Ballast Capital Advisors, LLC (“Ballast”) was formed in November 2015. Ballast was approved as a registered investment adviser March 2016. Ballast is wholly owned by Greg Carstensen. Ballast is a fiduciary and is required to act in a client’s best interest at all times. The genesis of Ballast was to marry two important activities that individuals should have as part of their long-term financial well-being. These two activities are financial planning and investment management. Financial planning consists of sitting down and understanding a person’s long term financial goals and how they relate to their current financial situation. This we refer to as a person’s liability structure. Once we have clarity on those goals – we devise an investment policy – which basically consists of an investment objective (return) and constraints (risk). This plan is then turned over to a team of investment professionals that execute on that plan. This we refer to as asset management. Combined you have an asset-liability driven management strategy – a term widely used in the investment profession among insurance and pension accounts and referred to as LDI (liability driven investment). Ballast believes people cannot be a jack of all trades – both teams are trained in their respective areas. The financial planning team has experience interacting with clients, discussing with them their goals and constructing the financial plan. They use meetings, experience and software to create an investment policy. Investment professionals have deep experience in the capital markets – preferably managing large pension, insurance and other long duration portfolios. They have strong credit, equity and investment analytical skills and preferably a perspective built upon managing assets through numerous market cycles. Furthermore, they have strong relationships with Wall Street firms that provide access to securities that play a role in achieving long term performance. We provide investment advice to individuals, retirement plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations and other business entities. We also provide advice to clients on financial planning, retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning and on matters that include, but are not limited to, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, long-term care insurance, mortgages, automobiles, 529 plans and other similar financial matters. Investment Management Ballast believes that fixed income comprises the bedrock upon which all investment allocations rest. Insurance companies, pensions and all other long-duration portfolios utilize fixed income to meet their investment objectives – why shouldn’t you? Large insurance and pension accounts don’t typically own bond funds – they own individual bonds. Bonds are contracts – bond funds are not. Why does this matter? Because, ones return over time is comprised of two things: coupon and price return. In fact, coupon has historically been the most significant component of return for fixed income while the non-coupon return (price) is subject to interest rate risk. Interest rate risk is the risk that your principal value changes as interest rates go up or down. However, with a bond – you know your principal eventually is repaid to you – contractual. A bond fund doesn’t have a maturity – hence, the return of your principal is

entirely dependent on where interest rates are at the point in time you want your fixed income investment returned to you. Therefore, we aim to meet your fixed income needs through a portfolio of bonds – just as any institutional account would. Equity – long term out performance through active management has proven to be hard to achieve. Our equity philosophy is two-fold. First, achieve most equity exposure through low cost indexes. We will achieve this through various ETFs. Second, based on our experience, general market or sector disruptions present opportunities over time to enter into positions that offer attractive risk/reward profiles. We selectively add debt and equity over the course of time as market opportunities occur. However, to be fully invested every day is inconsistent with our philosophy of keeping dry powder for the inevitable rainy day. Financial Planning Financial planning services can help clients identify the strengths and weaknesses of their long- term financial health. We have years of experience in this area and sophisticated software tools available to assist our clients in developing comprehensive financial plans that guide them toward the accomplishment of their goals. Retirement Planning Retirement planning and financial planning are not one and the same. We have worked with many clients through their earning years and into the distribution phase of their lives. We assist clients with the management of their portfolios to ensure longevity through retirement while at the same time providing needed income. We have experience working with clients on a range of retirement planning issues, including rollover of 401(k) plans, level of income needed for retirement, and tax-efficient distribution of after-tax and before-tax assets. Estate Planning & Tax Planning Professional estate and tax planning is integral to a client’s plan and subject to their situations. Although well versed in tax and estate planning issues – we are not experts. However, we assist clients by working with their estate or tax professionals and are willing to introduce you to estate and tax professionals with whom we have experience and who have proven over the years to provide expert advice at reasonable costs. Financial, Retirement, Estate, and Tax Planning services usually require us to obtain data and develop a plan with that data and client input. We will offer services at the client's direction, al a carte, or comprehensive. The time to perform services differs with each client based on the complexity presented and the client’s organization of data. Comprehensive services are usually 8-12 hours, a la carte usually 1-4 hours per type. All clients requesting financial planning will be offered services if they are investment management clients. The decision to accept any recommendation or advice provided by us regarding implementation thereof are left to the client. Clients are free to implement recommended transactions through broker- dealers and other service providers other than those recommended by Ballast. Clients are responsible for ensuring that we have current and accurate information about the client. General Information As of December 31, 2022, Ballast has $273,916,175 of discretionary assets under management. Ballast does not participate in a wrap program.