A. Firm Information
The Clifford Group LLC (“The Clifford Group” or the “Advisor”) is a registered investment advisor with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Advisor is organized as a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”)
under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Clifford Group was organized in August 2020 and
became a registered investment advisor in March 2022. The Clifford Group is owned and operated by Gregory L.
Clifford (Founder and Chief Executive Officer).
This Disclosure Brochure provides information regarding the qualifications, business practices, and the advisory
services provided by The Clifford Group. For information regarding this Disclosure Brochure, please contact Sarah
E. Ludden (Director of Operations and Chief Compliance Officer) at (617) 600-2083.
B. Advisory Services Offered
The Clifford Group offers wealth management services to individuals, high net worth individuals, trusts, estates, and
businesses (each referred to as a “Client”).
The Advisor serves as a fiduciary to Clients, as defined under the applicable laws and regulations. As a fiduciary,
the Advisor upholds a duty of loyalty, fairness and good faith towards each Client and seeks to mitigate potential
conflicts of interest. The Clifford Group's fiduciary commitment is further described in the Advisor’s Code of Ethics.
For more information regarding the Code of Ethics, please see Item 11 – Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in
Client Transactions and Personal Trading.
Wealth Management Services
The Clifford Group provides customized wealth management solutions for its Clients. This is achieved through
continuous personal Client contact and interaction while providing discretionary investment management and
related advisory services. The Clifford Group works closely with each Client to identify their investment goals and
objectives as well as risk tolerance and financial situation in order to create a portfolio strategy. The Clifford Group
typically constructs Client portfolios utilizing exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), mutual funds, individual stocks and/or
individual bonds to achieve the Client’s investment goals. The Advisor may also utilize other types of investments,
as appropriate, to meet the needs of the Client. The Advisor may retain certain legacy investments based on
portfolio fit and/or tax considerations.
The Clifford Group’s investment strategies are primarily long-term focused, but the Advisor may buy, sell or re-
allocate positions that have been held for less than one year to meet the objectives of the Client or due to market
conditions. The Clifford Group will construct, implement and monitor the portfolio to ensure it meets the goals,
objectives, circumstances, and risk tolerance agreed to by the Client. Each Client will have the opportunity to place
reasonable restrictions on the types of investments to be held in their respective portfolio, subject to acceptance by
the Advisor.
The Clifford Group evaluates and selects investments for inclusion in Client portfolios only after applying its internal
due diligence process. The Clifford Group may recommend, on occasion, redistributing investment allocations to
diversify the portfolio. The Clifford Group may recommend specific positions to increase sector or asset class
weightings. The Advisor may recommend employing cash positions as a possible hedge against market movement.
The Clifford Group may recommend selling positions for reasons that include, but are not limited to, harvesting
capital gains or losses, business or sector risk exposure to a specific security or class of securities, overvaluation or
overweighting of the position[s] in the portfolio, change in risk tolerance of the Client, generating cash to meet
Client needs, or any risk deemed unacceptable for the Client’s risk tolerance.
At no time will The Clifford Group accept or maintain custody of a Client’s funds or securities, except for the limited
authority as outlined in Item 15 – Custody. All Client assets will be managed within the designated account[s] at the
Custodian, pursuant to the terms of the advisory agreement. Please see Item 12 – Brokerage Practices.
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Retirement Accounts – When the Advisor provides investment advice to Clients regarding ERISA retirement
accounts or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), the Advisor is a fiduciary within the meaning of Title I of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), as applicable,
which are laws governing retirement accounts. When deemed to be in the Client’s best interest, the Advisor will
provide investment advice to a Client regarding a distribution from an ERISA retirement account or to roll over the
assets to an IRA, or recommend a similar transaction
including rollovers from one ERISA sponsored Plan to
another, one IRA to another IRA, or from one type of account to another account (e.g. commission-based account
to fee-based account). Such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if the Advisor will earn a new (or
increase its current) advisory fee as a result of the transaction. No client is under any obligation to roll over a
retirement account to an account managed by the Advisor.
Financial Planning Services – The Clifford Group will typically provide a variety of financial planning and consulting
services to Clients as part of a wealth management. Services are offered in several areas of a Client’s financial
situation, depending on their goals and objectives. Generally, such financial planning services involve preparing a
formal financial plan or rendering a specific financial consultation based on the Client’s financial goals and
objectives. This planning or consulting may encompass one or more areas of need, including but not limited to,
investment planning, retirement planning, personal savings, education savings, insurance needs, and other areas
of a Client’s financial situation.
A financial plan developed for, or financial consultation rendered to the Client will usually include general
recommendations for a course of activity or specific actions to be taken by the Client. For example,
recommendations may be made that the Client start or revise their investment programs, commence or alter
retirement savings, establish education savings and/or charitable giving programs.
The Clifford Group may also refer Clients to an accountant, attorney or other specialists, as appropriate for their
unique situation. For certain financial planning engagements, the Advisor will provide a written summary of the
Client’s financial situation, observations, and recommendations. For consulting or ad-hoc engagements, the
Advisor may not provide a written summary. Plans or consultations are typically completed within six (6) months of
contract date, assuming all information and documents requested are provided promptly.
Financial planning and consulting recommendations pose a conflict between the interests of the Advisor and the
interests of the Client. For example, the Advisor has an incentive to recommend that Clients engage the Advisor for
investment management services or to increase the level of investment assets with the Advisor, as it would
increase the amount of advisory fees paid to the Advisor. Clients are not obligated to implement any
recommendations made by the Advisor or maintain an ongoing relationship with the Advisor. If the Client elects to
act on any of the recommendations made by the Advisor, the Client is under no obligation to implement the
transaction through the Advisor.
C. Client Account Management
Prior to engaging The Clifford Group to provide wealth management services, each Client is required to enter into a
written agreement with the Advisor that define the terms, conditions, authority and responsibilities of the Advisor
and the Client. These services may include:
• Establishing an Investment Strategy – The Clifford Group, in connection with the Client, will develop a
strategy that seeks to achieve the Client’s goals and objectives.
• Asset Allocation – The Clifford Group will develop a strategic asset allocation that is targeted to meet the
investment objectives, time horizon, financial situation and tolerance for risk for each Client.
• Portfolio Construction – The Clifford Group will develop a portfolio for the Client that is intended to meet the
stated goals and objectives of the Client.
• Investment Management and Supervision – The Clifford Group will provide investment management and
ongoing oversight of the Client’s investment portfolio.
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D. Wrap Fee Programs
The Clifford Group includes securities transaction fees together with its wealth management fees. Including these
fees into a single asset-based fee is considered a “Wrap Fee Program”. The Advisor customizes its investment
management services for its Clients. The Advisor sponsors the The Clifford Group Wrap Fee Program solely as a
supplemental disclosure regarding the combination of fees. Depending on the level of trading required for the
Client’s account[s] in a particular year, the Client may pay more or less in total fees than if the Client paid its own
transaction fees. Please see Appendix 1 – Wrap Fee Program Brochure, which is included as a supplement to this
Disclosure Brochure.
E. Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, the Advisor manages $166,322,786 in Client assets, all of which are managed on a
discretionary basis. Clients may request more current information at any time by contacting the Advisor.