A. Great Waters Financial (the “Registrant”) is a limited liability company formed in
February 2020 in the state of Minnesota. The Registrant became an SEC registered
Investment Adviser Firm in October 2021. The Registrant is owned by Michael Palumbo,
Justin Halverson and Elijah Kovar.
B.
INVESTMENT ADVISORY SERVICES
The Registrant provides discretionary and/or non-discretionary investment advisory
services on a fee basis. The Registrant's annual investment advisory services shall
include, to the extent specifically requested by the client, financial planning and
consulting services. In the event that the client requires extraordinary planning and/or
consultation services (to be determined in the sole discretion of the Registrant), the
Registrant may determine to charge for such additional services, the dollar amount of
which shall be set forth in a separate written notice to the client.
FINANCIAL PLANNING AND CONSULTING SERVICES
The Registrant may provide financial planning and/or consulting services (including
investment and non-investment related matters, including estate planning, insurance
planning, etc.) on a stand-alone basis. Registrant’s planning and consulting fees are
negotiable, but generally range from $2,000 to $4,500 on a fixed fee basis, and from $150
to $350 on an hourly rate basis, depending upon the level and scope of the service(s)
required and the professional(s) rendering the service(s).
Prior to engaging the Registrant to provide planning or consulting services, clients are
generally required to enter into a Financial Planning and Consulting Agreement with
Registrant setting forth the terms and conditions of the engagement (including
termination), describing the scope of the services to be provided, and the portion of the
fee that is due from the client prior to Registrant commencing services.
If requested by the client, Registrant may recommend the services of other professionals
for implementation purposes, including certain of the Registrant’s representatives in their
individual capacities licensed insurance agents. (See disclosure at Item 10.C). The client
is under no obligation to engage the services of any such recommended professional. The
client retains absolute discretion over all such implementation decisions and is free to
accept or reject any recommendation from the Registrant.
If the client engages any recommended unaffiliated professional, and a dispute arises
thereafter relative to such engagement, the client agrees to seek recourse exclusively from
and against the engaged professional. At all times, the engaged licensed professional (i.e.,
attorney, accountant, insurance agent, etc.), and not the Registrant, shall be responsible
for the quality and competency of the services provided.
It remains the client’s responsibility to promptly notify the Registrant if there is ever any
change in their financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing,
evaluating or revising Registrant’s previous recommendations and/or services.
MISCELLANEOUS
Limitations of Financial Planning and Non-Investment Consulting/Implementation
Services. As indicated above, to the extent requested by a client, Registrant may provide
financial planning and related consulting services. Neither the Registrant nor its
investment adviser representatives assist clients with the implementation of any financial
plan, unless they have agreed to do so in writing. The Registrant does not monitor a
client’s financial plan, and it is the client’s responsibility to revisit the financial plan with
the Registrant, if desired.
The Registrant may provide financial planning and related consulting services regarding
non-investment related matters, such as estate planning, tax planning, insurance, etc.
Registrant does not serve as an attorney or accountant, and no portion of its services
should be construed as legal or accounting services. Accordingly, Registrant does not
prepare estate planning documents.
To the extent requested by a client, Registrant may recommend the services of other
professionals for certain non-investment implementation purpose (i.e., attorneys,
accountants, insurance agents, etc.), including representatives of Registrant in their
separate individual capacities as licensed insurance agents. The client is under no
obligation to engage the services of any such recommended professional. The client
retains absolute discretion over all such implementation decisions and is free to accept or
reject any recommendation from Registrant and/or its representatives.
If the client engages any recommended unaffiliated professional, and a dispute arises
thereafter relative to such engagement, the client agrees to seek recourse exclusively from
and against the engaged professional. At all times, the engaged licensed professional[s]
(i.e., attorney, accountant, insurance agent, etc.), and not the Registrant, shall be
responsible for the quality and competency of the services provided.
Tax Preparation Services. The Registrant may provide tax preparation services to
investment advisory clients. Clients will be required to enter into a separate agreement
detailing the tax preparation services to be provided as well as any additional fee that
may be due to the Registrant for providing such services. Fees for the Registrant’s tax
preparation services are negotiable. No client is under any obligation to engage the
Registrant to provide tax preparation services.
Retirement Plan Rollovers – No Obligation / Conflict of Interest: A client or
prospective client leaving an employer typically has four options regarding an existing
retirement plan (and may engage in a combination of these options): (i) leave the money
in the former employer’s plan, if permitted, (ii) roll over the assets to the new employer’s
plan, if one is available and rollovers are permitted, (iii) roll over to an Individual
Retirement Account (“IRA”), or (iv) cash out the account value (which could, depending
upon the client’s age, result in adverse tax consequences). If Registrant recommends that
a client roll over their retirement plan assets into an account to be managed by Registrant,
such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if Registrant will earn new (or
increase its current) compensation as a result of the rollover. If Registrant provides a
recommendation as to whether a client should engage in a rollover or not (whether it is
from an employer’s plan or an existing IRA), Registrant is acting as a fiduciary within the
meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and/or the Internal
Revenue Code, as applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts. No client is
under any obligation to roll over retirement plan assets to an account managed by
Registrant, whether it is from an employer’s plan or an existing IRA.
Non-Discretionary Service Limitations. Clients that determine to engage the Registrant
on a non-discretionary investment advisory basis must be willing to accept that the
Registrant cannot affect any account transactions without obtaining prior consent to any
such transaction(s) from the client. Therefore, in the event of a market correction during
which the client is unavailable, the Registrant will be unable to affect any account
transactions (as it would for its discretionary clients) without first obtaining the client’s
consent.
Use of Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds. While the Registrant may allocate
investment assets to mutual funds and exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) that are not
available directly to the public, the Registrant may also allocate investment assets to
publicly available mutual funds and ETFs that the client could purchase without engaging
Registrant as an investment adviser. However, if a client or prospective client determines
to purchase publicly available mutual funds or ETFs without engaging Registrant as an
investment adviser, the client or prospective client would not receive the benefit of
Registrant’s initial and ongoing investment advisory services with respect to management
of the asset.
Other mutual funds, such as those issued by Dimensional Fund Advisors (“DFA”), are
generally only available through selected registered investment advisers. Registrant may
allocate client investment assets to DFA mutual funds. Therefore, upon the termination of
Registrant’s services to a client, restrictions regarding transferability and/or additional
purchases of, or reallocation among DFA funds will apply.
Socially Responsible (ESG) Investing Limitations. Socially Responsible Investing
involves the incorporation of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”)
considerations into the investment
due diligence process. ESG investing incorporates a
set of criteria/factors used in evaluating potential investments: Environmental (i.e.,
considers how a company safeguards the environment); Social (i.e., the manner in which
a company manages relationships with its employees, customers, and the communities
in which it operates); and Governance (i.e., company management considerations). The
number of companies that meet an acceptable ESG mandate can be limited when
compared to those that do not, and could underperform broad market indices. Investors
must accept these limitations, including potential for underperformance.
Correspondingly, the number of ESG mutual funds and exchange-traded funds are
limited when compared to those that do not maintain such a mandate. As with any type of
investment (including any investment and/or investment strategies recommended and/or
undertaken by Registrant), there can be no assurance that investment in ESG securities or
funds will be profitable, or prove successful. Registrant does not maintain or advocate
an ESG investment strategy, but will seek to employ ESG if directed by a client to do so.
If implemented, Registrant shall rely upon the assessments undertaken by the unaffiliated
mutual fund, exchange traded fund or separate account portfolio manager to determine
that the fund’s or portfolio’s underlying company securities meet a socially responsible
mandate.
Cash Positions. The Registrant treats cash as an asset class. As such, all cash positions
(money markets, etc.) shall be included as part of assets under management for purposes
of calculating the Registrant’s advisory fee. At any specific point in time, depending
upon perceived or anticipated market conditions/events (there being no guarantee that
such anticipated market conditions/events will occur), the Registrant may maintain cash
positions for defensive purposes. In addition, while assets are maintained in cash, such
amounts could miss market advances. Depending upon current yields, at any point in
time, Registrant’s advisory fee could exceed the interest paid by the client’s money
market fund.
Cash Sweep Accounts. Certain account custodians can require that cash proceeds from
account transactions or new deposits, be swept to and/or initially maintained in a
specific custodian designated sweep account. The yield on the sweep account will
generally be lower than those available for other money market accounts. When this
occurs, to help mitigate the corresponding yield dispersion Registrant shall (usually
within 30 days thereafter) generally (with exceptions) purchase a higher yielding money
market fund (or other type security) available on the custodian’s platform, unless
Registrant reasonably anticipates that it will utilize the cash proceeds during the
subsequent 30-day period to purchase additional investments for the client’s account.
Exceptions and/or modifications can and will occur with respect to all or a portion of the
cash balances for various reasons, including, but not limited to the amount of dispersion
between the sweep account and a money market fund, the size of the cash balance, an
indication from the client of an imminent need for such cash, or the client has a
demonstrated history of writing checks from the account.
The above does not apply to the cash component maintained within a Registrant actively
managed investment strategy (the cash balances for which shall generally remain in the
custodian designated cash sweep account), an indication from the client of a need for
access to such cash, assets allocated to an unaffiliated investment manager and cash
balances maintained for fee billing purposes.
The client shall remain exclusively responsible for yield dispersion/cash balance
decisions and corresponding transactions for cash balances maintained in any Registrant
unmanaged accounts.
Portfolio Activity. Registrant has a fiduciary duty to provide services consistent with the
client’s best interest. As part of its investment advisory services, Registrant will review
client portfolios on an ongoing basis to determine if any changes are necessary based
upon various factors, including but not limited to investment performance, fund manager
tenure, style drift, account additions/withdrawals, the client’s financial circumstances,
and changes in the client’s investment objectives. Based upon these and other factors,
there may be extended periods of time when Registrant determines that changes to a
client’s portfolio are neither necessary nor prudent. Clients nonetheless remain subject to
the fees described in Item 5 below during periods of account inactivity.
Reporting Services. Registrant can also provide account reporting services, which can
incorporate client investment assets that are not part of the assets that Registrant manages
(the “Excluded Assets”). Unless agreed to otherwise, the client and/or their other advisors
that maintain trading authority, and not Registrant, shall be exclusively responsible for
the investment performance of the Excluded Assets. Unless also agreed to otherwise,
Registrant does not provide investment management, monitoring or implementation
services for the Excluded Assets. If the Registrant is asked to make a recommendation as
to any Excluded Assets, the client is under absolutely no obligation to accept the
recommendation, and Registrant shall not be responsible for any implementation error
(timing, trading, etc.) relative to the Excluded Assets. The client can engage Registrant to
provide investment management services for the Excluded Assets pursuant to the terms
and conditions of the Investment Advisory Agreement between Registrant and the client.
Client Obligations. In performing its services, Registrant shall not be required to verify
any information received from the client or from the client’s other professionals and is
expressly authorized to rely thereon. Moreover, each client is advised that it remains
their responsibility to promptly notify the Registrant if there is ever any change in their
financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating or
revising Registrant’s previous recommendations and/or services.
Cybersecurity Risk. The information technology systems and networks that Registrant
and its third-party service providers use to provide services to Registrant’s clients employ
various controls, which are designed to prevent cybersecurity incidents stemming from
intentional or unintentional actions that could cause significant interruptions in
Registrant’s operations and result in the unauthorized acquisition or use of clients’
confidential or non-public personal information. Clients and Registrant are nonetheless
subject to the risk of cybersecurity incidents that could ultimately cause them to incur
losses, including for example: financial losses, cost and reputational damage to respond
to regulatory obligations, other costs associated with corrective measures, and loss from
damage or interruption to systems. Although Registrant has established processes to
reduce the risk of cybersecurity incidents, there is no guarantee that these efforts will
always be successful, especially considering that Registrant does not directly control the
cybersecurity measures and policies employed by third-party service providers. Clients
could incur similar adverse consequences resulting from cybersecurity incidents that
more directly affect issuers of securities in which those clients invest, broker-dealers,
qualified custodians, governmental and other regulatory authorities, exchange and other
financial market operators, or other financial institutions.
Disclosure Statement. A copy of the Registrant’s written Brochure and Client
Relationship Summary, as set forth on Part 2A of Form ADV and Form CRS
respectively, shall be provided to each client prior to, or contemporaneously with, the
execution of the Investment Advisory Agreement and/or Financial Planning and
Consulting Agreement.
C. The Registrant shall provide investment advisory services specific to the needs of each
client. Prior to providing investment advisory services, an investment adviser
representative will ascertain each client’s investment objective(s). Thereafter, the
Registrant shall allocate and/or recommend that the client allocate investment assets
consistent with the designated investment objective(s). The client may, at any time,
impose reasonable restrictions, in writing, on the Registrant’s services.
D. The Registrant does not participate in a wrap fee program.
E. As of January 5, 2024, the Registrant had $1,017,194,635 in assets under management on
a discretionary basis and $0 in assets under management on a non-discretionary basis.