A Our Firm. Signature Equity Partners, LLC is a Nevada limited liability company founded in 2023
by its Chief Executive Officer, Scott W. Armstrong. We are registered as an investment advisor
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Our principal offices are
located in Columbus, Ohio.
The information contained in this brochure describes our investment advisory services, practices,
and fees. Our investment advisory services are tailored to the unique needs and investment
objectives of our clients. As used throughout this firm brochure, the words “Signature,” “firm,”
“we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Signature Equity Partners, LLC and its investment advisor
representatives (“IARs”), and the words “you,” “your,” and “client” refer to you as either a client
or prospective client of our firm.
Our investment advisory services are coordinated and delivered through a network of independent
advisory affiliates (“Advisory Affiliates”), some of whom may conduct investment advisory
business under their own independently owned business entity name or trade name. In these
instances, the Advisory Affiliate’s business entity name, trade name and/or logo will be used
exclusively for marketing purposes, and the investment advisory services you receive from the
Advisory Affiliate will be provided through Signature. Specifically, the underlying financial
advisors of each Advisory Affiliate are registered as IARs of Signature. The Advisory Affiliate’s
underlying business entity is independently owned and operated, not a registered investment
advisor, and is not affiliated with Signature.
Prior to forming an investment advisor-client relationship, we may offer a complimentary general
consultation to discuss the nature of our advisory services and to explore how we might be able to
best assist you in achieving your financial goals and objectives. Investment advisory services begin
only after the client and Signature formalize their relationship by their joint execution of a written
investment advisory agreement.
B C Our Services. We offer a variety of investment advisory services to clients. Our investment advice
is always tailored according to each client’s unique financial circumstances, objectives, and needs.
Clients may engage certain of Signature’s advisory services on either a discretionary or non-
discretionary basis. In a discretionary relationship, we will implement securities transactions within
your investment account(s) without obtaining your specific approval for each transaction. This
authority typically extends to allow us to hire and fire third-party money managers on your behalf
and/or to reallocate your assets between third-party money managers. In a non-discretionary
relationship, we must obtain your approval prior to implementing transactions within your
investment account(s),
except for instances where we seek to rebalance your account to an asset
allocation you have previously approved or convert your existing mutual fund holdings to a lower-
cost share class (when possible and in your best interests to do so). Please see Item 16 of this
brochure for more information on our investment discretion policies.
Clients have the ability to impose reasonable restrictions on our management of their account(s),
including the ability to instruct us not to purchase certain specific securities, types of securities,
industry sectors, and/or asset classes. All such requests must be provided to us in writing. While
we generally attempt to accommodate client account restrictions, we reserve the right to reject such
limitations if we determine that they would frustrate our ability to provide services.
The investment advisory services offered through our network of Advisory Affiliates are described
below:
VISION2020 WEALTH MANAGEMENT PLATFORM –
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SERVICES
We offer our clients ongoing and continuous portfolio management services under the
“VISION2020 Wealth Management Platform,” sponsored by VISION2020 Wealth Management
Corporation (“Vision2020”) (CRD No. 154149), an SEC registered investment advisor which is
not affiliated with our firm. We refer to this collection of advisory programs as the “WMP
Programs” throughout this brochure.
A summary of the WMP Programs follows below. Irrespective of the WMP Program selected,
Signature will (i) consult with you at the inception of our advisory relationship and periodically
thereafter, as necessary, to identify your investment goals, needs, limitations, and risk tolerance
(collectively, your “Investor Profile”) and (ii) monitor the performance of your investment portfolio
on an ongoing basis and recommend changes as needed or appropriate, in consideration of current
economic conditions, our market opinions and assumptions, and changes in your Investor Profile,
financial circumstances, and goals. Clients are required to promptly notify us if there are changes
in their financial situation, needs, and objectives which might necessitate an adjustment to their
portfolio.
The WMP Programs we make available to clients are as follows:
Advisor Managed Portfolio Program (“Advisor Managed Portfolio Program”)
Under the Advisor Managed Portfolio Program, we will analyze your Investor Profile and
recommend a customized portfolio allocation tailored to your unique financial circumstances and
goals. We will have the option to populate your portfolio with a mix of individual stocks, bonds,
options, exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), mutual funds and other securities based on your
investment needs. Portfolios are constructed along basic investment objective categories and are
subject to client-imposed investment restrictions. You may choose to engage us on a discretionary
or non-discretionary basis under this WMP Program.
Unified Managed Account Program (“Unified Managed Account Program”)
Under the Unified Managed Account Program, we will analyze your Investor Profile and
recommend an asset allocation model consisting of various asset classes such as equities, fixed
income, cash and cash equivalents, and/or alternative investments. Subject to any client-imposed
investment restrictions, we will create an asset allocation model comprised of (i) proprietary
investment strategies designed and managed by third-party money managers
1 (collectively, “WMP
Investment Managers”) and/or by your IAR that generally invest in mutual funds, exchange traded
products, equities, and/or bonds; (ii) individually selected mutual funds and ETFs (collectively,
“Funds”); and/or (iii) a combination of the foregoing.
1 Includes third-party money managers that have been (i) directly engaged by Vision2020 and (ii) other managers that
have made their services available on the Unified Managed Account Program platform through a master agreement
maintained between Vision2020 and Envestnet Asset Management, Inc. (“Envestnet”), an independent SEC registered
investment advisor.
At an additional cost, certain Unified Managed Account Programs allow you to add tax
management overlays and/or socially responsible investment overlays to your account. Please
contact your IAR or Vision2020 for more information regarding these account overlay programs.
Within the Unified Managed Account Program, your investments will be managed in one or a series
of Separately Managed Accounts (“SMAs”), Genesis Model Portfolios Accounts (“GMPA”),
Unified Managed Accounts (“UMAs”), or Strategist Unified Managed Accounts (“SUMAs”). A
description of each of these account structures is found below. Unified Managed Account Program
accounts are managed exclusively on a discretionary basis, which means that our firm, Vision2020,
and any underlying WMP Investment Managers are authorized to make allocation changes or trades
without your prior approval of each specific transaction. In addition, our firm and Vision2020 are
authorized to change your asset allocation model selections, WMP Investment Managers, or
program account type without your prior approval based on our understanding of your financial
goals and investment objectives.
Separately Managed Account (“SMA”)
An SMA consists of a portfolio of assets managed by a professional investment firm and
offers direct ownership of securities. An SMA can contain one or more WMP Investment
Managers with each investing according to a specific strategy. In an SMA each WMP
Investment Manager strategy is assigned to its own custodial account. The SMA may also
contain Funds, generally used to compliment the WMP Investment Manager strategies
employed within the SMA.
Genesis Model Portfolios Account (“GMPA”)
The GMPA is a professionally managed mutual fund and exchange-traded fund asset
allocation portfolio. A GMPA can contain one or more WMP Investment Managers, with
each investing according to a specific strategy. The WMP Investment Managers selected
are responsible for selecting the Funds within a portfolio and for making changes to the
Funds selected. Each WMP Investment Manager strategy is assigned to their own custodial
account. WMP Investment Managers in a GMPA offer both strategists directly contracted
through Vision2020 and third-party managers contracted through Envestnet Asset
Management, Inc.
Unified Managed Account (“UMA”)
A UMA is comprised of similar investment options offered in an SMA and GMPA, in
addition to investment strategies created by Signature’s IARs. Unlike SMA and GMPA
accounts, all WMP Investment Manager strategies, Funds, and other investments are held
in a single custodial account. Based on your financial goals and investment objectives,
Signature will, at its discretion, create an asset allocation model. Your asset allocation
model is assigned investment strategies created and managed by WMP Investment
Managers, Signature, or Funds. At your option, overlay management is provided to
coordinate the trading activities of UMA Investment Managers, rebalancing, and optional
tax management and socially responsible investment services.
Strategist UMAs (“SUMA”)
A SUMA is an account comprised of similar investment options offered in a UMA, but
unlike the UMA, all investments are selected by one WMP Investment Manager (“SUMA
Manager”) instead of Signature. Based on your financial goals and investment objectives,
Signature will, at its discretion, select a SUMA Manager. SUMA Managers will create
portfolios that are made up of predominately SMAs, however the SUMA Manager can also
include other Funds or WMP Investment Managers in the portfolio. The SUMA Manager
is responsible for selecting the investments held within your portfolio and for making
changes to the account at their discretion. At your option, overlay management is provided
to coordinate the trading activities of SUMA Managers, rebalancing, and optional tax
management and socially responsible investing services.
For further details related to the nature of the services and fees associated with participation in any
of the WMP Programs, please see the separate written brochures related to each prepared by the
WMP Program’s sponsor, Vision2020. We will provide copies of these separate brochure(s) to you
prior to your enrollment in any of the WMP Programs. Please read each applicable brochure
thoroughly before investing. You may contact us or Vision2020 if you have any questions
regarding the WMP Programs.
INDEPENDENT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Separate from the WMP Programs, we also offer wholly independent portfolio management
services. When you engage for these services, we will manage your designated investment accounts
in accordance with our understanding of your unique financial circumstances, investment
objectives, goals, and needs. You will be required to deposit your assets to an account (or accounts)
held in your name at an independent qualified custodian and execute a limited power of attorney
granting our firm trading authority over your account.
We will consult with you at the inception of our relationship and periodically thereafter, as
necessary, to identify your investment goals, needs, limitations, and risk tolerance. Based on our
analysis of these factors, we will recommend and implement a portfolio of investments and/or
independent third-party money manager investment programs (“TPMMs”) which we believe to
align with your unique investment needs and objectives. We may also manage your account
utilizing model portfolios designed by our firm or by TPMMs. We will monitor your account(s) on
an ongoing basis (including any assets allocated to TPMMs) and implement or recommend changes
to your portfolio as needed or appropriate, in consideration of current economic conditions, our
market opinions and assumptions, and any material changes in your individual financial
circumstances, goals, and needs.
These services may be engaged on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis.
THIRD PARTY MONEY MANAGER SELECTION AND MONITORING SERVICES
We offer TPMM selection and monitoring services that are tailored to your unique financial profile.
We will consult with you at the inception of our relationship and periodically thereafter, as
necessary, to identify your investment goals, needs, limitations, and risk tolerance. Based on our
analysis of this information, we will recommend one or more TPMMs who have been vetted by
our firm (or a third-party retained by Signature) for the management of your assets. All TPMMs
recommended by Signature shall be registered investment advisors and shall be responsible to
independently deliver to you a copy of their then current Form ADV Part 2A firm brochure at or
prior to the time of their engagement by you. Clients are encouraged to carefully read and
understand this document and to address any questions or concerns with us and/or the
recommended TPMMs before engaging the recommended TPMMs for advisory services.
The TPMMs you select will directly manage your assets and shall be responsible for all day-to-day
decisions and activities related to investment research, trading, portfolio reporting, and custodian
reconciliations. Following the initial deployment of your assets, Signature will be responsible to
monitor the performance of your TPMM-managed accounts and to make recommendations
regarding the hiring/firing and/or reallocation of your assets among existing TPMMs. As a result
of Signature and the selected TPMMs having different roles, you will typically be required to
engage each in a separate written advisory agreement describing their respective services and
advisory fees.
These services are non-discretionary in nature. You will make all final decisions regarding the
hiring, firing, and allocation of your assets between TPMMs.
FINANCIAL PLANNING AND CONSULTING SERVICES
We offer financial planning and consulting services that are tailored to assist you in the
management of your financial affairs in view of your unique financial circumstances, needs,
limitations, and goals. We will work with you to determine the scope and
topics to be covered by
these services. Examples of typical financial planning and consulting issues we address for clients
include, without limitation, the following:
Budgeting and Cash Management: Assisting you in understanding cash inflows and
outflows and setting and maintaining a sustainable budget.
Risk Management and Insurance Planning: Evaluating areas of financial and other risk to
your financial health and designing and recommending insurance coverage to protect your
family, home, assets, and cash flow from the effects of unexpected events. Clients are
advised that certain of Signature’s IARs may act in their individual capacity as insurance
agents and may recommend and sell insurance products to clients and collect insurance
commissions in connection with such transactions. This arrangement creates conflicts of
interest which are discussed in further detail in Item 5 of this brochure.
Financial Planning Relating to Specific Life/Business Events: Providing you with
specialized advice unique to events such as child birth, divorce, business transactions, real
estate transactions, and other specific events, both planned and unplanned.
Estate Planning: Advance planning for your incapacitation and/or death, including end of
life care/disability planning, handling of your end of life financial affairs, and the
management and distribution of assets upon your death in a tax and cost efficient manner.
Tax Planning: Analysis of your tax circumstances and current tax regulations and
designing tax efficient strategies intended to reduce your tax liabilities in the short and long
term.
Retirement Planning: Assisting you in the design and implementation of a long-term
income and asset management plan intended to grow and protect your income and assets
such that you can maintain your desired standard of living throughout your retirement.
Investment Planning/Investment Goal Setting: Designing an overall plan for the investment
and management of your assets, including investment accounts (taxable and non-taxable),
personal property, real property, and business interests in a manner designed to achieve
your short- and long-term goals and objectives. Assisting you in determining appropriate
investment goals and objectives.
Education Planning and Funding: Analyzing and designing a plan to fund your and your
family’s educational needs.
These services are available either as part of an ongoing comprehensive financial planning
relationship or on a one-time financial planning or project specific basis.
For ongoing engagements, we will consult with you at the inception of our relationship and
periodically thereafter to obtain an understanding of your unique financial circumstances, goals,
and key areas of financial concern. We will analyze the information and documents you provide
and deliver an initial written financial plan, report, or summary of our observations and
recommendations designed to address your unique financial situation, needs, and objectives. We
will consult with you in person, by phone/tele-video conference, or by other means of
communication (e.g., e-mail) for periodic reviews and updates of your financial plan and to track
progress towards your goals. We will also remain reasonably available to consult with you on an
as-needed basis regarding your financial plan and any common financial concerns you may have
throughout our relationship. Ongoing engagements renew automatically on an annual basis unless
otherwise terminated by Signature or the client.
For one-time and project specific engagements, you may select to receive broad-based financial
planning services or advice regarding particular financial topics, concerns, or transactions. We will
consult with you to obtain an understanding of your unique financial circumstances, goals, and key
topics or transactions of financial concern. We will analyze the information and documents you
provide and deliver a final written financial plan, report, or summary of our observations and
recommendations designed to address your unique situation, needs, and objectives. For the most
limited engagements, our advice may be conveyed to you solely via in-person consultations, by
telephone/tele-video conference, and/or through e-mail correspondence. Once our final
recommendations are delivered to you (whether in writing or otherwise) the engagement is
concluded and no further update or review of our recommendations is provided. One-time
engagements are typically completed within six (6) months of inception, assuming that all the
information and documents we request are provided to us promptly.
Our financial planning services are non-discretionary in nature – you are never obligated to
implement any of our recommendations and will make all final investment decisions. You will also
be responsible for the selection of service providers and the implementation and ongoing
monitoring of your investments.
While you are never obligated to utilize Signature for any further services, upon request, we may
assist you with the implementation of certain financial planning recommendations we provide -
additional fees may apply. Where you choose to engage us for portfolio management services
following the delivery of our financial planning or consulting recommendations, we use our
discretion to offset some or all of our financial planning fees against the fees to be charged for our
ongoing portfolio management services.
Our financial planning services may include recommendations that you engage certain third-party
professionals, for example, attorneys, accountants, and insurance agents. We do not provide you
with any legal, tax, or accounting advice, opinions, or documents. We are not liable for the
independent acts, errors or omissions of any recommended third-party providers and do not receive
any compensation in connection with referring our clients to any third-party providers.
NON-DISCRETIONARY ADVISORY SERVICES
We offer non-discretionary advisory services that are tailored to assist our clients in the
management of their financial accounts and affairs. These services are offered on a one-time,
ongoing, or periodic basis and include the following offerings:
Investment Portfolio Monitoring: We will periodically monitor portfolios or accounts
designated by you and provide investment advice on a non-discretionary basis to you via
phone/tele-video, e-mail, and/or in-person consultation. Investment advice may cover
recommendations for asset allocation, investment portfolio construction, investment
selection/strategy, TPMM selection/retention, or other services as selected by you.
Financial Consulting: We will assist you in determining your personal financial goals and
objectives and offer our recommendations regarding the allocation of your present
financial resources among different types of assets.
Annual Account Reviews: We will perform an annual review and consultation of selected
investment accounts and recommend appropriate changes to your investments and
recommendations for implementation of such proposed changes.
Securities Research: We will perform investment research and provide advice with respect
to specific securities, industries, or market sectors as specified by the client.
Our non-discretionary advisory services may include recommendations that the client engage
certain third-party professionals, for example, attorneys, accountants, and insurance agents. We do
not provide you with any legal, tax, or accounting advice, opinions, or documents. We are not liable
for the independent acts, errors or omissions of any recommended third-party providers and do not
receive any compensation in connection with referring our clients to any third-party providers.
RETIREMENT PLAN CONSULTING SERVICES
We offer retirement plan consulting services to employee benefit plans (each a “Plan”) and their
fiduciaries based upon the needs of the Plan and the services requested by the plan sponsor or
named fiduciary. At the client’s option and depending on the client’s needs, we can be engaged for
these services on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis. Our IARs do not provide legal, tax,
accounting, or actuarial advice of any kind as part of these services. It is the Plan’s responsibility
to ensure that the Plan’s investment policy statement (“IPS”) and asset allocation choices comply
with any legal, actuarial, or other requirements that apply to the Plan and that the Plan meets tax
qualification requirements.
Our retirement plan consulting services are customized to suit the client, and may include some or
all of the following, at the client’s election: discretionary investment management services, non-
discretionary investment advice to the Plan and/or its participants; IPS development assistance;
plan menu design; review/selection of qualified default investment alternatives; review/selection
of designated investment alternatives, recommendation and monitoring of investment options;
evaluation of company stock (as an investment option); plan investment objective review;
investment monitoring and reporting; plan design analysis; evaluation of service providers and
preparation of requests for service; contract negotiation support; ongoing plan operation support;
benchmarking studies and reviews; service provider monitoring; service provider transition/plan
conversion support; participant education and communication strategy; employee education
meetings; group and individual enrollment meetings; participant phone and e-mail support;
delivery of plan communications; review of plan progress against education strategy goals;
fiduciary education services to plan committee; attendance and support for plan committee
meetings; review of plan committee governance and structure; review of Employee Retirement
Income Securities Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) compliance; review of bonding and insurance coverage;
and development and maintenance of plan fiduciary file.
Certain plans/clients that we may provide services to are regulated under ERISA. We will provide
retirement plan consulting services to the plan sponsor and/or fiduciaries as described above for
the fees set forth in Item 5 of this brochure. In providing services to any Plan and its underlying
participants, our status is that of an investment advisor registered with the SEC. We are not subject
to any disqualifications under Section 411 of ERISA. In performing fiduciary services for the client,
if any, we are acting as a “fiduciary” of the plan as defined in Section 3(21) under ERISA, and in
certain instances, as an “investment manager” as defined in Section 3(38) under ERISA. In all
cases, our status under ERISA is clearly disclosed in a written advisory agreement. If there is any
discrepancy between the disclosures in this paragraph and the agreement, the agreement shall
govern.
D Wrap Fee Programs. Depending on your needs, we may manage your investment accounts
through the WMP Programs. As described in Item 5 of this brochure, certain WMP Programs are
offered exclusively as wrap fee programs, while others offer a wrap fee option. In a wrap fee
structure, a single asset-based fee is paid to cover the costs of our advisory services, together with
certain transaction costs, custodial fees, and other expenses incurred in connection with the
management of your account (a “Wrap Account”). Signature receives a portion of the wrap fees
you pay to participate in a Wrap Account under the WMP Programs. For further details related to
the nature of the services and fees associated with your participation in the WMP Programs, please
see the separate written brochures related to each prepared by the WMP Programs’ sponsor,
Vision2020.
Client accounts managed through the WMP Programs are generally managed using the same
investment strategies as those managed outside the WMP Programs, however, clients should note
that accounts managed through the WMP Programs may have access to certain WMP Independent
Managers that are not available to accounts managed outside of the WMP Programs.
For Wrap Accounts, the fees for transactions executed in your account and fees charged by any
underlying investment managers are included in the wrap fee you will pay for our services. As a
result, you may be subject to a higher fees for a Wrap Account than an account where advisory
fees, custodial charges, and transaction costs are charged separately (a “Non-Wrap Account”).
Please consider that depending upon the level of the wrap fee charges, the amount of portfolio
activity in your account, the value of services that are provided under the investment program, and
other factors, the wrap fee may or may not exceed the aggregate cost of services if they were to be
provided separately. Generally, Wrap Accounts are relatively less expensive for actively or
frequently traded accounts. However, they may result in higher overall costs to the client in
accounts that experience infrequent trading activity.
The Wrap Fee structure of certain WMP Programs may create an incentive for our IARs to trade
your account less often or to invest your account in securities where transaction charges may be
waived or reduced by the clearing firm or product sponsor. This creates a conflict of interest that
you should consider when agreeing to participate in any of the WMP Programs under a Wrap
Account arrangement.
Types of Investments Recommended. While we do not recommend one particular type of
investment or asset class over any other and do not generally limit the types of investments we
might recommend to clients, we primarily advise our clients regarding investments in equity
securities (stocks), mutual funds, ETFs, real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), corporate debt
securities (bonds), variable products (life insurance and annuities), and the engagement of suitable
TPMMs and WMP Investment Managers. Depending on the client’s financial circumstances, our
investment advice may also concern other instruments, including, without limitation, options on
equity securities, municipal securities, exchange traded notes, money market accounts, and U.S.
government securities, among others. We may also provide advice on any type of “legacy
investments” held in the client’s portfolio at the inception of our advisory relationship.
Cash holdings are at times utilized within IARs’ investment strategies for clients with generally
more conservative investor profiles where securities, bonds, or other investment choices may not
be appropriate. Cash holdings are also typically utilized within IARs’ active/tactical investment
management strategies for temporary liquidity purposes until appropriate securities can be
identified and purchased.
Please see Item 8 of this brochure for a description of the investment strategies we typically
implement in client accounts.
E Assets Under Management. As of November 20, 2023, we have $99,931,780 of discretionary and
$91,033 of non-discretionary client assets under management to report.