PFW Advisors LLC (referred to herein as “Private Family Wealth Advisors,” “Firm,” “we,” and
“our”) is an independent investment adviser that is registered with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Firm was formed in 2013 as a limited liability company in
Georgia and is currently wholly owned by Scott R. MacKenzie. Mr. MacKenzie is the Managing
Member and Chief Compliance Officer of Private Family Wealth Advisors. For more information
about Mr. MacKenzie, please see his brochure supplement (Form ADV Part 2B).
A. Types of Advisory Services:
The Firm offers the following types of advisory services.
1. Investment Management Services
Investment management services are typically provided on a discretionary basis. Clients will be
asked to grant discretionary authority to the Firm by signing our Investment Advisory Agreement.
Members of our investment team will meet with the client to develop an understanding of the
client’s financial objectives and goals. We will also discuss concepts related to risk, as well as the
client’s ability and willingness to accept risk in the client’s overall investment portfolio. We will
ask the client questions designed to determine the appropriate investment horizon, risk profile,
financial goals, income and other various items we deem necessary (“Suitability Information”).
We ask clients to update us promptly if any Suitability Information changes.
Clients are given the ability to impose reasonable restrictions on the management of their
accounts, including specific investment selections and sectors. However, Private Family Wealth
Advisors will not enter into an investment advisor relationship with a client whose investment
objectives may be considered incompatible with the Firm’s investment philosophy or strategies
or where the prospective client seeks to impose unreasonable investment guidelines.
After we meet with a client, we will develop a portfolio customized to the specific needs of the
client as we understand them based on the Suitability Information and any applicable
restrictions. Each client will be asked to open a trading account at a “qualified custodian,” which
is usually a securities broker-dealer, bank or trust company (“the Custodian”). The transactions
we implement in the client’s account will occur within the client’s account at the Custodian. The
portfolio we implement on the client’s behalf may be comprised of stocks, bonds, preferred
securities, publicly traded partnerships, ETFs, mutual funds, separately managed accounts, listed
options on ETFs and stocks, cash or cash equivalents and other types of investments.
If the client elects to have their account managed on a non-discretionary basis, the client grants
the Firm ongoing and continuous non-discretionary authority to make investment
recommendations in accordance with the client’s investment profile. However, the Firm must
obtain the client’s prior approval of each specific recommendation, as well as for the selection
and retention of sub-advisers for the account (see below), prior to entering into transactions in
the client’s account.
If the client elects to have their account managed on a discretionary basis, the client grants the
Firm ongoing and continuous discretionary authority to enter into transactions in accordance
with the client’s investment profile without the client’s prior approval of each specific
transaction. The client will also execute instructions regarding the Firm’s trading authority as
required by the Custodian.
We will also monitor the client’s accounts to ensure that they are meeting the client’s investment
objectives and other requirements. If any changes are needed to the client’s investments, we will
either make the changes or recommend the changes to the client. These changes may include,
among other things, buying additional securities, selling a security or group of investments and
buying others, or keeping the proceeds of securities sales in cash or another liquid cash
alternative. The client will receive written or electronic confirmations of all transactions from the
Custodian. The client will also receive statements at least quarterly from the Custodian. Our
Investment Advisory Agreement outlines the responsibilities of both the client and Private Family
Wealth Advisors.
In managing the client’s portfolio, the Firm may utilize the services of various third-party
investment advisory firms, money managers, platform providers, third-party managers, portfolio
specialists, investment model providers, or sub-advisers (collectively, “Sub-Advisers”) for the
management of client accounts. Before selecting a Sub-Adviser, the Firm will ensure that it is
properly licensed or registered if so required by law and will conduct additional due diligence on
the Sub-Adviser’s management style, performance and other relevant factors. If you grant us
discretionary authority, we have the ability to hire and/or fire any such Sub-Adviser without prior
consultation with you, or to allocate or reallocate your investments among or between various
Sub-Advisers. If we use a sub-adviser in the management of a client’s account, we will review
sub-adviser performance on an ongoing basis.
When we recommend the use of a Sub-Adviser, Clients may be requested to execute a separate
client services agreement with the Sub-Adviser that authorizes participation on the platform.
We may also use Sub-Advisers to aid in the implementation of an investment portfolio, allocating
client assets among such managers as appropriate. In some such cases, the Sub-Advisers will be
responsible for continuously monitoring client accounts and making trades in client accounts
when necessary.
2. Financial Planning and Consulting Services
Our Firm may provide stand-alone financial planning and consulting services based upon an
analysis of each client’s current situation,
goals, and objectives. Financial planning services will
typically involve preparing and delivering a financial plan after consultation with the client and a
review of relevant client records. Recommendations made in any financial plan are based on the
client’s financial goals and objectives. This planning or consulting may encompass advice
regarding real estate purchases, investment planning, retirement planning, estate planning,
charitable planning, education planning, corporate and personal tax planning, corporate
structure, mortgage/debt analysis, insurance analysis or business and personal financial
planning. Prior to engaging our Firm to provide planning or consulting services, clients are
generally required to enter into a Financial Planning and Consulting Agreement with Private
Family Wealth Advisors setting forth the terms and conditions of the engagement and describing
the scope of the services to be provided and the fees charged.
Implementation of any recommendations contained in the financial plan will be at the discretion
of the client. Clients are free to implement recommendations through another financial advisor
or firm and are under no obligation to implement the recommendations through us.
3. Retirement Plan Consulting Services
We offer retirement plan consulting services to employer-sponsored retirement plans subject to
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). Our retirement plan consulting
services include, but are not limited to, the following services:
Fiduciary Consulting Services
• Investment Policy Statement Preparation. Our Firm assists clients in the development or
review of an investment policy statement (“IPS”). The IPS establishes the investment
policies and objectives for the plan. Clients have the ultimate responsibility and authority
to establish such policies and objectives and to adopt and amend the investment policy
statement.
• Non-Discretionary Investment Advice. Our Firm provides clients with general, non-
discretionary investment advice regarding asset classes and investment alternatives
available for the plan that are consistent with the plan’s IPS. Our Firm assists clients with
the selection of a broad range of investment options consistent with the investment
option selection provisions of ERISA Section 404(c) and the regulations thereunder.
Clients have the final decision-making authority regarding the selection, retention,
removal and addition of any investment options.
• Investment Monitoring and Reports. Our Firm assists clients in monitoring investment
options by preparing periodic investment reports that document investment
performance, consistency of fund management and conformance to the guidelines set
forth in the IPS and make recommendations to maintain or remove and replace
investment options. The Firm will meet with clients on a periodic basis to discuss the
reports and the investment recommendations.
• Qualified Default Investment Alternative Advice. Our Firm provides clients with non-
discretionary investment advice to assist in developing qualified default investment
alternative(s) (“QDIA”), consistent with ERISA Section 404(c) and the regulations
thereunder, for participants who are automatically enrolled in the plan or who otherwise
fail to make an investment election. Clients retain the ultimate responsibility to comply
with the requirements of Section 404(c), to monitor Section 404(c) compliance, and to
follow the terms of the plan document.
The specific services to be provided will be listed in Our Firm's agreement with each retirement
plan. Our Firm acknowledges that in performing the retirement plan consulting services listed
above it is acting as a “fiduciary” as such term is defined under ERISA Section 3(21)(A)(ii) for
purposes of providing investment advice only. Our Firm acts in a manner consistent with the
requirements of a fiduciary under ERISA if, based upon the facts and circumstances, such services
cause Our Firm to be a fiduciary as a matter of law.
4. Retirement Plan Rollovers
Sometimes we will recommend that a client “roll over” assets that are held in an existing tax-
qualified retirement account, such as a 401(K), to be managed by us in an Individual Retirement
Account (“IRA”) or other similar account.
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).
When we provide investment advice to clients regarding their 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. If we recommend that a client roll over their retirement assets
into an account to be managed by us, such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if
we will earn an advisory fee on the rolled-over assets. We address this conflict of interest by
ensuring any such recommendations are in the client’s best interest. No client is under any
obligation to roll over retirement assets to an account to be managed by us.
B. Regulatory Assets Under Management
As of January 24, 2024, Private Family Wealth Advisors had $367,404,716 in client assets under
management, of which $367,218,971 is managed on a discretionary basis, and $185,745 is
managed on a non-discretionary basis.