A Our Firm. Sittner & Nelson, LLC, d/b/a Sittner & Nelson, is an Oregon limited liability
company founded in 2009. The firm’s principals are Freddie L. Sittner, MBA, CFP®, Todd
M. Nelson, CPA, CFP®, and Kevin L. Sittner, CPA, CFP®, CFA®. We are registered as an
investment advisor with the SEC and our principal offices are located in Eugene, Oregon.
The information contained in this brochure describes our investment advisory services,
practices, and fees. Please refer to the description of each investment advisory service listed
below for information on how we tailor our services to the needs of our clients. As used
throughout this firm brochure, the words “S&N,” “we,” “our,” “firm,” and “us” refer to
Sittner & Nelson, and the words “you,” “your,” and “client” refer to you as either a client
or prospective client of our firm.
Prior to forming an investment advisor-client relationship, we may offer you a
complimentary general consultation to discuss the nature of our services and to determine
how we can best assist you in achieving your investment goals and objectives. Investment
advisory services begin only after the prospective client and S&N formalize their
relationship by the execution of a written advisory agreement.
B C Our Services. We offer the following investment advisory services to our clients:
• Wealth Management Services;
• Financial Planning and Consulting Services; and
• Retirement Plan Consulting Services.
Our investment advice is always tailored to the unique circumstances, financial goals and
investment profile of our clients.
A description of the individual investment advisory services we offer is set forth below in
this Item 4.
Wealth Management Services
Our firm offers comprehensive wealth management services that combine ongoing
discretionary management of the client’s investment portfolio with a suite of financial
planning and ongoing consulting services.
S&N seeks to ensure that client portfolios are continuously managed in a manner consistent
with their unique investment profile. To this end, when you engage us for wealth
management services, we will consult with you at the inception of our relationship and
thereafter on an ongoing basis to determine your tolerance for investment risk, time horizon
for investments, expected liquidity needs, and to explore various other factors we believe
to be relevant to our ability to effectively manage your portfolio consistent with your
investment objectives and needs.
When we provide you with portfolio management services, you will be required to
establish an account in your name with an independent qualified custodian (the
“Custodian”), typically a licensed broker-dealer, banking or savings institution, for deposit
of the assets you wish to have us manage on your behalf. You will typically be required to
grant S&N the discretionary authority to buy and sell securities within your account
without obtaining your consent prior to each transaction as a condition of engaging these
services. In limited circumstances, we may offer a non-discretionary arrangement, under
which we are required to obtain your consent prior to engaging in any transactions for your
account. The full scope of our authority with respect to your account will be set forth in a
written advisory agreement. We act as your fiduciary, responsible for the management of
your account at the Custodian, where assets are held in your name.
Client portfolios are typically constructed utilizing a diversified combination of some or
all of the following instruments: mutual funds, exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), individual
debt and equity securities, cash and cash equivalents.
We may also recommend that you engage certain third-party money managers
(collectively, “Independent Managers”) to manage all or a portion of your account (each
such sub-account, a “Separately Managed Account” or “SMA”), typically on a
discretionary basis. Under this arrangement, the Independent Manager shall be responsible
for all investment selection and trading decisions with respect to the SMA and shall directly
manage the SMA in accordance with the client’s investment objectives and risk profile as
communicated by our firm. We will serve in a co-advisory capacity with respect to your
SMA(s), responsible for the initial and ongoing determination of the suitability of the
Independent Manager’s investment program, monitoring the performance of your SMA(s),
and recommending changes in your SMA allocations as we determine to be in your best
interests.
The Independent Managers we recommend may contract with us directly to provide sub-
advisory services to your account, may be accessible via the investment platform of your
Custodian, or may operate in an entirely independent capacity. In most instances, you will
be required to execute a separate written investment advisory agreement and/or
discretionary trading authorization in favor of the recommended Independent Manager(s).
You will be provided with the Form ADV Part 2A (or equivalent disclosures) for any
recommended Independent Managers in advance of engaging their services.
We will monitor the performance of your account (including any SMAs) on an ongoing
basis and implement and/or recommend changes within your account as needed or
appropriate, in consideration of current economic conditions, our market opinions and
assumptions, and your individual financial circumstances and goals. Clients are advised to
promptly notify S&N if there are changes in their financial situation or if they wish to place
any limitations on the management of their portfolios. Clients may impose reasonable
restrictions or mandates on
the management of their accounts if S&N determines, in its
sole discretion, that such conditions would not materially impact the performance of a
management strategy or otherwise frustrate our ability to manage the portfolio.
As part of our wealth management services, clients may request that we manage and/or
advise them on certain investment products that are “held-away” from their primary
custodian. Examples of held-away assets may include investments in variable life
insurance products, annuity contracts, assets held in employer sponsored retirement plans,
and qualified tuition plans (i.e., 529 plans), among others. For these assets, we are limited
to directing or managing the allocation of the client’s holdings among the various
investment options made available by the product sponsor, issuer, or custodian. At your
request, we may also provide advice about any type of legacy positions or other
investments held in your portfolio at the inception of our advisory relationship.
In addition to our ongoing availability to consult with the client on common financial issues
and concerns and our discretionary management of the client’s investment portfolio, at the
client’s option, we may also provide the client with a comprehensive written financial plan.
We will update and review the financial plan as necessary and appropriate, based on the
client’s investment needs and objectives, any material change in the client’s financial
circumstances, and/or as otherwise reasonably requested by the client. A description of our
financial planning services is set forth below.
Financial Planning and Consulting Services
The firm offers clients a broad range of financial planning and consulting services, either
combined within a wealth management services engagement or on a stand-alone basis,
addressing pertinent financial topics, such as:
• Business Planning;
• Cash Flow Forecasting;
• Charitable Giving;
• Distribution Planning;
• Insurance Planning;
• Investment Consulting;
• Manager Due Diligence;
• Retirement Planning;
• Risk Management;
• Tax Planning; and
• Trust and Estate Planning.
Clients who engage us for these services receive a consultation or series of consultations
to discuss their unique financial circumstances, investment objectives and needs, tolerance
for risk, and time horizon for investments, and any particular issues of financial concern
that may be highlighted by the client. We will review pertinent financial documents and
information provided by the client and present the client with a comprehensive written
financial plan. The financial plan will include a summary of the client’s financial
circumstances and a course of actions and/or investment recommendations designed to
assist the client in achieving the client’s financial goals. For stand-alone financial planning
and consulting engagements, unless otherwise agreed, reviews and updates of the client’s
financial plan and monitoring of the client’s investments are generally not included within
the scope of services.
In performing these services, the firm 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.
As part of this service, we may recommend the use of certain third-party professionals
(e.g., attorneys, tax advisors, accountants) to assist you in implementing the advice and
recommendations we provide. We do not receive compensation or referral fees of any kind
in connection with these recommendations. You are never obligated to engage any
recommended third-party professional(s) and elect to do so at your sole discretion and risk.
We do not provide legal or tax advice of any kind. Clients are advised to seek legal, tax,
and accounting advice from their trusted tax and legal advisors.
The client always retains the sole discretion to accept or reject any of S&N’s financial
planning and consulting recommendations, in whole or in part, and is responsible for the
implementation and ongoing monitoring of their investments, including the determination
of any third party service providers to be utilized in connection therewith. While clients
are never obligated to engage us for implementation services of any kind, we may assist
the client with implementation upon request – additional fees may apply.
Retirement Plan Consulting Services
We offer retirement plan consulting services to qualified retirement 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 a review of an existing plan,
formulation of the investment policy statement, assistance selecting and monitoring plan
service providers, recommendations regarding investment selection, on-going consulting,
portfolio management services, and participant enrollment and investment education
services.
D No Wrap Fee Program; Types of Investments Recommended. We do not offer, sponsor or
participate in any wrap fee program.
The types of investments we primarily advise our clients on are described above in this
at the inception of our advisory relationship and/or other investment types not listed above,
at your request.
Please see Item 8 of this brochure for a description of the methods of analysis and
investment strategies we typically utilize in advising client accounts.
E Assets Under Management. As of December 31, 2023, our firm managed approximately
$794,043,340 of client assets on a discretionary basis, and $10,741,226 of client assets on
a non-discretionary basis.