Description of the Firm
Blue Barn Wealth, LLC (also referred to as “Blue Barn Wealth®” or “BBW”) is a Utah domiciled limited
liability company.
At Blue Barn Wealth, we manage the financial complexity of our clients so that they can live a more
simple, intentional and meaningful life. For over 25 years, our firm has helped clients align their actions
with their core desires by providing objective financial planning and portfolio management services. Since
its inception, Blue Barn Wealth has been a fee-only registered investment adviser.
Denise D. Smith, CPA, CFP®, first registered the firm with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
in 1994. In 2001, the firm headquarters were relocated from Laramie, WY to Salt Lake City, UT. In 2005,
the firm was renamed Financial Planning Office, LLC.
On May 1, 2015, Hyrum L. Smith purchased Financial Planning Office, LLC from Denise Smith. On
November 3, 2017, Financial Planning Office became a wholly owned subsidiary of HJB Wealth
Management, LLC, which is primarily and beneficially owned by Hyrum Smith through Hyrum L. Smith,
LLC, and Jeff Brimhall through Force for Good Financial, LLC.
On March 25, 2019, Financial Planning Office, LLC was renamed Blue Barn Wealth, LLC and continues to
provide independent and objective financial planning and investment management on a fee-only basis.
In addition to our registration as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC), our firm and its associates may register, become licensed, or meet certain exemptions to registration
and/or licensing in other jurisdictions in which investment advisory business is conducted. In Texas, we
operate under the trade name My Blue Barn Wealth.
Description of Advisory Services Offered
Blue Barn Wealth offers Financial Planning Services and Portfolio Management Services. We call the
combination of these services, Wealth Management Services. Blue Barn Wealth offers these services at
three different levels (Essential, Full-Service, and Premium), based on your individual needs and level of
assets.
The Financial Planning Services provide clients with advice on key topics such as cash flow and debt
management, funding a college education, retirement planning, risk management, estate planning, tax
planning, among others. Ongoing and continuous supervision of our clients’ portfolios are provided
through our Portfolio Management Services, which may include engaging the services of institutional
investment managers. For pensions, retirement plans, and businesses, Blue Barn Wealth offers consulting
services. For institutional clients, such as other investment advisers, Blue Barn Wealth develops model
portfolios and may engage as a consultant. Each of these services are described in greater detail below.
New clients begin our services with an initial interview conducted by a representative of our firm to
discuss your current situation, goals, and the scope of services that may be provided to you. Around the
time of this meeting, you will be provided with our Form ADV Part 2A firm brochure that includes a
statement involving our privacy policy, as well as Form ADV Part 2B, a brochure supplement about the
representative who will be assisting you. We will also ensure that any material conflicts of interest have
been disclosed to you that could be reasonably expected to impair the rendering of unbiased and objective
advice. Should you wish to engage our firm for its services, you must first execute a client engagement
agreement. Thereafter, discussion and analysis will be conducted to determine your financial needs, goals,
holdings, etc.
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Throughout the term of the engagement, it is important that we are provided with an adequate level of
information and supporting documentation, which may include but is not limited to the following: source(s)
of funds, income levels, an account holder or attorney-in-fact’s authority to act on behalf of the account,
among other information that may be necessary for us to render our services. The information and/or
financial statements provided to us need to be accurate. Our firm may, but is not obligated to, verify the
information that you provide, which will then be used in the advisory process.
It is essential that you inform our firm of significant issues that may call for an update to your plan. Events
such as changes in employment or marital status, an unplanned windfall, etc., can have an impact on your
circumstances and plans. Our firm needs to be aware of such events so that adjustments may be made as
necessary.
Financial Planning Services
Clients can engage us for our Financial Planning Services with or without our Portfolio Management
Services. These Financial Planning Services can be provided through an Ongoing Engagement, where
services are provided for a minimum of at least one year, or they can be provided through a Limited
Engagement, where the engagement typically lasts for less than six months. In any case, the core of our
Financial Planning Services is to provide our clients with a financial plan. Details about the Financial
Planning Services are described further below and in the client engagement agreement.
Your financial plan may include the following items that are described in greater detail later in this section:
cash flow analysis, debt management, risk management, employee benefits, retirement planning, education
planning, tax projections and planning, investment consultation, charitable giving, and business
consultation. Your plan may be as broad-based or narrowly focused as you desire. For Essential-Level and
Limited-Engagement Financial Planning Services, a subset of these services will be provided to you, which
will be outlined in your client engagement agreement. The incorporation of most or all the following
components allow for not only a thorough analysis but also a refined focus of your goals and objectives.
Note that when these services focus only on areas of your interest, your overall situation or needs may not
be fully addressed. Our firm will present a summary of recommendations, guide you in the implementation
of some or all of them at your request, and we encourage plan reviews thereafter.
A broad-based financial plan is an endeavor that requires significant detail. Therefore, certain variables can
affect the cost involved in the development of such a plan, such as the quality of records, the complexity
and number of current investments, the diversity of insurance products and employee benefits, the size of
the potential estate, and special needs of the client and/or their dependents, among others. Per client
request, we may concentrate on reviewing only a specific area, such as an employer retirement plan
allocation, college funding, or evaluating the sufficiency of a savings plan. When Financial Planning
Services focus only on certain areas of client interest or need, the overall situation or needs may not be
fully addressed due to limitations established by the client. In all instances involving our financial planning
engagements, our clients retain discretion over implementation decisions and are free to accept or reject
any recommendations we make.
Depending on the scope of the engagement, you may be asked to provide copies of financial documents
as part of the process, such as:
• Tax returns or tax-related documents
• Insurance policies
• Mortgage and/or student loan information
• Wills, codicils, trusts, and other estate documents
• Divorce decree or separation agreement
• Information on current retirement plans and benefits provided by your employer
• Statements reflecting current investments in retirement and non-retirement accounts
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• Employment or other business agreements you may have in place
• Completed risk profile questionnaires or other forms provided by our firm
While the individual services provided to each client may vary based on unique circumstances, the
following services typically apply: an initial discovery meeting, a financial plan report or access to financial
planning software, ongoing support regarding covered services, and a financial plan review meeting. The
focus of each meeting depends on the specific services requested and the needs of the client.
Cash Flow Analysis and Debt Management
A review of income and expenses determines current surplus or deficit which can inform
recommendations about prioritizing how any surplus should be used, or how to reduce expenses if they
exceed your income. Advice may also be provided regarding which debts to pay off first based on factors
such as the interest rate of the debt and any income tax ramifications. Recommendations may also be
made with respect to appropriate cash reserves for emergencies and other financial goals, and a review of
accounts (such as money market funds) for such reserves, plus strategies to save desired amounts.
Risk Management
A risk management review includes an analysis of exposures to major risks that could have a significant
adverse impact on your financial picture, such as premature death, disability, property and casualty losses,
or the need for long-term care planning. Advice may be provided on ways to minimize such risks and about
weighing the costs of purchasing insurance versus the benefits of doing so and, likewise, the potential cost
of not purchasing insurance (“self-insuring”).
Employee Benefits
A review and analysis of employee
benefits that you have available to you, as an employee, ensures that
you are taking maximum advantage of your benefits. We may offer advice on employer-sponsored
retirement plan or stock options, among other benefits that may be available to you.
Retirement Planning
Retirement planning typically includes building projections of the likelihood of achieving financial goals,
with financial independence as an objective. For situations where projections show less than the desired
results, recommendations may include making changes in certain variables (e.g., working longer, saving
more, spending less, taking more risk with investments) and the impact those changes have on projections.
If you are near retirement or already retired, advice may be given on appropriate distribution strategies to
minimize the likelihood of running out of money or having to adversely alter spending during retirement
years. Advice may also be given on optimal Social Security and Medicare claiming strategies as well as tax
strategies that aim to limit the amount of your Social Security benefit that will be taxed.
Education Planning
Education planning typically includes projecting the amount that will be needed to achieve post-secondary
education funding goals. Advice may be provided regarding savings strategies and the “pros-and-cons” of
various college savings vehicles that are available, strategies for paying for college, and education loan
repayment strategies.
Estate Planning
Estate planning involves an analysis of current estate plans and exposures to estate and inheritance taxes.
Recommendations may include encouragement to see a licensed attorney to create a new or revisions to a
will, powers of attorney, trusts and other related documents. Advice may include ways to minimize or
avoid future estate taxes by implementing relevant planning strategies. Estate planning also includes
understanding the purpose behind your desired estate plans and helping you to create a plan that is in line
with your long-term goals and values as well as your desires for your beneficiaries.
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Tax Projections and Planning
Tax projections and planning may include strategies to minimize current and future income taxes as a part
of your overall financial plan. Recommendations may be provided as to which type of account(s) or specific
investments should be owned, where contributions should go, and from where distributions should come,
based in part on their impact on your current and future income taxes. Consideration is also given for
potential changes to federal, state and/or local tax laws and rates that may impact each client’s situation.
Investment Consultation
Our investment consultation may involve providing information about the types of investment vehicles
available, advice on stock options, investment analysis and strategies, asset selection, asset location, and
portfolio design. It may include assisting you with investment accounts that are maintained at other
broker/dealers or custodians. The strategies and types of investments that may be recommended are
further discussed in Item 8 of this brochure.
Charitable Giving
We believe that giving generously is a key aspect of living a meaningful life. To give generously, individuals
need to feel confident that they have enough to care for their own needs. We use the financial planning
process to help clients achieve this assurance. We also provide clients with resources to give efficiently
and effectively. Recommendations may involve various methods of charitable giving, such as donor-
advised funds (DAFs), foundations, and direct giving. We may also provide guidance about how to evaluate
charities to ensure that the money donated is being used effectively.
Business Consultation
Business owners may be consulted in a variety of ways that impact their financial situation, including
business strategy, practice management, general financial advice, capital structure/table, and debt
management. Business consultation may also involve coordinating with other financial institutions,
attorneys, and/or accountants.
Portfolio Management Services
Most of our clients engage our firm to implement the investment strategies that we recommended to you.
Depending on your risk profile, goals and needs, among other considerations, your portfolio will involve
the employment of one or more of our investment strategies as well as either a broad range or more
narrowly focused choice of investment vehicles which are further discussed in Item 8 of this brochure.
We typically prepare an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) to reflect your objectives, time horizon,
tolerance for risk, as well as any reasonable account constraints you may have for the portfolio. For
example, you have the right to exclude certain securities (e.g., options, stocks, etc.) at your discretion. Each
client’s IPS is designed to be specific enough to provide future guidance while also allowing flexibility to
work with changing market conditions. Since this effort is the product of information and data you
provide, you may be asked to review it and provide your final approval. We will then develop a customized
portfolio for you based on your unique situation, investment goals, and tolerance for risk. We manage your
portfolio on a discretionary or nondiscretionary basis (defined in Item 16 of this brochure). We want to
note that it will remain your responsibility to promptly notify us if there are any changes in your financial
situation and/or investment objectives for the purpose of our reviewing, evaluating, or revising previous
account restrictions or firm investment recommendations.
Following our review and/or plan development, we may recommend that you engage with one or more
institutional investment managers to invest all or a portion of your portfolio under our supervision. Prior to
recommending a sub-advisor or third-party investment manager, we will conduct what we believe to be an
appropriate level of due diligence that includes ensuring the sub-advisor/third-party manager is
appropriately registered or notice-filed within your state of residence. Clients may be required to maintain
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a minimum account size to be eligible for this service, and some sub-advisors/third-party managers may
require a higher asset-level to invest in their program. We will inform you in advance of each manager’s
minimum investment criteria.
Under this type of engagement, we will gather input from you about your financial situation, investment
objectives, reasonable restrictions you may want to impose on the management of the account, and we
will then provide this information to the sub-advisor/third-party manager to develop your portfolio. Sub-
advisors/third-party managers will invest on behalf of a client account in accordance with the strategies
set forth in their own disclosure documents which will be provided to you by our firm prior to your
employing these strategies. A selected sub-advisor/third-party manager assumes discretionary authority
over an account, and some of these programs may not be available for those clients who prefer an account
to be managed under a non-discretionary engagement or whom may have other unique account
restrictions.
At least annually thereafter, a review will be performed from both a compliance and performance
perspective to determine whether the selected sub-advisor/third-party investment manager remains an
appropriate fit for your portfolio.
Pension and Retirement Plan Consulting Services
Blue Barn Wealth offers consulting services to pensions or other employee benefit plans (including but not
limited to 401(k) plans). Pension and retirement plan consulting may include but is not limited to:
• providing fiduciary services as a 3(21) co-fiduciary or a 3(38) investment manager
• identifying investment objectives and restrictions
• providing guidance on various assets classes and investment options
• recommending money managers to manage plan assets in ways designed to achieve objectives
• monitoring performance of money managers and investment options and making
recommendations for changes
• recommending other service providers, such as custodians, administrators, and broker-dealers
• providing group education to plan participants
• providing individual guidance to plan participants (as requested)
• creating a written pension consulting plan
These services are based on the goals, objectives, demographics, time horizon, and/or risk tolerance of the
plan and its participants.
Model Portfolio Development
For institutional clients, such as other investment advisers, Blue Barn Wealth develops model portfolios
and may engage as a consultant.
Client Assets Under Management
Blue Barn Wealth has the following Client assets under management:
Discretionary Amounts: Non-discretionary Amounts: Date Calculated:
$419,993,872 $11,422,672 December 31, 2023
Wrap Fee Program
We do not offer an investment program involving wrapped (bundled) fees.
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General Information
Blue Barn Wealth does not offer legal or tax preparation or compliance related services. With your prior
written consent, we will work with your attorney or accountant to assist with the coordination and
implementation of any accepted strategies. These other professionals will charge you separately for their
services, and their fee is separate of our advisory fee.