A. Firm Information
Waystone Advisors LLC (“Waystone Advisors” or the “Advisor”) is a registered investment advisor with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Advisor is organized as a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”)
under the laws of the State of Washington. Waystone Advisors was founded in March 2022 and became a
registered investment advisor in December 2023. Waystone Advisors is owned and operated by Austin Dean,
CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, RICP® (Chief Executive Officer and Financial Planner).
This Disclosure Brochure provides information regarding the qualifications, business practices, and the advisory
services provided by Waystone Advisors. For information regarding this Disclosure Brochure, please contact
Savanna Reynolds (Chief Compliance Officer) at (425) 484-0045.
B. Advisory Services Offered
Waystone Advisors offers investment advisory services to individuals, high net worth individuals, trusts, estates,
and businesses (each referred to as a “Client”).
The Advisor serves as a fiduciary to Clients, as defined under the applicable laws and regulations. As a fiduciary,
the Advisor upholds a duty of loyalty, fairness and good faith towards each Client and seeks to mitigate potential
conflicts of interest. Waystone Advisors’ fiduciary commitment is further described in the Advisor’s Code of Ethics.
For more information regarding the Code of Ethics, please see Item 11 – Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in
Client Transactions and Personal Trading.
Investment Management Services
Waystone Advisors provides customized investment advisory solutions for its Clients. This is achieved through
continuous personal Client contact and interaction while providing discretionary investment management and
related advisory services. Waystone Advisors works closely with each Client to identify their investment goals and
objectives as well as risk tolerance and financial situation in order to create a portfolio strategy. Waystone Advisors
will then construct an investment portfolio, consisting of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and/or mutual funds to
achieve the Client’s investment goals. The Advisor may also utilize individual stocks, individual bonds, unaffiliated
money managers (See “Independent Managers” below), and/or other types of investments, as appropriate, to meet
the needs of the Client. The Advisor may retain certain legacy investments based on portfolio fit and/or tax
considerations.
Waystone Advisors’ investment strategies are primarily long-term focused, but the Advisor may buy, sell or re-
allocate positions that have been held for less than one year to meet the objectives of the Client or due to market
conditions. Waystone Advisors will construct, implement and monitor the portfolio to ensure it meets the goals,
objectives, circumstances, and risk tolerance agreed to by the Client. Each Client will have the opportunity to place
reasonable restrictions on the types of investments to be held in their respective portfolio, subject to acceptance by
the Advisor.
Waystone Advisors evaluates and selects investments for inclusion in Client portfolios only after applying its
internal due diligence process. Waystone Advisors may recommend, on occasion, redistributing investment
allocations to diversify the portfolio. Waystone Advisors may recommend specific positions to increase sector or
asset class weightings. The Advisor may recommend employing cash positions as a possible hedge against market
movement.
Waystone Advisors 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 the Client, generating cash to meet
Client needs, or any risk deemed unacceptable for the Client’s risk tolerance.
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At no time will Waystone Advisors accept or maintain custody of a Client’s funds or securities, except for the limited
authority as outlined in Item 15 – Custody. All Client assets will be managed within the designated account[s] at the
Custodian, pursuant to the terms of the advisory agreement. Please see Item 12 – Brokerage Practices.
Use of Independent Managers – Waystone Advisors may recommend that Clients utilize one or more unaffiliated
investment managers or investment platforms (collectively “Independent Managers”) for all or a portion of a Client’s
investment portfolio, based on the Client’s needs and objectives. In certain instances, the Client may be required to
authorize and enter into a wealth management agreement with the Independent Manager[s] that defines the terms
in which the Independent Manager[s] will provide its services. The Advisor will perform initial and ongoing oversight
and due diligence over each Independent Manager to ensure the strategy remains aligned with Clients investment
objectives and overall best interests. The Advisor will also assist the Client in the development of the initial policy
recommendations and managing the ongoing Client relationship. The Client, prior to entering into an agreement
with an Independent Manager, will be provided with the Independent Manager's Form ADV Part 2A - Disclosure
Brochure (or a brochure that makes the appropriate disclosures).
Use of Turnkey Asset Management Program – Waystone Advisors may periodically recommend and refer Clients
to turnkey asset management programs (“TAMPs”) at Waystone Advisors’ discretion or the Client’s request. In
certain instances, the Client may be required to authorize and enter into an investment management agreement
with the TAMP that defines the terms in which the TAMP will provide its services. Waystone Advisors will remain
the Client’s primary Advisor and oversee the Client’s investment allocation[s] and overall investment performance.
While the TAMP will assume day-to-day investment management of the assets, Waystone Advisors will be
responsible for establishing the Client’s investment objectives and recommending a TAMP’s investment strategy to
meet those objectives. The Client will be provided with the TAMP’s Form ADV Part 2A (or a brochure that makes
the appropriate disclosures).
TAMPs may provide back-office administration services to Waystone Advisors, which can include research, trading
and rebalancing, and administrative services such as Client account paperwork, Client billing, performance
reporting, and investment due diligence. Waystone Advisors may not utilize all services offered by the TAMP.
TAMPs typically rebalance Client portfolios according to the specified model or asset allocation selected by
Waystone Advisors or according to the TAMP’s models. TAMPs are not responsible for the analysis of Waystone
Advisors’ Clients’ financial situations, suitability requirements, asset allocations, or investment restrictions.
Retirement Accounts – When the Advisor provides investment advice to Clients regarding ERISA retirement
accounts or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), the Advisor is a fiduciary 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. When deemed to be in the Client’s best interest, the Advisor will
provide investment advice to a Client regarding a distribution from an ERISA retirement account or to roll over the
assets to an IRA, or recommend a similar transaction including rollovers from one ERISA sponsored Plan to
another, one IRA to another IRA, or from one type of account to another account (e.g. commission-based account
to fee-based account). Such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if the Advisor will earn a new (or
increase its current) advisory fee as a result of the transaction. No client is under any obligation to roll over a
retirement account to an account managed by the Advisor.
Financial Planning Services
Waystone Advisors will typically provide a variety of financial planning and consulting services to Clients, pursuant
to a written financial planning agreement. Services are offered in several areas of a Client’s financial situation,
depending on their goals and objectives. Generally, such financial planning services involve preparing a formal
financial plan or rendering a specific financial consultation based on the Client’s financial goals and objectives. This
planning or consulting may encompass one or more areas of need, including but not limited to, investment
planning, retirement planning, personal savings, education savings, insurance needs, and/or other areas of a
Client’s financial situation.
A financial plan developed for, or financial consultation rendered to the Client will usually include general
recommendations for a course of activity or specific actions to be taken by the Client. For example,
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recommendations may be made that the Client start or revise their investment programs, commence or alter
retirement savings, establish education savings and/or charitable giving programs.
Waystone Advisors may also refer Clients to an accountant, attorney or other specialists, as appropriate for their
unique situation. For certain financial planning engagements, the Advisor will provide a written summary of the
Client’s financial situation, observations, and recommendations. For consulting or ad-hoc engagements, the
Advisor may not provide a written summary. Plans or consultations are typically completed within six (6) months of
contract date, assuming all information and documents requested are provided promptly.
Financial planning and consulting recommendations pose a conflict between the interests of the Advisor and the
interests of the Client. For example, the Advisor has an incentive to recommend that Clients engage the Advisor for
investment management services or to increase the level of investment assets with the Advisor, as it would
increase the amount of advisory fees paid to the Advisor. Clients are not obligated to implement any
recommendations made by the Advisor or maintain an ongoing relationship with the Advisor. If the Client elects to
act on any of the recommendations made by the Advisor, the Client is under no obligation to implement the
transaction through the Advisor.
C. Client Account Management
Prior to engaging Waystone Advisors to provide investment advisory services, each Client is required to enter into
one or more agreements with the Advisor that define the terms, conditions, authority and responsibilities of the
Advisor and the Client. These services may include:
● Establishing an Investment Strategy – Waystone Advisors, in connection with the Client, will develop a
strategy that seeks to achieve the Client’s goals and objectives.
● Asset Allocation – Waystone Advisors will develop a strategic asset allocation that is targeted to meet the
investment objectives, time horizon, financial situation and tolerance for risk for each Client.
● Portfolio Construction – Waystone Advisors will develop a portfolio for the Client that is intended to meet the
stated goals and objectives of the Client.
● Investment Management and Supervision – Waystone Advisors will provide investment management and
ongoing oversight of the Client’s investment portfolio.
D. Wrap Fee Programs
Waystone Advisors does not manage or place Client assets into a wrap fee program. Investment management
services are provided directly by Waystone Advisors.
E. Assets Under Management
As of December 31th, 2023, Waystone manages $111,019,615 in Client assets, all of which are managed on a
discretionary basis. Clients may request more current information at any time by contacting the Advisor.