FourThought Financial Partners, LLC acquired the advisory business of FourThought Financial, LLC which
has been registered as an investment adviser since November 2019. FourThought offers a variety of
advisory services, which include financial planning, consulting, and investment management services. Prior
to FourThought rendering any of the foregoing advisory services, clients are typically required to enter into
one or more written agreements with FourThought setting forth the relevant terms and conditions of the
advisory relationship (the “Advisory Agreement”).
FOCUS FINANCIAL PARTNERS, LLC
FourThought is part of the Focus Financial Partners, LLC (“Focus LLC”) partnership. Specifically,
FourThought is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Focus LLC. Ferdinand FFP Acquisition, LLC is the
sole managing member of Focus LLC. Ultimate governance of Focus LLC is conducted through the board
of directors at Ferdinand FFP Ultimate Holdings, LP. Focus LLC is majority-owned, indirectly and
collectively, by investment vehicles affiliated with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC (“CD&R”). Investment
vehicles affiliated with Stone Point Capital LLC (“Stone Point”) are indirect owners of Focus LLC. Because
FourThought is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus LLC, CD&R and Stone Point investment
vehicles are indirect owners of FourThought.
Focus LLC also owns other registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, pension consultants, insurance
firms, business managers and other firms (the “Focus Partners”), most of which provide wealth
management, benefit consulting and investment consulting services to individuals, families, employers, and
institutions. Some Focus Partners also manage or advise limited partnerships, private funds, or investment
companies as disclosed on their respective Form ADVs.
FourThought is managed by Scott Pinkerton and Chris Fagley (“FourThought Principal”), pursuant to a
management agreement between FTPW, LLC and FourThought. The FourThought Principals serve as
leaders and officers of FourThought and are responsible for the management, supervision and oversight of
FourThought.
While this brochure generally describes the business of FourThought, certain sections also discuss the
activities of its Supervised Persons, which refer to FourThought’s officers, partners, directors (or other
persons occupying a similar status or performing similar functions), employees or other persons who
provide investment advice on FourThought’s behalf and are subject to the Firm’s supervision or control.
As of December 31, 2023, FourThought had $1,325,134,139 in assets under management, all of which are
managed on a discretionary basis.
Wealth Management Services
FourThought provides certain clients with wealth management services which include a broad range of
financial planning and consulting services as well as discretionary and/or non-discretionary management
of investment portfolios. FourThought primarily allocates client assets among various mutual funds,
exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), individual debt and equity securities, structured notes, publicly and
privately traded REITs and independent investment managers (“Independent Managers”) in accordance
with their stated investment objectives. In addition, FourThought also recommends that certain eligible
clients invest in privately placed securities, which may include debt, equity and/or interests in pooled
investment vehicles (e.g., hedge funds).
Where appropriate, the Firm also provides advice about legacy positions or other investments held in client
portfolios, but clients should not assume that these assets are being continuously monitored or otherwise
advised on by the Firm unless specifically agreed upon. Clients can engage FourThought to manage and/or
advise on certain investment products that are not maintained at their primary custodian, such as annuity
contracts and assets held in employer sponsored retirement plans and qualified tuition plans (i.e., 529 plans).
In these situations, FourThought directs or recommends the allocation of client assets among the various
investment options available with the product. These assets are generally maintained at the underwriting
insurance company, or the custodian designated by the product’s provider.
FourThought tailors its advisory services to meet the needs of its individual clients and seeks to ensure, on
a continuous basis, that client portfolios are managed in a manner consistent with those needs and
objectives. FourThought consults with clients on an initial and ongoing basis to assess their specific risk
tolerance, time horizon, liquidity constraints and other related factors relevant to the management of their
portfolios.
Clients are advised to promptly notify FourThought if there are changes in their financial situation or if they
wish to place any limitations on the management of their portfolios. Clients can impose reasonable
restrictions or mandates on the management of their accounts if FourThought determines, in its sole
discretion, the conditions would not materially impact the performance of a management strategy or prove
overly burdensome to the Firm’s management efforts.
Financial Planning and Consulting Services
FourThought offers clients a broad range of financial planning and consulting services, which include any,
some or all of the following functions:
Business Planning
Cash Flow Forecasting
Trust and Estate Planning
Financial Reporting
Investment Consulting
Insurance Planning
Retirement Planning
Risk Management
Philanthropic Planning
Distribution Planning
Tax Planning
Manager Due Diligence
Asset Protection
Internet Protection
Liability Management
Social Security Planning
Education Planning
Family Business Transition
Planning
Long Term Care Planning
While each of these services is available on a stand-alone basis, especially where the amount of services
are in excess of what the fee would be under a wealth management agreement (as described above), certain
of them can also be rendered in conjunction with investment portfolio management as part of a
comprehensive wealth management engagement (described in more detail above). When performing the
Financial Planning and Consulting Services, we will work collaboratively with your attorney, tax advisor
and/or accountants. No portion of the services rendered by FourThought should be interpreted by you as
legal, tax or accounting advice.
In performing these services, FourThought is not required to verify any information received from the client
or from the client’s other professionals (e.g., attorneys, accountants,
etc.,) and is expressly authorized to
rely on such information. FourThought recommends certain clients engage the Firm for additional related
services, and/or other professionals to implement its recommendations. Clients are advised that a conflict
of interest exists for the Firm to recommend that clients engage FourThought or its affiliates to provide (or
continue to provide) additional services for compensation, including investment management services.
Clients retain absolute discretion over all decisions regarding implementation and are under no obligation
to act upon any of the recommendations made by FourThought under a financial planning or consulting
engagement. Clients are advised that it remains their responsibility to promptly notify FourThought of any
change in their financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating or
revising FourThought’s recommendations and/or services.
Retirement Plan Consulting Services
FourThought provides various consulting services to qualified employee benefit plans and their fiduciaries.
This suite of institutional services is designed to assist plan sponsors in structuring, managing and
optimizing their corporate retirement plans. Each engagement is individually negotiated and customized,
and includes any or all of the following services:
Plan Design and Strategy
Plan Review and Evaluation
Executive Planning & Benefits
Investment Selection
Plan Fee and Cost Analysis
Plan Committee Consultation
Fiduciary and Compliance
Participant Education
As disclosed in the Advisory Agreement, certain of the foregoing services are provided by FourThought as
a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). In
accordance with ERISA Section 408(b)(2), each plan sponsor is provided with a written description of
FourThought’s fiduciary status, the specific services to be rendered and all direct and indirect compensation
the Firm reasonably expects under the engagement. FourThought is also a fiduciary under section 4975 of
the Internal Revenue Code (the “IRC”) with respect to investment management services and investment
advice provided to individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), ERISA plans, and ERISA plan participants.
FourThought is subject to specific duties and obligations under ERISA and the IRC that include, among
other things, prohibited transaction rules which are intended to prohibit fiduciaries from acting on conflicts
of interest. When a fiduciary gives advice in which it has a conflict of interest, the fiduciary must either
avoid or eliminate the conflict or rely upon a prohibited transaction exemption (a “PTE”).
Use of Independent Managers
As mentioned above, FourThought selects certain Independent Managers to actively manage a portion of
some clients’ assets. The specific terms and conditions under which a client engages an Independent
Manager may be set forth in a separate written agreement with the designated Independent Manager. In
addition to this brochure, clients may also receive the written disclosure documents of the respective
Independent Managers engaged to manage their assets.
FourThought evaluates a variety of information about Independent Managers, which includes the
Independent Managers’ public disclosure documents, materials supplied by the Independent Managers
themselves and other third-party analyses it believes are reputable. To the extent possible, the Firm seeks
to assess the Independent Managers’ investment strategies, past performance and risk results in relation to
its clients’ individual portfolio allocations and risk exposure. FourThought also takes into consideration
each Independent Manager’s management style, returns, reputation, financial strength, reporting, pricing
and research capabilities, among other factors.
FourThought continues to provide services relative to the discretionary or non-discretionary selection of
the Independent Managers. On an ongoing basis, the Firm monitors the performance of those accounts being
managed by Independent Managers. FourThought seeks to ensure the Independent Managers’ strategies
and target allocations remain aligned with its clients’ investment objectives and overall best interests.
Institutional Consulting Services
FourThought renders investment and non-investment related consulting services through its FourThought
Institution division, to various institutions and independent third parties as part of its institutional consulting
services. FourThought’s institutional consulting services are specialized engagements individually
negotiated with each institution based upon their specific needs. FourThought’s institutional consulting
services are not available to individuals, but rather address fundamental issues affecting various institutions
within FourThought’s area of concentration. FourThought charges a fixed fee and/or hourly fee for these
services and does not render such institutional consulting services to its investment advisory clients.
As a fiduciary, FourThought has duties of care and of loyalty to you and are subject to obligations imposed
on us by the federal and state securities laws. As a result, you have certain rights that you cannot waive or
limit by contract. Nothing in our agreement with you should be interpreted as a limitation of our obligations
under the federal and state securities laws or as a waiver of any unwaivable rights you possess.
We offer clients the option of obtaining certain financial solutions from unaffiliated third-party financial
institutions through UPTIQ Treasury & Credit Solutions, LLC (together with UPTIQ, Inc. and its affiliates,
“UPTIQ”) and Flourish Financial LLC (“Flourish”). Please see Items 5 and 10 for a fuller discussion of
these services and other important information.We help our clients obtain certain insurance solutions from
unaffiliated, third-party insurance brokers by introducing clients to our affiliate, Focus Risk Solutions, LLC
(“FRS”), a wholly owned subsidiary of our parent company, Focus Financial Partners, LLC. Please see
Items 5 and 10 for a fuller discussion of these services and other important information.
We have a business arrangement with SCS Capital Management LLC (“SCS”) and a subsidiary or
subsidiaries of Origin Investments Group, LLC (“Origin”), who are each an indirect, wholly-owned
subsidiary of Focus LLC, under which certain clients of FourThought have the option of investing in certain
private investment vehicles managed by SCS and Origin. FourThought is an affiliate of SCS and Origin by
virtue of being under common control with it. Please see Items 5, 10, and 11 of this Brochure for further
details.