Description of Firm
Approach Retirement Advisors, LLC is a registered investment adviser primarily based in Vestavia, AL
and Pensacola, FL. We are organized as a limited liability company under the laws of the State of
Alabama. Eric McClain and Phillip Walker are the owners of our firm, and we have been providing
investment advisory services since 2013.
The following paragraphs describe our services and fees. Please refer to the description of each
investment advisory service listed below for information on how we tailor our advisory services to your
individual needs. As used in this Brochure, the words "we", "our" and "us" refer to Approach
Retirement Advisors, LLC, and the words "you", "your" and "client" refer to you as either a client or
prospective client of our firm.
We are strictly a fee-only registered investment adviser. We do not sell commission-based products
and we do not accept commissions in any form.
Wealth Management Services
Our firm primarily offers wealth management services where we manage our clients’ investments
within the larger context of the client’s overall wealth management and financial planning process.
Wealth management services consist of ongoing financial advice and discretionary (or non-
discretionary) investment management services. Discretionary management enables our firm
to purchase and/or sell securities for your account without your approval prior to each transaction. In
our sole discretion, we may accept instructions from you that limit our discretionary authority (for
example, limiting the types of securities that can be purchased or sold for your account). Such
requests must be presented to our firm in writing. If you enter into non-discretionary arrangements with
our firm, we will obtain your approval prior to the execution of any transactions for your
account(s). Please see Item 16 (Investment Discretion) of this Disclosure Brochure for more
information on discretionary authority.
If you retain our firm for wealth management services, we will meet with you to determine your
investment objectives, risk tolerance, and other relevant information at the beginning of our advisory
relationship. We will use the information we gather from you to develop a strategy that enables our firm
to give you continuous and focused investment advice and/or to make investments on your behalf. As
part of our wealth management services, we will customize an investment portfolio for you in
accordance with your risk tolerance and investing objectives and/or we may invest your assets
according to one or more model portfolios developed by our firm. Once we construct an investment
portfolio for you, or select a model portfolio, we will monitor your portfolio's performance on an ongoing
basis, and will periodically rebalance the portfolio as required by, among other things, changes in
market conditions and in your financial circumstances.
As part of this service, we will develop a wealth management process for each client designed to help
guide us in reaching your financial goals and objectives. The wealth management process varies for
each client as it
is based on the client's individual financial circumstances. In the event we accept a
client account that does not meet our stated account minimum (see Item 7 of this Brochure), we may
alter the wealth management process structure to better accommodate the client's needs and
requested services.
In limited circumstances and in our sole discretion, we may negotiate stand-alone management
services.
In addition, we also provide discretionary management services to certain retirement accounts, such
as a 401(k) account. These services are provided on an unaffiliated third-party web-based
platform where clients will go through a one-time setup process enabling our firm to make any
necessary trades or rebalancing to their portfolios. Under no circumstances will we possess privileges
that would impute custody to our firm under applicable rules and regulations, including, but not limited
to: maintaining your account log-in credentials on file; having the ability to change your address on
record or ability to authorize distributions from your accounts; or authorization to open any new
accounts on your behalf through the web-based platform. These arrangements require clients to have
a taxable account with a qualified custodian, such as Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”), whereby
our advisory fees will be deducted from.
Financial Planning and Consulting Services
In limited circumstances, and in our sole discretion, we may provide financial planning and consulting
services as a stand-alone service. We offer modular and consultative financial planning services
that typically involve providing a variety of advisory services to clients regarding the management of
their financial resources based upon an analysis of their individual needs. If you retain our firm for
these services, we will meet with you to gather information about your financial circumstances and
objectives and as required, we will conduct follow-up interviews for the purpose of reviewing and/or
collecting additional financial data. Once such information has been reviewed and analyzed, we will
provide you with our recommendations designed to help you achieve your stated financial goals and
objectives. Our recommendations are based on the financial information you provide to our firm. You
have the right to accept or reject our recommendations, and you may choose any firm to assist you
with implementing our recommendations.
Types of Investments
We primarily offer advice on mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and equity securities
(stocks). Additionally, we may advise you on any type of investment that we deem appropriate based
on your stated goals and objectives. We may also provide advice on any type of investment held in
your portfolio at the inception of our advisory relationship. You may request that we refrain from
investing in particular securities or certain types of securities. You must provide these restrictions to
our firm in writing.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023 we provide continuous management services for
approximately $173,598,369 in client assets on a discretionary basis.