Old North is a registered investment advisor based in Wilmington, North Carolina. We are a limited liability
company under the laws of the State of North Carolina. We have been providing investment advisory
services since 2008. Paul Daniel Knott is the sole owner of Old North.
Currently, we offer the following investment advisory services, personalized to each individual client:
• Portfolio Management Services
• Financial Planning Services
The following paragraphs describe what we do and what we charge. Each investment advisory service is
listed below and describes how we tailor our advisory services to your individual needs. Also, you may see
the term Associated Person throughout this Brochure. As used in this Brochure, this term refers to anyone
from our Firm who is an officer, employee, and all individuals providing investment advice on behalf of
our Firm. Such persons are properly registered as investment advisor representatives in all required
jurisdictions.
Portfolio Management Services
Asset management refers to the management of money, including investments. Assets are usually held in
what is called a portfolio. Determining the types and quantities of securities to hold in a portfolio is
referred to as portfolio management.
Our Firm offers discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management services to our clients and
prospective clients. Discretionary portfolio management means we will make investment decisions and
place buy or sell orders in your account without contacting you. These decisions would be made based
upon your stated investment objectives. Non-discretionary portfolio management means we will contact
you before a trading decision is made.
Our investment advice is tailored to meet our clients’ needs and investment objectives. If you decide to
hire our Firm to manage your portfolio, we will meet with you to gather your financial information,
determine your goals, and decide how much risk you should take in your investments. The information
we gather will help us implement an asset allocation strategy that will be specific to your goals, whether
we are actively investing for you or simply providing you with advice.
There are a few ways we might create your investment portfolio depending on what we decide would
work best for you. We may customize a portfolio for you based the goals and risk we determined during
the information gathering process. Or we might use a predetermined strategy rather than choosing
individual securities.
Old North mainly uses equity securities, exchange traded funds, investment company securities,
corporate securities, municipal securities and U.S. government securities in its portfolio management
programs.
However we construct your investment portfolio, we will monitor your portfolio’s performance on an
ongoing basis, and rebalance the portfolio when necessary, as changes occur in market conditions, your
financial circumstances, or both.
As outlined above, discretionary portfolio management services means that once the portfolio has been
agreed upon, the ongoing supervision and management of the portfolio will be our responsibility. This
authority is granted to us by you in a written agreement. This allows our Firm to decide on specific
securities, the quantity of the securities and placing buy or sell orders for your account without obtaining
your approval for each transaction. This type of authorization is done using either the investment advisory
agreement you sign with our Firm, a limited power of attorney agreement, or trading authorization forms.
You may limit this authority by setting a limit on the type of securities that can be purchased for your
account. Simply provide us with your restrictions or guidelines in writing.
The non-discretionary portfolio management service means, as outlined above, that we must obtain your
approval prior to making any transactions in your account.
We recommend that you monitor the statement(s) you receive from the qualified custodian. If you see
something that is incorrect, please call our main office number, located on the cover page of this brochure.
Financial Planning Services
We offer comprehensive financial planning including
tax planning, charitable gifting strategies, risk and
insurance analysis. Old North strives to achieve a client’s long-term financial goals by implementing a
financial planning process that may include any or all of the following steps:
• Assessment of a client’s present financial situation by collecting information regarding net worth
and cash flow statements, tax returns, insurance policies, investment portfolios, pension plans,
employee benefit statements etc.
• Identification of a client’s financial and personal goals and objectives. Goals or objectives may
include financing a child’s college education or retirement planning. The identified goals or
objectives are specific, realistic and measurable. All goals include time horizons.
•
Resolution of finance related problems. Obstacles to achieving financial independence are
identified so that resolution may occur. Examples of problem areas can include too little or too
much insurance coverage, inadequate cash flow or a high tax burden.
• Plan Design. A written financial plan is prepared that includes recommendations and solutions
to any financial related problems.
• Implementation of the financial plan. The financial plan is finalized and agreed upon. The
recommendations and solutions are executed to reach the desired goals and objectives.
• Evaluation of the financial plan is conducted periodically. The financial planning service provides
periodic review and revision of the plan to ensure that the financial goals are achieved.
Financial plans are based on your financial situation and the financial information you provide to our Firm.
If your financial situation, goals, objectives, or needs change, you must notify us promptly.
We also provide financial planning services that cover a specific area, such as retirement or estate
planning. We offer consultative services where we set an appointment to meet with you for financial
planning advice for an hourly fee.
You may choose to accept or reject our recommendations. If you decide to proceed with our
recommendations, you may do so either through our investment advisory services or by using the
advisory/brokerage Firm of your choice.
Selection of Third Party Investment Advisers
Old North has entered into agreements with various other third party investment advisers for the
provision of certain investment advisory services. Factors considered in the selection of a third party
adviser include but may not be limited to: i) Old North’s preference for a particular third party adviser; ii)
the client’s risk tolerance, goals and objectives, as well as investment experience; and, iii) the amount of
client assets available for investment. In order to assist clients in the selection of a third party adviser, an
Associated Person of Old North will typically gather information from the client about the client’s financial
situation, investment objectives, and reasonable restrictions the client wants imposed on the
management of the account.
The third party adviser customizes the client's portfolio by blending traditional investment strategies with
an allocation to asset classes. The investment strategy adopted by the third party adviser may embrace
value, growth, or contrarian investing styles. Generally, securities transactions will be decided upon and
executed by the third party adviser on a discretionary basis. This means that the manager selected will
have the ability to buy and sell securities in your account without obtaining your approval. Old North and
its Associated Persons will not manage, or obtain discretionary authority over the assets in accounts
participating in these programs; however, clients may grant Old North the discretionary authority to hire
and fire such third party managers. Generally, clients may not impose restrictions on investing in certain
securities or types of securities in accounts managed by a third party adviser.
Associated Persons of Old North will periodically review reports provided to the client. An Associated
Person of Old North will contact the client at least annually, or more often as agreed upon with each client,
to review the client’s financial situation and objectives, communicate information to the third party
adviser managing the account as necessary, and to assist the client in understanding and evaluating the
services provided by the third party adviser. Clients will be expected to notify Old North of any changes in
their financial situation, investment objectives, or account restrictions.
The third party adviser may offer wrapped or non-wrapped pricing options. Wrap pricing structures allow
the client to pay an all-inclusive fee for management, brokerage, clearance, custody, and administrative
services. In a non-wrap pricing structure, the third party adviser’s fee may be separated from the advisory
fee charged by Old North. Transaction costs may also be charged for the execution and clearance of
advisory transactions directed by such Third Party Advisory Services. A complete description of the
programs and services provided, the amount of total fees, the payment structure, termination provisions
and other aspects of each program are detailed and disclosed in: i) the third party adviser’s Form ADV Part
2A; ii) the program wrap brochure (if applicable) or other applicable disclosure documents; iii) the
disclosure documents of the portfolio manager(s) selected; or, iv) the third party adviser’s account
opening documents. A copy of all relevant disclosure documents of the third party adviser and of the
individual portfolio manager(s) will be provided to anyone interested in these programs/managers.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, we manage $312,930,517 in client assets on a discretionary basis and non-
discretionary assets under management of $22,269,408.