Lucid Advisors, Inc. (Lucid) was established in 2001 by Bob Rupp and Greg Ashihara to provide independent professional services to
retirement plan sponsors and institutional investors. Lucid is currently wholly owned by Founder and Managing Principal Greg Ashihara.
Lucid expects to remain 100% employee-owned for the foreseeable future.
Lucid is a boutique firm registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser. Our primary advisory
services specialize in helping companies and organizations with various aspects of their employee benefits, principally relating to retirement
programs. A broad description of these services is listed below:
RETIREMENT PLAN CONSULTING SERVICES
In addition to our investment consulting services, Lucid provides an array of other consulting services to sponsors of defined-contribution
plans and other fiduciaries. Based upon our team’s many years of work experience with these types of plans at a prior firm, we have a high
degree of industry expertise and a broad network of business contacts. Please note that Lucid DOES NOT provide any retirement plan
recordkeeping or administration services. Our role is to serve as an objective third-party consultant to the plan and sponsor on behalf of
the plan participants. Our services are designed to help a plan sponsor to institute prudent plan management processes and help fulfill their
fiduciary responsibilities. Our non-investment related consulting services include:
Plan Consulting Services:
We routinely assist and advise employers in designing, evaluating and managing their retirement plans and programs. These services
typically include ongoing collaboration with other service-providers (including recordkeeping, plan administration, custody or investment
management). and when desired, assisting them in searches to select new, additional or replacement vendors. As independent experts in
this complex and constantly changing field, we advise clients on the fairness of fees and the appropriate service levels they should expect
from various service providers their plans may need. Depending upon the structure of each client engagement, we conduct provider
benchmarking and search (RFP) services either as a standalone project for a fee, or inclusive as part of an ongoing client relationship. As
the scope of these projects can vary dramatically based upon the client’s circumstances, our customary process is to develop a specific
proposal and fee terms prior to engagement.
Plan Fee and Expense Analysis:
Our team has deep experience and expertise in retirement plan fees and expenses, including revenue-sharing programs which may be in
place amongst other plan service providers. Although these payments are disclosed, the form of disclosure is often difficult to comprehend.
Many plan sponsors have not fully-assessed the magnitude and impact these expenses can have on the long-term retirement outcomes for
their employees. Our consulting services are designed to accomplish three objectives:
1) Educate plan sponsors on their fiduciary responsibility to monitor plan expenses, and understand how plan expenses (whether
direct or indirect) impact plan performance, and ultimately participants’ retirement income;
2) Enable plan sponsors to determine and monitor their 'Total Plan Cost' and 'Total Plan Revenue' available through various
commission and revenue-sharing programs; and
3) Actively assist plan sponsors in vendor fee-negotiations to manage Plan expenses and understand and/or control over plan
revenues.
Employee Education and Communication:
Equally as important as offering a retirement plan or other employee program, is ensuring that the employees understand it. We have
worked with many large companies to design and develop customized communication materials and campaigns for their workforce. Our
experience in this area includes development of educational seminars, newsletters and intranet (private website) content to teach and
reinforce basic financial principles and enhance employees' understanding of their retirement plan or other company-sponsored programs.
INVESTMENT CONSULTING SERVICES
Lucid provides a variety of investment consulting services to retirement plan sponsors and other institutional investors. Our services are
designed to assist these clients in the development and deployment of prudent investment processes related to their fiduciary investment
assets devoid of any product representation or other conflicts of interest. These services may include, among other things, investment
policy development, investment manager/mutual fund search processes, performance reporting services, risk analysis services, investment
fee/expense analysis, and ongoing investment monitoring and due diligence. Our services may be offered on a one-time or ongoing basis
depending upon
client needs and circumstances.
PRIVATE CLIENT SERVICES
Note: Lucid provides services to individual clients only under certain limited circumstances. Please refer to Item 7 below for more
information.
Lucid’s private client services encompass the following financial areas:
Retirement planning and related investment advisory services
General financial planning: including household budget advice, education savings/planning, and debt management
General investment/portfolio management
We construct diversified investment portfolios designed to encompass all our client’s investable assets across accounts and financial
institutions. We focus on understanding the individual needs and objectives of our clients, then developing an investment plan based upon
their situation and goals. Once a plan has been developed and reviewed with you, we select and recommend an appropriate mix of
investment products to execute the plan and advise upon changes as needed ongoing.
Borne from the institutional discipline we developed from our consulting practice, we emphasize risk assessment and analysis in our
investment advisory practice. As such, our recommendations are tailored toward reasonable attainment of a targeted long-term rate of
return while moderating risk. We are willing to forsake upside performance in order to constrain downside experience and in doing so we
will generally favor consistently good performance over sporadically great performance. To increase consistency, we generally recommend
exposure to multiple asset classes and diversify the investments utilized within each asset class amongst management styles and
investment strategies.
Lucid generally utilizes a combination of investments when constructing client portfolios including mutual funds, ETFs, and other institutional
and/or private investment vehicles where appropriate based upon client circumstances. Where applicable, client-imposed restrictions and/or
guidelines are considered.
When your investment plan is established, we benchmark each asset class to applicable market indices for ongoing monitoring purposes.
Your overall portfolio is measured against an appropriate benchmark as well as the long-term annualized return we have targeted for your
portfolio. We may recommend periodic investment changes if we identify significant concerns with an investment or it’s no longer meeting
the objectives for which it was selected. Furthermore, we may recommend changes in your portfolio asset allocation (distribution of assets
amongst the various asset classes) to adapt to changes in your situation, long-term goals or intermediate to long-term market conditions
(we generally avoid initiating changes directly in response to short-term market conditions).
With certain exceptions, Lucid does not perform research on individual stocks and generally does not issue opinions or make specific
recommendations for these securities. However, Lucid can facilitate trading in stocks upon client request and will monitor and report on
performance of all securities in accounts subject to its supervision.
Lucid primarily manages client portfolios on a non-discretionary basis, which means we provide advice and recommendations to our clients,
but do not implement the proposed recommendations without prior client authorization.
As a Lucid Advisors client you can expect the following from us:
On a Quarterly Basis:
Performance report outlining performance vs. established benchmarks (available monthly for mutual funds)
Report outlining current portfolio weightings (‘allocations’) compared to targets established in your plan
On a Semi-Annual Basis:
Meetings – in-person, conference calls and/or webinar sessions
o Review portfolio performance, discussion of any recommended changes
o Review overall investment plan and key objectives
Individual Portfolio Commentary
Report on current portfolio allocations compared to plan target weightings with allocation re-balancing analysis
Depending on the client and their situation, we may meet in-person more or less frequently. Clients are welcome to request a meeting at
any time, and we encourage clients to keep us informed of any substantive changes in their financial situation.
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT
As of December 31, 2023, Lucid managed approximately $813 million in assets. This figure represents all clients receiving continuous and
regular investment oversight from Lucid Advisors. Lucid Advisors primarily manages assets on a non-discretionary basis but in certain cases
based upon client circumstances and objectives Lucid will manage accounts and portfolios on a discretionary basis.
At any given time, Lucid may be performing specific consulting and/or advisory services for clients on a limited or project basis, these
investment assets are not included in the total above.