A. Firm Information
RPS Advisory Solutions, LLC d/b/a Retirement Planning Solutions, LLC (“RPS” or the “Advisor”) is a registered
investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Advisor is organized as a Limited
Liability Company (LLC) under the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. RPS was founded in January 2021 and
is owned and operated by RPS Advisory Solutions, LLC, which is wholly owned by Michael Ellison. This Disclosure
Brochure provides information regarding the qualifications, business practices, and the advisory services provided
by RPS.
B. Advisory Services Offered
RPS offers investment advisory services to individuals, high net worth individuals, trusts, estates, businesses, and
retirement plans (each referred to as a “Client”).
The Advisor serves as a fiduciary to Clients, as defined under the applicable laws and regulations. As a fiduciary,
the Advisor upholds a duty of loyalty, fairness and good faith towards each Client and seeks to mitigate potential
conflicts of interest. RPS’s fiduciary commitment is further described in the Advisor’s Code of Ethics. For more
information regarding the Code of Ethics, please see Item 11 – Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client
Transactions and Personal Trading.
Wealth Management Services
RPS provides Clients with wealth management services, which generally includes a broad range of comprehensive
financial planning services and access to a wealth management software in connection with discretionary
management of investment portfolios. These services are described below.
Investment Management Services – RPS provides customized investment advisory solutions for its Clients. This is
achieved through continuous personal Client contact and interaction while providing discretionary investment
management and related advisory services. RPS works closely with each Client to identify their investment goals
and objectives as well as risk tolerance and financial situation in order to create a portfolio strategy. RPS will then
construct an investment portfolio consisting mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), stocks, bonds, variable
annuities and/or options to achieve the Client’s investment goals. The Advisor may retain certain types of
investments based on a Client’s legacy investments based on portfolio fit and/or tax considerations.
RPS’s investment strategies are primarily long-term focused, but the Advisor may buy, sell or re-allocate positions
that have been held for less than one year to meet the objectives of the Client or due to market conditions. RPS will
construct, implement and monitor the portfolio to ensure it meets the goals, objectives, circumstances, and risk
tolerance agreed to by the Client. Depending on the needs of the Client, the Advisor will manage a variable annuity
to ensure the above objectives for each Client are met. Each Client will have the opportunity to place reasonable
restrictions on the types of investments to be held in their respective portfolio, subject to acceptance by the Advisor.
RPS evaluates and selects investments for inclusion in Client portfolios only after applying its internal due diligence
process. RPS may recommend, on occasion, redistributing investment allocations to diversify the portfolio. RPS
may recommend specific positions to increase sector or asset class weightings. The Advisor may recommend
employing cash positions as a possible hedge against market movement.
RPS may recommend selling positions for reasons that include, but are not limited to, harvesting capital gains or
losses, business or sector risk exposure to a specific security or class of securities, overvaluation or overweighting
of the position[s] in the portfolio, change in risk tolerance of the Client, generating cash to meet Client needs, or any
risk deemed unacceptable for the Client’s risk tolerance.
At no time will RPS accept or maintain custody of a Client’s funds or securities, except for the limited authority as
outlined in Item 15 – Custody. All Client assets will be managed within the designated account[s] at the Custodian,
pursuant to the terms of the advisory agreement. Please see Item 12 – Brokerage Practices.
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Retirement Accounts – When the Advisor provides investment advice to Clients regarding ERISA retirement
accounts or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), the Advisor is a fiduciary within the meaning of Title I of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), as applicable,
which are laws governing retirement accounts. When deemed to be in the Client’s best interest, the Advisor will
provide investment advice to a Client regarding a distribution from an ERISA retirement account or to roll over the
assets to an IRA, or recommend a similar transaction including rollovers from one ERISA sponsored Plan to
another, one
IRA to another IRA, or from one type of account to another account (e.g. commission-based account
to fee-based account). Such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if the Advisor will earn a new (or
increase its current) advisory fee as a result of the transaction. No client is under any obligation to roll over a
retirement account to an account managed by the Advisor.
Financial Planning Services – RPS will typically provide a variety of financial planning and consulting services as a
part of its wealth management services or under a separate written agreement. Services are offered in several
areas of a Client’s financial situation, depending on their goals and objectives. Generally, such financial planning
services involve preparing a formal financial plan or rendering a specific financial consultation based on the Client’s
financial goals and objectives. This planning or consulting may encompass one or more areas of need, including
but not limited to, investment planning, retirement planning, personal savings, education savings, insurance needs
and other areas of a Client’s financial situation. If engaged for ongoing financial planning services, depending on
the scope of the contractual engagement, the Advisor offers estate planning and tax preparation services. Please
see Item 10 for additional details.
A financial plan developed for, or financial consultation rendered to the Client will usually include general
recommendations for a course of activity or specific actions to be taken by the Client. For example,
recommendations may be made that the Client start or revise their investment programs, commence or alter
retirement savings, establish education savings and/or charitable giving programs.
RPS may also refer Clients to an accountant, attorney or other specialists, as appropriate for their unique situation.
For certain financial planning engagements, the Advisor will provide a written summary of the Client’s financial
situation, observations, and recommendations. For consulting or ad-hoc engagements, the Advisor may not provide
a written summary. Plans or consultations are typically completed within six (6) months of contract date, assuming
all information and documents requested are provided promptly.
Financial planning and consulting recommendations pose a conflict between the interests of the Advisor and the
interests of the Client. For example, the Advisor has an incentive to recommend that Clients engage the Advisor for
investment management services or to increase the level of investment assets with the Advisor, as it would
increase the amount of advisory fees paid to the Advisor. Clients are not obligated to implement any
recommendations made by the Advisor or maintain an ongoing relationship with the Advisor. If the Client elects to
act on any of the recommendations made by the Advisor, the Client is under no obligation to implement the
transaction through the Advisor.
C. Client Account Management
Prior to engaging RPS to provide investment advisory services, each Client is required to enter into one or more
agreements with the Advisor that define the terms, conditions, authority and responsibilities of the Advisor and the
Client. These services may include:
Establishing an Investment Strategy – RPS, in connection with the Client, will develop a strategy that seeks
to achieve the Client’s goals and objectives.
Asset Allocation – RPS will develop a strategic asset allocation that is targeted to meet the investment
objectives, time horizon, financial situation and tolerance for risk for each Client.
Portfolio Construction – RPS will develop a portfolio for the Client that is intended to meet the stated goals
and objectives of the Client.
Investment Management and Supervision – RPS will provide investment management and ongoing
oversight of the Client’s investment portfolio.
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D. Wrap Fee Programs
RPS includes transaction costs, custodial costs, administrative fees, and other fees and expenses (herein “Covered
Costs together with its investment advisory fees. Including these fees into a single asset-based fee is considered a
“Wrap Fee Program”. The Advisor customizes its investment management services for its Clients. The Advisor
sponsors the RPS Wrap Fee Program solely as a supplemental disclosure regarding the combination of fees.
Depending on the level of trading required for the Client’s account[s] in a particular year, the Client may pay more
or less in total fees than if the Client paid its own transaction fees. Please see Appendix 1 – Wrap Fee Program
Brochure, which is included as a supplement to this Disclosure Brochure.
E. Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, RPS manages $285,352,910 in Client assets which are managed on a discretionary
basis. Clients may request more current information at any time by contacting the Advisor.