We are 100% employee-owned and were founded in 1990 by John B. Carew. William L. Little, Jr.,
CFA® owns approximately 27% of our outstanding shares, Ann B. Carew owns approximately 4% of our
outstanding shares, Benjamin G. Carew, CFA® owns approximately 9% of our outstanding shares, Elaine
N. Carew owns approximately 1% of our outstanding shares and John B. Carew owns approximately 59%
of our outstanding shares.
Our only business is providing portfolio management services on a discretionary basis to individuals,
retirement plans, trusts, estates, corporations, investment companies, other investment advisors, banks,
endowments and foundations (See Item 16 for information about Investment Discretion). Such services
are generally provided on a fee for service basis. Such fees are agreed to in advance and set forth in each
client agreement (additional information about our fees can be found in Item 5 below). Our portfolio
management services are primarily for the management of equity portfolios. The type of portfolio is
selected by each client and set forth in each client agreement. Such portfolios may include exchange-
listed and over-the-counter equity securities of domestic and foreign issuers, corporate, municipal and
U.S. government debt, cash equivalents, exchange traded funds and mutual fund shares. All portfolios are
managed either on a separate account basis or model provided for unified managed accounts. We do not
consider any of our services to be financial planning, asset allocation or general financial advice. Clients
should discuss suitablity of investments with their financial advisor.
For equity portfolios, we have 4 fundamental criteria each security must meet for inclusion in a portfolio
and 3 styles of equity portfolios. These are discussed in Item 8: Methods of Analysis, Investment
Strategies and Risk of Loss.
Clients with specific needs or concerns including, but not limited to, current income, tax considerations
and avoidance of specific securities or types of securities may designate such issues in the client
agreement with the understanding that one of the strategies defined above will be employed while
accommodating client needs.
We offer our portfolio management services both directly and indirectly to clients. Clients may hire us
directly without the partnership of an independent financial advisor or clients may hire us indirectly, by
means of an independent financial advisor.
For those clients that hire us directly we may suggest a custodian but do not require that the client choose
a suggested custodian. Clients chosen investment strategy is documented on the Investment Agreement
executed with Tandem and suitability determinations are the responsibilty of the client and their
independent financial advisor. Tandem is only responsible for managing the client’s assets in accordance
with the selected investment strategy and any reasonable restrictions imposed by the client and agreed
upon by Tandem.
For those clients that hire us indirectly the financial advisor’s firm typically provides custody and certain
brokerage services for a fee. The Program Sponsor/Financial Advisor’s firm is generally responsible for
determining
client suitability including the use of a Tandem investment strategy. Tandem is only
responsible for managing the client’s assets in accordance with the selected investment strategy and any
reasonable restrictions imposed by the client and agreed upon by Tandem. In indirect relationships, the
Financial Advisors may limit the information available to us. In addition, and in these indirect
relationships, the Financial Advisor’s firm may restrict us from communicating directly with clients.
As deemed appropriate and pursuant to our duty to seek best execution, we may use “step-out” trades.
Step-outs are orders placed with brokers/dealers other than the financial advisor's firm. In such instances,
clients will incur commissions or mark-ups on those orders in addition to the fee charged by the
independent financial advisor's firm. For a more complete discussion of this practice please read Section
12 – Brokerage Practices.
When we offer our services indirectly, we may enter into a dual contract relationship in which clients sign
both a custodial agreement with the financial advisor’s firm and our client agreement. Or we may be
engaged as a sub-advisor in certain Wrap Programs. In such programs, the custodian charges the client
only one fee and a previously agreed upon portion of that fee is then paid to us as the portfolio manager.
We treat our Wrap Program clients, direct clients and other clients referred by independent financial
advisors exactly the same.
In addition to the portfolio management services noted above, Tandem may also provide non-
discretionary Model Program services to Program Sponsors who exercise investment discretion. In these
Model Programs, Tandem will typically provide a model portfolio to the Program Sponsor who will be
responsible for reviewing, implementing, and executing the orders for the client as the Program Sponsor
determines. Where Tandem participates in a Model Program, the Model Program Sponsor is generally
responsible for investment decisions and performing many other services and functions. In these Model
Programs, Tandem does not have an advisory relationship with clients and does not have any investment
discretion or trading responsibilities. Similarly, in these Model Programs, Tandem does not manage
model portfolios based on the financial situation or investment objectives of individual clients.
As of March 31, 2024, Tandem’s Regulatory Assets Under Management, as reported in Form ADV
Part 1A, were as follows:
Discretionary .............................................................................. $3,239,657,732
Non-Discretionary ...................................................................... $0
Total Regulatory Assets Under Management .............................$3,239,657,732
As of March 31, 2024, Tandem had $149,899,896 of Assets Under Advisement, which includes
assets in Unified Managed Account (UMA) programs for which Tandem provides Model Portfolios but
has no discretion to effect trades, and no supervisory responsibility over the assets in the program. This
number has been derived from the most recent information provided by each of the participating UMA
programs and is not independently verified by Tandem.