About Our Firm
Chicago Investment Advisory Council, Inc. (hereinafter, “CIAC,” “we,” “our,” “firm,” and “us”), is an Illinois corporation
that became registered as an investment advisor with the SEC in 2021. From 1997 through 2021, our firm was
registered as an investment advisor with the State of Illinois Department of Securities. John E. Davis, Sr., is our founder,
managing principal, and Chief Compliance Officer. Our primary offices are located in St. Charles, Illinois.
CIAC provides investment advisory services on a discretionary and non-discretionary basis to a wide variety of advisory
clients (hereinafter, clients and prospective clients of our firm are referred to as “client,” “you,” and “your”). Investment
advisory services may include but are not limited to advising clients on matters not involving securities and
recommendations regarding various insurance products and referrals to various services. We attempt to tailor our
investment advice to your specific financial circumstances, investment objectives, and needs, as you have described
them to us. For this reason, it is important that you promptly advise us throughout our relationship regarding any
changes to your financial situation which might affect the investment advice we provide to you.
Our Advisory Services
Initial Consultation Services/Portfolio Review Services. We offer initial consultation services designed to assist you in
the management of your overall financial affairs. These services typically entail an assessment of your current assets
(e.g., brokerage and other investment accounts, checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, and
401(k) balances, valuation of real estate assets/ mortgage information, and current life insurance values and benefits),
income, liabilities and expenses, and a discussion of your investment goals, objectives, risk tolerance, and cash flow
needs. CIAC will review types of assets and risks associated with each type and provide an evaluation of your current
investment positions. We will also discuss wills and trusts and answer any questions you may have about investments
or the nature of our other investment advisory services. Following the initial consultation, we will present you with our
portfolio recommendations and an action plan containing certain discrete financial steps you can take that we believe
will help you to achieve your short and long-term financial goals. You maintain the sole discretion to accept or reject
any of our recommendations under this service and are solely responsible for the implementation and monitoring of all
investments. These services may also include the delivery of a transaction summary detailing the starting and current
values of certain client assets, as well as the production of a personal statement of net worth. Unless otherwise agreed,
no further review or update of our initial recommendations is provided following their initial delivery to you. It is your
responsibility to provide us with current and complete statements and account information at the initial consultation and
for any portfolio reviews requested in the future.
Financial Planning Services. When you engage us for these services, we will consult with you as necessary (given the
scope of the engagement) to discuss your unique financial circumstances, investment objectives and needs, tolerance
for risk, time horizon for investments, and any particular issues of financial concern. We will review pertinent financial
documents and information provided by you, analyze your unique financial circumstances, and present you with our
financial planning recommendations. Typically, our recommendations will include a summary of your financial
circumstances and a course of actions and/or investment recommendations designed to assist you in achieving your
stated financial goals. Our recommendations may be delivered to you in the form of a formal written financial plan, a
shorter written report or checklist, and/or via informal discussions with you (in person, telephonically, or via e-mail).
You maintain the sole discretion to accept or reject any of our recommendations under this service. Unless we
otherwise agree in our written financial planning agreement, you are responsible for implementation and monitoring of
all investments and we will only review and update your financial plan upon your request. At your request, our firm and
our associated persons may assist you with the implementation of certain recommended investments, including the
purchase of certain securities and insurance products. You are never obligated to engage CIAC or any of our
associated persons for implementation services. Our financial planning services can be engaged in conjunction with
any of our other investment advisory services.
As part of these services, we may recommend certain insurance and annuity products. CIAC may also provide advice
relative to cash flow/debt management, retirement income needs, education funding, and estate planning. We do not
provide legal or tax advice of any kind and advise clients to seek the guidance of independent legal and tax
professionals. Where requested, we may recommend the services of third-party professionals including, but not limited
to, estate planning/business attorneys, accountants, health insurance brokers, and mortgage brokers as part of our
services. You are never obligated to engage the services of any third-party professional(s) we recommend to you. The
third-party professionals you choose to engage will contract with you separately and separately bill you for their
services. CIAC does not receive a referral fee or any other compensation for referring its clients to any third-party
professionals.
Active Asset Management Program (“AAMP”). The AAMP program
includes investment strategy selection, portfolio
design, and ongoing investment implementation and monitoring services. Client portfolios are typically constructed
using some or all of the following instruments: stocks, bonds, options, money market funds, mutual funds, exchange
traded funds (“ETFs”), and other securities.
We will consult with you at the inception of our relationship and as necessary thereafter to understand your investment
needs and objectives, risk tolerance, cash flow needs, and time horizon for investments. We will rely on this information
in assisting you to select an appropriate investment strategy and in designing a portfolio of investments to be
implemented within your account. Following the initial implementation of the desired portfolio, we will monitor your
account on an ongoing basis and recommend changes to your investments as we believe to be in your best interests
in our capacity as your fiduciary advisor.
We typically pursue the investment strategy chosen by the client through the use of certain model portfolios designed
by our firm (collectively “Model Portfolios”). The Model Portfolios and investment strategies we utilize have generally
been designed to meet a particular investment objective for investors with varying degrees of risk tolerance, ranging
from a more aggressively allocated portfolio to a more conservative approach. Factors that we take into consideration
when determining whether any particular Model Portfolio or investment strategy is appropriate for your account include,
without limitation, the Model Portfolio or investment strategy’s investment goal, underlying holdings, and your financial
needs, investment goals, risk tolerance, and investment objectives.
As a condition of participation in the AAMP program, you will typically be required to engage the custodial and
brokerage services of Charles Schwab (“Schwab”). You will enter into a written investment advisory agreement with
our firm setting forth the terms and conditions under which CIAC will manage the accounts you designate and a separate
custodial agreement with Schwab. The agreement between CIAC and the client will continue until terminated by either
party. When you engage us for these services, you will typically be required to grant us ongoing and continuous
discretionary authority to execute our investment recommendations directly within your account held at the custodian
without obtaining your specific consent prior to each transaction. On a limited basis, we may offer these services on a
non-discretionary basis (i.e., client-direct), where we are required to obtain your approval prior to implementing each
transaction within your account held at the custodian.
You always have the ability to impose reasonable restrictions on our management of their account(s), including the
ability to instruct us not to purchase certain specific securities, industry sectors, and/or asset classes. We will attempt
to honor your investment restrictions in all circumstances and will notify you if we are ever unable to do so for any
reason.
Educational Workshops. CIAC may provide educational workshops regarding investments and personal finance. CIAC
educational workshops are typically based upon “Financial Strategies for Successful Retirement,” but may cover other
topics, including issues related to financial planning, retirement strategies, risk management, investments, and estate
planning. Our workshops are educational in nature and do not include personalized investment advice or the promotion
of any specific financial products.
Retirement Plan Consulting Services. We offer retirement plan consulting services to employee benefit 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 an existing plan review, formulation of the investment policy statement, asset
allocation advice, vendor selection advice, non-discretionary portfolio management services, investment performance
monitoring/benchmarking services, on-going consulting, communication and participant education services/seminars.
We may also assist the plan sponsor in providing participant enrollment meetings.
Certain plans/clients that we may provide services to are regulated under the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). In these circumstances, we will provide retirement plan consulting services to the plan sponsor
and/or fiduciaries as described above for the fees set forth in Item 5 of this brochure. The consulting services we
provide are advisory in nature. In providing services to any plan and its underlying participants, our status is that of an
investment advisor registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”). We are not subject to any
disqualifications under Section 411 of ERISA. In performing fiduciary services, we are acting as a fiduciary of the plan
as defined in Section 3(21) under ERISA, only. In all cases, our status as a fiduciary under ERISA is clearly disclosed
in a written advisory agreement. If there is any discrepancy between the disclosures in this paragraph and the
agreement, the agreement shall govern.
We do not offer or participate in any wrap fee programs.
The types of investments we typically recommended are reflected above in the description of our AAMP Program. We
may also advise clients on insurance products, any assets held in their portfolio at the time of our engagement, and
other investments not listed above at their specific request. Please see Item 8 of this brochure for information regarding
the investment strategies we recommend and their associated risks.
As of December 31, 2023, CIAC managed client assets of $160,000,000 on a discretionary basis and $0 on a non-
discretionary basis.