A. Firm Information
Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC (“Accelerate” or the “Adviser”) is a registered investment adviser with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accelerate is organized as a Limited Liability Company
(“LLC”) under the laws of the State of Delaware. Accelerate was founded in March 2023, and is owned 100% by
Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC.
Accelerate offers services through a network of IARs. IARs may have their own legal business entities whose
trade names and logos are used for marketing purposes and may appear on marketing materials and/or client
statements. Clients should understand that the businesses are legal entities of the IAR and not of Accelerate.
The IARs are under the supervision of the Firm, and the advisory services of the IAR are provided through
Accelerate. Our Firm has the arrangements with the business entities listed in Schedule D of our Form ADV 1A.
Chris Giovinazzo is the CEO of Accelerate and presently maintains an ownership majority. Brent P. Nicks is the
Chief Compliance Officer for Accelerate. This Disclosure Brochure provides information regarding the
qualifications, business practices, and the advisory business provided by Accelerate.
B. Advisory Business Offered
Accelerate provides comprehensive qualified and non-qualified retirement plan consulting, investment advice and
serves in a fiduciary role under ERISA, employee plan and investment education, asset allocation services, plan
service provider proposal and provider research and analysis, and plan design consulting, qualified and non-
qualified retirement plan sponsors, and business entities.
The Firm provides Clients with both Investment Management (discretionary) and Investment Advisory services,
based on the scope of the agreed upon engagement. Accelerate offers investment advisory services to
individuals, high net worth individuals, trusts, corporations, and other business entities. Accelerate additionally
provides pension consulting services.
Retirement Plan Consulting Services
Our Firm provides retirement plan consulting services to employer plan sponsors on an ongoing basis. Such
consulting services consist of assisting employer plan sponsors in establishing, monitoring, and reviewing their
company's participant-directed retirement plan. As the needs of the plan sponsor dictate, areas of advising could
include investment options, plan structure and participant education. Retirement Plan Consulting services
typically include:
Establishing an Investment Policy Statement – Our firm will assist in the development of a statement that
summarizes the investment goals and objectives along with the broad strategies to be employed to meet
the objectives.
Investment Options – Our firm will work with the Plan Sponsor to evaluate existing investment options
and make recommendations for appropriate changes.
Asset Allocation and Portfolio Construction – Our firm will develop strategic asset allocation models to
aid Participants in developing strategies to meet their investment objectives, time horizon, financial
situation, and tolerance for risk.
Investment Monitoring – Our firm will monitor the performance of the investments and notify the client in
the event of over or under performance and in times of market volatility.
In providing services for retirement plan consulting, Accelerate does not provide any advisory services with
respect to the following types of assets: employer securities, real estate (excluding real estate funds and publicly
traded REITS), participant loans, non-publicly traded securities or assets, other illiquid investments, or brokerage
window programs (collectively, “Excluded Assets”).
All retirement plan consulting services shall follow the applicable state laws regulating retirement consulting
services. This applies to client accounts that are retirement or other employee benefit plans (“Plan”) governed by
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). Where client accounts are part of
a Plan, and our firm accepts appointment to provide services to such accounts, our Firm acknowledges its
fiduciary standard within the meaning of Section 3(21) of ERISA as designated by the 3(21) Investment Advisory
Agreement with respect to the provision of services described therein and limited to only the services specifically
elected to be performed per the executed agreement.
Workplace Financial Wellness Services
Accelerate provides financial wellness services to its Plan Clients to support the overall financial health and
knowledge of Plan Participants and assist in eduacating on money-related stressors. Such educational services
are provided to Participants through the election of the services by the Plan Client and execution of a wellness
services addendum to a broader Plan Agreement. Accelerate does not provide any advice on or transact in
securities or investments or other investment managers with its services.
Investment Management Services
Accelerate provides customized investment advisory solutions for retail and certain institutional clients. This is
achieved through continuous personal Client contact and interaction while providing discretionary investment
management and related advisory services. In certain instances, Accelerate may provide its services on a non-
discretionary basis. Accelerate works with each Client to identify their investment goals and objectives as well as
risk tolerance and financial situation to create a portfolio strategy.
Accelerate will then construct a portfolio utilizing mutual funds, collective investment trusts (“CITs”), exchange-
traded funds (“ETFs”) and/or individual equity and fixed income securities. The Firm may also utilize covered
options and other types of investments, as appropriate, to meet the needs of a particular Client.
The investment strategies of Accelerate are primarily long-term focused but the IAR of the Firm may buy, sell, or
allocate positions that have been held less than one year for reasons that include, but are not limited to: changes
in objectives; account inflows / outflows; security fundamentals or market conditions. Initially, the Accelerate
investment process will determine each client's financial circumstances and investment objectives. Once
Accelerate establishes the account strategy, it is determined if the Firm should adjust the allocation targets based
on the current market environment versus the shorter-term economic outlook. Accelerate will construct,
implement, and monitor the portfolio in connection with the goals, objectives, circumstances, and risk tolerance
agreed to by the Client.
Each client can place reasonable restrictions on the types of investments to be held in the portfolio. Restrictions
on investments in certain securities or types of securities may not be possible due to the level of difficulty this
would entail in managing the account. Restrictions would be limited to our investment management services. We
do not manage assets through our other services. Accelerate and its IAR reserve the right to terminate advisory
services or to not initiate advisory services for a client if the requested restrictions are deemed unreasonable and
beyond the Firm capacity to employ.
Accelerate evaluates and selects investments for inclusion in Client portfolios only after applying its internal due
diligence process. Accelerate, as appropriate, may (1) recommend redistributing investment allocations to
diversify the portfolio and (2) may recommend specific positions to increase sector or asset class weightings.
The Firm may recommend employing cash positions as a hedge against market movement. Accelerate may
recommend selling positions for reasons that include, but are not limited to:
Harvesting capital gains or losses.
Business or sector risk exposure to a specific security or class of securities.
Overvaluation or overweighting of the position(s) in the portfolio.
Change in risk tolerance of Client.
Generating cash to meet Client needs.
Accelerate will provide investment advisory services and portfolio management services and will not provide
securities custodial or other administrative services. At no time will Accelerate accept or maintain custody of a
client’s funds or securities, except for authorized deduction of the Client agreed upon fees. All Client assets will
be managed within their designated account at the Custodian, pursuant to the terms of the investment advisory
agreement.
Our investment management services may utilize Schwab Advisor Services division of Charles Schwab & Co.,
Inc. (“Schwab”) and/or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC (“Fidelity”) for custodial relationships. We may offer
portfolio management services on 401k, 457, or other accounts not held at one of custodians by use of Pontera
Solutions (“Pontera”), a third-party technology platform enabling advisors to monitor, trade and rebalance their
client’s assets regardless of where they are held. A non-wrap advisory agreement is required to establish
management of a participant account via Pontera and management is only available for participant accounts for
which the plan has an authenticated website with username and password credentials. The plan dictates the
types of investments allowed in the account and the IAR is responsible for managing the account based only on
the available investment options.
Referrals to Third Party Money Managers
Accelerate may utilize the services of third-party money managers for the management of client accounts.
Investment advice and trading of securities will only be offered by or through a chosen third-party money
manager. Accelerate will not offer advice on any specific securities or other investments in connection with this
service. When referring clients, Accelerate requires our affiliated IAR to utilize only providers and strategies
approved through the appropriate channels. Accelerate leverages due diligence resources of our strategic
partnerships with Fidelity Brokerage Services and Schwab Advisor Solutions, along with an internal review as
may be required to meet the due diligence requirements for our Clients.
In order to assist in the selection of a third-party money manager, IAR will gather client information pertaining to
their financial situation, investment objectives, and reasonable restrictions to be imposed upon the management
of the account. Accelerate, through its IAR, will review the financial situation and objectives of our Clients to
determine the need to communicate information to a third-party manager as warranted. IAR will additionally
assist Clients in understanding and evaluating the services provided by the third-party money manager, including
the review of third-party manager reports provided to the Client as may be necessary. Clients will be expected to
notify their IAR of any changes in their financial situation, investment objectives, or account restrictions that could
affect their financial standing.
Investment Advice (Plan Level)
Accelerate shall provide research and analysis regarding investment advice and fiduciary due diligence services
for the Client. The Firm shall also provide research and analysis that covers the investment products of several
qualified and non-qualified retirement plan providers. The goal of the investment due diligence process is to
establish a logical, technical, and comprehensive process that is consistently employed in the selection and
ongoing monitoring of funds for plan sponsors and individuals, accompanied by an investment policy statement
(for plan sponsors only), that defines the process utilized to recommend the investments to plan sponsors and
individuals.
The Employer (Client of Accelerate) sponsors a qualified (or non-qualified) Retirement Plan for the benefit of its
employees. The Plan is a qualified or non-qualified employee benefit plan intended to comply with all applicable
federal laws and regulations, including the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as amended, if applicable. In addition, applicable Plans are
intended to comply with ERISA Section 404(c). Accelerate may employ many different calculations, processes,
and screening techniques to arrive at specific recommended individual investments within the array of
investments offered by each investment provider that is being analyzed including but not limited to the following:
Investment analysis by asset class (domestic equity, international equity, income, hybrid/managed
accounts), including market capitalization (small, medium, and large), and investment objective (value,
blend, and growth orientation).
Performance relative to other investments in the same asset class.
Investment performance relative to benchmark performance for the same asset class.
Percentile ranking of investment performance for the same asset class.
Style-based analysis to determine the impact of an investment being managed differently than its stated
investment objective (which is usually a combination of the stated market capitalization category, and
investment objective category).
Macro screens to eliminate long-term under-performing investments, funds with total managed assets of
less than the minimum threshold deemed to be adequate by Accelerate.
Review of upside and downside capture, to estimate upside potential and downside risk of each
investment.
Common objective risk and return statistical measurements, such as Sharpe ratio, standard deviation,
alpha, and beta.
Common statistically relevant manager value measurements such as information ratio and tracking error.
R-squared, correlation coefficients, and other statistically relevant information.
Excess return over the given performance benchmark.
Short and long-term historical analysis with any of the above measurements.
Financial strength, stability, and reputation of the investment provider, and individual investments offered
by and through the investment provider.
Tenure and experience of investment management personnel.
Investment philosophy, process, and style; and
Investment fees.
Accelerate shall provide a draft
of the statement of Investment Policy for review by the Client. In addition,
Accelerate will evaluate the existing Investment Policy Statement of the Client and provide recommendations that
are consistent with assisting the Client meeting their fiduciary obligations, if applicable, under ERISA Section
404(c).
Investment Management (Plan Level)
Accelerate shall be responsible for, and maintains discretion, for the selection, mapping, and ongoing monitoring,
of investments offered within the Plan. Our Firm hereby accepts co-fiduciary responsibility for such duties. The
Client engages Accelerate in management of Plan assets and shall delegate specified authority and discretion to
the Firm for the selection, mapping, and ongoing monitoring (including replacement, as prudent), of investments
offered within the plan. However, services provided by Accelerate under this Agreement will not include any
services with respect to employer securities or company stock nor is Accelerate a fiduciary regarding any single
security offering or SDBA available in a plan. Accelerate shall be responsible and possess discretion for the
selection of investment options used to populate the asset allocation models. Accelerate shall also provide
documentation supporting the investment due diligence in a regularly prepared Fiduciary Investment Review
report. Our Firm will have an established investment due diligence process that is a logical, technical, and
comprehensive process that is consistently employed in the selection, de-selection, and ongoing monitoring of
funds for plan sponsors and individuals, accompanied by an investment policy statement, that defines the
process utilized to guide decision making in the management of the plan investments offered to plan sponsors
and individuals.
The Client sponsors a qualified retirement plan for the benefit of its employees. The Plan is a qualified employee
benefit plan intended to comply with all applicable federal laws and regulations, including the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as amended. In
addition, the Plan is intended to comply with ERISA Section 404(c) and all regulations promulgated there under.
The Client intends to engage in their best efforts to comply with all requirements of ERISA Section 404(c) and the
regulations there under. Accelerate may employ many different calculations, processes, and screening
techniques, to arrive at specific recommended individual investments within the array of investments offered by
each investment provider that is being analyzed.
Accelerate shall provide the Client with the Investment Policy Statement for the Client’s review and inform the
Client when, and if, there are any changes thereto. In addition, Accelerate will provide its services with the
objective of meeting the Firm’s and Client’s fiduciary obligations under ERISA Section 404(a) and with the intent
of meeting the requirements of ERISA.
Employee Plan and Investment Education 404(c)
Accelerate may provide group employee enrollment, re-enrollment, and investment education support. The goal
of this process is to help employees make educated and informed choices about the plan and investment
allocation under the investment education guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Labor. Meetings are
offered on an annual, semi-annual, quarterly, or as requested basis. The scope of the meetings will be group
and/or individual and will be conducted on-site and/or as data conferencing.
Employee (Participant) Investment Advice and/or Asset Allocation Models
Accelerate shall create, monitor, adjust (when prudent), and rebalance asset allocation models (“Models”) for
plan sponsor use as an investment tool provided to participants for use in assisting Plan Participants in making
asset allocation decisions for their investment portfolios (i.e., equity and fixed income). Whether the Models are
used as stand-alone tools or used in conjunction with the delivery of investment advice, they are designed to
have different investment objectives based on risk level. To meet these varying investment needs, participants
and beneficiaries will be able to elect to direct their account balances among a range of investment options to
construct diversified portfolios that span the risk/return spectrum.
The goal of the investment advice process is to assist Plan Participants in finding the asset mix which is most
likely to meet their investment objectives within acceptable risk parameters. Asset class sub-types can include
domestic large cap value equity, domestic large cap growth equity, domestic mid-cap value equity, domestic mid-
cap growth equity, domestic small cap value equity, domestic small cap growth equity, international equity, core
fixed income, short term fixed income, high yield fixed income, and other appropriate asset classes and
investments.
Accelerate shall direct the rebalancing of asset allocation Models on a periodic basis and/or upon reasonable
request. Participants and beneficiaries alone bear the risk of investment results from the options and asset
allocation that they select. Our Firm will reallocate and rebalance the Models in accordance with the IPS or other
guidelines approved by the plan sponsor.
Plan Service Provider Proposal Research and Analysis
Accelerate may assist Clients with the selection of a plan provider or providers for their plan, based on detailed
research and analysis of several providers. The provider review process includes an evaluation of administrative,
recordkeeping, compliance, and employee communications services, administrative and investment-related fees,
and an investment overview that incorporates a similar analysis to the investment due diligence process
described above.
Fiduciary Plan Review
The Fiduciary Plan Review™ includes a compliance checklist, plan design analysis, and other related analysis
designed to address plan compliance and efficiency. This document typically exceeds twenty (20) pages in
length and may also include a list of action items and suggestions, based on plan demographics and a
discussion by the Client’s plan fiduciaries and Accelerate.
General Plan Consulting Services
The Plan Sponsor is responsible for responding to ongoing questions, concerns, and issues raised by Accelerate
that are related to Client's qualified or non-qualified retirement plan. Services include plan pricing and contract
negotiation by the incumbent provider and Client, recommendations of specific service and product
enhancements, facilitation for the solution of service, administrative, and recordkeeping issues, plan compliance
assistance and guidance, and ongoing problem solving.
404(c) Audit
Accelerate will provide a comprehensive checklist of the latest industry accepted standards with respect to 404(c)
compliance and will work with Client to facilitate completion of the checklist. The responsible party for addressing
and verifying each item will either be the plan provider, the Customer, or in some instances Accelerate will
provide the research and analysis.
Fiduciary Role under ERISA
For those services stated under Investment Advice (Plan Level) Accelerate acknowledges that it is a fiduciary
with respect to the Plan under Section 3(21)(A)(ii) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as
amended (ERISA) and, as such, is a co-fiduciary with the trustees(s) of the Client’s Plan solely with respect to (a)
the provision of investment education of the employer and/or plan participants (depending on the specific
Advisory services provided); (b) the periodic reporting on, and analysis of, the investment options available under
the Plan; and (c) the provision of advice to the trustee(s) regarding the elimination or addition of investment
options available under the Plan; provided, however, that the trustee(s) acknowledge and agree that the
trustee(s) have the final and conclusive responsibility for the investment options selected to be available under
the Plan.
For those services stated under Investment Management (Plan Level), Accelerate acknowledges that it is a co-
fiduciary with respect to the Plan under Section 3(38) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,
as amended (ERISA). The co-fiduciary duties of Accelerate are limited to the selection, mapping, monitoring, and
replacement of plan investment options for which they have explicit authorized discretionary control. Accelerate
will not be responsible for investment decisions made by individual Plan participants with respect to the
investment of their accounts and/or investment into a model portfolio managed by Accelerate, if applicable.
Accelerate is not responsible for any fiduciary duties or responsibilities imposed on the Plan’s fiduciaries under
ERISA not explicitly contemplated in the services stated under the Investment Management (Plan Level).
When providing any Discretionary Fiduciary Services, our Firm will exercise Discretionary authority over the Plan
assets covered under each Discretionary Fiduciary Service selected by the Plan Sponsor. With respect to any
Discretionary Fiduciary Services provided to a Plan covered by Title I of ERISA, Section 402(c)(3) of ERISA
allows Sponsor to delegate responsibility for selecting, monitoring, and replacing Plan assets to an "investment
manager" that meets the requirements of Section 3(38) of ERISA. Section 405(d)(1) of ERISA provides that if an
investment manager is properly appointed, then "no trustee shall be liable for the acts or omissions of such
investment manager or managers or be under an obligation to invest or otherwise manage any asset of the Plan
which is subject to the management of such investment manager." Accelerate will not be responsible for
investment decisions made by the Plan participants with respect to the investment of their accounts. For those
services stated under Employee (Participant) Investment Advice and/or Asset Allocation Models, Accelerate
acknowledges that it is a limited scope fiduciary with respect to the Plan under Section 3(38) of ERISA.
Accelerate is a fiduciary to the Plan under Section 3(38) of ERISA for only those services under this Agreement
for which they have explicit authorized discretion over plan assets. Accelerate is authorized by the Client to
exercise its best judgment in investing, selling and reinvesting cash and securities of Participants and
Beneficiaries who have elected to use the Models, but only to the extent such actions relate to determining
allocation based on the Models, adjustments thereof, or rebalancing of the Models.
Retirement Plan Rollover Recommendations
As part of our investment advisory services to you, Accelerate may recommend you roll assets from your
employer’s retirement plan, such as a 401(k), 457, or ERISA 403(b) account (collectively, a “Plan Account”), to
an individual retirement account, such as a SIMPLE IRA (Individual Retirement Accounts), SEP IRA, Traditional
IRA, or Roth IRA (collectively, an “IRA Account”) our firm will manage on your behalf. We may also recommend
rollovers from IRA Accounts to Plan Accounts, from Plan Accounts to Plan Accounts, and from IRA Accounts to
IRA Accounts. When we provide any of the foregoing rollover recommendations we are acting as fiduciaries
within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal
Revenue Code (“IRC”), as applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts.
If you elect to roll the assets to an IRA subject to our management, Accelerate will charge you an asset-based
fee as set forth in the advisory agreement you executed with our Firm. This creates a conflict of interest because
it creates a financial incentive to recommend the rollover to you (i.e., receipt of additional fee-based
compensation). 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. Due to
the foregoing conflict of interest, when we make rollover recommendations, we operate under a special rule that
requires us to act in your best interests and not put our interests 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 interests ahead of yours when making recommendations (give loyal advice).
avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments.
adhere to the policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in your best
interests.
charge no more than a reasonable fee for our services; and
give you basic information about conflicts of interest.
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 a rollover. Note that an employee will typically have four options in this
situation:
leave the funds in your employer’s (former employer’s) plan.
move the funds to a new employer’s retirement plan.
cash out and take a taxable distribution from the plan; or
move the funds into an IRA rollover account.
Each of these options has positives and negatives. Because of that, along with the importance of understanding
the differences between these types of accounts, we will provide you with a written explanation of the
advantages and disadvantages of both account types and the basis for our belief that the rollover transaction we
recommend is in your best interests.
D. Assets Under Management
As of December 31st, 2023, Accelerate manages $74,724,203 in discretionary assets and $29,300,685 in non-
discretionary assets. Accelerate additionally provides consulting services to retirement plan clients with plan assets
totaling approximately $1.653 billion.