A. About the Firm
Ironwood Wealth Management, Inc., a West Virginia corporation formed in 2002, is a
registered investment adviser based in Hurricane, West Virginia. We have been providing
investment advisory services since 2004. John D. Williams is the firm's principal owner.
As used in this brochure, the words "we," "our," "firm," and "us" refer to Ironwood Wealth
Management, Inc., and the words "you," "your," and "client" refer to you as either a client or
prospective client of our firm. Also, you may see the term "Associated Person" throughout this
brochure. This term refers to our firm's officers, employees, and all individuals providing
investment advice on behalf of our firm.
B. Investment Management Services
As discussed below, we offer to our clients (individuals, business entities, pension and profit
sharing plans, trusts, estates and charitable organizations, etc.) investment advisory services.
You can determine to engage us to provide discretionary investment advisory services on a fee-
only basis. Our annual investment advisory fee is based upon a percentage (%) of the market
value of the assets placed under our management. We provide investment advisory services
specific to the needs of each client. Before providing investment advisory services, an investment
adviser representative will ascertain each client’s investment objectives. Thereafter, we will
allocate investment assets consistent with the designated investment objectives. Once allocated,
we provide ongoing monitoring and review of account performance, asset allocation and client
investment objectives.
These discretionary portfolio management services are offered on an ongoing and continuous
basis. Our investment advice attempts to meet our clients' needs and investment objectives. If
you participate in our discretionary portfolio management services, we require you to grant our
firm discretionary authority to manage your account. Discretionary authorization will allow our firm
to determine the specific securities to be purchased or sold, the amount of securities, and
transaction timing without your approval prior to each transaction. Discretionary authority is
typically granted by the Investment Advisory Agreement you sign with our firm. You may limit our
discretionary authority (for example, limiting the types of securities that can be purchased for your
account) by providing our firm with your restrictions and guidelines in writing. On an exception
basis, we may enter into non-discretionary arrangements. In the event that you enter into a non-
discretionary arrangement with our firm, we must obtain your approval prior to executing any
transactions on behalf of your account. You have an unrestricted right to decline to implement
any advice provided by our firm on a non-discretionary basis.
Please Note: Non-Discretionary Service Limitations. Clients that determine to engage us on
a non-discretionary investment advisory basis must be willing to accept that we cannot effect any
account transactions without obtaining prior consent to any such transaction(s) from you. Thus,
in the event that we would like to make a transaction for a client's account (including in the event
of an individual holding or general market correction), and the client is unavailable, we will be
unable to effect the account transaction(s) (as we would for discretionary clients) without first
obtaining your consent.
Financial Planning and Consulting Services (Stand-Alone). In addition to our portfolio
management services, we may determine to provide financial planning and/or consulting services
(including investment and non-investment related matters, and including estate planning,
insurance planning, etc.) on a stand-alone separate fee basis. We offer financial planning services
ranging from broad-based planning to general consulting on client directed projects. Financial
planning will typically involve providing a variety of advisory services to clients regarding the
management of their financial resources based upon an analysis of their individual needs. Our
planning and consulting fees are negotiable, but generally begin at $250.00 on a fixed fee basis,
and from $250.00 on an hourly basis, depending upon the level and scope of the service(s)
required and the professional(s) rendering the service(s). The process typically begins with a
complimentary introduction meeting during which the various services we provide are explained.
If you decide to engage us for financial planning services, we will collect pertinent information
about your personal and financial circumstances and objectives. As required, we will conduct
follow-up interviews for the purpose of reviewing and/or collecting additional financial data. Once
we review and analyze the information you provide to our firm, we will deliver a written plan or
suggested course of action to you that attempts to help you achieve your stated financial goals
and objectives.
The primary objective of this process is to allow our firm to assist you in developing a strategy
which may help you achieve your particular financial goals and objectives based on the financial
information you provide to our firm. You may also contract with us for on-going financial planning
services that extend beyond the delivery of the plan or suggested course of action.
You are under no obligation to act on our financial planning recommendations generally. Should
you choose to act on any of our recommendations, you are not obligated to implement the
recommendations through any of our other investment advisory services or any Associated
Persons of our firm. If requested by you, we may recommend the services of other professionals,
for implementation purposes. If you engage any recommended unaffiliated professional, and a
dispute arises thereafter relative to such engagement, you agree to seek recourse exclusively
from and against the engaged professional. At all times, the engaged licensed professional(s)
(i.e. attorney, accountant, insurance agent, etc.), and not our firm, shall be responsible for the
quality and competency of the services provided. Moreover, you may act on our recommendations
by placing securities transactions with the brokerage firm of your choice. Please refer to Item 5 -
Fees and Compensation below for additional disclosures on this topic.
Financial plans are based on your financial situation at the time we present the plan to you, and
on the financial information you provide to our firm. In providing the contracted services, we are
not required to verify any information we receive from you or from your other professionals (e.g.
attorney, accountant, etc.) and we are expressly authorized to rely on the information you provide.
You must promptly notify our firm if your financial situation, goals, objectives, or needs change.
Prior to engaging our firm to provide financial planning and/or consulting services, you will
generally be required to enter into a Financial Planning and Consulting Agreement with us that
sets forth the terms and conditions of the engagement, describes the scope of the services to be
provided, and the portion of the fee that is due from you prior to our commencing services.
Corporate Retirement Plans. As part of our portfolio management services to a Corporate
Retirement Plan, we may provide participant education and enrollment services. This
supplemental service is designed to provide participants and eligible employees (non-
participants) with information to allow them to make decisions about participating in the plan,
suitability of allocations for a participant's portfolio, and enrollment classes to educate participants
on plan options and features. In all cases, these services are incidental to the portfolio
management services provided to the Corporate Retirement Plan, and are provided within the fee
schedule published below. While we do not assess additional fees for these services, participants
may, independent from the Corporate Retirement Plan, contract with us for individualized portfolio
management services.
MISCELLANEOUS
Limitations of Financial Planning and Non-Investment Consulting/Implementation
Services. As indicated above, to the extent requested by you, we may provide financial planning
and related consulting services regarding non-investment related matters, such as estate
planning, tax planning, insurance, etc. for a separate and additional fee per the terms and
conditions of a Financial Planning and Consulting Agreement. Please Note: We do not serve as
an attorney or accountant, and no portion of our services should be construed as same.
Accordingly, we do not prepare estate planning documents or tax returns. To the extent requested
by a client, we may recommend the services of other professionals for certain non-investment
implementation purpose (i.e. attorneys, accountants, insurance, etc.). You are under no obligation
to engage the services of any such recommended professional. You retain absolute discretion
over all such implementation decisions and are free to accept or reject any recommendation from
us and/or our representatives (see Item 10 below). Please Note: If you engage any recommended
unaffiliated professional, and a dispute arises thereafter relative to such engagement, you agree
to seek recourse exclusively from and against the engaged professional. At all times, the engaged
licensed professional(s) (i.e. attorney, accountant, insurance agent, etc.), and not our firm, shall
be responsible for the quality and competency of the services provided. Our Chief Compliance
Officer, John Williams, remains available to address any questions that a client or prospective
client may have regarding the above. If you engage any unaffiliated professional, and a dispute
arises thereafter relative to such engagement, the engaged professional (and not our firm) shall
remain exclusively responsible for resolving any such dispute with you.
Either party may terminate the Financial Planning and Consulting Agreement by providing hard
copy written notice to the other party (email or electronic notice will not suffice), which written
notice must be signed by the terminating party. You will incur a pro rata charge for services
rendered prior to termination of the agreement. If you terminate the agreement and have
contracted with us on a fixed-fee basis, you will be charged for services rendered based on our
hourly rate of $250 multiplied by the number of hours spent up to the time the cancellation notice
was received by our firm. If you have prepaid advisory fees that we have not yet earned, you will
receive a prorated refund of those fees.
Advisory Services to Retirement Plans/ Retirement Plan Consulting Services. As disclosed
above, we offer various levels of advisory and consulting services to employee benefit plans
("Plan") and to the participants of such plans ("Participants"). The services are designed to assist
plan sponsors in meeting their management and fiduciary obligations to Participants under the
Employee Retirement Income Securities Act ("ERISA"). Pursuant to adopted regulations of the
U.S. Department of Labor under ERISA Section 408(b)(2), we are required to provide the Plan's
responsible plan fiduciary (the person who has the authority to engage us as an investment
adviser to the Plan) with a written statement of the services we provide to the Plan, the
compensation we receive for providing those services, and our status (which is described below).
The services we provide to your Plan and the compensation we receive for providing those
services are described above, and in the service agreement that you have previously signed with
our firm. We may, with consent of the Plan, and in accordance with Plan documents, bill out of
pocket expenses (such as overnight mailings, messenger, translation fees, etc.) at cost. We do
not reasonably expect to receive any other compensation, direct or indirect, for the services we
provide to the Plan or Participants.
In providing services to the Plan and Participants, our status is that of an investment adviser
registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and we are not subject to any
disqualifications under Section 411 of ERISA. In performing fiduciary services, we are acting
either as a discretionary or non- discretionary fiduciary of the Plan as defined in Section 3(21)
under ERISA.
To the extent that the plan sponsor engages us in an ERISA Section 3(21) capacity, we will assist
with the selection and/or monitoring of investment options (generally open-end mutual funds and
exchange traded funds) from which plan participants shall choose in self-directing the investments
for their individual plan retirement accounts. If the plan sponsor chooses to engage us in an
ERISA Section 3(38) capacity, we may provide the same services as described above, but may
also create specific asset allocation models that we manage on a discretionary basis, which plan
participants may choose in managing their individual retirement account, and/or modify the
investment options made available to plan participants on a discretionary basis.
Retirement Rollovers-Potential for Conflict of Interest. 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 your age, result in adverse tax consequences). We typically provide
guidance and education regarding retirement account rollovers. If we do make a
recommendation that a client roll over their retirement plan assets into an account to be managed
by us, such a recommendation creates a conflict of interest if we will earn new (or increase our
current) compensation as a result of the rollover. When acting in such capacity, we serve as a
fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), or the Internal Revenue
Code, or both which are laws governing retirement accounts. No client is under any
obligation
to roll over retirement plan or IRA assets to an account managed by us, whether it is from
an employer’s plan or an existing IRA. Our Chief Compliance Officer, John Williams,
remains available to address any questions that a client or prospective client may have
regarding the potential for conflict of interest presented by such rollover recommendation.
Trustee Directed Plans. We may be engaged to provide discretionary investment advisory
services to ERISA retirement plans, whereby the Firm shall manage Plan assets consistent with
the investment objective designated by the Plan trustees. In such engagements, we will serve as
an investment fiduciary as that term is defined under The Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). We will generally provide services on an “assets under management” fee
basis per the terms and conditions of an Investment Advisory Agreement between the Plan and
the Firm.
Participant Directed Retirement Plans. We may also provide investment advisory and
consulting services to participant directed retirement plans per the terms and conditions of a
Retirement Plan Services Agreement between the plan and us. For such engagements, we shall
assist the Plan sponsor with the selection of an investment platform from which Plan participants
shall make their respective investment choices (which may include investment strategies devised
and managed by us), and, to the extent engaged to do so, may also provide corresponding
education to assist the participants with their decision making process.
Client Retirement Plan Assets. If requested to do so, we may elect to provide investment
advisory services relative to 401(k) plan assets maintained by the client in conjunction with the
retirement plan established by the client’s employer. In such event, we shall allocate (or
recommend that the client allocate) the retirement account assets among the investment options
available on the 401(k) platform. Our ability shall be limited to the allocation of the assets among
the investment alternatives available through the plan. We will not receive any communications
from the plan sponsor or custodian, and it shall remain the client’s exclusive obligation to notify
Registrant of any changes in investment alternatives, restrictions, etc. pertaining to the retirement
account.
Cybersecurity Risk. The information technology systems and networks that Registrant and its
third-party service providers use to provide services to Registrant’s clients employ various
controls, which are designed to prevent cybersecurity incidents stemming from intentional or
unintentional actions that could cause significant interruptions in Registrant’s operations and
result in the unauthorized acquisition or use of clients’ confidential or non-public personal
information. Clients and Registrant are nonetheless subject to the risk of cybersecurity incidents
that could ultimately cause them to incur losses, including for example: financial losses, cost and
reputational damage to respond to regulatory obligations, other costs associated with corrective
measures, and loss from damage or interruption to systems. Although Registrant has established
its processes to reduce the risk of cybersecurity incidents, there is no guarantee that these efforts
will always be successful, especially considering that Registrant does not directly control the
cybersecurity measures and policies employed by third-party service providers. Clients could
incur similar adverse consequences resulting from cybersecurity incidents that more directly affect
issuers of securities in which those clients invest, broker-dealers, qualified custodians,
governmental and other regulatory authorities, exchange and other financial market operators, or
other financial institutions.
Portfolio Activity. We have a fiduciary duty to provide services consistent with your best interest.
As part of our investment advisory services, we will review client portfolios on an ongoing basis
to determine if any changes are necessary based upon various factors, including, but not limited
to, investment performance, fund manager tenure, market conditions, style drift, account
additions/withdrawals, and/or a change in your investment objective. Based upon these factors,
there may be extended periods of time when we determine that changes to a client’s portfolio are
neither necessary nor prudent. Of course, as indicated below, there can be no assurance that
investment decisions made by us will be profitable or equal any specific performance level(s).
Clients nonetheless remain subject to the fees described in Item 5 below during periods of account
inactivity.
Please Note: Cash Positions. We treat cash as an asset class. As such, all cash positions
(money markets, etc.) shall be included as part of assets under management for purposes of
calculating our advisory fee. At any specific point in time, depending upon perceived or
anticipated market conditions/events (there being no guarantee that such anticipated market
conditions/events will occur), we may maintain cash positions for defensive purposes. In addition,
while assets are maintained in cash, such amounts could miss market advances. Depending upon
current yields, at any point in time, our advisory fee could exceed the interest paid by the client’s
money market fund. ANY QUESTIONS: Our Chief Compliance Officer, John Williams, remains
available to address any questions that a client or prospective may have regarding the above fee
billing practice.
Trade Errors. In the event a trading error occurs in your account, our policy is to restore your
account to the position it should have been in had the trading error not occurred. Depending on
the circumstances, corrective actions may include canceling the trade, adjusting an allocation,
and/or reimbursing the account.
Types of Investments/ Use of Mutual and Exchange Traded Funds. We primarily offer advice
on mutual funds and exchange traded funds. Additionally, we may recommend other types of
investments as needed. At our sole discretion, we may also advise you on any type of investment
held in your portfolio at the inception of our advisory relationship, or on specific types of
investments at your request. Please Note: Most mutual funds and exchange traded funds are
available directly to the public. Thus, a prospective client can obtain many of the funds that may
be utilized by us independent of engaging us as an investment advisor. However, if a prospective
client determines to do so, he/she will not receive our initial and ongoing investment advisory
services. Please Note: In addition to our investment advisory fee described below, and transaction
and/or custodial fees discussed below, clients will also incur, relative to all mutual fund and
exchange traded fund purchases, charges imposed at the fund level (e.g. management fees and
other fund expenses).
You may request that we refrain from investing in particular securities or certain types of
securities. You must provide these restrictions to our firm in writing.
MoneyGuidePro: Account Aggregation. We may provide our clients with access to online
platforms hosted by MoneyGuidePro (“MoneyGuide”). The MoneyGuide platform allows a client
to view their complete asset allocation, including those assets that we do not manage (the
“Excluded Assets”). We do not provide investment management, monitoring, or implementation
services for the Excluded Assets. Therefore, we shall not be responsible for the investment
performance of the Excluded Assets. You and/or your other advisors that maintain trading
authority, and not us, shall be exclusively responsible for the investment performance of the
Excluded Assets. In addition, MoneyGuide also provide access to other types of information,
including financial planning concepts, which should not, in any manner whatsoever, be construed
as services, advice or recommendations provided by us. We do not provide investment
management, monitoring or implementation services for the Excluded Assets. If we are asked to
make a recommendation as to any Excluded Assets, you are under absolutely no obligation to
accept the recommendation, and we shall not be responsible for any implementation error (timing,
trading, etc.) relative to the Excluded Assets. You may engage us to provide investment
management services for the Excluded Assets pursuant to the terms and conditions of the
Investment Advisory Agreement between us and you. Finally, we shall not be held responsible
for any adverse results a client may experience if you engage in financial planning or other
functions available on the MoneyGuide platform without our assistance or oversight.
Fee Dispersion. Our investment advisory fee is negotiable at our discretion, depending upon
objective and subjective factors including but not limited to: the amount of assets to be managed;
portfolio composition; the scope and complexity of the engagement; the anticipated number of
meetings and servicing needs; related accounts; future earning capacity; anticipated future
additional assets; the professional(s) rendering the service(s); prior relationships with us and/or
our representatives, and negotiations with you. As a result of these factors, similarly situated
clients could pay different fees, the services to be provided by us to any particular client could be
available from other advisers at lower fees, and certain clients may have fees different than those
specifically set forth above. Our Chief Compliance Officer, John Williams, remains available
to address any questions that a client or prospective client may have regarding the above
fee determination.
Custodian Charges-Additional Fees. As discussed below at Item 12, when requested to
recommend a broker-dealer/custodian for client accounts, we generally recommend that Charles
Schwab and Co., Inc. (Schwab”), an unaffiliated and independent broker/dealer, serve as the
broker-dealer/custodian for client investment management assets. Broker-dealers such as
Schwab charge transaction fees for effecting certain securities transactions for your account.
Schwab does not charge commission or transaction fees for direct equity, ETF or options trades
in certain accounts based upon account size and method of statement and confirmation delivery.
In situations where trades are undertaken directly by the client with trade desk assistance,
commission charges may apply. The types of securities for which transaction fees, commissions,
and/or other type fees (as well as the amount of those fees) shall differ depending upon the
broker-dealer/custodian (while certain custodians, including Schwab do not currently charge fees
on certain individual equity transactions, other custodians do). Please Note: there can be no
assurance that Schwab will not change its transaction fee pricing in the future. Please Also Note:
Schwab may also assess fees to clients who elect to receive trade confirmations and account
statements by regular mail rather than electronically. The fees charged by Schwab, or any broker-
dealer/custodian directed by you, are in addition to our advisory fee referenced in Item 5 below.
If you receive invoices from our firm, we encourage you to reconcile our invoices with the
statement(s) you receive from the qualified custodian. If you find any inconsistent information
between our invoice and the statement(s) you receive from the qualified custodian, please call
our main office number located on the cover page of this brochure.
Either party may terminate the Investment Advisory Agreement upon hard copy written notice to
the other party (email or electronic notice will not suffice), which written notice must be signed by
the terminating party. You will incur a pro rata charge for services rendered prior to the termination
of the agreement for services, which means you will incur advisory fees only in proportion to the
number of days in the quarter for which you are a client. If you have pre-paid advisory fees that
we have not yet earned, you will receive a prorated refund of those fees.
You may withdraw account assets on notice to our firm, and subject to the usual and customary
securities settlement procedures. However, we design our portfolios as long-term investments
and asset withdrawals may impair the achievement of your specific investment objectives.
Client Obligations. In performing our services, we shall not be required to verify any information
received from the client or from the client’s designated professionals, and we are expressly
authorized to rely thereon. Moreover, each client is advised that it remains his/her/its responsibility
to promptly notify us if there is ever any change in his/her/its financial situation or investment
objectives for the purpose of reviewing, evaluating or revising our previous recommendations
and/or services.
Disclosure Brochure. A copy of our written Brochure as set forth on Part 2A of Form ADV along
with our Form CRS Relationship Summary, shall be provided to each client prior to, or
contemporaneously with, the execution of the Investment Advisory Agreement or Financial
Planning and Consulting Agreement.
Please Note: Investment Risk. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk,
and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment
strategy (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by
Registrant) will be profitable or equal any specific performance level(s).
C. We shall provide investment advisory services specific to the needs of each client. Prior
to providing investment advisory services, an investment representative will assist a client in
ascertaining their investment objective(s). Thereafter, we shall allocate and/or recommend that
you allocate investment assets consistent with the designated investment objective(s). You may,
at any time, impose reasonable restrictions, in writing, on our services.
D. We do not participate in a wrap fee program.
E. Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, we provided continuous management services for $192,727,234 in client
assets on a discretionary basis.