In 2000, True North Advisors, LLC ("True North" and “we” or “us”) was born out of a shared vision of its
two founders, Scott Wood and Mark Gehlbach, to deliver something better in the world of wealth
management. Coming from traditional money management firms where advice was tied to the selling
of products, they became convinced that advice can be provided with objectivity and transparency. As
a result of this independence True North mitigates conflicts and operates in an environment without
product constraints typically seen in the brokerage world.
True North's clients engage the firm to offer comprehensive solutions, including financial planning and
investment management. Services may include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Understanding the foundational details of a client's total financial situation, identifying both
short- and long-term goals, to achieve results for today and in the future;
• Retirement planning, education planning, estate planning, tax planning, budgetary assistance,
legacy and philanthropic planning, and business consulting, etc;
• Developing a thorough capital income needs analysis showing the assets required to achieve
the identified goals along with the probability of achieving those goals;
• Identifying risk and loss tolerance as guides for designing an investment portfolio with the
recommended asset allocation strategy;
• Designing and modeling a portfolio acceptable with meeting the stated goals. If needed,
tailoring individual accounts based on client specific objectives, financial situations and needs
pursuant to an Investment Management Agreement, which may include certain investment
restrictions imposed by the client;
• Assessing return on investments and restrictions on investing in certain securities or types of
securities (if needed):
• Recommending investments from carefully researched managers and their product offerings.
Implementing an investment strategy utilizing a variety of investible asset classes including
"institutional" mutual fund shares, indexed exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), separately
managed accounts ("SMAs"), individual securities and alternative and private investments,
when appropriate. ETFs follow a specific benchmark index as closely as possible allowing the
investor to get exposure to a large number of securities in a single transaction. A SMA is an
account managed by an outside asset management firm ("manager") along with an
administrator while alternative investments include hedge or fund of funds, natural resources,
real estate and private equity, which may be more illiquid in nature;
• Collaborating with other advisors on decisions that affect the overall wealth management plan,
including estate planning attorneys, insurance agents, and tax advisors. True North does not
provide legal or tax advice;
• Providing periodic and consistent monitoring and review of progress towards the achievement
of goals and objectives;
• Delivering communication on both a scheduled and as needed basis to review the portfolio
performance, and update True North's records with new information that may require alterations
in the portfolio construction; and
• Providing ongoing counsel and advice on any and all financial decisions, as needed, such as a
decision to buy or sell a business, invest in a project, vacation home purchase, etc.
In addition, Western provides discretionary investment management and advisory services to the
following private pooled investment vehicles designed for sophisticated investors collectively referred
to throughout this brochure as the Funds:
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Credit
• Western Alternative
Strategies, L.P. – Energy
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Energy II
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Energy III
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Equity
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Active Equity
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Real Estate
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Real Estate II
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Real Estate III
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Real Estate IV
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Real Estate V
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Real Estate VI
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P.-Real Estate VII
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Private Opportunities
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Private Opportunities II
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Private Opportunities III
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – GPS
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – GPS II
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – GPS III
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – GPS IV
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – CH4
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Co-GP
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Multi Strategy
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Tail Risk
• Western Alternative Strategies, L.P. – Income
Detailed information on the Funds can be found in True North’s Form ADV Part 1A Item 9 as well as the
Funds' offering memorandums or limited partnership agreements which must be reviewed prior to
investing.
True North offers consulting services including the review and evaluation of outside investments (e.g.,
self-directed 401K account offered by an employer), and integration into the performance reporting
system. True North may charge a fixed fee for consulting services.
Effective December 20, 2021 (or such later date as the US Department of Labor ("DOL") Field
Assistance Bulletin 2018-02 ceases to be in effect), for purposes of complying with the DOL's
Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 ("PTE 2020-02") where applicable, we are providing the
following acknowledgment to you.
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 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 interest ahead of yours. Under
this special rule's provisions, we must:
· Meet a professional standard of care when making investment recommendations (give prudent
advice);
· Never put our financial interests ahead of yours when making recommendations (give loyal advice);
· Avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
· Follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that we give advice that is in your best interest;
· Charge no more than is reasonable for our services; and
· Give you basic information about conflicts of interest.
We benefit financially from the rollover of your assets from a retirement account to an account that we
manage or provide investment advice, because the assets increase our assets under management
and, in turn, our advisory fees. As a fiduciary, we only recommend a rollover when we believe it is in
your best interest.
As of December 31, 2023, the amount of client assets under management:
Discretionary: $3,317,710,599
Non-discretionary: $23,441,993
$3,341,152,592