SPRAKER WEST WEALTH MANAGEMENT, INC. (“SWWM” or “The Firm”) provides fee-only
wealth management and advisory services for individuals, families, trusts, estates, charitable
organizations and corporations. SWWM was founded in 2008 under the name SPRAKER
WEALTH MANAGEMENT, INC. and became SPRAKER WEST WEALTH MANAGEMENT, INC.
in July of 2021. The firm’s owners are John Mitchell West III, MBA, CFP® and Susan Shannon
Spraker. The Firm is located in Winter Park, Florida.
The Firm provides Portfolio Management and Financial Planning Services in a fiduciary
capacity and strives to avoid conflicts of interest with clients. If conflicts of interest occur,
SWWM aims to mitigate any conflicts of interests with clients or other individuals seeking
advice. Client interests are put ahead of interests of The Firm in areas including: portfolio
design/implementation, trading, financial counseling, goals clarification, wealth
management and financial planning.
Portfolio Management Services
SWWM has risk tolerance discussions with all clients to develop an Investment Policy
Statement (“IPS”) for all discretionary clients. The IPS is a roadmap for how a client’s assets
will be invested and includes a description of the types of investments a client will hold
grouped by asset class. Any client-imposed restrictions on investing in certain securities are
reflected in the IPS or other documentation provided to SWWM.
Once the IPS has been created and discussed with the client SWWM executes ongoing
management services including: supervision, tactical trading to mitigate volatility, profit-
taking/rebalancing, year-end tax loss harvesting, IRA required minimum distribution
management, quarterly portfolio reporting and portfolio income reporting. The IPS acts as
the governing document for the portfolio management services provided by SWWM and each
client is managed independently according to their signed IPS.
Financial Planning Services
The firm provides ongoing Financial Planning and Financial Counseling services as part of
the Wealth Management Agreement a client signs when becoming a client. Financial Planning
and Financial Consulting is included in the cost of Portfolio Management Services provided
by the Firm. Financial Planning and Counseling Services involves discussions about Estate
Planning, Tax Considerations, Retirement Planning, Education Funding, Budgeting and
Risk/Insurance Planning.
SWWM does not provide legal advice or tax preparation services. SWWM also does not sell
any insurance products or services as part of Financial Planning or Financial Counseling
Services. As a result of the Financial Planning and Financial Counseling process SWWM may
recommend the services of other professionals for certain non-investment implementation
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purposes (i.e., attorneys, accountants, insurance agents, etc.). Clients are under no obligation
to engage the services of any recommended professional, including SWWM, who are
responsible for the quality and competency of the services they provide. The Firm makes no
guarantees about the skills or ability of Estate Planning, Tax, Insurance or any other
professionals Clients choose to employ.
Financial Planning and Financial Counseling can be provided independently of Portfolio
Management Services. When Financial Planning and Financial Counseling Services are
provided outside of an ongoing Wealth Management Agreement, the services are provided
subject to a Financial Planning Services Agreement at either a fixed project fee or an hourly
fee depending on complexity.
When Financial Planning and Financial Counseling is provided independently of ongoing
Portfolio Management Services, all recommendations and advice are to be considered as of
the time of delivery. SWWM maintains no obligation to provide updates to any
recommendations outside of the scope of the Financial Planning Services Agreement signed
by the client.
Miscellaneous
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
the client’s age, result in adverse tax consequences). If SWWM recommends that a client roll
over their retirement plan assets into an account to be managed by SWWM, such a
recommendation creates a conflict of interest if SWWM will earn a new (or increase its
current) advisory fee as a result of the rollover. No client is under any obligation to roll over
retirement plan assets to an account managed by SWWM.
When SWWM provides investment advice to a client about the client’s retirement plan
account or individual retirement account, it does so as a fiduciary within the meaning of Title
I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue
Code (“IRC”), as applicable, which are laws governing retirement accounts. Because the way
SWWM makes money creates some conflicts with client interests, SWWM operates under a
special rule that requires it to act in the client’s best interest and not put its interests ahead
of the client’s. Under this special rule’s provisions, SWWM must: meet a professional
standard of care when making investment recommendations (give prudent advice); never
put its financial interests ahead of the client’s when making recommendations (give loyal
advice); avoid misleading statements about conflicts of interest, fees, and investments;
follow policies and procedures designed to ensure that SWWM gives advice that is in the
client’s best interest; charge no more than is reasonable for SWWM’s services; and give the
client basic information about conflicts of interest.
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The Firm does not become a discretionary manager for securities purchased through a prior
broker or advisor in an account unless it is agreed upon to be managed by The Firm through
an executed Wealth Management Agreement.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, SWWM managed $227,272,169.51 in client assets on a
discretionary basis. SWWM does not have any non-discretionary assets under management.