Our firm is dedicated to providing individuals and other types of clients with a wide array of
investment advisory services. Our firm is a limited liability company formed under the laws of the
state of Washington in 1998 and has been registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) as an investment adviser firm since 2020. Our firm is wholly owned by Heidi
Johnson Bixby.
The purpose of this Firm Brochure is to disclose the conflicts of interest associated with the
investment transactions, compensation and any other matters related to investment decisions
made by our firm or its representatives. As a fiduciary, it is our duty to always act in the client’s
best interest. This is accomplished in part by knowing our client. Our firm has established a service-
oriented advisory practice with open lines of communication for many different types of clients to
help meet their financial goals while remaining sensitive to risk tolerance and time horizons.
Working with clients to understand their investment objectives while educating them about our
process, facilitates the kind of working relationship we value.
Types of Advisory Services Offered
Asset Management:
As part of our Asset Management service, we design client portfolios to meet clients’ investment
goals and objectives. Portfolios will include some or all the following securities: stocks, bonds, mutual
funds, exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), options and other public securities or investments. Once
established, we continuously and regularly monitor client portfolios, and if necessary, rebalance them
based upon the client needs, goals and objectives.
Clients will also execute a Financial Planning & Consulting Agreement and pay a separate, one-time
initial fee for financial planning & consulting services. Thereafter, clients will receive ongoing financial
planning & consulting services as part of our Asset Management service (with no separate and
ongoing financial planning and consulting fees) unless disclosed in advance provided the client pays
$6,000 or more in advisory fees attributed to our firm’s Asset Management service. Please see the
Financial Planning & Consulting section in Item 5 of this Brochure for more information regarding
initial Financial Planning & Consulting fees to be assessed.
Financial Planning & Consulting:
Our firm provides a variety of standalone financial planning and consulting services to clients for
the management of financial resources based upon an analysis of current situation, goals, and
objectives. Financial planning services will typically involve preparing a financial plan or rendering
a financial consultation for clients based on the client’s financial goals and objectives. This planning
or consulting may encompass Investment Planning, Retirement Planning, Estate Planning,
Charitable Planning, Education Planning, Personal Tax Planning, Real Estate Analysis,
Mortgage/Debt Analysis, Pension Analysis, Insurance Analysis, Budget & Cash Flow Analysis, or
Personal Financial Planning.
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Written financial plans or financial consultations rendered to clients usually include general
recommendations for a course of activity or specific actions to be taken by the clients.
Implementation of the recommendations will be at the discretion of the client. Our firm provides
clients with a summary of their financial situation, and observations for financial planning
engagements. Financial consultations are not typically accompanied by a written summary of
observations and recommendations, as the process is less formal than the planning service.
Assuming that all the information and documents requested from the client are provided promptly,
plans or consultations are typically completed within three months of the client signing a contract
with our firm.
Institutional Intelligent Portfolios®
Our firm may offer portfolio management services using Institutional Intelligent Portfolios® (IIP)
software, an online investment management platform that automatically rebalances portfolios for
use by independent investment advisers and sponsored by Schwab Wealth Investment Advisory,
Inc. (the “Program” and “SWIA,”
respectively). Through the Program, our firm offers clients 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’s portfolio is held in a brokerage
account opened by the client at SWIA’s affiliate, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Our firm is
independent of and not owned by, affiliated with, or sponsored or supervised by SWIA, Schwab
or their affiliates (together, “Schwab”). The Program is described in the Schwab Wealth Investment
Advisory, Inc. Institutional Intelligent Portfolios® Disclosure Brochure (the “Program Disclosure
Brochure”), which is delivered to clients by SWIA during the online enrollment process. The
minimum investment required to open an account is $5,000.
Our firm, and not Schwab, is the client’s investment adviser and primary point of contact with
respect to the Program. Our firm is solely responsible, and Schwab is not 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. SWIA’s role is limited to delivering the Program Disclosure Brochure to clients
and administering the Program so that it operates as described in the Program Disclosure
Brochure.
Our firm has contracted with SWIA to provide the technology platform and related trading and
account management services for the Program. This platform enables our firm to make the
Program available to clients online and includes a system that automates certain key parts of the
investment process (the “System”). Our firm will make the final decision and select a portfolio
based on all the information made available about the client. The System also includes an
automated investment engine through which our firm manages the client’s portfolio on an ongoing
basis through automatic rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting (if the client is eligible and elects). In
connection with the client’s appointment of our firm, the client grants trading authority over their
account to SWIA. The client understands when electing to use the Program, the client will not
have authority to give Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. trading instructions on the program account, or
to closely control the timing of purchases or liquidations. All trading instructions will be given to
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. by SWIA via the Automated Investment Engine. The Program relies
upon systematic rebalancing and models for ongoing management of the account.
Clients will also execute a Financial Planning & Consulting Agreement and pay a separate, one-time
initial fee for financial planning & consulting services. Thereafter, clients will receive ongoing financial
ADV Part 2A – Firm Brochure Page 6 Johnson Bixby
planning & consulting services as part of the Institutional Intelligent Portfolios® service (with no
separate and ongoing financial planning and consulting fees) unless disclosed in advance provided the
client pays $6,000 or more in advisory fees attributed to our firm’s Institutional Intelligent Portfolios®
service. Please see the Financial Planning & Consulting section in Item 5 of this Brochure for more
information regarding initial Financial Planning & Consulting fees to be assessed.
Tailoring of Advisory Services
Our firm offers individualized investment advice to our Asset Management and Institutional
Intelligent Portfolios® clients. General investment advice will be offered to our Financial Planning
& Consulting clients. Our firm does not usually allow clients to impose restrictions on investing in
certain securities or types of securities due to the level of difficulty this would entail in managing
their account. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis for Asset Management clients
though restrictions cannot be made for Institutional Intelligent Portfolios® clients.
Participation in Wrap Fee Programs
Our firm does not offer or sponsor a wrap fee program.
Regulatory Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2022, our firm manages $590,749,395 on a discretionary basis. Our firm does
not manage any assets on a non-discretionary basis.