Firm Description
Oak Harbor Wealth Partners, LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company, was formed in
October 2020 and began operations in June 2021. The Adviser also does business as Sporting
Wealth Partners. The Adviser provides financial and investment advisory services to
individuals, including high net worth individuals, corporations, foundations, trusts, pension
and profit-sharing plans, retirement plans and plan participants, and other entities.
Paul B. Elam, Chris B. Harrell, and William R. Hesmer, Jr. are the principal owners of the
Adviser.
Advisory Services Offered
The Adviser provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services,
institutional consulting services, and financial planning and consulting services to its clients.
The Adviser may provide financial planning and consulting services as a stand-alone
service, or in conjunction with investment advisory services.
The Adviser also provides advisory services to retirement plans and plan participants.
At the outset of each client relationship, the Adviser spends time with the client, asking
questions, discussing the client’s investment experience and financial circumstances,
tolerance for risk, and broadly identifying major goals of the client. Adviser offers portfolio
management services that include investment advice and/or making investments for the
client based on the individual needs, goals and objectives and risk tolerance of the client.
Investment Advisory Services
Portfolio Management
As described above, the Adviser provides advice to portfolio management clients regarding
investment of client funds based on the individual needs, goals and objectives and risk
tolerance of the client. Adviser will meet with clients periodically to update this information
when requested by the client or when determined to be necessary or advisable by the Adviser
based on changes to the client’s financial or other circumstances.
The Adviser will manage the client’s investment portfolio on a discretionary or a non-
discretionary basis pursuant to an investment advisory agreement with the client. As a
discretionary investment adviser, the Adviser will have the authority to supervise and direct
the portfolio without prior consultation with the client. Clients who choose a non-
discretionary arrangement must be contacted prior to the execution of any trade in the
account(s) under management. This may result in a delay in executing recommended trades,
which could adversely affect the performance of the portfolio. This delay also normally means
the affected account(s) will not be able to participate in block trades, a practice designed to
enhance the execution quality, timing and/or cost for all accounts included in the block. In a
non-discretionary arrangement, the client retains the responsibility for the final decision on
all actions taken with respect to the portfolio.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, clients may impose certain written restrictions on the Adviser
in the management of their investment portfolios, such as prohibiting the inclusion of certain
types of investments in an investment portfolio or prohibiting the sale of certain investments
held in the account at the commencement of the relationship. Each client should note,
however, that restrictions imposed by a client may adversely affect the composition and
performance of the client’s investment portfolio. Each client should also note that his or her
investment portfolio is treated individually by giving consideration to each purchase or sale
for the client’s account. For these and other reasons, performance of client investment
portfolios within the same investment objectives, goals and/or risk tolerance may differ and
clients should not expect that the composition or performance of their investment portfolios
would necessarily be consistent with similar clients of the Adviser.
Separate Account Managers
When appropriate the Adviser may utilize one or more Separate Account Managers (each, a
“Manager”). Having access to various Managers offers a wide variety of manager styles, and
offers clients the opportunity to utilize more than one Manager if necessary to meet the needs
and investment objectives of the client. The Adviser will usually select the Manager(s) it
deems most appropriate for the client. Factors that the Adviser considers in
recommending/selecting Managers generally includes the client’s stated investment
objective(s), management style, performance, risk level, reputation, financial strength,
reporting, pricing, and research.
The Manager(s) will generally be granted discretionary trading authority to provide
investment advisory services for the portfolio. Under most circumstances, the Adviser retains
the authority to terminate the Manager’s relationship or to add new Managers without
specific client consent. In limited circumstances, the client will select one or more Managers
recommended by the Adviser and enter into separate agreements with such Managers. In
any case, with respect to assets managed by a Manager, the Adviser’s role will be to monitor
the overall financial situation of the client, to monitor the investment approach and
performance of the Manager(s), and to assist the client in understanding the investments of
the portfolio.
Institutional Consulting
The Adviser offers consulting services to institutional clients on a discretionary or non-
discretionary basis and delivers fiduciary oversight and advice based on each client’s specific
objectives and constraints. At the outset of engagement, the Adviser will collect key data from
the client, including spending requirements, cash flow expectations, liquidity requirements,
comfort with volatility, legal constraints, or organizational cultural preferences, to assist
in
the development of an Investment Policy Statement. The Adviser may also work with its
clients’ committees and professional staffs to assist in the development of the Investment
Policy Statement and investment policies that outline procedures for managing, monitoring,
and overseeing the investments
In collaboration with fiduciaries in the design of the policies, a final document may include the
following:
• Statement of mission, philosophy, and objectives;
• Roles and responsibilities for all parties;
• Benchmarks for each asset category;
• Permitted asset classes and types of investments;
• Definition of investment pools;
• Strategic asset allocation targets and ranges; and
• Review criteria for investment managers, including performance review, fees and
reporting requirements.
For non-discretionary institutional clients, the Adviser monitors portfolios with the
Investment Policy Statement on a quarterly basis and provides clients with quarterly
investment reports. For discretionary institutional clients, the Adviser utilizes portfolio
management software to monitor the portfolio on a daily basis relative to the Adviser’s
internal ranges. If the portfolio moves outside of the ranges contained within the Investment
Policy Statement, the Adviser portfolio management team is notified, and the account is
typically rebalanced. In addition to internal controls, the Adviser’s quarterly reporting tests
compliance with the Investment Policy Statement
Financial Planning and Consulting
The Adviser also offers financial planning and consulting services, as described below. These
services may be provided as a stand-alone service or may be coupled with ongoing portfolio
management.
Financial planning may include advice that addresses one or more areas of a client’s financial
situation, such as estate planning, risk management, budgeting and cash flow controls,
retirement planning, education funding, and investment portfolio design and ongoing
management. Depending on a client’s particular situation, financial planning and consulting
may include some or all of the following:
• Gathering factual information concerning the client’s personal and financial situation;
• Assisting the client in establishing financial goals and objectives;
• Analyzing the client’s present situation and anticipated future activities in light of the
client’s financial goals and objectives;
• Identifying problems foreseen in the accomplishment of these financial goals and
objectives and offering alternative solutions to the problems;
• Making recommendations to help achieve retirement plan goals and objectives;
• Designing an investment portfolio to help meet the goals and objectives of the client;
• Estate planning strategies;
• Assessing risk and reviewing basic health, life and disability insurance needs; or
• Reviewing goals and objectives and measuring progress toward these goals.
Once financial planning or consulting advice is given, the client may choose to have the Adviser
implement the client’s financial plan and manage the investment portfolio on an ongoing
basis. However, the client is under no obligation to act upon any of the recommendations
made by the Adviser under a financial planning engagement and/or engage the services of any
recommended professional.
Retirement Plan Consulting Services
The Adviser may provide retirement plan consulting services to employee benefit plans and
their fiduciaries based upon an analysis of the needs of the plans. In general, these services
may include existing plan review, design of an investment policy statement, asset allocation
advice, investment selection services, communication and education services, investment
performance monitoring, and/or ongoing consulting.
Services to Retirement and Pension Plan Participants
Third Party Platform
We use a third party platform to facilitate management of held away assets such as defined
contribution plan participant accounts, with discretion. The platform allows us to avoid being
considered to have custody of Client funds since we do not have direct access to Client log-in
credentials to affect trades. We are not affiliated with the platform in any way and receive no
compensation from them for using their platform. A link will be provided to the Client
allowing them to connect an account(s) to the platform. Once Client account(s) is connected
to the platform, Adviser will review the current account allocations. When deemed necessary,
Adviser will rebalance the account considering client investment goals and risk tolerance, and
any change in allocations will consider current economic and market trends. Client
account(s) will be reviewed at least quarterly and allocation changes will be made as deemed
necessary.
Non-discretionary Fiduciary
The Adviser may also provide investment advice directly to plan participants, but only as a
non- discretionary fiduciary. The Adviser provides participants with diversification strategies
and recommendations, and the participants will have the sole responsibility to execute the
transactions. In some cases, the Adviser may, after approval of the client, instruct the record-
keeper or third party administrator to execute recommendations on the client’s behalf.
From time to time, the Adviser will also meet with plan participants to provide general
investment education, which may include basic information regarding insurance products,
mutual funds, annuities, inflation, risk and diversification.
Type and Value of Assets Currently Managed
As of December 31, 2023, the Adviser has $358,271,923 in assets under management on a
discretionary basis and $207,758,960 in assets under management on a non-discretionary
basis.