Description of Firm
Echelons Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser based in Park City, Utah. We are organized
as a limited liability company ("LLC") under the laws of the State of Georgia. We are owned by John
Patrick Rudio and Brett Thomas Leahy.
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 Echelons Capital, 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 as well as non-discretionary services on a
limited basis. 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 our firm
discretionary authority to manage your account. Discretionary authorization will allow us to determine
the specific securities, and the amount of securities, to be purchased or sold for your account without
your approval prior to each transaction. Discretionary authority is typically granted by the investment
advisory agreement you sign with our firm and the appropriate 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. You or
Echelons Capital, LLC will pay the 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. Any additional fees that are
paid by you to a sub-adviser(s) will be disclosed and consented to by you in a separate agreement with
our firm and/or the sub-adviser(s).
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 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.
4
Financial Planning and Consulting Services
We offer financial planning and consulting 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 or consulting
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 maintain and periodically report the status of the plan which is 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.
You are under no obligation to act on our financial planning recommendations. Should you choose to
act on any of our recommendations, you are not obligated to implement the financial plan through any
of our other investment advisory services. Moreover, you may act on our recommendations by placing
securities transactions with any brokerage firm.
Types of Investments
We offer advice on equity securities, certificates of deposit, municipal securities, variable life insurance,
variable annuities, mutual fund shares, United States government securities, options contracts on
securities, money market funds, REITs, structured notes, ETFs and alternative investments.
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.
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 conflict 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
5
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 January 23, 2024, we provide continuous management services for $129,894,382 in client assets
on a discretionary basis client. We also manage $16,755,352 in client assets on a non-continuous
basis.