Item 5 Additional Compensation
Item 6 Supervision
A. Description of Firm; History; Identification of Principals
Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC (“GRQ” or “we”) is a federally registered investment
advisor under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”). (“Federally
registered” does not connote or imply a certain level of skill or training.) We are an
independent firm whose only business is investment advisory service. We have prime
broker and custodian arrangements for client accounts with Pershing, LLC (“Pershing”)
though, at our discretion, we are able to work with a broker/custodian specified by clients
(please note disclosure in Item 12). We solely manage assets on a discretionary basis.
The investment advisory firm of Gardner Investments was founded by Eugene H.
Gardner as a sole proprietorship in 1968. Thomas A. Russo joined the firm in partnership
with Mr. Gardner in 1989. Eugene H. Gardner, Jr. came to the firm in 1998 and in 2000 the
firm became Gardner Russo & Gardner, a business partnership. In 2014 the firm became a
limited liability company; Thomas Russo is Managing Member and owns more than 25% of
the firm. There is no outside ownership of the firm beyond its Members. Mr. Gardner, Sr.
passed away in 2016. In 2021, the firm became known as Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC in
recognition of Director of Research Timothy C. Quinn.
Portfolio Managers Thomas Russo and Eugene Gardner Jr. oversee discrete groups
of separately managed accounts, formulating and implementing a common investment
approach and strategy along with sharing overall responsibility for the firm’s operations
and resources in conjunction with Members Timothy Quinn and Christopher Russo.
In addition, Thomas Russo is Managing Member of Semper Vic GP, LLC which is the
General Partner of Semper Vic Partners GP, LP., the General Partner responsible for the
management of Semper Vic Partners, L.P. and Semper Vic Partners (QP), L.P., privately
offered partnerships (“Domestic Funds”) that are clients of GRQ and are invested in U.S.
and foreign equities in parallel fashion with separately managed accounts
by Thomas
Russo and Timothy Quinn.
Additionally, GRQ serves as the investment manager to Semper Vic Partners
Offshore, Ltd. ("Semper Vic Offshore" or "Offshore Fund"), a Cayman Islands-exempted
company. Investment decisions for this Fund, whose primary objective is growth of capital,
are made by Thomas Russo and Timothy Quinn and are pari passu to those made for the
Domestic Funds and for separately managed accounts.
The three investment vehicles described above may be collectively referred to as
“Funds” or the “Semper Vic Funds”.
The Portfolio Managers for the firm are supported by a staff of forty-nine
professionals in research analysis, trading, technology and operations, client service and
account administration, compliance, and general support.
B. Advisory Service; Style of Investing
Our single advisory service is discretionary portfolio management on an individual,
account-by-account basis. Our client portfolios are comprised of common stocks that can
broadly be termed global value (please see Item 8). Within this universe we focus on
stocks that are purchased and held for purpose of long-term appreciation (in contrast to
those whose primary purpose is to produce income). Our advice is limited to this
discipline.
C. Individual Needs of Clients; Client Restrictions
Clients may request that restrictions be placed on their investments. However, the
fact that we have a single style means that clients, by coming to us, express their desire for
their funds to be managed in our particular style. We fully disclose at the outset what this
style means in terms of risk, performance potential, exposure to certain companies and
industries, and income expectation. Accordingly, assets placed with GRQ may be managed
without regard to clients’ other holdings.
D. Wrap Fee Programs
We do not engage in Wrap Fee programs.
E. Assets under Management, Discretionary vs. Non-Discretionary
As previously stated, GRQ only manages assets entrusted to it on a discretionary
basis (please see A, above). As of December 31, 2022, we managed $9,245,835,915 on a
discretionary basis.