
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
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 18, 2023, we provide continuous management services for $107,533,120 in client assets
on a discretionary basis, and $956,345 in client assets on a non-discretionary basis.