Description of Firm
Christensen Group Financial, LLC is a registered investment adviser based in Eden Prairie, MN. We
are organized as a limited liability company ("LLC") under the laws of the State of Minnesota. We are
owned by Christensen Group Inc. and indirectly owned by Insurance Resources International Inc.
The following paragraphs describe our services and fees. 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 Christensen Group Financial,
LLC and the words "you," "your," and "client" refer to you as either a client or prospective client of our
firm.
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 and analysis, plan-level advice regarding
fund selection and investment options, education services to plan participants, investment performance
monitoring, and/or ongoing consulting. These pension consulting services will generally be non-
discretionary and advisory in nature. The ultimate decision to act on behalf of the plan shall remain
with the plan sponsor or other named fiduciary.
We may also assist with participant enrollment meetings and provide investment-related educational
seminars to plan participants on such topics as:
• Diversification;
• Asset allocation;
• Risk tolerance; and
• Time horizon
Our educational seminars may include other investment-related topics specific to the particular plan.
We may also provide additional types of pension consulting services to plans on an individually
negotiated basis. All services, whether discussed above or customized for the plan based upon
requirements from the plan fiduciaries (which may include additional plan-level or participant-level
services) shall be detailed in a written agreement and be consistent with the parameters set forth in the
plan documents.
Either party to the pension consulting agreement may terminate the agreement upon written notice to
the other party in accordance with the terms of the agreement for services. The pension consulting
fees will be prorated for the quarter in which the termination notice is given and any unearned fees will
be refunded to the client.
Individual Portfolio Management Services
We offer discretionary portfolio management services to individuals and high net worth individuals. Our
investment advice is tailored to meet our clients' needs and investment objectives.
You may limit our discretionary authority (for example, limiting the types of securities that can be
purchased or sold for your account) by providing our firm with your restrictions and guidelines in
writing.
As part of our individual portfolio management services, in addition to other types of investments (see
disclosures below in this section), we may invest your assets according to one or more
model portfolios developed by an unaffiliated investment manager. These models are designed for
investors with varying degrees of risk tolerance ranging from a more aggressive investment strategy to
a more conservative investment approach. Clients whose assets are invested in model portfolios may
not set restrictions on the specific holdings or allocations within the model, nor the types of securities
that can be purchased in the model. Nonetheless, clients may impose restrictions on investing in
certain securities or types of securities in their account. In such cases, this may prevent a client from
investing in certain models that are managed by our firm.
Financial Planning Services
CG Financial may also separately provide clients with a broad range of comprehensive financial
planning and consulting services outside of the wealth management services. The financial planning
and consulting services may include non-investment related matters.
Financial planning will 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 financial planning services, we will work with you to gather information about your financial
circumstances and objectives. CG Financial is not required to verify any information received from the
client or from the client’s other professionals (e.g., attorney, accountant, etc.) and is expressly
authorized to rely on such information. Once we review and analyze the information you provide to our
firm, we will deliver a basic limited financial plan. Financial plans are based on your financial situation
at the time we present the plan to you, and on the financial information you provide to our firm. You
must promptly notify our firm if your financial situation, goals, objectives, or needs change.
CG Financial may recommend the services of itself, and/or other professionals to implement its
recommendations. Clients are advised that a conflict of interest exists if CG Financial recommends its
own services. The client is under no obligation to act upon any of the recommendations made by CG
Financial under a financial planning or consulting engagement or to engage the services of any such
recommended professional, including CG Financial itself. The client retains is free to accept or reject
any of CG Financial’s recommendations.
Types of Investments
We primarily offer advice on mutual funds, exchange traded funds ("ETFs") and collective investment
trusts ("CITs"). We may offer advice on other types of investments. You may request that we refrain
from recommending particular securities or certain types of securities.
IRA Rollover Recommendations
Effective December 20, 2021 (or such later
date as the US Department of Labor (“DOL”) Field
Assistance Bulletin 2018-02 ceases to be in effect), for purposes of complying with the DOL’s
Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (“PTE 2020-02”) where applicable, we are providing the
following acknowledgment to you. When we provide investment advice to you regarding your
retirement plan account or individual retirement account, we are fiduciaries 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. The way we make money creates some conflicts with
your interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best interest and not
put our interest ahead of yours. Under this special rule’s provisions, we must:
• Meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (give prudent
advice);
• Never put our financial interests ahead of yours when making recommendations (give loyal
advice);
• Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
• Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in your best
interest;
• Charge no more than is reasonable for our services; and
• Give you basic information about conflicts of interest.
As part of our investment advisory services to you, we may recommend that you withdraw the assets
from your employer's retirement plan and roll the assets over to an individual retirement account
("IRA") that we will manage on your behalf. If you elect to roll the assets to an IRA that is subject to our
management, we will charge you an asset-based fee as set forth in the agreement you executed with
our firm. This practice presents a conflict of interest because persons providing investment advice on
our behalf have an incentive to recommend a rollover to you for the purpose of generating fee-based
compensation rather than solely based on your needs. You are under no obligation, contractually or
otherwise, to complete the rollover. Moreover, if you do complete the rollover, you are under no
obligation to have the assets in an IRA managed by our firm.
Many employers permit former employees to keep their retirement assets in their company plan. Also,
current employees can sometimes move assets out of their company plan before they retire or change
jobs. In determining whether to complete the rollover to an IRA, and to the extent the following options
are available, you should consider the costs and benefits of:
• Leaving the funds in your employer's (former employer's) plan.
• Moving the funds to a new employer’s retirement plan.
• Cashing out and taking a taxable distribution from the plan.
• Rolling the funds into an IRA rollover account.
Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages and before making a change we encourage
you to speak with your CPA and/or tax attorney.
If you are considering rolling over your retirement funds to an IRA for us to manage here are a few
points to consider before you do so:
• Determine whether the investment options in your employer's retirement plan address your
needs or whether you might want to consider other types of investments.
o Employer retirement plans generally have a more limited investment menu than IRAs.
o Employer retirement plans may have unique investment options not available to the
public such as employer securities, or previously closed funds.
• Your current plan may have lower fees than our fees.
o If you are interested in investing only in mutual funds, you should understand the cost
structure of the share classes available in your employer's retirement plan and how the
costs of those share classes compare with those available in an IRA.
o You should understand the various products and services you might take advantage of
at an IRA provider and the potential costs of those products and services.
• Our strategy may have higher risk than the option(s) provided to you in your plan.
• Your current plan may also offer financial advice.
• If you keep your assets titled in a 401k or retirement account, you could potentially delay your
required minimum distribution beyond age 72.
• Your 401k may offer more liability protection than a rollover IRA; each state may vary.
o Generally, federal law protects assets in qualified plans from creditors. Since 2005, IRA
assets have been generally protected from creditors in bankruptcies. However, there
can be some exceptions to the general rules so you should consult with an attorney if
you are concerned about protecting your retirement plan assets from creditors.
• You may be able to take out a loan on your 401k, but not from an IRA.
• IRA assets can be accessed any time; however, distributions are subject to ordinary income tax
and may also be subject to a 10% early distribution penalty unless they qualify for an exception
such as disability, higher education expenses or the purchase of a home.
• If you own company stock in your plan, you may be able to liquidate those shares at a lower
capital gains tax rate.
• Your plan may allow you to hire us as the manager and keep the assets titled in the plan name.
It is important that you understand the differences between these types of accounts and to decide
whether a rollover is best for you. Prior to proceeding, if you have questions contact your investment
adviser representative, or call our main number as listed on the cover page of this brochure.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, Christensen Group has approximately $10.08 million in discretionary
regulatory assets under management. Our pension consulting clients had investment portfolios with
approximately $2.12 billion in assets under advisement, all of which are held in non-discretionary
accounts.