General Information
Wealth Science Advisors LLC was founded in 2022. WSA is principally owned by Dr. Jim Exley
(“Principal”).
WSA primarily provides discretionary investment advisory services on a fee basis as discussed at Item 5
below to individuals and families. Before engaging WSA to provide investment advisory services, clients
are required to enter into an Investment Advisory Agreement with WSA setting forth the terms and conditions
of the engagement (including termination), describing the scope of the services to be provided, and the fee
that is due from the client. To commence the investment advisory process, WSA will ascertain each client’s
investment objective(s) and then allocate the client’s assets consistent with the client’s designated investment
objective(s). Once allocated, WSA provides ongoing supervision of the account(s).
Contingent upon the client’s separate engagement of WSA for initial planning services per the terms and
conditions of a separate agreement and fee (See Stand-Alone Financial Planning and Non-Investment
Consulting Services below), WSA’s annual investment advisory fee shall generally (exceptions can occur -
see below), to the extent specifically requested by the client, include subsequent 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 WSA), WSA 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. At its exclusive
discretion, WSA may determine to provide stand-alone (i.e., without initial and/or ongoing financial
planning) discretionary investment management services, including for engagements by entities that do not
require financial planning services that are typically applicable for individuals and families. Please Note: In
the event an individual or family client declines financial planning services, and WSA determines to proceed
with the engagement, that client will generally pay the same investment management fee than those clients
who engage WSA for financial planning.
WSA, in its discretion, depending upon the type and/or request of the client, may also determine to provide
stand-alone investment advisory services that do not include ongoing financial planning.
WSA offers the following services, each of which is more fully described below:
• Money HappinessTM Services;
• Financial Planning Services;
• Investment Advisory Services;
• Reservoir Cash Flow System Services™
• General Consulting Services; and
• Ancillary Services.
Money HappinessTM
WSA strives to gain a greater understanding of a client’s Money HappinessTM and develops strategies
designed with the client’s Money HappinessTM in mind. Money HappinessTM generally means thinking and
feeling that your financial life is going well, not badly, and is based on a client’s unique personality,
experience, and personal life narrative.
Stand-Alone Financial Planning and Non-Investment Consulting Services
WSA provides financial planning and related consulting services regarding matters such as tax and estate
planning, insurance, family personality, etc. on a stand-alone basis per the terms and conditions of a separate
written agreement and fee. The amount of the planning fee shall generally be based upon the individual
providing the service and the scope and complexity of the services to be provided (typically ranging from
$125 to $1200 on an hourly rate basis, and between $1,500 and $100,000 on a fixed fee basis). Prior to
engaging WSA to provide planning or consulting services, clients are generally required to enter into a
Financial Planning and Consulting Agreement with WSA setting forth the terms and conditions of the
engagement (including compensation and termination), describing the scope of the services to be provided,
and the portion of the fee that is due from the client prior to WSA commencing services. See Limitations
of Financial Planning and Non-Investment Consulting/Implementation Services below.
Investment Advisory Services
Wealth Science Assessment (patent pending) and Investment Plan
At the outset of each client relationship, WSA spends time with the client, asking questions, discussing the
client’s Money HappinessTM, financial history, investment experience and financial circumstances, views
and preferences on risk in the markets, and other topics relevant to WSA’s psychological investment
process. After gathering the client’s information using the Wealth Science Assessment (patent pending),
WSA uses the information to design an appropriate financial profile reflective of the client’s financial
circumstances, goals, and investing-oriented characteristics. The profile is a reflection of the client’s current
financial picture and a look to the future goals of the client. Based upon the profile, WSA develops an
appropriate investment plan. The investment plan reflects the types of investments WSA will make on
behalf of the client based on WSA’s research and analysis in order to meet those goals. The investment plan
generally includes investment management and Money HappinessTM strategies designed to achieve the
client’s near-term and long-term goals.
The investment plan will be updated from time to time when requested by the client, or when determined
to be necessary or advisable by WSA based on updates to the client’s financial situation or objectives. WSA
offers to meet with clients twice per year to assess changes in the client’s situation, circumstances and
Money HappinessTM. It is the responsibility of the client to notify WSA, in writing, of any changes to their
financial situation or objectives or any other factors that may impact the client’s Financial Profile.
Portfolio Management
To implement the client’s investment plan, WSA will manage the client’s investment portfolio on a
discretionary basis pursuant to an Investment Advisory Agreement with the client. As a discretionary
investment adviser, WSA will have the authority to supervise and direct the portfolio without prior
consultation with the client
Notwithstanding WSA’s discretionary authority, clients may, in writing, request certain reasonable
restrictions on WSA’s investment management authority, 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, if accepted
by WSA, may adversely affect the composition and performance of the client’s investment portfolio.
Reservoir Cash Flow System ServicesTM
WSA offers Cash Services, which includes implementation of the Reservoir Cash Flow SystemTM, check
writing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, reconciliation, statement production, wire transfers, and may
include maintenance of a general ledger, which entails booking and coding expenditures and inflows.
Stand-alone Investment Consulting
If/when requested, WSA may also determine to provide consulting services regarding various investment-
related matters per the terms and conditions of a separate agreement and fee.
MISCELLANEOUS
Limitations of Financial Planning and Non-Investment Consulting/Implementation Services To the
extent requested by the client, WSA will generally provide financial planning and related consulting services
regarding matters such as tax and estate planning, insurance, family personality, etc. Contingent upon the
client’s separate engagement of WSA for initial planning services per the terms and conditions of a separate
agreement and fee, WSA will generally provide subsequent consulting services inclusive of its advisory fee
set forth at Item 5 below (exceptions could occur based upon assets under management, extraordinary
matters, special projects, stand-alone planning engagements, etc. for which Firm may charge a separate or
additional fee). Please Note: WSA believes that it is important for the client to address financial planning
issues on an ongoing basis. WSA’s advisory fee, as set forth at Item 5 below, will remain the same regardless
of whether or not the client determines to address financial planning issues with WSA. Please Also Note:
WSA does not serve as an attorney, accountant, or insurance agent, and no portion of our services should be
construed as same. Accordingly, WSA does not prepare legal documents, prepare tax returns, or sell
insurance products. To the extent requested by a client, we may recommend the services of other
professionals for non-investment implementation purpose (i.e., attorneys, accountants, insurance, doctors,
therapists etc.). The client is not under any obligation to engage any such professional(s). The client retains
absolute discretion over all such implementation decisions and is free to accept or reject any recommendation
from WSA and/or its representatives. If the client engages any professional (i.e., attorney, accountant,
insurance agent, etc.), recommended or otherwise, and a dispute arises thereafter relative to such engagement,
the client agrees to seek recourse exclusively from the engaged professional. At all times, the engaged
licensed professional[s] (i.e., attorney, accountant, insurance agent, doctors, therapists, etc.), and not WSA,
shall be responsible for the quality and competency of the services provided.
Please Note: Retirement Rollovers-Potential for 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 WSA recommends that a client roll
over their retirement plan assets into an account to be managed by WSA, such a recommendation creates a
conflict of interest if WSA will earn new (or increase its current) compensation as a result of the rollover. If
WSA 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), WSA 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 WSA, whether it is from an employer’s plan or an existing IRA. WSA’s Chief
Compliance Officer, Dr. Jim Exley, remains available to address any questions that a client or
prospective client may have regarding the potential for conflict of interest presented by such rollover
recommendation.
Custodian Charges – Additional Fees
As discussed below at Item 12 below, when requested to recommend a broker-dealer/custodian for client
accounts, WSA generally recommends that Pershing or Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”) serve as
the broker-dealer/custodian for client investment management assets. Broker-dealers such as Pershing and
Schwab charge brokerage commissions, transaction, and/or other type fees for effecting certain types of
securities transactions (i.e., including transaction fees for certain mutual funds between $20-$35 per
transaction, and mark-ups and mark-downs charged for fixed income transactions, etc.). The types of
securities for which transaction fees, commissions, and/or other type fees (as well as the amount of those
fees) shall differ depending upon the broker-dealer/custodian
(while certain custodians, including Pershing
and Schwab, do not currently charge fees on individual equity transactions (including ETFs), others do.
Please Note: there can be no assurance that Pershing or Schwab will not change their transaction fee pricing
in the future). Please Also Note: Pershing also assesses fees to clients who elect to receive trade
confirmations and account statements by regular mail rather than electronically at a rate of $2 per page. These
fees/charges are in addition to WSA’s investment advisory fee discussed at Item 5 below. WSA does not
receive any portion of these fees/charges. ANY QUESTIONS: WSA’s Chief Compliance Officer, Dr. Jim
Exley, remains available to address any questions that a client or prospective client may have
regarding the above.
Portfolio Activity
WSA has a fiduciary duty to provide services consistent with the client’s best interest. WSA will review
client portfolios on an ongoing basis to determine if any changes are necessary based upon various factors,
including, but not limited to, Money HappinessTM, investment performance, market conditions, fund manager
tenure, style drift, account additions/withdrawals, and/or a change in the client’s investment objective. Based
upon these factors, there may be extended periods of time when WSA determines that changes to a client’s
portfolio are unnecessary. Clients remain subject to the fees described in Item 5 below during periods of
portfolio inactivity. Of course, as indicated below, there can be no assurance that investment decisions made
by WSA will be profitable or equal any specific performance level(s).
Use of Mutual and Exchange Traded Funds
WSA primarily utilizes mutual funds and exchange traded funds for its client portfolios. In addition to WSA’s
investment advisory fee described at Item 5 below, and transaction and/or custodial fees discussed above and
below, clients will also incur, relative to all mutual fund and exchange traded fund purchases, charges
imposed at the fund level (e.g., management fees and other fund expenses). Some of the mutual funds and
exchange traded funds utilized by WSA are generally available directly to the public. Thus, a client can
generally obtain the funds recommended and/or utilized by WSA independent of engaging WSA as an
investment advisor. However, if a prospective client does so, then they will not receive WSA's initial and
ongoing investment advisory services.
Mutual Fund Share Classes
Custodians such as Pershing and Schwab generally offer multiple share classes of certain mutual funds.
Generally, custodians offer both non-transaction fee funds (“NTF Funds”) and transaction fee funds. NTF
Funds are available without a transaction fee, but typically have higher internal expense charges as referenced
above. Transaction fee funds generally have lower internal expense charges, but require that the client pay a
transaction fee to purchase these funds. Higher expenses adversely impact account performance. In addition,
certain funds require minimum investment amounts to obtain the lower expense share class. As a result of
these share class differences and/or minimum investment amounts. WSA will generally purchase NTF Funds
for its smaller clients on the premise that the smaller amount invested does not justify incurring a transaction
fee (i.e., generally for clients with less than $100,000 of assets under management) and/or the investment
amount required to obtain the lower expense share class would not be prudent. However, this is not an exact
process, and there could be, in hindsight, NTF Funds purchases for which the transaction fee fund would
have been more beneficial. ANY QUESTIONS: WSA’s Chief Compliance Officer, Dr. Jim Exley,
remains available to address any questions that a client or prospective client may have regarding
mutual fund share classes. A client can direct WSA, in writing, to purchase transaction fee funds for
his/her account.
Client Retirement Plan Assets
If requested to do so, WSA may determine to provide investment advisory services relative to 401(k) plan
assets maintained by the client in conjunction with the retirement plan established by the client’s employer.
In such event, WSA shall recommend that the client allocate the retirement account assets among the
investment options available on the 401(k) platform. WSA’s ability shall be limited to the allocation of the
assets among the investment alternatives available through the plan. WSA will not receive any
communications from the plan sponsor or custodian, and it shall remain the client’s exclusive obligation to
notify WSA of any changes in investment alternatives, restrictions, etc. pertaining to the retirement account.
Please Note: Cash Positions
WSA shall treat cash as an asset class. As such, unless determined to the contrary by WSA, all cash positions
(money markets, etc.) shall continue to be included as part of assets under management for purposes of
calculating WSA’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), WSA may maintain cash positions for Money HappinessTM and 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, WSA’s advisory fee could exceed the interest paid by the client’s money market fund.
ANY QUESTIONS: WSA’s Chief Compliance Officer, Dr. Jim Exley, remains available to address
any questions that a client or prospective may have regarding the above fee billing practice.
Cash Sweep Accounts Account custodians generally require that cash proceeds from account transactions
or cash deposits be swept into and/or initially maintained in the custodian’s sweep account. The yield on the
sweep account is generally lower than those available in money market accounts. To help mitigate this issue,
WSA shall generally purchase a higher yielding money market fund available on the custodian’s platform
with cash proceeds or deposits. For those clients who have a demonstrated history of significant ongoing
cash needs/withdrawals, the cash will generally remain in the sweep account pending review during the client
six month review. 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, 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. ANY QUESTIONS: WSA’s Chief
Compliance Officer, Dr. Jim Exley, remains available to address any questions that a client or prospective
client may have regarding the above.
Borrowing Against Assets/Risks
A client who has a need to borrow money could determine to do so by using:
• Margin-The account custodian or broker-dealer lends money to the client. The custodian charges
the client interest for the right to borrow money, and uses the assets in the client’s brokerage account
as collateral; and,
• Pledged Asset Loan- In consideration for a lender (i.e., a bank, etc.) to make a loan to the client,
the client pledges its investment assets held at the account custodian as collateral;
These above-described collateralized loans are generally utilized because they typically provide more
favorable interest rates than standard commercial loans. These types of collateralized loans can assist with a
pending home purchase, permit the retirement of more expensive debt, or enable borrowing in lieu of
liquidating existing account positions and incurring capital gains taxes. However, such loans are not without
potential material risk to the client’s investment assets. The lender (i.e., custodian, bank, etc.) will have
recourse against the client’s investment assets in the event of loan default or if the assets fall below a certain
level. For this reason, WSA does not recommend such borrowing unless it is for specific short-term purposes
(i.e., a bridge loan to purchase a new residence). WSA does not recommend such borrowing for investment
purposes (i.e., to invest borrowed funds in the market). Regardless, if the client was to determine to utilize
margin or a pledged asset loan, the following economic benefits would inure to WSA:
• by taking the loan rather than liquidating assets in the client’s account, WSA continues to earn a
fee on such Account assets; and,
• if the client invests any portion of the loan proceeds in an account to be managed by WSA, WSA
will receive an advisory fee on the invested amount; and,
• if WSA’s advisory fee is based upon the higher margined account value, WSA will earn a
correspondingly higher advisory fee. This could provide WSA with a disincentive to encourage the
client to discontinue the use of margin; and,
• such loans are subject to a separate fee arrangement as outlined in Item 5 below.
Please Note: The Client must accept the above risks and potential corresponding consequences
associated with the use of margin or a pledged asset loan.
Client Obligations
In performing our services, WSA 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, it remains each
client’s responsibility to promptly notify WSA if there is ever any change in his/her/its financial situation,
Money HappinessTM or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous
recommendations and/or services.
Please Note: Investment Risk
Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk and volatility, and it should not be assumed
that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy (including the investments and/or
investment strategies recommended or undertaken by WSA) will be profitable or equal any specific
performance level(s).
Cybersecurity Risk
The information technology systems and networks that WSA and its third-party service providers use to
provide services to WSA’s clients employ various controls, which are designed to prevent cybersecurity
incidents stemming from intentional or unintentional actions that could cause significant interruptions in
WSA’s operations and result in the unauthorized acquisition or use of clients’ confidential or non-public
personal information. Clients and WSA 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 WSA has established processes to reduce the risk of
cybersecurity incidents, there is no guarantee that these efforts will always be successful, especially
considering that WSA 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 Brochure
A copy of WSA’s written Brochure as set forth on Part 2A of Form ADV and Form CRS (Client Relationship
Summary) shall be provided to each client prior to, or contemporaneously with, the execution of an
agreement between the client and WSA.
Assets Under Management
As of February 26, 2024, WSA has $368,892,811 of assets under management on a discretionary basis.