Description of the Firm Ashley Spencer Murphy, GFP (USA) CFP® AIF® is the founder and sole owner of the Minnesota domiciled investment advisory firm doing business as Arete Wealth Strategists. From its 20131 inception in California until January of 2015, the firm was organized as a sole proprietorship; the firm is now incorporated as a Minnesota domiciled Limited Liability Company; no change to the firm’s business name or control persons has occurred.
The firm is not a subsidiary of, nor does it control, another reportable financial industry entity. Mr.
Murphy also serves as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer (supervisor) and further information about his background may be found in Item 19 of this brochure.2 The firm’s original formation and registration occurred in the State of California in 2013; Arete Wealth Strategists and an associate of the firm may register, become licensed or meet certain exemptions to registration and/or licensing in other jurisdictions where investment advisory business may be conducted.
Description of Services Offered Arete Wealth Strategists provides a broad range of investment advisory solutions to its clients.
Financial planning servicesprovide clients with advice on key topics such as cash flow and budgeting, college funding, retirement planning, risk management, estate or tax planning, as well as general investment advice. Ongoing and continuous supervision of clients’ portfolios are provided through ourinvestment supervisory servicesofferings, and we offer clients management of their portfolios through the engagement of institutional investment managers via ourinvestment management services. AWS provides employerretirement plandesign and investment management services, and is also available foreducational workshops and seminarsupon request.
As of the date of this brochure, Arete Wealth Strategists has introduced five Service Tiers through which its financial planning services, portfolio management services, 529 Education Savings, global mobility service package, business owner service package and retirement income planning service package are delivered. Account management services include: 1. Investment Management Only 2In consonance with the SEC’s 2010General Instructions for Part 2 of Form ADV(page 22), principal executive information that may be found within Form ADV Part 2B is included in Item 19 of this brochure.
1Please refer to the end of this brochure for an explanation of professional designations and their ongoing continuing education requirements.
4of 37 2. Ascent 3. Summit 4. Arete Throughout 2020 and potentially beyond, existing clients will be transitioned to one of the five Service Tiers. New clients that retain Arete Wealth Strategists after the date of this Brochure will be served through one of the five Service Tiers. A complete description of the applicable Service Tier and corresponding fees applicable to a client will be included in such client’s service agreement, and all Service Tiers and corresponding fees are described in Item 5, below.
During or prior to your first meeting with Arete Wealth Strategists you will be provided with a firm brochure that includes a statement involving our privacy policy. Our firm 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 Arete Wealth Strategists for any advisory service, you must first execute a written engagement agreement; thereafter, discussion and analysis will be conducted to determine your financial needs, goals, holdings, etc. Depending on the scope of the engagement, you may be asked to provide current copies of the following documents early in the process:
• Wills, codicils and trusts
• Insurance policies
• Mortgage information
• Tax returns
• Budget information
• Current financial specifics including W-2s or 1099s
• Information on current retirement plans and benefits provided by your employer
• Statements reflecting current investments in retirement and non-retirement accounts
• Employment or other business agreements you may have in place
• Completed risk profile questionnaires or other forms provided by our firm It is important that the information and/or financial statements you provide our firm is accurate. We may, but are not obligated to, verify the information you will provide, which will then be used in the advisory process. Our ability to provide advisory services depends on access to important information about our clients. Accordingly, it is necessary that you provide us with an adequate level of information and supporting documentation throughout the term of the engagement, including, but not limited to: source of funds, income levels, and an account holder or their legal agent’s authority to act on behalf of the account, among other information. This helps us determine the appropriateness of our planning and/or investment strategies for your portfolio.
Financial Planning Services Financial planning services may be as broad-based or narrowly focused as you desire. The incorporation of most or all of the listed components allows not only a thorough analysis but also a refined focus of your plans so that the firm is able to assist you in reaching your goals and objectives. We will ask you to respond to a sequence of questions we believe are important to the development of your plan: your age, investment time horizon, income and/or net worth, among others. We will also inquire into your investment experience, as well as tolerance or appetite for 5of 37 risk. Following responses to these questions, you will receive a plan/recommendation and/or asset allocation believed appropriate for your situation.
Cash Flow Analysis and Debt Management A review of your income and expenses will be conducted to determine your current surplus or deficit. Based upon the results, we will provide advice on prioritizing how any surplus should be used, or how to reduce expenses if they exceed your income. In addition, advice on the prioritization of which debts to repay may be provided, based upon such factors as the debt’s interest rate and any income tax ramifications. Recommendations may also be made regarding the appropriate level of cash reserves for emergencies and other financial goals. These recommendations are based upon a review of cash accounts (such as money market funds) for such reserves and may include strategies to save desired reserve amounts.
Risk Management A risk management review includes an analysis of your exposure 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 is conducted and analysis is made as to whether you, as an employee, are taking maximum advantage of your employee benefits. We will also offer advice on your employer-sponsored retirement plan and/or stock options, along with other benefits that may be available to you. Personal Retirement Planning Retirement planning services typically include projections of your likelihood of achieving your financial goals, with financial independence usually the primary objective. For situations where projections show less than the desired results, a recommendation may include showing you the impact on those projections by making changes in certain variables (i.e., working longer, saving more, spending less, taking more risk with investments). 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 your retirement years.
Tax Planning Strategies Advice may include ways to minimize current and future income taxes as a part of your overall financial planning picture. For example, recommendations may be offered as to which type of account(s) or specific investments should be owned based in part on their “tax efficiency,” with consideration that there is always a possibility of future changes to federal, state or local tax laws and rates that may impact your situation.
College Funding 6of 37 Advice involving college funding may include projecting the amount that will be needed to achieve post-secondary education funding goals, along with savings strategies and the “pros-and-cons” of various college savings vehicles that are available. We are also available to review your financial picture as it relates to eligibility for financial aid or the best way to contribute to grandchildren, if appropriate.
Estate Planning Our review typically includes an analysis of your exposure to estate taxes and your current estate plan, which may include whether you have a will, powers of attorney, trusts and other related documents.
We may assess ways to minimize or avoid future estate taxes by implementing appropriate estate planning strategies such as the use of applicable trusts.
We generally recommend that you consult with a qualified attorney when you initiate, update, or complete estate planning activities. We may provide you with contact information for attorneys who specialize in estate planning when you wish to hire an attorney for

such purposes. From time-to-time, we will participate in meetings or phone calls between you and your attorney with your approval or request.
Investment Consultation Investment consultation services often involve providing information on the types of investment vehicles available, employee retirement plans and/or stock options, investment analysis and strategies, asset selection and portfolio design, as well as assisting you with the implementation of transactions in your investment account if it is maintained at another broker/dealer or custodian.
The strategies and types of investments that may be recommended are further discussed in Item 8 of this brochure.
Business Consultation We are available to assist small businesses in a variety of ways including business strategy, practice management, general financial advice, debt management, as well as assisting you with matters involving coordination with your financial institution, attorney or accountant. We also offer investment analysis and consultation services to other investment advisory firms.
A broad-based plan is an endeavor that requires detail, therefore, certain variables can affect the cost involved in the development of the plan: the quality of your own records, complexity and number of current investments, diversity of insurance products and employee benefits you currently hold, size of the potential estate, and special needs of the client or their dependents, among others. We may concentrate on reviewing only a specific area (modular planning) per your request, such as an employer retirement plan allocation, college funding or evaluating the sufficiency of savings plan. Note that when these services focus only on certain areas of your interest or need, your overall situation or needs may not be fully addressed due to limitations you may have established. In all instances involving our financial planning engagements, our clients retain full discretion over all implementation decisions and are free to accept or reject any recommendation we make.
7of 37 Whether we have created a broad-based or modular plan, we will present you with a summary of our recommendations, guide you in the implementation of some or all of them per your decision, as well as offer you periodic reviews thereafter (see Item 13).
Portfolio Management Services You may engage our firm to implement investment strategies that we have recommended to you.
Depending on your risk profile, goals and needs, among other considerations, your portfolio will involve the employment of one 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, and our fee rates are noted in Item 5.
Where appropriate, we will prepare investment guidelines reflecting your objectives, time horizon, tolerance for risk, as well as any reasonable account constraints you may have for your portfolio.
These guidelines will be designed to be specific enough to provide future guidance while allowing flexibility to work with changing market conditions. Since this effort is the product of information and data you have provided, you may be asked to review these guidelines and provide your final approval.
Investment Supervisory Services Through our investment supervisory services offering we develop a customized portfolio for you based on your unique situation, investment goals and tolerance for risk. We serve as your portfolio manager under a discretionary or non-discretionary agreement (defined in Item 16), and the engagement generally includes:
• Determination of risk tolerance
• Investment strategy
• Investment guideline development
• Asset allocation
• Asset selection
• Regular monitoring
• Periodic rebalancing Investment Management Services (Third-Party Investment Managers) We may also recommend that you engage a third-party investment manager to implement a portion or your entire portfolio. Prior to recommending a third-party investment manager, we will conduct what is believed to be an appropriate level of due diligence that will include ensuring the third-party investment manager is appropriately registered or notice-filed within your state of residence.
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 third-party investment manager to develop your portfolio. 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.
8of 37 The selected third-party investment manager assumes discretionary authority over an account (see in Item 16), 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 third-party investment manager remains an appropriate fit for your portfolio.
Retirement Plan Services Our firm provides employee benefit plan services to employer plan sponsors on an ongoing basis.
Such plans may include SIMPLE IRA’s, 401(k)’s, Profit Sharing Plans, Defined Benefit plans and Cash Balance plans. Generally, we assist employer plan sponsors in determining the suitability of such plans and in establishing, monitoring and reviewing their company's retirement plan(s). As the needs of the plan sponsor dictate, areas of advising could include: investment options, plan design and participant education.
In providing employee benefit plan services, our firm does not provide any advisory services with respect to the following types of assets: employer securities, real estate (excluding real estate funds and publicly traded REITS), participant loans, non-publicly traded securities or assets or other illiquid investments (collectively, “Excluded Assets”).
All retirement plan consulting services shall be in compliance with the applicable state laws regulating retirement consulting services. This applies to client accounts that are retirement or other employee benefit plans (“Plan”) governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). If the client accounts are part of a Plan, and our firm accepts appointments to provide services to such accounts, our firm acknowledges its fiduciary standard within the meaning of Section 3(21) or 3(38) of ERISA as designated by the Retirement Plan Consulting Agreement with respect to the provision of services described therein.
529 Education Savings Account Management: Utilizing a Limited Power of Attorney, our firm provides ongoing investment supervisory services for 529 Education Savings Accounts. We have designed custom investment models and glide-paths we monitor on a biannual basis.
Educational Workshops We offer periodic educational seminar sessions for those desiring general advice on personal finance and investing. Topics may include issues related to general financial planning, educational funding, estate planning, retirement strategies, implications involving changes in marital status, and various other current economic or investment topics.
9of 37 Our workshops are educational in nature and do not involve the sale of insurance or investment products. Information presented will not be based on any one person’s need nor do we provide individualized investment advice to attendees during our general sessions.
Wrap Fee Program We do not participate in wrap fee programs.
Client Assets Under Management As of Dec 31st, 2022 we had $64,487,000 of reportable client assets directly under our management, all on a discretionary basis.3 General Information Arete Wealth Strategists does not provide legal or accounting related services, but with your prior written consent we will work with your attorney or accountant to assist with the coordination and implementation of accepted strategies. You should be aware that these other professionals will charge you separately for their services and these fees will be in addition to our own advisory fees.
Our firm will use its best judgment and good faith effort in rendering its services. Our firm cannot warrant or guarantee the achievement of a planning goal or any particular level of account performance or that your account will be profitable over time. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
Except as may otherwise be provided by law, our firm will not be liable to the client, heirs, or assignees for any loss an account may suffer by reason of an investment decision made or other action taken or omitted in good faith by our firm with that degree of care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances that a prudent person acting in a fiduciary capacity would use; any loss arising from our adherence to your direction or that of your legal agent; any act or failure to act by a service provider maintaining an account.
Federal and state securities laws impose liabilities under certain circumstances on persons who act in good faith and, therefore, nothing contained in this document or our client engagement agreement shall constitute a waiver of any rights that a client may have under federal and state securities laws.