General Information
Cornerstone Management, Inc. (“Cornerstone”) was founded in 1991 in the state of Georgia and
provides investment advisory services to clients across the United States.
Cornerstone is located in the greater Atlanta region and is privately owned. Bryan C. Taylor and
Tamara S. Richwine are the principal shareholders. Please see Brochure Supplements, Exhibit A,
for more information on these and other individuals who formulate investment advice and have
direct contact with clients, or have discretionary authority over client accounts.
As of December 31, 2023, Cornerstone had $1,674,073,830 in assets under management, of which
$1,673,793,829 is managed on a discretionary basis and $280,001 is managed on a non-
discretionary basis. As of the same date, Cornerstone had Assets under Advisement of
$124,306,400.
SERVICES PROVIDED
At the outset of each client relationship, we spend time with you, asking questions, discussing your
investment experience and financial circumstances, and reviewing options for you. Based on our
review, we generally develop:
• a financial outline for you based on your financial circumstances and goals and your risk
tolerance level (the “Financial Profile” or “Profile”); and
• your investment objectives and guidelines (the “Investment Plan” or “Plan”).
The Financial Profile is a reflection of your current financial picture and a look to your future goals.
The Investment Plan outlines the types of investments we will make or recommend on your behalf
to meet those goals. The Profile and the Plan are discussed regularly with you, but are not
necessarily written documents.
Portfolio Management
As described above, at the beginning of a client relationship, we meet with you, gather information,
and perform research and analysis as necessary to develop your Investment Plan. Your Investment
Plan includes an asset allocation strategy for implementation. The Investment Plan will be updated
from time to time when requested by you, or when determined to be necessary or advisable by us
based on updates to your financial or other circumstances. To implement your Investment Plan, we
will manage your investment portfolio on a discretionary or a non-discretionary basis. As a
discretionary investment adviser, we will have the authority to supervise and direct your portfolio
without prior consultation with you. Under a non-discretionary arrangement, you must be
contacted prior to the execution of any trade in your account(s) under management. This can result
in a delay in executing recommended trades, which could adversely affect the performance of your
portfolio. This delay also normally means the affected account(s) will not be able to participate in
block trades, a practice designed to enhance the execution quality, timing and/or cost for all
accounts included in the block. In a non-discretionary arrangement, you retain the responsibility
for the final decision on all actions taken with respect to the portfolio.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may impose certain written restrictions on us in the
management of your investment portfolios, such as prohibiting the inclusion of certain types of
investments in an investment portfolio or prohibiting the sale of certain investments held in the
account at the commencement of the relationship. You should note, however, that restrictions
imposed by you may adversely affect the composition and performance of your investment
portfolio. You should also note that your investment portfolio is treated individually by giving
consideration to each purchase or sale for your account. For these and other reasons, performance
of your investment portfolio within the same investment objectives, goals and/or risk tolerance
may differ and you should not expect that the composition or performance of your investment
portfolio would necessarily be consistent with similar clients of ours.
Separate Account Managers
When appropriate and in accordance with the Investment Plan for you, we may recommend the use
of one or more Separate Account Managers, each a “SAM”. Having access to various SAMs offers a
wide variety of manager styles and offers clients the opportunity to utilize more than one SAM if
necessary to meet the needs and investment objectives of the client. We will select or recommend
the SAM(s) we deem most appropriate for you. Factors that we consider in
recommending/selecting SAMs generally include your stated investment objective(s), management
style, performance, risk level, reputation, financial strength, reporting, pricing and research.
The SAM(s) will be granted discretionary trading authority to provide investment supervisory
services for your portfolio, but we normally retain the authority to terminate the SAM’s relationship
or to add new SAMs without your specific consent. With respect to assets managed by a SAM, our
role will be to monitor your overall financial situation, to monitor the investment approach and
performance of the SAM(s), and to assist you in understanding the investments of your portfolio.
In instances where the services of one or more SAMs are utilized, the fee will be charged in addition
to our fee and will be detailed in the Agreement(s) signed by you.
Additionally, certain SAMs may impose more restrictive account requirements than us and billing
practices may vary. In such instances, we may be required to alter our corresponding account
requirements and/or billing practices to accommodate
those of the SAM(s).
Institutional Client Services
Cornerstone provides comprehensive investment consulting and administrative services to
charitable organizations. As an Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (“OCIO”) to nonprofit
organizations, we utilize a consulting-based approach to develop a customized service offering
based on each client’s specific needs and priorities. When we serve as an OCIO, Cornerstone acts as
a co-fiduciary with the institutional client. Cornerstone’s administrative services focus on the
planned gift administration needs of our institutional clients. Our available administrative services
include distribution processing, customized reporting, trust and gift annuity administration, annual
tax form preparation and state regulation compliance for various planned gift vehicles such as
charitable trusts, charitable gift annuities and donor advised funds.
Financial Planning
We offer limited financial planning services to those clients in need of such service in conjunction
with Portfolio Management services. Our limited financial planning services normally address
areas such as general cash flow planning, retirement planning and insurance analysis. The goal of
this service is to assess your financial circumstances in order to more effectively develop your
Investment Plan.
General Consulting
In addition to the foregoing services, we may provide general consulting services to you. These
services are generally provided on a project basis to include matters specific to you as and when
requested by you and agreed to by us. The scope and fees for consulting services will be negotiated
with you at the time of engagement for the applicable project.
Retirement Plan Advisory Services
Establishing a sound fiduciary governance process is vital to good decision-making and to ensuring
that prudent procedural steps are followed in making investment decisions. We will provide
Retirement Plan consulting services to Plans and Plan Fiduciaries as described below. The
particular services provided will be detailed in the consulting agreement. The appropriate Plan
Fiduciary(ies) designated in the Plan documents (e.g., the Plan sponsor or named fiduciary) will (i)
make the decision to retain our firm; (ii) agree to the scope of the services that we will provide; and
(iii) make the ultimate decision as to accepting any of the recommendations that we may provide.
The Plan Fiduciaries are free to seek independent advice about the appropriateness of any
recommended services for the Plan. Retirement Plan consulting services may be offered
individually or as part of a comprehensive suite of services.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) sets forth rules under which Plan
Fiduciaries may retain investment advisers for various types of services with respect to Plan assets.
For certain services, Cornerstone will be considered a fiduciary under ERISA. For example, we will
act as an ERISA § 3(21) fiduciary when providing non-discretionary investment advice to the Plan
Fiduciaries by recommending a suite of investments as choices among which Plan Participants may
select. Also, to the extent that the Plan Fiduciaries retain us to act as an investment manager within
the meaning of ERISA § 3(38), we will provide discretionary investment management services to
the Plan. When we provide investment advice to you regarding your retirement plan account or
individual retirement account, we are fiduciaries within the meaning of Title I of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable,
which are laws governing retirement accounts. The way we make money creates some conflicts
with your interests, so we operate under a special rule that requires us to act in your best interest
and not put our interests ahead of yours. Additional disclosure may be found elsewhere in this
Brochure or in the written agreement between Cornerstone and Client.
Fiduciary Consulting Services
• Investment Selection Services
We will provide Plan Fiduciaries with recommendations of investment options consistent
with ERISA section 404(c). Plan Fiduciaries retain responsibility for the final determination
of investment options and for compliance with ERISA section 404(c).
• Non-Discretionary Investment Advice
We provide Plan Fiduciaries and Plan Participants general, non-discretionary investment
advice regarding asset classes and investments.
Fiduciary Management Services
• Investment Management via Model Portfolios
We will provide discretionary management of Model Portfolios among which the
participants may choose to invest as Plan options. Plan Participants will also have the
option of investing only in options that do not include Model Portfolios (i.e., the Plan
Participants may elect to invest in one or more of the mutual fund options made available in
the Plan and choose not to invest in the Model Portfolios at all).
Non-Fiduciary Services
• Participant Education
We will provide education services to Plan Participants about general investment principles
and the investment alternatives available under the Plan. Education presentations will not
take into account the individual circumstances of each Plan Participant and individual
recommendations will not be provided unless a Plan Participant separately engages us for
such services. Plan Participants are responsible for implementing transactions in their own
accounts.