Description of Firm
Sonoma Private Wealth LLC is a registered investment adviser based in Sonoma, California. We are
organized as a limited liability company ("LLC") under the laws of the State of California. We have
been providing investment advisory services since May 2020. We are solely owned by Richard
C. Mordesovich.
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 "SPW", "we," "our," and "us" refer to Sonoma Private
Wealth LLC and the words "you," "your," and "client" refer to you as either a client or prospective client
of our firm.
Portfolio Management Services
We offer discretionary portfolio management services. Our investment advice is tailored to meet our
clients' needs and investment objectives.
If you participate in our discretionary portfolio management services, we require you to grant us
discretionary authority to manage your account. Subject to a grant of discretionary authorization, we
have the authority and responsibility to formulate investment strategies on your behalf. Discretionary
authorization will allow us to determine the specific securities, and the amount of securities, to be
purchased or sold for your account without obtaining your approval prior to each transaction. We will
also have discretion over the broker or dealer to be used for securities transactions in your account.
Discretionary authority is typically granted by the investment advisory agreement you sign with our
firm, a power of attorney, or trading authorization forms.
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.
We may also offer non-discretionary portfolio management services. If you enter into non-discretionary
arrangements with our firm, we must obtain your approval prior to executing any transactions on behalf
of your account. You have an unrestricted right to decline to implement any advice provided by our firm
on a non-discretionary basis.
As part of our portfolio management services, we may use one or more sub-advisers to manage a
portion of your account on a discretionary basis. The sub-adviser(s) may use one or more of their
model portfolios to manage your account. We will regularly monitor the performance of your accounts
managed by sub-adviser(s), and may hire and fire any sub-adviser without your prior approval. We
may pay a portion of our advisory fee to the sub-adviser(s) we use; however, you will not pay our firm a
higher advisory fee as a result of any sub-advisory relationships.
As part of our 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 our firm. 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.
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Financial Planning Services
We offer financial planning services which 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. These services can range from broad-based financial planning to consultative or
single subject planning. If you retain our firm for financial planning services, we will meet with you to
gather information about your financial circumstances and objectives. We may also use financial
planning software to determine your current financial position and to define and quantify your long-term
goals and objectives. Once we specify those long-term objectives (both financial and non-financial), we
will develop shorter-term, targeted objectives. Once we review and analyze the information you provide
to our firm and the data derived from our financial planning software, we will deliver a written plan to
you, designed to help you achieve your stated financial goals and objectives.
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 us. You must promptly notify our firm if your financial situation,
goals, objectives, or needs change.
Pursuant to California Code of Regulations, 10 CCR Section 260.235.2, Sonoma Private Wealth
LLC hereby makes the following statement: a conflict exists between the interest of Sonoma Private
Wealth LLC and the interests of the client. Further, the client is under no obligation to act upon
Sonoma Private Wealth LLC recommendations, and if the client elects to act on any of the
recommendations, the client is under no obligation to effect the transactions through Sonoma Private
Wealth LLC.
All material conflicts of interest under CCR Section 260.238 (k) are disclosed regarding the investment
adviser, its representatives or any of its employees, which could be reasonably expected to impair the
rendering of unbiased and objective advice.
While the firm endeavor at all times to offer clients its specialized services at reasonable costs, the
fees charged by other advisers for comparable services may be lower than the fees charged by
Sonoma Private Wealth LLC.
Pension Consulting Services
We offer pension 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 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.
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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.
Family Office and Wealth Planning Services
We offer Family Office and Wealth Planning Services designed to help our clients organize their
financial situation and plan for the successful transfer of wealth to the next generation in the most tax-
advantaged manner. Such services generally include financial planning in the following areas:
•Family Continuity;
•Estate Planning and Trustee Oversight;
•Integrated Tax and Financial Planning;
•Lifestyle Management;
•Family Philanthropy; and
•Risk Management
Sub-Advisory Services to Registered Investment Advisers
We offer sub-advisory services to unaffiliated third party money managers (the "Primary Investment
Adviser"). As part of these services, we will provide model portfolios, which the Primary Investment
Adviser selects for their clients. We will not directly manage the Primary Investment Adviser's individual
client accounts. The Primary Investment Adviser will be responsible for selecting the appropriate model
for its clients.
Use of Third-Party Service Providers
SPW uses Third-Party service Providers to help manage client accounts. SPW utilizes the technology
platform of Orion Advisor Services, LLC ("Orion"). Additionally, SPW has contracted with HIP
Investors, LLC ("HIP"), an unaffiliated SEC registered investment adviser, to provide administrative
services on behalf of client accounts via Orion's platform. Specifically, HIP's administrative services
support SPW in maximizing the benefits of Orion's platform to perform functions such as data
reconciliation, performance reporting, client database maintance, quarterly performance evaluations,
and other functions related to the administrative tasks of managing client accounts. Due to this
arrangement Orion and HIP will have access to client accounts and information but will not serve as an
investment adviser to SPW clients. SPW pays HIP a (per-account) fee for their services.
Wrap Fee Programs
We do not participate in any wrap fee program.
Types of Investments
We primarily offer advice on stocks, bonds, exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), mutual funds, and real
estate investment trusts ("REITs"). Refer to the Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk
of Loss below for additional disclosures on this topic.
Additionally, we may advise you on various types of investments based on your stated goals and
objectives. We may also provide advice on any type of investment held in your portfolio at the inception
of our advisory relationship.
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Since our investment strategies and advice are based on each client's specific financial situation, the
investment advice we provide to you may be different or conflicting with the advice we give to other
clients regarding the same security or investment.
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.
We benefit financially from the rollover of your assets from a retirement account to an account that we
manage or provide investment advice, because the assets increase our assets under management
and, in turn, our advisory fees. As a fiduciary, we only recommend a rollover when we believe it is in
your best interest.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, we provide continuous management services for $97,411,357 in client
assets on a discretionary basis, and $46,815,695 in client assets on a non-discretionary basis.